Add parallel Print Page Options

The one who mocks the poor[a] has insulted[b] his Creator;
whoever rejoices over disaster will not go unpunished.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:5 tn Or “A mocker of the poor.”sn The parallelism helps define the subject matter: The one who “mocks the poor” (NAB, NASB, NIV) is the one who “rejoices [NIV gloats] over disaster,” where the disaster resulted in the poverty of others. The topic of the parable is the person who mocks others by making fun of their misfortune.
  2. Proverbs 17:5 sn The Hebrew word translated “insults” (חֵרֵף, kheref) means “reproach; taunt” (as with a cutting taunt); it describes words that show contempt for or insult God. The idea of reproaching the Creator may be mistaking and blaming God’s providential control of the world (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 337). W. G. Plaut, however, suggests that mocking the poor means holding up their poverty as a personal failure and thus offending their dignity and their divine nature (Proverbs, 187). Cf. Prov 14:31.

Whoever ·mistreats [ridicules; mocks] the poor insults their Maker;
whoever enjoys someone’s trouble will ·be punished [L not go unpunished].

Read full chapter

11 An evil person seeks only rebellion,[a]
and so[b] a cruel messenger[c] will be sent against him.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:11 tc The LXX reads ἀντιλογίας (antilogias, “contention”), which usually stands for the Hebrew words מְרִיבָה (merivah), מִדְיָן (midyan), or רִיב (riv). These words all refer to “strife, contention, disputing” and are all somewhat graphically similar to each other and the word מְרִי (meri, “rebellion”). Since the next Hebrew word starts with yod and bet, (יְבַקֵּשׁ, yevaqqesh) it is possible that something dropped out between the two yods and the text originally read מְרִיבָה יְבַקֵּשׁ or מִדְיָן יְבַקֵּשׁ.sn The proverb is set up in a cause and effect relationship. The cause is that evil people seek rebellion. The term מְרִי (meri) means “rebellion.” It is related to the verb מָרָה (marah, “to be contentious, to be rebellious, to be refractory”). BDB 598 s.v. מְרִי translates the line “a rebellious man seeketh only evil” (so NASB).
  2. Proverbs 17:11 tn The parallelism seems to be formal, with the idea simply continuing to the second line; the conjunction is therefore translated to reflect this. However, the proverb could be interpreted as antithetical just as easily.
  3. Proverbs 17:11 sn Those bent on rebellion will meet with retribution. The messenger could very well be a merciless messenger from the king, but the expression could also figuratively describe something God sends—storms, pestilence, or any other misfortune.

11 Disobedient ·people look only for trouble [L seek only rebellion],
so a cruel messenger will be sent against them.

Read full chapter

13 As for the one who repays[a] evil for good,
evil will not leave[b] his house.[c]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:13 tn The sentence begins with the participle מֵשִׁיב (meshiv, “the one who repays”). The whole first colon may be taken as an independent nominative absolute, with the formal sentence to follow. Some English versions have made the first colon a condition by supplying “if” (NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT).
  2. Proverbs 17:13 tn The verb מוּשׁ (mush) means “to depart; to remove.” The Kethib is a Hiphil, which would yield a meaning of “to take away”; so the Qere, which is the Qal, makes more sense in the line.
  3. Proverbs 17:13 sn The proverb does not explain whether God will turn evil back on him directly or whether people will begin to treat him as he treated others.

13 Whoever gives evil in return for good
will always have trouble at home.

Read full chapter

26 It is terrible[a] to punish[b] a righteous person,
and to flog[c] honorable men is wrong.[d]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:26 tn Heb “not good.” This is an example of tapeinosis—an understatement that implies the worst-case scenario: “it is terrible.”
  2. Proverbs 17:26 tn The verb עָנַשׁ (ʿanash), here a Qal infinitive construct, properly means “to fine” (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT) but is taken here to mean “to punish” in general. The infinitive functions as the subject of the clause.
  3. Proverbs 17:26 tn The form is the Hiphil infinitive construct from נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike; to smite”). It may well refer to public beatings, so “flog” is used in the translation, since “strike” could refer to an individual’s action and “beat” could be taken to refer to competition.
  4. Proverbs 17:26 tn Heb “[is] against uprightness.” The expression may be rendered “contrary to what is right.”sn The two lines could be synonymous parallelism, but the second part is being used to show how wrong the first act would be—punishing the righteous makes about as much sense as beating an official of the court for doing what is just.

26 It is not good to punish the ·innocent [righteous]
or to beat leaders for being honest.

Read full chapter