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Proverbs 20:2
World English Bible
Proverbs 20:2
World English Bible
2 The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion.
He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.
Proverbs 20:2
New English Translation
Proverbs 20:2
New English Translation
2 The king’s terrifying anger[a] is like the roar of a lion;
whoever provokes him[b] sins against himself.[c]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 20:2 tn Heb “the terror of a king” (so ASV, NASB); The term “terror” is a metonymy of effect for cause: the anger of a king that causes terror among the people. The term “king” functions as a possessive genitive: “a king’s anger” (cf. NIV “A king’s wrath”; NLT “The king’s fury”).
- Proverbs 20:2 tn The verb מִתְעַבְּרוֹ (mitʿabbero) is problematic; in the MT the form is the Hitpael participle with a pronominal suffix, which is unusual, for the direct object of this verb usually takes a preposition first: “is angry with.” The LXX rendered it “angers [or, irritates].”
- Proverbs 20:2 sn The expression “sins against himself” has been taken by some to mean “forfeits his life” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “endangers his life” (cf. NCV, NLT). That may be the implication of getting oneself in trouble with an angry king (cf. TEV “making him angry is suicide”).
Proverbs 20:4
World English Bible
Proverbs 20:4
World English Bible
4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter;
therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
Proverbs 20:4
New English Translation
Proverbs 20:4
New English Translation
4 The sluggard will not plow[a] during the planting season,[b]
so at harvest time he asks[c] for grain[d] but has nothing.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 20:4 sn The act of plowing is put for the whole process of planting a crop.
- Proverbs 20:4 tn Heb “from winter.” The preposition מִן (min) may designate the starting point “from winter [onward]” or the cause “due to” (so ASV “by reason of the winter”). The noun “winter” refers to the time for sowing seed and having the early growth of crops. The right time for planting was after the autumn harvest and the rainy season of autumn and winter began.
- Proverbs 20:4 tc The Kethib reads a Qal imperfect, while the Qere reads a vav plus Qal perfect consecutive. Both forms would be future; the Qere more overtly states this as a consequence.tn The basic meaning of the Qal verb שָׁאַל (shaʾal) is “to ask;” by extension it sometimes means “to wish for; to desire; to borrow” and perhaps “to beg.” The Piel can mean “to beg” and does not require emending the consonantal text. Because he did not plant, or did not do it at the right time, he is reduced to begging and will have nothing (cf. KJV, ASV; NASB “he begs during the harvest”).
- Proverbs 20:4 tn The phrase “for grain” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
Proverbs 20:8
World English Bible
Proverbs 20:8
World English Bible
8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment
scatters away all evil with his eyes.
Proverbs 20:8
New English Translation
Proverbs 20:8
New English Translation
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 20:8 tn The infinitive construct דִּין (din, “to judge”) indicates purpose (so NIV, NCV), even though it does not have a preposition with it.
- Proverbs 20:8 tn The second line uses the image of winnowing (cf. NIV, NRSV) to state that the king’s judgment removes evil from the realm. The verb form is מְזָרֶה (mezareh), the Piel participle. It has been translated “to sift; to winnow; to scatter” and “to separate”—i.e., separate out evil from the land. The text is saying that a just government roots out evil (cf. NAB “dispels all evil”), but few governments have been consistently just.
- Proverbs 20:8 sn The phrase with his eyes indicates that the king will closely examine or look into all the cases that come before him.
Proverbs 20:12
World English Bible
Proverbs 20:12
World English Bible
12 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye,
Yahweh has made even both of them.
Proverbs 20:12
New English Translation
Proverbs 20:12
New English Translation
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 20:12 sn The first half of the verse refers to two basic senses that the Lord has given to people. C. H. Toy, however, thinks that they represent all the faculties (Proverbs [ICC], 388). But in the book of Proverbs seeing and hearing come to the fore. By usage, “hearing” also means obeying (15:31; 25:12), and “seeing” also means perceiving and understanding (Isa 6:9-10).
- Proverbs 20:12 sn The verse not only credits God with making these faculties of hearing and sight and giving them to people, but it also emphasizes their spiritual use in God’s service.
Proverbs 20:14
World English Bible
Proverbs 20:14
World English Bible
14 “It’s no good, it’s no good,” says the buyer;
but when he is gone his way, then he boasts.
Proverbs 20:14
New English Translation
Proverbs 20:14
New English Translation
14 “It’s worthless! It’s worthless!”[a] says the buyer,[b]
but when he goes on his way, he boasts.[c]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 20:14 tn Heb “[It is] bad, [it is] bad.” Since “bad” can be understood in some modern contexts as a descriptive adjective meaning “good,” the translation uses “worthless” instead—the real point of the prospective buyer’s exclamation.
- Proverbs 20:14 sn This proverb reflects standard procedure in the business world. When negotiating the transaction the buyer complains how bad the deal is for him, or how worthless the prospective purchase, but then later brags about what a good deal he got. The proverb will alert the inexperienced as to how things are done.
- Proverbs 20:14 tn The Hitpael imperfect of הָלַל (halal) means “to praise”—to talk in glowing terms, excitedly. In this stem it means “to praise oneself; to boast.”
Proverbs 20:16
World English Bible
Proverbs 20:16
World English Bible
16 Take the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger;
and hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.
Proverbs 20:16
New English Translation
Proverbs 20:16
New English Translation
16 Take a man’s[a] garment[b] when he has given security for a stranger,[c]
and hold him[d] in pledge on behalf of strangers.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 20:16 tn Heb “his garment.”
- Proverbs 20:16 sn Taking a garment was the way of holding someone responsible to pay debts. In fact, the garment was the article normally taken for security (Exod 22:24-26; Deut 24:10-13). People normally had few changes of clothes, so a garment represented giving a necessity as collateral. (In the case of a poor person the cloak should be returned for the nighttime to keep them warm.)
- Proverbs 20:16 tc The Kethib has the masculine plural form, נָכְרִים (nokhrim), suggesting a reading “strangers.” But the Qere has the feminine form נָכְרִיָּה (nokhriyyah), “strange woman” or “another man’s wife” (e.g., 27:13). The parallelism would suggest “strangers” is the correct reading, although theories have been put forward for the interpretation of “strange woman” (see below).tn M. Dahood argues that the cloak was taken in pledge for a harlot (cf. NIV “a wayward woman”). Two sins would then be committed: taking a cloak and going to a prostitute (“To Pawn One’s Cloak,” Bib 42 [1961]: 359-66; also Snijders, “The Meaning of זָר,” 85-86). In the MT the almost identical proverb in 27:13 has a feminine singular form here.sn The one for whom the pledge is taken is called “a stranger” and “foreign.” These two words do not necessarily mean that the individual or individuals are non-Israelite—just outside the community and not well known.
- Proverbs 20:16 tn Or “hold it” (so NIV, NCV).
Proverbs 20:26
World English Bible
Proverbs 20:26
World English Bible
26 A wise king winnows out the wicked,
and drives the threshing wheel over them.
Proverbs 20:26
New English Translation
Proverbs 20:26
New English Translation
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 20:26 tn Heb “winnows” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). The sage draws on the process of winnowing to explain how the king uncovers and removes wickedness. The verb from which the participle מְזָרֶה (mezareh) is derived means “to separate; to winnow; to scatter”; the implied comparison means that the king will separate good people from bad people like wheat is separated from chaff. The image of winnowing is also used in divine judgment. The second line of the verse uses a detail of the process to make the point. Driving a wheel over the wheat represents the threshing process; the sharp iron wheels of the cart would easily serve the purpose (e.g., Isa 28:27-28).
- Proverbs 20:26 tn The king has the wisdom/ability to destroy evil from his kingdom. See also D. W. Thomas, “Proverbs 20:26, ” JTS 15 (1964): 155-56.
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