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Proverbs 21:17
New English Translation
Proverbs 21:17
New English Translation
17 The one who loves[a] pleasure[b] will be[c] a poor person;[d]
whoever loves wine and anointing oil[e] will not be rich.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 21:17 sn The participle “loves” (אֹהֵב, ʾohev) indicates in this context that more is involved than the enjoyment of pleasure, for which there is no problem. The proverb is looking at “love” in the sense of needing and choosing, an excessive or uncontrolled indulgence in pleasure.
- Proverbs 21:17 sn “Pleasure” is actually the Hebrew word “joy” (שִׂמְחָה, simkhah). It is a metonymy of effect, the cause being the good life that brings the joy. In the second colon, “wine” and “oil” would be metonymies of cause, the particular things in life that bring joy. Therefore the figures in the lines work together to give the complete picture.
- Proverbs 21:17 tn The phrase “will be” is supplied in the translation.
- Proverbs 21:17 tn Heb “a man of poverty”; NRSV “will suffer want.”
- Proverbs 21:17 sn In elaborate feasts and celebrations the wine was for drinking but the oil was for anointing (cf. NAB, NCV “perfume”). Both of these characterize the luxurious life (e.g., Pss 23:5; 104:15; Amos 6:6).
Proverbs 21:17
Lexham English Bible
Proverbs 21:17
Lexham English Bible
17 A man of want is he who loves pleasure;
he who loves wine and oil[a] will not become rich.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 21:17 Or “fat”
Proverbs 23:20-21
New English Translation
Proverbs 23:20-21
New English Translation
20 Do not spend time[a] among drunkards,[b]
among those who eat too much[c] meat,
21 because drunkards and gluttons become impoverished,
and drowsiness[d] clothes them with rags.[e]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:20 tn Heb “do not be among,” but in the sense of “associate with” (TEV); “join” (NIV); “consort…with” (NAB).
- Proverbs 23:20 tn The verb סָבָא (savaʾ) means “to imbibe; to drink largely.” The participial construction here, סֹבְאֵי־יַיִן (soveʾe yayin), describes “drunkards” (cf. NLT) which is somewhat stronger than saying it refers to “people who drink too much” (cf. NIV, TEV).
- Proverbs 23:20 tn The verb זָלַל (zalal) means “to be light; to be worthless; to make light of.” Making light of something came to mean “to be lavish with; to squander,” especially with regard to food. So it describes “gluttons” primarily, but in the expression there is also room for the person who wastes a lot of food as well.
- Proverbs 23:21 tn Here “drowsiness” is a metonymy of effect or adjunct, put for the drunkenness and gluttony that causes it. So all of it, the drunkenness and the drowsiness that comes from it, brings on the ruin (cf. CEV “you will end up poor”). Likewise, “rags” is a metonymy of adjunct, associated with the poverty brought on by a dissolute lifestyle.
- Proverbs 23:21 sn This is the fourteenth saying, warning about poor associations. Drunkenness and gluttony represent the epitome of the lack of discipline. In the Mishnah they are used to measure a stubborn and rebellious son (m. Sanhedrin 8). W. G. Plaut notes that excessive drinking and eating are usually symptoms of deeper problems; we usually focus more on the drinking because it is dangerous to others (Proverbs, 241-42).
Proverbs 23:20-21
Lexham English Bible
Proverbs 23:20-21
Lexham English Bible
20 Do not be among drinkers of wine,
among gluttonous eaters of their meat.[a]
21 For the drunkard and gluttonous, they will become poor,
and with rags, drowsiness will clothe them.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:20 Literally “meat for them”
Proverbs 25:16
New English Translation
Proverbs 25:16
New English Translation
16 You have found[a] honey—eat only what is sufficient for you,
lest you become stuffed with[b] it and vomit it up.[c]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 25:16 tn Most translations render the verse as a question (“Have you found honey?” so KJV, NASB, ASV) or as a condition (“if/when you find honey,” so NIV, ESV, Holman). But the Hebrew has a perfect verb form (מָצָאתָ, matsaʾta) without an interrogative or conditional marker. Hebrew proverbs can use the past tense to set the topic or opening premise of a proverb (to present a case, e.g. “take this situation where X occurred”), and then comment on it in the second half of the proverb. English translators of proverbial sayings tend to want to make the past time verbs in Hebrew into present tense in English. But this convention is difficult with second person verb forms, so the translations tend to take the tactic of changing the nature of the sentence to interrogative or conditional. We could also add “Let’s say [you have found honey].” See B. Webster “The Perfect Verb and the Perfect Woman in the Book of Proverbs” in Windows to the Ancient World of the Hebrew Bible, eds. B. Arnold, N. Erickson, J. Walton (Eisenbrauns, 2014).
- Proverbs 25:16 tn The verb means “to be satisfied; to be sated; to be filled.” Here it means more than satisfied, since it describes one who overindulges and becomes sick. The English verb “stuffed” conveys this idea well.
- Proverbs 25:16 sn The proverb warns that anything overindulged in can become sickening. The verse uses formal parallelism to express first the condition and then its consequences. It teaches that moderation is wise in the pleasures of life.
Proverbs 25:16
Lexham English Bible
Proverbs 25:16
Lexham English Bible
16 If you find honey, eat what is sufficient for you,
lest you have your fill of it and vomit it out.
Proverbs 27:7
New English Translation
Proverbs 27:7
New English Translation
7 The one whose appetite[a] is satisfied loathes honey,
but to the hungry mouth[b] every bitter thing is sweet.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 27:7 tn Traditionally, “soul” (so KJV, ASV). The Hebrew text uses נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) here for the subject—the full appetite [“soul”]. The word refers to the whole person with all his appetites. Here its primary reference is to eating, but it has a wider application than that—possession, experience, education, and the like.
- Proverbs 27:7 tn Here the term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, traditionally, “soul”) is used again, now in contrast to describe the “hungry appetite” (cf. NRSV “ravenous appetite”), although “hungry mouth” might be more idiomatic for the idea. Those whose needs are great are more appreciative of things than those who are satisfied. The needy will be delighted even with bitter things.
Proverbs 27:7
Lexham English Bible
Proverbs 27:7
Lexham English Bible
7 An appetite[a] that is sated spurns honey,
but to an appetite[b] that is ravenous, all bitterness is sweet.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 27:7 Literally “soul”
- Proverbs 27:7 Literally “soul”
Proverbs 28:7
New English Translation
Proverbs 28:7
New English Translation
7 The one who keeps the law[a] is a discerning child,[b]
but a companion of gluttons brings shame to[c] his parents.[d]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 28:7 tn The Hebrew word could refer (1) to “instruction” by the father (cf. NCV) or (2) the Mosaic law (so most English versions). The chapter seems to be stressing religious obedience, so the referent is probably the law. Besides, the father’s teaching will be what the law demands, and the one who associates with gluttons is not abiding by the law.
- Proverbs 28:7 tn Heb “son,” but the immediate context does not suggest limiting this only to male children.
- Proverbs 28:7 sn The companion of gluttons shames his father and his family because such a life style as he now embraces is both unruly and antisocial.
- Proverbs 28:7 tn Heb “father,” but the immediate context does not suggest limiting this only to the male parent.
Proverbs 28:7
Lexham English Bible
Proverbs 28:7
Lexham English Bible
7 He who keeps instruction is a child of understanding,
but the companion of gluttons will shame his father.
New English Translation (NET)
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