Proverbs 21:4

Legacy Standard Bible

⁴Haughty eyes and a proud heart—
The ^(A)fallow ground of the wicked—are sin.

Proverbs 21:4

New English Translation

⁴Haughty eyes and a proud heart—
what the wicked cultivate^[a] is sin.

Proverbs 21:4 tc The MT reads “the tillage (נִר, nir) of the wicked.” The LXX, other versions, and some Hebrew manuscripts read “the lamp (נֵר, ner) of the wicked” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV). Both are difficult in the context.tn The MT’s נִר (nir) refers to “ground that has recently been cultivated” (HALOT 723, s.v.), hence “tillage” (NAB), or “plowing” (KJV). This image goes one step behind the metaphor of planting to the cultivating the ground, but it may still have the harvest from such work in view. What the wicked cultivate (and produce) is sin. The saying perhaps looks at their haughty attitude as the groundwork for of their actions which are sinful. The LXX’s “lamp” does not solve the difficulty of the relationship between the expressions. We would somehow need to equate haughtiness with what the wicked consider a (guiding?) light, so that it is evaluated as sin.

²⁴“Arrogant,” “Haughty,” “^(A)Scoffer,” are his names,
Who acts with ^(B)arrogant fury.

²⁴A proud^[a] and arrogant^[b] person, whose name is “Scoffer,”^[c]
acts^[d] with overbearing pride.^[e]

Proverbs 21:24 tn The word זֵד (zed, “proud”) comes from the verb זִיד (zid, “to boil up; to seethe; to act proudly [or, presumptuously].” Just as water boiling up in a pot will boil over, so the presumptuous person “oversteps” the boundaries.
Proverbs 21:24 tn The word יָהִיר (yahir) means “haughty,” that is, to be or show oneself to be presumptuous or arrogant.
Proverbs 21:24 tn Heb “proud haughty scorner his name” (KJV similar). There are several ways that the line could be translated: (1) “Proud, arrogant—his name is scoffer” or (2) “A proud person, an arrogant person—‘Scoffer’ is his name.” BDB 267 s.v. זֵד suggests, “A presumptuous man, [who is] haughty, scoffer is his name.”
Proverbs 21:24 tn Heb “does.” The Qal active participle “does” serves as the main verb, and the subject is “proud person” in the first line.
Proverbs 21:24 tn The expression בְּעֶבְרַת זָדוֹן (b^eʿevrat zadon) means “in the overflow of insolence.” The genitive specifies what the overflow is; the proud deal in an overflow of pride. Cf. NIV “overweening pride”; NLT “boundless arrogance.”sn The portrait in this proverb is not merely of one who is self-sufficient, but one who is insolent, scornful, and arrogant.

Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

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New English Translation (NET)