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Proverbs 29:5
New English Translation
Proverbs 29:5
New English Translation
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 29:5 tn Heb “a man,” but the context here does not suggest that the proverb refers to males only.
- Proverbs 29:5 tn The form is the Hiphil participle, literally “deals smoothly,” i.e., smoothing over things that should be brought to one’s attention. sn The flatterer is too smooth; his words are intended to gratify. In this proverb some malice is attached to the flattery, for the words prove to be destructive.
- Proverbs 29:5 sn The image of “spreading a net” for someone’s steps is an implied comparison (a figure of speech known as hypocatastasis): As one would literally spread a net, this individual’s flattery will come back to destroy him. A net would be spread to catch the prey, and so the idea is one of being caught and destroyed.
- Proverbs 29:5 tn There is some ambiguity concerning the referent of “his steps.” The net could be spread for the one flattered (cf. NRSV, “a net for the neighbor’s feet”; NLT, “their feet,” referring to others), or for the flatterer himself (cf. TEV “you set a trap for yourself”). The latter idea would make the verse more powerful: In flattering someone the flatterer is getting himself into a trap (e.g., 2:16; 7:5; 26:28; 28:23).
Proverbs 29:5
New American Standard Bible
Proverbs 29:5
New American Standard Bible
5 A man who (A)flatters his neighbor
Is spreading a net for his steps.
Proverbs 29:24
New English Translation
Proverbs 29:24
New English Translation
24 Whoever shares with a thief[a] is his own enemy;[b]
he hears the oath to testify,[c] but does not talk.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 29:24 sn The expression shares with a thief describes someone who is an “accomplice” (cf. NAB, NIV) because he is willing to share in the loot without taking part in the crime.
- Proverbs 29:24 tn Heb “hates his soul.” The accomplice is working against himself, for he will be punished along with the thief if he is caught.
- Proverbs 29:24 tn Heb “oath” or “imprecation”; ASV “adjuration.” This amounted to an “oath” or “curse” (cf. NAB “he hears himself put under a curse”; NRSV “one hears the victim’s curse”) either by or on behalf of the victim, that any witness to the crime must testify (cf. Lev 5:1). However, in this legal setting referring to “a victim’s curse” could be misleading (cf. also KJV “he heareth cursing”), since it could be understood to refer to profanity directed against those guilty of the crime rather than an imprecation called down on a witness who refused to testify (as in the present proverb). The present translation specifies this as an “oath to testify.”sn The oath to testify was not an oath to tell the truth before a court of law in the modern sense. Instead it was a “curse” or “imprecation” expressed by the victim of the theft, or by the legal authorities, called down on any witness of the crime who kept silent or refused to testify (as here). According to Lev 5:1, if a witness does not speak up he is accountable for the crime. This person hears the adjuration, but if he speaks up he is condemned, and if he does not speak up he is guilty under the law. The proverb is an unusual one; it seems to be warning against getting mixed up in any way with the thief, for it will create a serious ethical dilemma.
Proverbs 29:24
New American Standard Bible
Proverbs 29:24
New American Standard Bible
24 One who is a partner with a thief hates his own life;
He (A)hears the oath but tells nothing.
New English Translation (NET)
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