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22 Do not those who devise[a] evil go astray?
But those who plan good exhibit[b] faithful covenant love.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 14:22 sn The verb חָרַשׁ (kharash) means (1) literally: “to cut in; to engrave; to plow,” describing the work of a craftsman; and (2) figuratively: “to devise,” describing the mental activity of planning evil (what will harm people) in the first colon, and planning good (what will benefit them) in the second colon.
  2. Proverbs 14:22 tn The term “exhibit” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is implied by the antithetic parallelism and supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
  3. Proverbs 14:22 tn Heb “loyal-love and truth.” The two terms חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת (khesed veʾemet) often form a hendiadys: “faithful love” or better “faithful covenant love.”

22 Won’t those who plot evil go astray?
    But gracious love and truth are for those who plan what is good.

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34 Righteousness exalts[a] a nation,
but sin is a disgrace[b] to any people.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 14:34 sn The verb תְּרוֹמֵם (teromem, translated “exalts”) is a Polel imperfect; it means “to lift up; to raise up; to elevate.” Here the upright dealings of the leaders and the people will lift up the people. The people’s condition in that nation will be raised.
  2. Proverbs 14:34 tn The term is the homonymic root II חֶסֶד (khesed, “shame; reproach”; BDB 340 s.v.), as reflected by the LXX translation. Rabbinic exegesis generally took it as I חֶסֶד (“loyal love; kindness”) as if it said, “even the kindness of some nations is a sin because they do it only for a show” (so Rashi, a Jewish scholar who lived a.d. 1040-1105).

34 Righteousness makes a nation great,
    but sin diminishes[a] any people.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 14:34 So DSS 4QProb LXX; MT reads sin is a disgrace to

In the house of the righteous is abundant wealth,[a]
but the income of the wicked will be ruined.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 15:6 sn The Hebrew noun חֹסֶן (khosen) means “wealth; treasure.” Prosperity is the reward for righteousness. This is true only in so far as a proverb can be carried in its application, allowing for exceptions. The Greek text for this verse has no reference for wealth, but talks about amassing righteousness.
  2. Proverbs 15:6 tn Heb “being ruined.” The Niphal participle of עָכַר (ʿakhar; “to disturb, trouble, ruin”) may be understood substantivally, meaning “disturbance, calamity” (BDB 747 s.v. עָכַר) or a “thing troubled,” thus perhaps “[it] is ruined/ruinous.” Or it may be viewed verbally, “will be ruined” (HALOT 824 s.v. עכר nif). The LXX translates “will be ruined.”

The righteous house is itself[a] a great treasure,
    but within the revenue of the wicked calamity is at work.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 15:6 The Heb. lacks itself

The Lord abhors[a] the sacrifice of the wicked,[b]
but the prayer[c] of the upright pleases him.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 15:8 tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yehvah, “the Lord”) functions as a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.” Cf. NIV “the Lord detests”; NCV, NLT “the Lord hates”; CEV “the Lord is disgusted.”
  2. Proverbs 15:8 sn The sacrifices of the wicked are hated by the Lord because the worshipers are insincere and blasphemous (e.g., Prov 15:29; 21:3; 28:9; Ps 40:6-8; Isa 1:10-17). In other words, the spiritual condition of the worshiper determines whether or not the worship is acceptable to God.
  3. Proverbs 15:8 sn J. H. Greenstone notes that if God will accept the prayers of the upright, he will accept their sacrifices; for sacrifice is an outer ritual and easily performed even by the wicked, but prayer is a private and inward act and not usually fabricated by unbelievers (Proverbs, 162).
  4. Proverbs 15:8 tn Heb “[is] his pleasure.” The third person masculine singular suffix functions as a subjective genitive: “he is pleased.” God is pleased with the prayers of the upright.

The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the Lord,
    but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

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The Lord abhors[a] the way of the wicked,
but he will love[b] those[c] who pursue[d] righteousness.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 15:9 tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yehvah, “the Lord”) functions as a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.”
  2. Proverbs 15:9 tn The verb אָהֵב (ʾahev, “to love”) is stative, so its imperfect form should be future; it still speaks of a general truth.
  3. Proverbs 15:9 tn Heb “the one who” (so NRSV).
  4. Proverbs 15:9 sn God hates the way of the wicked, that is, their lifestyle and things they do. God loves those who pursue righteousness, the Piel verb signifying a persistent pursuit. W. G. Plaut says, “He who loves God will be moved to an active, persistent, and even dangerous search for justice” (Proverbs, 170).

The lifestyle of the wicked is detestable to the Lord,
    but he loves those who ardently pursue righteousness.

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29 The Lord is far[a] from the wicked,
but he hears[b] the prayer of the righteous.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 15:29 sn To say that the Lord is “far” from the wicked is to say that he has made himself unavailable to their appeal—he does not answer them. This motif is used by David throughout Ps 22 for the problem of unanswered prayer—“Why are you far off?”
  2. Proverbs 15:29 sn The verb “hear” (שָׁמַע, shamaʿ) has more of the sense of “respond to” in this context. If one “listens to the voice of the Lord,” for example, it means that he obeys the Lord. If one wishes God to “hear his prayer,” it means he wishes God to answer it.
  3. Proverbs 15:29 sn God’s response to prayer is determined by the righteousness of the one who prays. A prayer of repentance by the wicked is an exception, for by it they would become the righteous (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 316).

29 The Lord is far away from the wicked,
    but he hears the prayers of the righteous.

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17 The highway[a] of the upright is to turn away[b] from evil;
the one who guards[c] his way safeguards his life.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 16:17 sn The point of righteous living is made with the image of a highway, a raised and well-graded road (a hypocatastasis, implying a comparison between a highway and the right way of living).
  2. Proverbs 16:17 tn The form סוּר (sur) is a Qal infinitive; it indicates that a purpose of the righteous life is to turn away from evil. “Evil” here has the sense of sinful living. So the first line asserts that the well-cared-for life avoids sin.
  3. Proverbs 16:17 sn The second half of the verse uses two different words for “guard”; this one is נֹצֵר (notser) “the one who guards his way,” and the first is שֹׁמֵר (shomer) “the one who guards his life” (the order of the words is reversed in the translation). The second colon then explains further the first (synthetic parallelism), because to guard one’s way preserves life.
  4. Proverbs 16:17 tc The LXX adds three lines after 17a and one after 17b: “The paths of life turn aside from evils, and the ways of righteousness are length of life; he who receives instruction will be prosperous, and he who regards reproofs will be made wise; he who guards his ways preserves his soul, and he who loves his life will spare his mouth.”

17 The road of the upright circumvents evil,
    and whoever watches how he lives[a] preserves his life.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 16:17 Lit. watches his path

The righteous person[a] behaves in integrity;[b]
blessed are his children after him.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:7 sn Two terms describe the subject of this proverb: “righteous” and “integrity.” The first describes the person as a member of the covenant community who strives to live according to God’s standards; the second emphasizes that his lifestyle is blameless.
  2. Proverbs 20:7 tn Heb “walks in his integrity” (so NASB); cf. NIV “leads a blameless life.” The Hitpael participle of הָלַךְ (halakh) means “to walk about; to walk to and fro.” The idiom of walking representing living is intensified here in this stem. This verbal stem is used in scripture to describe people “walking with” God.
  3. Proverbs 20:7 sn The nature and the actions of parents have an effect on children (e.g., Exod 20:4-6); if the parents are righteous, the children will enjoy a blessing—the respect and the happiness which the parent reflects on them.

The righteous person lives a life of integrity;
    happy are his children who follow him!

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The violence[a] done by the wicked[b] will drag them away
because[c] they have refused to do what is right.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 21:7 tn The “violence” (שֹׁד, shod) drags away the wicked, probably either to do more sin or to their punishment. “Violence” here is either personified, or it is a metonymy of cause, meaning “the outcome of their violence” drags them away.
  2. Proverbs 21:7 tn Heb “violence of the wicked.” This is a subjective genitive: “violence which the wicked do.”
  3. Proverbs 21:7 tn The second colon of the verse is the causal clause, explaining why they are dragged away. They are not passive victims of their circumstances or their crimes. They have chosen to persist in their violence and so it destroys them.
  4. Proverbs 21:7 tn Heb “they refused to do מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat; justice). The noun may be an accusative of direct object “do justice” (so ASV) or an adverbial accusative of manner “act justly” or “act with justice” (so NASB).

Devastation caused by the wicked will drag them away
    because they refuse to do what is just.

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10 The appetite[a] of the wicked has desired[b] evil;
his neighbor is shown no favor[c] in his eyes.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 21:10 tn Heb “soul.” The Hebrew text uses נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, traditionally, “soul”) as the formal subject of the sentence—“the soul of a wicked man desires.” This term has at its core the idea of appetites, and so its use here underscores that the cravings are deep-seated (BDB 660 s.v. 5), and the translation “appetite” reflects this.
  2. Proverbs 21:10 tn The verb אִוְּתָה (ʾivvetah) is a Piel perfect. Categorically, Piel verbs are dynamic rather than stative, so the perfect form should be understood as past or perfective. In the Qal, some verbs for “desire” are stative and some dynamic; so semantically the question could be raised whether this is a rare, or lone, stative in the Piel. If stative, it could be understood as present tense, as rendered in most translations. But it is doubtful that more recent developments in linguistics and biblical Hebrew influenced any of the translations. However, as perfective we should understand that this is what they have set their desire on, and that is ongoing, so a present time relevance is appropriate. In this proverb the first colon provides the setting as a basis, and the second colon gives the result. We may understand it as “because [he/she] has desired evil, his/her neighbor will not be shown favor.”
  3. Proverbs 21:10 tn The form יֻחַן (yukhan) is a Hophal imperfect from חָנַן (khanan); it means “to be shown mercy”—here negated to mean “he will not be shown mercy.” The person who lives to satisfy his own craving for evil will not be interested in meeting the needs of others.

10 The soul of the wicked craves evil;
    he extends no mercy to his neighbor.

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18 The wicked become a ransom[a] for the righteous,
and the treacherous[b] are taken[c] in the place of the upright.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 21:18 sn The Hebrew word translated “ransom” (כֹּפֶר, kofer) normally refers to a penalty paid in place of some other punishment or the price paid to free a prisoner. But since it seems out of place to suggest that the just face a punishment that they need a ransom for, the proverb remains obscure. Similar wording is reflected in Isa 43:3-4 where God substitutes Egpyt as Judah’s “ransom” and Ethiopia and Seba “in place of” Judah. In that passage Judah is not just, but has been punished and is now being redeemed. Another application reported by R. Murphy is that punishment intended for a group may take the wicked from that group, who then serve metaphorically as a ransom for the righteous (R. Murphy, Proverbs [WBC] 161), but as Murphy points out this is an application rather than the assertion of the proverb. R. N. Whybray (Proverbs [CBC], 121) similarly suggests it may taken to mean that the wicked suffers the evil he has prepared for the righteous, which harmonizes with Proverbs elsewhere (e.g., 11:8). When Haman is taken in place of Mordecai (Esth 7:9-10) would illustrate an application where the righteous escape and the wicked suffer in their place.
  2. Proverbs 21:18 tn The verb בָּגַד (bagad), here a participle, means “to act treacherously, with duplicity, or to betray.”
  3. Proverbs 21:18 tn The phrase “are taken” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

18 The wicked are ransom for the righteous,
    and the unfaithful for the upright.

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27 The wicked person’s sacrifice[a] is an abomination;
how much more[b] when he brings it with evil intent![c]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 21:27 tn Heb “the sacrifice of the wicked” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This is a subjective genitive. The foundational clause states that ritual acts of worship brought by the wicked (thus a subjective genitive) are detestable to God. The “wicked” refers here to people who are not members of the covenant (no faith) and are not following after righteousness (no acceptable works). But often they participate in sanctuary ritual, which amounts to hypocrisy.
  2. Proverbs 21:27 sn This rhetorical device shows that if the act is abomination, the wicked heart is an even greater sin. It argues from the lesser to the greater.
  3. Proverbs 21:27 tn The noun זִמָּה (zimmah) means “plan; device; wickedness”; here it indicates that the person is coming to the ritual with “sinful purpose.” Some commentators suggest that this would mean he comes with the sacrifice as a bribe to pacify his conscience for a crime committed, over which he has little remorse or intent to cease (cf. NLT “with ulterior motives”). In this view, people in ancient Israel came to think that sacrifices could be given for any reason without genuine submission to God.

27 What the wicked person sacrifices is detestable—
    how much more when he offers it with vile motives!

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