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Proverbs 15:11
New English Translation

11 Death and Destruction[a] are before the Lord—
how much more[b] the hearts of humans![c]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 15:11 tn Heb “Sheol and Abaddon” (שְׁאוֹל וַאֲבַדּוֹן (sheʾol vaʾavaddon); so ASV, NASB, NRSV; cf. KJV “Hell and destruction”; NAB “the nether world and the abyss.” These terms represent the remote underworld and all the mighty powers that reside there (e.g., Prov 27:20; Job 26:6; Ps 139:8; Amos 9:2; Rev 9:11). The Lord knows everything about this remote region.
  2. Proverbs 15:11 tn The construction אַף כִּי (ʾaf ki, “how much more!”) introduces an argument from the lesser to the greater: If all this is open before the Lord, how much more so human hearts. “Hearts” here is a metonymy of subject, meaning the motives and thoughts (cf. NCV “the thoughts of the living”).
  3. Proverbs 15:11 tn Heb “the hearts of the sons of man,” although here “sons of man” simply means “men” or “human beings.”
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Proverbs 15:11
Common English Bible

11 The grave[a] and the underworld[b] lie open before the Lord;
    how much more the hearts of human beings!

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 15:11 Heb Sheol
  2. Proverbs 15:11 Heb Abaddon
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Proverbs 14
Proverbs 16
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Proverbs 16:2
New English Translation

2 All a person’s ways[a] seem right[b] in his own opinion,[c]
but the Lord evaluates[d] the motives.[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 16:2 tn Heb “ways of a man.”
  2. Proverbs 16:2 sn The Hebrew term translated “right” (זַךְ, zakh) means “pure, clear, clean” (cf. KJV, NASB “clean;” NIV “innocent;” ESV, NKJV, NLT, NRSV “pure.” It is used in the Bible for pure (uncontaminated) oils or undiluted liquids. Here it means uncontaminated actions and motives. It address how people naively conclude or rationalize that their actions are fine.
  3. Proverbs 16:2 tn Heb “in his eyes.” Physical sight is used figuratively for insight, or one’s intellectual point of view.
  4. Proverbs 16:2 tn The figure (a hypocatastasis) of “weighing” signifies “evaluation” (e.g., Exod 5:8; 1 Sam 2:3; 16:7; Prov 21:2; 24:12). There may be an allusion to the Egyptian belief of weighing the heart after death to determine righteousness. But in Hebrew thought it is an ongoing evaluation as well, not merely an evaluation after death.
  5. Proverbs 16:2 tn Heb “spirits” (so KJV, ASV). This is a metonymy for the motives, the intentions of the heart (e.g., 21:2 and 24:2). sn Humans deceive themselves rather easily and so appear righteous in their own eyes, but the proverb says that God evaluates motives and so he alone can determine if the person’s ways are innocent.
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Proverbs 16:2
Common English Bible

2 All the ways of people
are pure in their eyes,
    but the Lord tests the motives.

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Proverbs 15
Proverbs 17
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Proverbs 17:3
New English Translation

3 The crucible[a] is for refining[b] silver and the furnace[c] is for gold,
likewise[d] the Lord tests[e] hearts.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:3 sn The noun מַצְרֵף (matsref) means “a place or instrument for refining” (cf. ASV, NASB “the refining pot”). The related verb, which means “to melt, refine, smelt,” is used in scripture literally for refining and figuratively for the Lord’s purifying and cleansing and testing people.
  2. Proverbs 17:3 tn The term “refining” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
  3. Proverbs 17:3 sn The term כּוּר (kur) describes a “furnace” or “smelting pot.” It can be used figuratively for the beneficial side of affliction (Isa 48:10).
  4. Proverbs 17:3 tn Heb “and.” Most English versions treat this as an adversative (“but”).
  5. Proverbs 17:3 sn The participle בֹּחֵן (bokhen, “tests”) in this emblematic parallelism takes on the connotations of the crucible and the furnace. When the Lord “tests” human hearts, the test, whatever form it takes, is designed to improve the value of the one being tested. Evil and folly will be removed when such testing takes place.
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Proverbs 17:3
Common English Bible

3 A crucible is for silver and a furnace for gold,
    but the Lord tests the heart.

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Proverbs 16
Proverbs 18
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Proverbs 20:11
New English Translation

11 Even a young man[a] is known[b] by his actions,
whether his activity is pure and whether it is right.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:11 sn In the first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs the Hebrew term נַעַר (naʿar) referred to an adolescent, a young person whose character was being formed in his early life.
  2. Proverbs 20:11 sn The Hebrew verb נָכַר (nakhar) means “to recognize” more than simply “to know.” Certain character traits can be recognized in a child by what he does (cf. NCV “by their behavior”).
  3. Proverbs 20:11 sn Character is demonstrated by actions at any age. But the emphasis of the book of Proverbs would also be that if the young child begins to show such actions, then the parents must try to foster and cultivate them; if not, they must try to develop them through teaching and discipline.
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Proverbs 20:11
Common English Bible

11 Even young people are known by their actions,
    whether their conduct is pure and upright.

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Proverbs 19
Proverbs 21
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Proverbs 20:27
New English Translation

27 The human spirit[a] is like[b] the lamp[c] of the Lord,
searching all his innermost parts.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:27 sn The expression translated “the human spirit” is the Hebrew term נִשְׁמַת (nishmat), a feminine noun in construct. This is the inner spiritual part of human life that was breathed in at creation (Gen 2:7) and that constitutes humans as spiritual beings with moral, intellectual, and spiritual capacities.
  2. Proverbs 20:27 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.
  3. Proverbs 20:27 tn The “lamp” is the metaphor in the line; it signifies that the human spirit functions as a conscience, enabling people to know and please God, and directing them in choices that will be life-giving. E. Loewenstamm unnecessarily reads נִיר (nir, “to plow”) instead of נֵר (ner, “lamp”) to say that God plows and examines the soul (“Remarks on Proverbs 17:12 and 20:27, ” VT 37 [1967]: 233). The NIV supplies a verb (“searches”) from the second half of the verse, changing the emphasis somewhat.
  4. Proverbs 20:27 tn Heb “all the chambers of the belly.” This means “the inner parts of the body” (BDB 293 s.v. חֶדֶר); cf. NASB “the innermost parts of his being.”
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Proverbs 20:27
Common English Bible

27 The breath of a person is the lamp of the Lord,
    searching all the inmost parts.

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Proverbs 19
Proverbs 21
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Proverbs 21:2
New English Translation

2 All a person’s ways seem right in his own opinion,[a]
but the Lord evaluates[b] his thoughts.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 21:2 tn Heb “in his own eyes.” The term “eyes” is a metonymy for estimation, opinion, evaluation. Physical sight is used figuratively for one’s point of view intellectually.
  2. Proverbs 21:2 tn Heb “weighs” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “examines”; NCV, TEV “judges.” Weighing on scales is an act of examining and verifying weight for market purposes (2 Kgs 12:11) but can be used metaphorically for evaluating other things (e.g. the Lord weighs actions in (1 Sam 2:3).
  3. Proverbs 21:2 tn Heb “the minds.” The term לֵב (lev, “mind, heart”) is used as a metonymy of association for thoughts and motives (BDB 660-61 s.v. 6-7). sn It is easy to rationalize one’s point of view and deceive even oneself. But the Lord evaluates our thinking and motives as well (cf. Prov 16:2).
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Proverbs 21:2
Common English Bible

2 Everyone’s path is straight in their own eyes,
    but the Lord weighs the heart.

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Proverbs 20
Proverbs 22
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Proverbs 27:19
New English Translation

19 As in water the face is reflected as a face,[a]
so a person’s heart[b] reflects the person.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 27:19 tn The verse is somewhat cryptic and so has prompted many readings. The first line in the MT has “As water the face to the face.” The simplest and most probable interpretation is that clear water gives a reflection of the face (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). One creative but unconvincing suggestion is that of L. Kopf, who suggests the idea is “water of face” (a construct) and that it means shame or modesty, i.e., a face is not really human without shame, and a man without a heart is not human (“Arabische Etymologien und Parallelen zum Bibelwörterbuch,” VT 9 [1959]: 260-61).
  2. Proverbs 27:19 tn The second line has “so the heart of a man to a man” (cf. KJV, ASV). The present translation (along with many English versions) supplies “reflects” as a verb in the second line to emphasize the parallelism. sn In the parallelism this statement means that a person’s heart is the true reflection of that person. It is in looking at the heart, the will, the choices, the loves, the decisions, the attitudes, that people come to self-awareness.
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Proverbs 27:19
Common English Bible

19 As water reflects the face,
    so the heart reflects one person to another.

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Proverbs 26
Proverbs 28
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