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29 Do not plot[a] evil against your neighbor
when[b] he dwells by you unsuspectingly.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 3:29 sn The verb חָרַשׁ (kharash) means “to cut in; to engrave; to plough; to devise.” The idea of plotting is metaphorical for working, practicing or fabricating (BDB 360 s.v.).
  2. Proverbs 3:29 tn Heb “And he dwells trustingly (or securely) with you.” The vav (ו) prefixed to the pronoun introduces a circumstantial clause which further defines the neighbor.

29 Don’t ·make plans to hurt [intend evil toward] your neighbor
    who lives nearby and trusts you.

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Admonitions and Warnings against Dangerous and Destructive Acts[a]

My child,[b] if you have made a pledge[c] for your neighbor,[d]
if[e] you have become a guarantor[f] for a stranger,[g]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:1 sn The chapter advises release from foolish indebtedness (1-5), admonishes avoiding laziness (6-11), warns of the danger of poverty (9-11) and deviousness (12-15), lists conduct that the Lord hates (16-19), and warns about immorality (20-35).
  2. Proverbs 6:1 tn Heb “my son” (likewise in vv. 3, 20).
  3. Proverbs 6:1 sn It was fairly common for people to put up some kind of financial security for someone else, that is, to underwrite another’s debts. But the pledge in view here was foolish because the debtor was someone who was not well known (זָר, zar). The one who pledged security for this one was simply gullible.
  4. Proverbs 6:1 tn A neighbor (רֵעַ, reaʿ) does not mean a person who lives next door or on your block, but someone whom you are brought into contact with, or live or work with, because of life’s circumstances. Since this person is also called a stranger (זָר, zar) at the end of the verse, “neighbor” should be understood in the broadest sense of a social contact.
  5. Proverbs 6:1 tn The conjunction “if” does not appear in the Hebrew text. It applies from the previous line and is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.
  6. Proverbs 6:1 tn Heb “struck your hands”; NIV “have struck hands in pledge”; NASB “have given a pledge.” The guarantee of a pledge was signaled by a handshake (e.g., 11:15; 17:18; 22:26).
  7. Proverbs 6:1 tn Heb “stranger.” The term זָר (zar, “stranger”) can refer to a stranger who is outside the family, a non-Israelite foreigner, or an unauthorized or prohibited person (like the strange/prohibited woman in Prov 2:16 and 5:3). The person is either not well known or off-limits and represents a high financial risk and/or an undesirable association.

Dangers of Being Foolish

My ·child [L son], ·be careful about giving [L if you make] a guarantee for ·somebody else’s loan [L your neighbor/friend],
    ·about promising to pay what someone else owes [L shaking hands with a stranger in agreement; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26; 27:13].

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then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself,[a]
because you have fallen into your neighbor’s power:[b]
Go, humble yourself,[c]
and appeal firmly to[d] your neighbor.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:3 tn The syntactical construction of imperative followed by an imperative with vav consecutive denotes purpose: “in order to be delivered.” The verb means “to deliver oneself, be delivered” in the Niphal. The image is one of being snatched or plucked quickly out of some danger or trouble, in the sense of a rescue, as in a “brand snatched [Hophal stem] from the fire” (Zech 3:2).
  2. Proverbs 6:3 tn Heb “have come into the hand of your neighbor” (so NASB; cf. KJV, ASV). The idiom using the “hand” means that the individual has come under the control or the power of someone else. This particular word for hand is used to play ironically on its first occurrence in v. 1.
  3. Proverbs 6:3 tn In the Hitpael the verb רָפַס (rafas) means “to stamp oneself down” or “to humble oneself” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV). BDB 952 s.v. Hithp suggests “become a suppliant.” G. R. Driver related it to the Akkadian cognate rapasu, “trample,” and interpreted as trampling oneself, swallowing pride, being unremitting in effort (“Some Hebrew Verbs, Nouns, and Pronouns,” JTS 30 [1929]: 374).
  4. Proverbs 6:3 tn Heb “be bold.” The verb רָהַב (rahav) means “to act stormily; to act boisterously; to act arrogantly.” The idea here is a strong one: storm against (beset, importune) your neighbor. The meaning is that he should be bold and not take no for an answer. Cf. NIV “press your plea”; TEV “beg him to release you.”

My ·child [L son], if you have done this and are under your ·neighbor’s [or friend’s] control,
    here is how to ·get free [extricate yourself].
·Don’t be proud [L Humble yourself]. Go to your ·neighbor [or friend]
    and ·beg to be free from your promise [L press/urge your neighbor/friend].

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29 A violent person[a] entices[b] his neighbor,
and then leads him down a path that is terrible.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 16:29 tn Heb “man of violence.” He influences his friends toward violence. The term חָמָס (khamas, “violence”) often refers to sins against society, social injustices, and crimes.
  2. Proverbs 16:29 tn Or “will entice.” The verb in the first colon is an imperfect, and the form in the second is a vav plus perfect consecutive. The imperfect verb may be either present or future and implies customary or habitual behavior. The perfect consecutive continues the habitual force of the first verb. The first verb, “to persuade, seduce, entice,” is the metonymy of cause; the second verb, “to lead,” is the metonymy of effect, the two together forming the whole process.
  3. Proverbs 16:29 tn Heb “not good” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “a harmful path.” The expression “a way that is not good” is an example of tapeinosis—a deliberate understatement for the sake of emphasis: It is terrible. This refers to crime and violence. The understatement is used to warn people away from villains and to remind them to follow a good path.

29 ·Cruel [Violent] people ·trick [entice] their neighbors
and ·lead them to do wrong [L make them walk on a path that is not good].

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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 Evil people ·only want [desire] to harm others.
Their neighbors get no ·mercy [favor; grace] from them.

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17 Don’t set foot too frequently[a] in your neighbor’s house,
lest he become weary[b] of you and hate you.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 25:17 tn Heb “make your foot rare.” The verb is הֹקַר (hoqar), the Hiphil imperative of יָקַר (yaqar, “to be rare; to be precious”). To “make one’s foot rare” would mean to keep the visits to a minimum as well as making them valuable—things increase in value, according to the nuances of this word, when they are rare.
  2. Proverbs 25:17 tn Heb “gets full.” This verb means “to be sated; to be satisfied; to be filled.” It is often used with reference to food, but here it refers to frequent visits that wear out one’s welcome (cf. NLT).

17 ·Don’t go to your neighbor’s house too often [L Rarely let your feet step into your neighbor’s house];
    ·too much of you will make him [L they will have their fill of you and] hate you.

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10 Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend,
and do not enter your brother’s house in the day of your disaster;
a neighbor nearby is better than a brother far away.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 27:10 sn The meaning of the verse is very difficult, although the translation is rather straightforward. It may simply be saying that people should retain family relationships but will discover that a friend who is available is better than a relative who is not. But C. H. Toy thinks that the verse is made up of three lines that have no connection: 10a instructs people to maintain relationships, 10b says not to go to a brother’s house [only?] when disaster strikes, and 10c observes that a nearby friend is better than a far-away relative. C. H. Toy suggests a connection may have been there, but has been lost (Proverbs [ICC], 485-86). The conflict between 17:17 and 10b may be another example of presenting two sides of the issue, a fairly frequent occurrence in the book of Proverbs.

10 Don’t ·forget [abandon] your friend or your parent’s friend.
    Don’t always go to your ·family for help [brother] when trouble comes.
A neighbor close by is better than a ·family [brother] far away.

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14 If someone blesses[a] his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning,[b]
it will be counted as a curse to him.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 27:14 tn The verse begins with the Piel participle from בָּרַךְ (barakh). It could be taken as the subject, with the resulting translation: “Blessing…will be counted as a curse.” However, that would be rather awkward. So it is preferable to take the first line as the condition (“if someone blesses”) and the second as the consequence (“[then] it will be counted”).
  2. Proverbs 27:14 tn Heb “rising early in the morning” (so KJV, ASV). The infinitive explains the verb “bless,” giving the circumstances of its action. The individual rises early to give his blessing.
  3. Proverbs 27:14 sn The point of the proverb is that loud and untimely greetings are not appreciated. What was given as a “blessing” will be considered a “curse”—the two words being antonyms. The proverb makes the point that how, when, and why they say what they say is important too (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 166).

14 If you loudly ·greet [bless] your neighbor early in the morning,
he will think of it as a curse.

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