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Proverbs 6:12-15
New English Translation
Proverbs 6:12-15
New English Translation
12 A worthless and wicked person[a]
walks around saying perverse things;[b] [c]
13 he winks with his eyes,
signals with his feet,
and points with his fingers;[d]
14 he plots evil with perverse thoughts[e] in his heart,
he spreads contention[f] at all times.
15 Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;
in an instant[g] he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:12 sn The terms describe one who is both worthless and wicked. Some suggest that בְּלִיַּעַל (beliyyaʿal) is a compound of the negative בְּלִי (beli) and a noun יַעַל (yaʿal, “profit; worth”). Others suggest that the root is from בַּעַל (baʿal, “lord [of goats]”) or a derivative of בָּלַע (balaʿ) with reduplication (“confusion” or “engulfing ruin”), or a proper name from Babylonian Bililu. See B. Otzen, TDOT 2:131-36; and D. W. Thomas, “בְּלִיַּעַל in the Old Testament,” Biblical and Patristic Studies in Memory of Robert Pierce Casey, 11-19. Whatever the etymology, usage shows that the word describes people who violate the law (Deut 15:9; Judg 19:22; 1 Kgs 21:10, 13; Prov 16:27; et al.) or act in a contemptuous and foolish manner against cultic observance or social institutions (1 Sam 10:27; 25:17; 30:22); cf. NRSV “a scoundrel and a villain” (NAB and NIV similar). The present instruction will focus on the devious practice of such wicked and worthless folk.
- Proverbs 6:12 tn Heb “crooked” or “twisted.” This term can refer to something that is physically twisted or crooked, or something morally perverse. Cf. NAB “crooked talk”; NRSV “crooked speech.”
- Proverbs 6:12 tn Heb “walks around with a perverse mouth.” The term “mouth” is a metonymy of cause, an organ of speech put for what is said. This is an individual who says perverted or twisted things.
- Proverbs 6:13 sn The sinister sign language and gestures of the perverse individual seem to indicate any kind of look or gesture that is put on and therefore a form of deception if not a way of making insinuations. W. McKane suggests from the presence of חֹרֵשׁ (khoresh) in v. 14 that there may be some use of magic here (Proverbs [OTL], 325).
- Proverbs 6:14 tn The noun is an adverbial accusative of manner, explaining the circumstances that inform his evil plans.
- Proverbs 6:14 tn The word “contention” is from the root דִּין (din); the noun means “strife, contention, quarrel.” The normal plural form is represented by the Qere, and the contracted form by the Kethib.
- Proverbs 6:15 tn This word is a substantive that is used here as an adverbial accusative—with suddenness, at an instant.
Proverbs 6:12-15
Common English Bible
Proverbs 6:12-15
Common English Bible
12 Worthless people and guilty people
go around with crooked talk.
13 They wink their eyes, gesture with their feet,
and point with their fingers.
14 Their hearts are corrupt and determined to do evil;
they create controversies all the time.
15 Therefore, sudden disaster will come upon them;
they will be quickly broken beyond healing.
Proverbs 10:10-11
New English Translation
Proverbs 10:10-11
New English Translation
10 The one who winks[a] his[b] eye causes[c] trouble,
and the one who speaks foolishness[d] will come to ruin.
11 The speech[e] of the righteous is a fountain of life,[f]
but the speech[g] of the wicked conceals[h] violence.[i]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 10:10 tn The participle (קָרַץ, qarats) describes a person who habitually “winks” his eye maliciously as a secretive sign to those conspiring evil (Prov 6:13). This is a comparison rather than a contrast. Devious gestures are grievous, but not as ruinous as foolish talk. Both are to be avoided.
- Proverbs 10:10 tn Heb “the eye.”
- Proverbs 10:10 tn Heb “gives.”
- Proverbs 10:10 tn Heb “the fool of lips”; cf. NASB “a babbling fool.” The phrase is a genitive of specification: “a fool in respect to lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause (= lips) for effect (= speech). The word for fool (אֶוִיל, ʾevil) refers to someone who despises knowledge and discernment.
- Proverbs 10:11 tn Heb “mouth.” The word “mouth” is metonymy of cause, representing what the righteous say and teach.
- Proverbs 10:11 tn Heb “a fountain of life is the mouth of the righteous” (NAB similar). The subject (“a fountain of life”) and the predicate (“the mouth of the righteous”) in the Hebrew text are reversed in the present translation (as in most English versions) for the sake of clarity and smoothness. The idea of this metaphor, “the fountain of life,” may come from Ps 36:9 (e.g., also Prov 13:14; 14:27; 16:22). What the righteous say is beneficial to life or life-giving. Their words are life-giving but the words of the wicked are violent. See R. B. Y. Scott, “Wise and Foolish, Righteous and Wicked,” VT 29 (1972): 145-65.
- Proverbs 10:11 tn Heb “the mouth.” The term פֶּה (peh, “mouth”) functions as a metonymy of cause for speech.
- Proverbs 10:11 tn Heb “covers.” Behind the speech of the wicked is aggressive violence (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 422).
- Proverbs 10:11 tn The syntax of this line is ambiguous. The translation takes “the mouth of the wicked” as the nominative subject and “violence” as the accusative direct object; however, the subject might be “violence,” hence: “violence covers the mouth of the wicked.”
Proverbs 10:10-11
Common English Bible
Proverbs 10:10-11
Common English Bible
10 Those who wink an eye bring trouble;
those who speak foolishly are ruined.
11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
Proverbs 11:3
New English Translation
Proverbs 11:3
New English Translation
3 The integrity of the upright guides them,[a]
but the crookedness of the treacherous[b] destroys them.[c]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 11:3 sn This contrasts two lifestyles, affirming the value of integrity. The upright live with integrity—blamelessness—and that integrity leads them in success and happiness. Those who use treachery will be destroyed by it.
- Proverbs 11:3 tn The verb בָּגַד (bagad) means “to act treacherously, with duplicity, or to betray.”
- Proverbs 11:3 tc The form is a Kethib/Qere reading. The Qere, יְשָׁדֵּם (yeshoddem), is a Qal imperfect of שָׁדַד (shadad, “to devastate”) and is supported by the versions. The syntactically difficult Kethib, וְשַׁדָּם (veshaddam), is a Qal perfect consecutive prefixed with the conjunction vav.
Proverbs 11:3
Common English Bible
Proverbs 11:3
Common English Bible
3 Integrity guides the virtuous,
but dishonesty ruins the treacherous.
Proverbs 16:30
New English Translation
Proverbs 16:30
New English Translation
30 The one who winks[a] his eyes[b] devises[c] perverse things,
and[d] one who compresses his lips[e] has accomplished[f] evil.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 16:30 tn Or “who shuts.” HALOT suggests the idiom “to screw up the eyes” (HALOT I, 866) for this hapax legomenon (word which only occurs one time). The precise gesture is not certain.
- Proverbs 16:30 sn The participle עֹצֶה (ʿotseh) describes one as shutting his eyes (cf. KJV, ASV). This could mean simply “closing the eyes,” or it could refer to “winking” (so many English versions). The proverb is saying that facial expressions often reveal if someone is plotting evil (e.g., 6:13-14).
- Proverbs 16:30 tc Heb “to devise perversity.” The Hebrew text implies a verbal element before the infinitive “[does so] to devise perversity,” while the LXX uses a finite verb, which suggests an imperfect verb.
- Proverbs 16:30 tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the synonymous parallelism.
- Proverbs 16:30 tn The participle קֹרֵץ (qorets) indicates that the person involved is pinching, compressing, or biting his lips (cf. NIV “purses his lips”).
- Proverbs 16:30 tn The verb is a Piel perfect; it means “to complete, finish, bring to an end.” A full understanding of the proverb requires certainty about what the gestures are and how they functioned in that culture. BDB classifies the use of this verb, כִּלָּה (killah), as “to accomplish in thought” meaning “to determine” something (BDB 478). The proverb appears to advise how to spot if someone is devising evil or if someone has either finished plotting evil or has finished doing evil.
Proverbs 16:30
Common English Bible
Proverbs 16:30
Common English Bible
30 Those who wink their eye plot destruction;
those who purse their lips plan evil.
Proverbs 20:14
New English Translation
Proverbs 20:14
New English Translation
14 “It’s worthless! It’s worthless!”[a] says the buyer,[b]
but when he goes on his way, he boasts.[c]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 20:14 tn Heb “[It is] bad, [it is] bad.” Since “bad” can be understood in some modern contexts as a descriptive adjective meaning “good,” the translation uses “worthless” instead—the real point of the prospective buyer’s exclamation.
- Proverbs 20:14 sn This proverb reflects standard procedure in the business world. When negotiating the transaction the buyer complains how bad the deal is for him, or how worthless the prospective purchase, but then later brags about what a good deal he got. The proverb will alert the inexperienced as to how things are done.
- Proverbs 20:14 tn The Hitpael imperfect of הָלַל (halal) means “to praise”—to talk in glowing terms, excitedly. In this stem it means “to praise oneself; to boast.”
Proverbs 20:14
Common English Bible
Proverbs 20:14
Common English Bible
14 The buyer says, “Bad, bad,”
but then goes away and brags.
Proverbs 23:6-8
New English Translation
Proverbs 23:6-8
New English Translation
6 Do not eat the food of a stingy person,[a]
do not crave his delicacies;
7 for he is[b] like someone who has calculated the cost[c] in his mind.[d]
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you;
8 you will vomit up[e] the little bit you have eaten,
and will have wasted your pleasant words.[f]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:6 tn Heb “an evil eye.” This is the opposite of the “good eye” which meant the generous man. The “evil eye” refers to a person who is out to get everything for himself (cf. NASB, NCV, CEV “selfish”). He is ill-mannered and inhospitable (e.g., Prov 28:22). He is up to no good—even though he may appear to be a host.
- Proverbs 23:7 tc The line is difficult; multiple options are possible. As vocalized, the Hebrew says “For, as he has calculated in his soul, so he is.” As it appears in the MT, the line appears to mean that the miser is the kind of person who has calculated the cost of everything in his mind as he offers the food. The LXX has: “Eating and drinking with him is as if one should swallow a hair; do not introduce him to your company nor eat bread with him.” A somewhat free rendering is common in the LXX of Proverbs, but we can infer a Hebrew text which says “For, like a hair in his throat, so he is.” The issue revolves around the letters שער (shin/sin, ʿayin, and resh). The MT reads שָׁעַר (shaʿar) “to calculate” while the LXX has read שֵׂעָר (seʿar) “hair.” The choice here affects which meaning of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) “soul, throat, breath, life, desire” that translators apply. However verbs of thinking typically relate to the mind (לֵבָב/לֵב; levav/lev, also translated “heart”) and not to the נֶפֶשׁ. The consonants could also be vocalized as שֹׁעָר (shoʿar) “something rotten [in one’s throat]” or שַׁעַר (shaʿar) “a gate [in one’s throat].” The readings taking נֶפֶשׁ to mean “throat” would picture an irritating experience. The Instruction of Amenemope uses “blocking the throat” in a similar saying (chapt. 11, 14:7 [ANET 423]). Most translations follow the MT, while the NRSV accepts the reading “hair.”
- Proverbs 23:7 tn The phrase “the cost” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the verb; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
- Proverbs 23:7 tn Heb “soul.”
- Proverbs 23:8 sn Eating and drinking with a selfish miser would be irritating and disgusting. The line is hyperbolic; the whole experience turns the stomach.
- Proverbs 23:8 tn Or “your compliments” (so NASB, NIV); cf. TEV “your flattery.”sn This is the eighth saying; it claims that it would be a mistake to accept hospitality from a stingy person. He is always thinking about the cost, his heart is not in it, and any attempt at pleasant conversation will be lost.
Proverbs 23:6-8
Common English Bible
Proverbs 23:6-8
Common English Bible
6 Don’t eat food with stingy people;
don’t long for their delicacies,
7 because they are like a hair in the throat.[a]
They say to you, “Eat and drink!”
but they don’t mean it.
8 You will eat scraps and vomit them out.
You will waste your pleasant words.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:7 LXX; Heb uncertain
Proverbs 26:23-26
New English Translation
Proverbs 26:23-26
New English Translation
23 Like a coating of glaze[a] over earthenware
are fervent[b] lips with an evil heart.[c]
24 The one who hates others disguises[d] it with his lips,
but he stores up[e] deceit within him.[f]
25 When[g] he speaks graciously,[h] do not believe him,[i]
for there are seven[j] abominations[k] within him.
26 Though his[l] hatred may be concealed[m] by deceit,
his evil will be uncovered[n] in the assembly.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 26:23 tn The traditional translation of “silver dross” (so KJV, ASV, NASB) never did make much sense because the parallel idea deals with hypocrisy—“fervent lips with an evil heart.” But silver dross would not be used over earthenware—instead it is discarded. Yet the MT clearly has “silver dross” (כֶּסֶף סִיגִים, kesef sigim). Ugaritic turned up a word spsg which means “glaze,” and this found a parallel in Hittite zapzaga[y]a. H. L. Ginsberg repointed the Hebrew text to k’sapsagim, “like glaze,” and this has been adopted by many commentators and recent English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The final ם (mem) is then classified as enclitic. See, among others, K. L. Barker, “The Value of Ugaritic for Old Testament Studies,” BSac 133 (1976): 128-29.
- Proverbs 26:23 tn The word translated “fervent” actually means “burning, glowing”; the LXX has “flattering lips” (as if from חָלַק [khalaq] rather than דָּלַק [dalaq]).
- Proverbs 26:23 sn The analogy fits the second line very well. Glaze makes a vessel look beautiful and certainly different from the clay that it actually is. So is one who has evil intent (“heart”) but covers it with glowing speech.
- Proverbs 26:24 tn The Niphal imperfect from נָכַר (nakhar) means “to act [or, treat] as a foreigner [or, stranger]; to misconstrue; to disguise.” The direct object (“it”) is not present in the Hebrew text but is implied. In this passage it means that the hater speaks what is “foreign” to his thought; in other words, he dissembles.
- Proverbs 26:24 tn Or “places; puts; lays up” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB).
- Proverbs 26:24 tn Heb “within him” (so KJV, ASV) or “in his midst”; NAB “in his inmost being.” sn Hypocritical words may hide a wicked heart. The proverb makes an observation: One who in reality despises other people will often disguise that with what he says.
- Proverbs 26:25 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is here interpreted with a temporal nuance. It is also possible that it could be read as concessive (so NIV, NLT “Though”).
- Proverbs 26:25 tn The meaning of the rare Piel form of חָנַן (khanan) is “to make gracious; to make favorable.” The subject is קוֹלוֹ (qolo, “his voice”), a metonymy of cause for what he says. The idea is that what he says is very gracious in its content and its effect.
- Proverbs 26:25 sn It may be that the placing of this proverb in this setting is designed to point out that the person speaking graciously is this wicked person who conceals an evil heart. Otherwise it may have in mind a person who has already proven untrustworthy but protests in order to conceal his plans. But even if that were not the connection, the proverb would still warn the disciple not to believe someone just because it sounded wonderful. It will take great discernment to know if there is sincerity behind the person’s words.
- Proverbs 26:25 sn The number “seven” is used in scripture as the complete number. In this passage it is not intended to be literally seven; rather, the expression means that there is complete or total abomination in his heart. Cf. TEV “his heart is filled to the brim with hate.”
- Proverbs 26:25 sn “Abomination” means something that is loathed. This is a description applied by the writer, for the hypocritical person would not refer to his plans this way.
- Proverbs 26:26 tn The referent is apparently the individual of vv. 24-25.
- Proverbs 26:26 tn The form תִּכַּסֶּה (tikkasseh) is the Hitpael imperfect (with assimilation); it is probably passive, meaning “is concealed,” although it could mean “conceals itself” (naturally). Since the proverb uses antithetical parallelism, an imperfect tense nuance of possibility (“may be concealed”) works well here (cf. NIV, NLT).
- Proverbs 26:26 sn The Hebrew verb means “to uncover,” here in the sense of “to reveal; to make known; to expose.” The verse is promising that the evil the person has done will be exposed publicly. The common belief that righteousness will ultimately triumph informs this saying.
Proverbs 26:23-26
Common English Bible
Proverbs 26:23-26
Common English Bible
23 Smooth[a] lips and an evil heart
are like silver coating on clay.
24 Hateful people mislead with their lips,
keeping their deception within.
25 Though they speak graciously, don’t believe them,
for seven horrible things are in their heart.
26 They may cover their hatred with trickery,
but their evil will be revealed in public.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 26:23 LXX; Heb uncertain
New English Translation (NET)
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