Proverbs 6:30-31
New English Translation
30 People[a] do not despise a thief when he steals
to fulfill his need[b] when he is hungry.
31 Yet[c] if he is caught[d] he must repay[e] seven times over,
he might even have to give[f] all the wealth of his house.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:30 tn Heb “they do not despise.”
- Proverbs 6:30 tn Heb “himself” or “his life.” Since the word נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, traditionally “soul”) refers to the whole person, body and soul, and since it has a basic idea of the bundle of appetites that make up a person, the use here for satisfying his hunger is appropriate.
- Proverbs 6:31 tn The term “yet” is supplied in the translation.
- Proverbs 6:31 tn Heb “is found out.” The perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive may continue or advance from a previous verb’s framework. Here it advances from “steals” in 6:30 and serves as the condition for the following imperfect verb.
- Proverbs 6:31 tn The imperfect tense has an obligatory nuance. The verb in the Piel means “to repay; to make restitution; to recompense”; cf. NCV, TEV, CEV “must pay back.”
- Proverbs 6:31 tn This final clause in the section is somewhat cryptic. The guilty thief must pay back sevenfold what he stole, even if it means he must use the substance of his whole house. The verb functions as an imperfect of possibility: “he might even give.”
Proverbs 6:30-31
English Standard Version
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to (A)satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
31 but (B)if he is caught, he will pay (C)sevenfold;
he will give all the goods of his house.
Proverbs 22:22
New English Translation
Footnotes
- Proverbs 22:22 tn Two negated jussives form the instruction here: אַל־תִּגְזָל (ʾal tigzal, “do not exploit”) and וְאַל־תְּדַכֵּא (veʾal tedakkeʾ, “do not crush”). sn Robbing or oppressing the poor is easy because they are defenseless. But this makes the crime tempting as well as contemptible. What is envisioned may be in bounds legally (just) but out of bounds morally.
- Proverbs 22:22 tn Heb “in the gate” (so KJV); NAB, NASB, NRSV “at the gate.” The “gate” of the city was the center of activity, the place of business as well as the place for settling legal disputes. The language of the next verse suggests a legal setting, so “court” is an appropriate translation here.
Proverbs 22:22
English Standard Version
Proverbs 28:24
New English Translation
24 The one who robs[a] his father and mother and says, “There is no transgression,”
is a companion[b] to the one[c] who destroys.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 28:24 sn While the expression is general enough to cover any kind of robbery, the point seems to be that because it can be rationalized it may refer to prematurely trying to gain control of the family property through some form of pressure and in the process reducing the parents’ possessions and standing in the community. The culprit could claim what he does is not wrong because the estate would be his anyway.
- Proverbs 28:24 sn The metaphor of “companion” here means that a person who would do this is just like the criminally destructive person. It is as if they were working together, for the results are the same.
- Proverbs 28:24 tn Heb “man who destroys” (so NASB); TEV “no better than a common thief.”
Proverbs 28:24
English Standard Version
24 Whoever robs his father or his mother
and says, “That is no transgression,”
is (A)a companion to a man who destroys.
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
English Standard Version
Proverbs 30:7-9
New English Translation
7 Two things[a] I have asked from you;[b]
do not refuse me before I die:
8 Remove falsehood and lies[c] far from me;
do not give me poverty or riches,
feed me with my allotted portion[d] of bread,[e]
9 lest I become satisfied and act deceptively[f]
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or lest I become poor and steal
and demean[g] the name of my God.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 30:7 sn Wisdom literature often groups things in twos and fours, or in other numerical arrangements (e.g., Amos 1:3-2:6; Job 5:19; Prov 6:16-19).
- Proverbs 30:7 tn Assuming that the contents of vv. 7-9 are a prayer, several English versions have supplied a vocative phrase: “O Lord” (NIV); “O God” (NLT); others have supplied a similar phrase without the vocative “O”: NCV, CEV “Lord”; TEV “God.”
- Proverbs 30:8 tn The two words might form a hendiadys: “falsehood and lies” being equivalent to “complete deception.” The word שָׁוְא (shavʾ) means “false; empty; vain; to a false purpose.” The second word means “word of lying,” thus “a lying word.” Taken separately they might refer to false intentions and false words.
- Proverbs 30:8 tn The word חֹק (khoq) means “statute”; it is also used of a definite assignment in labor (Exod 5:14; Prov 31:15), or of a set portion of food (Gen 47:22). Here it refers to food that is the proper proportion for the speaker.
- Proverbs 30:8 sn Agur requested an honest life (not deceitful) and a balanced life (not self-sufficient). The second request about his provision is clarified in v. 9.
- Proverbs 30:9 tn The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) means “to be disappointing; to deceive; to fail; to grow lean.” In the Piel stem it means “to deceive; to act deceptively; to cringe; to disappoint.” The idea of acting deceptively is illustrated in Hos 9:2 where it has the connotation of “disowning” or “refusing to acknowledge” (a meaning very close to its meaning here).
- Proverbs 30:9 tn The Hebrew verb literally means “to take hold of; to seize”; this produces the idea of doing violence to the reputation of God.
Proverbs 30:7-9
English Standard Version
7 Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me (A)before I die:
8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is (B)needful for me,
9 lest I be (C)full and (D)deny you
and say, (E)“Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
(F)and profane the name of my God.
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