1:26 so 1 I myself will laugh 2 when disaster strikes you, 3
I will mock when what you dread 4 comes,
17:18 The one who lacks wisdom 5 strikes hands in pledge, 6
and puts up financial security 7 for his neighbor. 8
1 tn The conclusion or apodosis is now introduced.
2 sn Laughing at the consequences of the fool’s rejection of wisdom does convey hardness against the fool; it reveals the folly of rejecting wisdom (e.g., Ps 2:4). It vindicates wisdom and the appropriateness of the disaster (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 60).
3 tn Heb “at your disaster.” The 2nd person masculine singular suffix is either (1) a genitive of worth: “the disaster due you” or (2) an objective genitive: “disaster strikes you.” The term “disaster” (אֵיד, ’ed) often refers to final life-ending calamity (Prov 6:15; 24:22; BDB 15 s.v. 3). The preposition ב (bet) focuses upon time here.
4 tn Heb “your dread” (so NASB); KJV “your fear”; NRSV “panic.” The 2nd person masculine singular suffix is a subjective genitive: “that which you dread.”
5 tn Heb “heart”; KJV, ASV “a man void of understanding”; NIV “a man lacking in judgment.”
6 tn The phrase “in pledge” is supplied for the sake of clarification.
7 tn The line uses the participle עֹרֵב (’orev) with its cognate accusative עֲרֻבָּה (’arubah), “who pledges a pledge.”
8 sn It is foolish to pledge security for someone’s loans (e.g., Prov 6:1-5).