11:18 The wicked person 1 earns 2 deceitful wages, 3
but the one who sows 4 righteousness reaps 5 a genuine 6 reward. 7
11:24 One person is generous 8 and yet grows more wealthy, 9
but another withholds more than he should 10 and comes to poverty. 11
1 tn The form is the masculine singular adjective used as a substantive.
2 tn Heb “makes” (so NAB).
3 tn Heb “wages of deception.”
sn Whatever recompense or reward the wicked receive will not last, hence, it is deceptive (R. B. Y. Scott, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes [AB], 88).
4 sn The participle “sowing” provides an implied comparison (the figure is known as hypocatastasis) with the point of practicing righteousness and inspiring others to do the same. What is sown will yield fruit (1 Cor 9:11; 2 Cor 9:6; Jas 3:18).
5 tn The term “reaps” does not appear in the Hebrew but has been supplied in the translation from context for the sake of smoothness.
6 tn Heb “true” (so NASB, NRSV); KJV, NAB, NIV “sure.”
7 sn A wordplay (paronomasia) occurs between “deceptive” (שָׁקֶר, shaqer) and “reward” (שֶׂכֶר, sekher), underscoring the contrast by the repetition of sounds. The wages of the wicked are deceptive; the reward of the righteous is sure.
8 tn Heb “There is one who scatters.” The participle מְפַזֵּר (mÿfazzer, “one who scatters”) refers to charity rather than farming or investments (and is thus a hypocatastasis). Cf. CEV “become rich by being generous”).
9 tn Heb “increases.” The verb means that he grows even more wealthy. This is a paradox: Generosity determines prosperity in God’s economy.
10 tn Heb “more than what is right.” This one is not giving enough, but saving for himself.
11 tn Heb “comes to lack.” The person who withholds will come to the diminishing of his wealth. The verse uses hyperbole to teach that giving to charity does not make anyone poor, and neither does refusal to give ensure prosperity.