12:10 A righteous person cares for 1 the life of his animal,
but even the most compassionate acts 2 of the wicked are cruel.
1 tn Heb “knows”; NLT “concerned for the welfare of.” The righteous take care of animals, not just people.
2 tn Heb “but the mercies.” The additional words appear in the translation for the sake of clarification. The line can be interpreted in two ways: (1) when the wicked exhibit a kind act, they do it in a cruel way, or (2) even the kindest of their acts is cruel by all assessments, e.g., stuffing animals with food to fatten them for market – their “kindness” is driven by ulterior motives (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 129).