14:35 The king shows favor 1 to a wise 2 servant,
but his wrath falls 3 on one who acts shamefully.
12:4 A noble wife 4 is the crown 5 of her husband,
but the wife 6 who acts shamefully is like rottenness in his bones. 7
17:2 A servant who acts wisely 8 will rule
over 9 an heir 10 who behaves shamefully, 11
and will share the inheritance along with the relatives. 12
1 tn Heb “the favor of a king.” The noun “king” functions as a subjective genitive: “the king shows favor….”
2 sn The wise servant is shown favor, while the shameful servant is shown anger. Two Hiphil participles make the contrast: מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil, “wise”) and מֵבִישׁ (mevish, “one who acts shamefully”). The wise servant is a delight and enjoys the favor of the king because he is skillful and clever. The shameful one botches his duties; his indiscretions and incapacity expose the master to criticism (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 470).
3 tn Heb “is” (so KJV, ASV).
4 tn Heb “a wife of virtue”; NAB, NLT “a worthy wife.” This noble woman (אֵשֶׁת־חַיִל, ’shet-khayil) is the subject of Prov 31. She is a “virtuous woman” (cf. KJV), a capable woman of noble character. She is contrasted with the woman who is disgraceful (מְבִישָׁה, mÿvishah; “one who causes shame”) or who lowers his standing in the community.
5 sn The metaphor of the “crown” emphasizes that such a wife is a symbol of honor and glory.
6 tn Heb “she”; the referent (the wife) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 sn The simile means that the shameful acts of such a woman will eat away her husband’s strength and influence and destroy his happiness.
8 sn The setting is in the ancient world where a servant rarely advanced beyond his or her station in life. But there are notable exceptions (e.g., Gen 15:3 where the possibility is mentioned, 1 Chr 2:35 where it changed through marriage, and 2 Sam 16:1-4; 19:24-30, with the story of Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth). This proverb focuses on a servant who is wise, one who uses all his abilities effectively – a Joseph figure.
9 sn The parallelism indicates that “ruling over” and “sharing in the inheritance” means that the disgraceful son will be disinherited.
10 tn Heb “son.”
11 tn The form מֵבִישׁ (mevish) is a Hiphil participle, modifying בֵן (ben). This original heir would then be one who caused shame or disgrace to the family, probably by showing a complete lack of wisdom in the choices he made.
12 tn Heb “in the midst of the brothers”; NIV “as one of the brothers.”