2:19 None who go in to her will return, 1
nor will they reach the paths of life. 2
3:16 Long life 3 is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
3:22 So 4 they will give 5 life to you, 6
and grace to adorn 7 your neck. 8
4:13 Hold on to instruction, 9 do not let it go;
protect it, 10 because it is your life.
4:23 Guard your heart with all vigilance, 11
for from it are the sources 12 of life.
8:35 For the one who finds me finds 13 life
and receives 14 favor from the Lord.
10:16 The reward 15 which the righteous receive 16 is life;
the recompense 17 which the wicked receive 18 is judgment. 19
12:28 In the path of righteousness there is life,
but another path leads to death. 20
13:12 Hope 21 deferred 22 makes the heart sick, 23
but a longing fulfilled 24 is like 25 a tree of life.
15:31 The person 26 who hears the reproof that leads to life 27
is at home 28 among the wise. 29
19:16 The one who obeys commandments guards 30 his life;
the one who despises his ways 31 will die. 32
21:21 The one who pursues righteousness and love 33
finds life, bounty, 34 and honor.
21:23 The one who guards his mouth and his tongue 35
keeps his life 36 from troubles. 37
22:4 The reward 38 for humility 39 and fearing the Lord 40
is riches and honor and life.
29:10 Bloodthirsty people 41 hate someone with integrity; 42
as for the upright, they seek his life. 43
31:12 She brings him 44 good and not evil 45
all the days of her life.
1 tn Heb “all who go in to her will not return.”
2 sn The phrase “reach the paths of life” is a figurative expression for experiencing joy and fullness of blessing (BDB 673 s.v. נָשַׂג 2.a).
3 tn Heb “length of days” (so KJV, ASV).
4 tn Heb “and.” The vav probably denotes purpose/result.
5 tn Heb “they will be.”
6 tn Heb “your soul.” The noun נַפְשֶׁךָ (nafshekha, “your soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= inner soul) for the whole person (= you); see BDB 600 s.v. 4.a.2.
7 tn The phrase “to adorn” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.
8 tn Heb “grace for your neck.” See note on 1:9.
9 tn Heb “discipline.”
10 tn The form נִצְּרֶהָ (nitsÿreha, from נָצַר, natsar) has an anomalous doubled letter (see GKC 73 §20.h).
11 tn Heb “more than all guarding.” This idiom means “with all vigilance.” The construction uses the preposition מִן (min) to express “above; beyond,” the word “all” and the noun “prison; guard; act of guarding.” The latter is the use here (BDB 1038 s.v. מִשְׁמָר).
12 sn The word תּוֹצְאוֹת (tots’ot, from יָצָא, yatsa’) means “outgoings; extremities; sources.” It is used here for starting points, like a fountainhead, and so the translation “sources” works well.
13 tc The Kethib reads plurals: “those who find me are finders of life”; this is reflected in the LXX and Syriac. But the Qere is singular: “whoever finds me finds life.” The Qere is generally favored as the original reading in such cases as these.
14 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same nuance as the perfect tense that came before it, setting out the timeless principle.
15 tn Heb “recompense” (so NAB); NASB, NIV “wages.” The noun פְּעֻלַּה (pÿ’ullah) has a two-fold range of meanings: (1) “work; deed” and (2) “reward; recompense” (BDB 821 s.v.). There is a clear correlation between a person’s conduct and its consequences. Rewards are determined by moral choices. What one receives in life depends on the use of gifts and a righteous character.
16 tn Heb “the recompense of the righteous.”
17 tn Heb “harvest.” The term תְּבוּאַת (tÿvu’at, “harvest; yield”) is used figuratively here (hypocatastasis), drawing an implied comparison between the agricultural yield of a farmer’s labors with the consequences of the actions of the wicked. They will “reap” (= judgment) what they “sow” (= sin).
18 tn Heb “the harvest of the wicked.”
19 tn Heb “sin.” The term חַטָּאת (khatta’t, “sin”) functions as a metonymy of cause (= sin) for effect (= punishment). In contrast to the righteous who receive a reward, the wicked receive punishment for their sin (cf. NASB, NIV, NCV). See D. W. Thomas, “The Meaning of חַטָּאת in Proverbs X.16,” JTS 15 (1964): 295-96.
20 tc The consonants אל־מות (’l-mvt) are vocalized by the MT as אַל־מָוֶת (’al-mavet, “no death”), meaning: “the journey of her path is no-death” = immortality. However, many medieval Hebrew
tn Heb “no death.” This phrase may mean “immortality.” Those who enter the path of righteousness by faith and seek to live righteously are on their way to eternal life. However, M. Dahood suggests that it means permanence (“Immortality in Proverbs 12:28,” Bib 41 [1960]: 176-81).
21 sn The word “hope” (תּוֹחֶלֶת [tokhelet] from יָחַל [yakhal]) also has the implication of a tense if not anxious wait.
22 tn The verb is the Pual participle from מָשַׁךְ (mashakh,“to draw; to drag”).
23 sn Failure in realizing one’s hopes can be depressing or discouraging. People can bear frustration only so long (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 153).
24 tn Heb “a desire that comes”; cf. CEV “a wish that comes true.”
25 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.
26 tn Heb “ear” (so KJV, NRSV). The term “ear” is a synecdoche of part (= ear) for the whole (= person).
27 tn “Life” is an objective genitive: Reproof brings or preserves life. Cf. NIV “life-giving rebuke”; NLT “constructive criticism.”
28 tn Heb “lodges.” This means to live with, to be at home with.
29 sn The proverb is one full sentence; it affirms that a teachable person is among the wise.
30 tn The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) is repeated twice in this line but with two different senses, creating a polysemantic wordplay: “he who obeys/keeps (ֹֹשׁמֵר, shomer) the commandment safeguards/keeps (שֹׁמֵר, shomer) his life.”
31 sn The expression his ways could refer either (1) to the conduct of the individual himself, or (2) to the commandments as the
32 tc The Kethib is יָוְמֻת (yavmut), “will be put to death,” while the Qere reads יָמוּת (yamut, “will die”). The Qere is the preferred reading and is followed by most English versions.
33 sn These two attributes, “righteousness” (צְדָקָה, tsÿdaqah) and “loyal love” (חֶסֶד, khesed) depict the life style of the covenant-believer who is pleasing to God and a blessing to others. The first term means that he will do what is right, and the second means that he will be faithful to the covenant community.
34 sn The Hebrew term translated “bounty” is צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) again, so there is a wordplay on the term in the verse. The first use of the word had the basic meaning of “conduct that conforms to God’s standard”; this second use may be understood as a metonymy of cause, indicating the provision or reward (“bounty”) that comes from keeping righteousness (cf. NIV “prosperity”; NCV “success”). The proverb is similar to Matt 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”
35 sn “Mouth” and “tongue” are metonymies of cause, signifying what one says (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV).
36 tn This part could also be translated “keeps himself” (so NIV), for נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) often simply means “the whole person.” The participle שֹׁמֵר (shomer) is repeated from the first line in the parallelism – to guard what is said is to guard against difficulty.
37 sn The “troubles” (צָרוֹת, tsarot) here could refer to social and legal difficulties into which careless talk might bring someone (e.g., 13:3; 18:21). The word means “a strait, a bind, difficulty.” Careless and free talking could get the person into a tight spot.
38 tn The Hebrew term עֵקֶב (’eqev, “reward”) is related to the term meaning “heel”; it refers to the consequences or the reward that follows (akin to the English expression “on the heels of”).
39 tn “Humility” is used here in the religious sense of “piety”; it is appropriately joined with “the fear of the
40 tn Heb “the fear of the
41 tn Heb “men of bloods.” The Hebrew word for “blood” is written in the plural to reflect the shedding of blood. So the expression “men of bloods” means people who shed blood – murderers, bloodthirsty men, or those who would not hesitate to commit murder in order to get what they want.
42 sn The Hebrew word describes the “blameless” or “innocent” who maintain integrity. The bloodthirsty despise people who insist on decency and integrity.
43 tn Heb “and the upright seek his life.” There are two ways this second line can be taken. (1) One can see it as a continuation of the first line, meaning that the bloodthirsty men also “seek the life of the upright” (cf. NIV, NRSV). The difficulty is that the suffix is singular but the apparent referent is plural. (2) One can take it is as a contrast: “but as for the upright, they seek his life” – a fairly straightforward rendering (cf. ASV). The difficulty here is that “seeking a life” is normally a hostile act, but it would here be positive: “seeking” a life to preserve it. The verse would then say that the bloodthirsty hate the innocent, but the righteous protect them (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 637; cf. NAB, NASB, TEV).
44 tn The first word of the third line begins with ג (gimel), the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
45 sn The joining of these two words, “good” and “evil,” is frequent in the Bible; they contrast the prosperity and well-being of her contribution with what would be devastating and painful. The way of wisdom is always characterized by “good”; the way of folly is associated with “evil.”