3:28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go! Return tomorrow
and I will give it,” when 1 you have it with you at the time. 2
20:4 The sluggard will not plow 3 during the planting season, 4
so at harvest time he looks 5 for the crop 6 but has nothing.
25:13 Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest, 7
so is a faithful messenger to those who send him,
for he refreshes the heart 8 of his masters.
25:19 Like a bad tooth or a foot out of joint, 9
so is confidence 10 in an unfaithful person at the time of trouble. 11
1 tn Heb “and it is with you.” The prefixed vav introduces a circumstantial clause: “when …”
2 tn The words “at the time” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
3 sn The act of plowing is put for the whole process of planting a crop.
4 tn Heb “in the autumn”; ASV “by reason of the winter.” The noun means “autumn, harvest time.” The right time for planting was after the harvest and the rainy season of autumn and winter began.
5 tn The Piel of the verb שָׁאַל (sha’al, “to ask”) means “to beg” or “to inquire carefully.” At the harvest time he looks for produce but there is none. The Piel might suggest, however, that because he did not plant, or did not do it at the right time, he is reduced to begging and will have nothing (cf. KJV, ASV; NASB “he begs during the harvest”).
6 tn The phrase “for the crop” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
7 sn The emblem in the parallelism of this verse is the simile of the first line. Because snow at the time of harvest would be rare, and probably unwelcome, various commentators have sought to explain this expression. R. N. Whybray suggests it may refer to snow brought down from the mountains and kept cool in an ice hole (Proverbs [CBC], 148); this seems rather forced. J. H. Greenstone following Rashi, a Jewish scholar who lived
8 tn Heb “he restores the life [or, soul] of his masters.” The idea suggests that someone who sends the messenger either entrusts his life to him or relies on the messenger to resolve some concern. A faithful messenger restores his master’s spirit and so is “refreshing.”
9 sn The similes in this emblematic parallelism focus on things that are incapable of performing certain activities – they are either too painful to use or are ineffective.
10 tn Since there is no preposition to clarify the construction, there are two ways to take the term מִבְטָח (mivtakh, “confidence”) in the context. It can either refer (1) to reliance on an unfaithful person, or it can refer (2) to that on which the unfaithful person relies. C. H. Toy argues for the second, that what the faithless person relies on will fail him in the time of trouble (Proverbs [ICC], 466). This view requires a slight change in the MT to make “confidence” a construct noun (i.e., the confidence of the faithless); the first view, which fits better the MT as it stands, says that “confidence [in] a faithless person” is like relying on a decaying tooth or a lame foot. This is the view preferred in most English versions, including the present one.
11 tn Heb “in the day of trouble”; KJV, NASB “in time of trouble.”