Proverbs 30:9

30:9 lest I become satisfied and act deceptively

and say, “Who is the Lord?”

Or lest I become poor and steal

and demean the name of my God.


tn The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) means “to be disappointing; to deceive; to fail; to grow lean.” In the Piel stem it means “to deceive; to act deceptively; to cringe; to disappoint.” The idea of acting deceptively is illustrated in Hos 9:2 where it has the connotation of “disowning” or “refusing to acknowledge” (a meaning very close to its meaning here).

tn The Hebrew verb literally means “to take hold of; to seize”; this produces the idea of doing violence to the reputation of God.