6:18 a heart that devises wicked plans, 1
feet that are swift to run 2 to evil,
12:5 The plans 3 of the righteous are just;
the counsels of the wicked are deceitful. 4
15:22 Plans fail 5 when there is no counsel,
but with abundant advisers they are established. 6
15:26 The Lord abhors 7 the plans 8 of the wicked, 9
but pleasant words 10 are pure. 11
16:3 Commit 12 your works 13 to the Lord,
and your plans will be established. 14
16:9 A person 15 plans his course, 16
but the Lord directs 17 his steps. 18
24:8 The one who plans to do evil
will be called a scheming person. 19
1 tn Heb “heart that devises plans of wickedness.” The latter term is an attributive genitive. The heart (metonymy of subject) represents the will; here it plots evil schemes. The heart is capable of evil schemes (Gen 6:5); the heart that does this is deceitful (Prov 12:20; 14:22).
2 tc The MT reads “make haste to run,” that is, be eager to seize the opportunity. The LXX omits “run,” that is, feet hastening to do evil. It must have appeared to the LXX translator that the verb was unnecessary; only one verb occurs in the other cola.
sn The word “feet” is here a synecdoche, a part for the whole. Being the instruments of movement, they represent the swift and eager actions of the whole person to do some harm.
3 tn Heb “thoughts.” This term refers not just to random thoughts, however, but to what is planned or devised.
4 sn The plans of good people are directed toward what is right. Advice from the wicked, however, is deceitful and can only lead to trouble.
5 tn Heb “go wrong” (so NRSV, NLT). The verb is the Hiphil infinitive absolute from פָּרַר, parar, which means “to break; to frustrate; to go wrong” (HALOT 975 s.v. I פרר 2). The plans are made ineffectual or are frustrated when there is insufficient counsel.
6 sn The proverb says essentially the same thing as 11:14, but differently.
7 tn Heb “an abomination of the
8 tn The noun מַחְשְׁבוֹת (makhshÿvot) means “thoughts” (so KJV, NIV, NLT), from the verb חָשַׁב (khashav, “to think; to reckon; to devise”). So these are intentions, what is being planned (cf. NAB “schemes”).
9 tn The word רַע (“evil; wicked”) is a genitive of source or subjective genitive, meaning the plans that the wicked devise – “wicked plans.”
10 sn The contrast is between the “thoughts” and the “words.” The thoughts that are designed to hurt people the
11 tc The MT simply has “but pleasant words are pure” (Heb “but pure [plural] are the words of pleasantness”). Some English versions add “to him” to make the connection to the first part (cf. NAB, NIV). The LXX has: “the sayings of the pure are held in honor.” The Vulgate has: “pure speech will be confirmed by him as very beautiful.” The NIV has paraphrased here: “but those of the pure are pleasing to him.”
12 tc The MT reads גֹּל (gol, “commit”) from the root גָּלַל (galal, “to roll”). The LXX and Tg. Prov 16:3 have “reveal” as if the root were גָּלָה (galah, “to reveal”).
tn Heb “roll.” The verb גֹּל (“to commit”) is from the root גָּלַל (“to roll”). The figure of rolling (an implied comparison or hypocatastasis), as in rolling one’s burdens on the
13 tn The suffix on the plural noun would be a subjective genitive: “the works you are doing,” or here, “the works that you want to do.”
14 tn The syntax of the second clause shows that there is subordination: The vav on וְיִכֹּנוּ (vÿyikonu) coming after the imperative of the first clause expresses that this clause is the purpose or result. People should commit their works in order that the
15 tn Heb “the heart of a man.” This stresses that it is within the heart that plans are made. Only those plans that are approved by God will succeed.
16 tn Heb “his way” (so KJV, NASB).
17 tn The verb כּוּן (kun, “to establish; to confirm”) with צַעַד (tsa’ad, “step”) means “to direct” (e.g., Ps 119:133; Jer 10:23). This contrasts what people plan and what actually happens – God determines the latter.
18 sn “Steps” is an implied comparison, along with “way,” to indicate the events of the plan as they work out.
19 tn Heb “possessor of schemes”; NAB “an intriguer.” The picture of the wicked person is graphic: He devises plans to do evil and is known as a schemer. Elsewhere the “schemes” are outrageous and lewd (e.g., Lev 18:7; Judg 20:6). Here the description portrays him as a cold, calculating, active person: “the fool is capable of intense mental activity but it adds up to sin” (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 399).