Discovery BoxProverbs 6:29 
Context6:29 So it is with 1 the one who has sex with 2 his neighbor’s wife;
no one 3 who touches 4 her will escape 5 punishment. 6
Proverbs 7:22
Context7:22 Suddenly he went 7 after her
like an ox that goes to the slaughter,
like a stag prancing into a trapper’s snare 8
Proverbs 9:9
Context9:9 Give instruction 9 to a wise person, 10 and he will become wiser still;
teach 11 a righteous person and he will add to his 12 learning.
Proverbs 12:14
Context12:14 A person will be satisfied with good from the fruit of his words, 13
and the work of his hands 14 will be rendered to 15 him.
Proverbs 25:7
Context25:7 for it is better for him 16 to say to you, “Come up here,” 17
than to put you lower 18 before a prince,
whom your eyes have seen. 19
1 tn Heb “thus is the one.”
2 tn Heb “who goes in to” (so NAB, NASB). The Hebrew verb בּוֹא (bo’, “to go in; to enter”) is used throughout scripture as a euphemism for the act of sexual intercourse. Cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT “who sleeps with”; NCV “have sexual relations with.”
3 tn Heb “anyone who touches her will not.”
4 sn The verb “touches” is intended here to be a euphemism for illegal sexual contact (e.g., Gen 20:6).
5 tn Heb “will be exempt from”; NASB, NLT “will not go unpunished.”
6 tn The verb is יִנָּקֶה (yinnaqeh), the Niphal imperfect from נָקָה (naqah, “to be empty; to be clean”). From it we get the adjectives “clean,” “free from guilt,” “innocent.” The Niphal has the meanings (1) “to be cleaned out” (of a plundered city; e.g., Isa 3:26), (2) “to be clean; to be free from guilt; to be innocent” (Ps 19:14), (3) “to be free; to be exempt from punishment” [here], and (4) “to be free; to be exempt from obligation” (Gen 24:8).
7 tn The participle with “suddenly” gives a more vivid picture, almost as if to say “there he goes.”
8 tn The present translation follows R. B. Y. Scott (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes [AB], 64). This third colon of the verse would usually be rendered, “fetters to the chastening of a fool” (KJV, ASV, and NASB are all similar). But there is no support that עֶכֶס (’ekhes) means “fetters.” It appears in Isaiah 3:16 as “anklets.” The parallelism here suggests that some animal imagery is required. Thus the ancient versions have “as a dog to the bonds.”
9 tn The noun “instruction” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation.
10 sn The parallelism shows what Proverbs will repeatedly stress, that the wise person is the righteous person.
11 tn The Hiphil verb normally means “to cause to know, make known”; but here the context suggests “to teach” (so many English versions).
12 tn The term “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for the sake of smoothness and clarity.
13 tn Heb “fruit of the lips.” The term “fruit” is the implied comparison, meaning what is produced; and “lips” is the metonymy of cause, referring to speech. Proper speech will result in good things.
14 tn Heb “the work of the hands of a man.”
15 tc The Kethib has the Qal imperfect, “will return” to him (cf. NASB); the Qere preserves a Hiphil imperfect, “he/one will restore/render” to him (cf. KJV, ASV). The Qere seems to suggest that someone (God or people) will reward him in kind. Since there is no expressed subject, it may be translated as a passive voice.
16 tn The phrase “for him” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
17 sn This proverb, covering the two verses, is teaching that it is wiser to be promoted than to risk demotion by self-promotion. The point is clear: Trying to promote oneself could bring on public humiliation; but it would be an honor to have everyone in court hear the promotion by the king.
18 tn The two infinitives construct form the contrast in this “better” sayings; each serves as the subject of its respective clause.
19 tc Most modern commentators either omit this last line or attach it to the next verse. But it is in the text of the MT as well as the LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and most modern English versions (although some of them do connect it to the following verse, e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
