³ tn Heb “the ruin of the poor.” The term דַּלִּים (dallim, “of the poor”) functions as an objective genitive. Poverty leads to the ruin of the poor. The term “ruin” includes the shambles in which the person lives. This provides no security but only the fear of ruin. This proverb is an observation on life.

¹ tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.

¹ tn “In their ruins” is the marginal reading (Qere) of the Hebrew text.

² sn A snare would be a trap, an allurement to ruin. See Exod 23:33.

² tn The Hophal participle from שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to ruin; to destroy; to corrupt”) provides a general description—the well has been “ruined” or “corrupted” (so ASV) and is therefore unusable.

³ tn In what sense the fool “dies” is unclear. Fools ruin their lives and the lives of others by their lack of discipline and knowledge. The contrast is between enhancing life and ruining life.

² tn Heb “mound”; NAB “a heap of ruins.” The Hebrew word תֵּל (tel) refers to this day to a ruin represented especially by a built-up mound of dirt or debris (cf. Tel Aviv, “mound of grain”).

³ tn Grk “he tears.” The point is that the new garment will be ruined to repair an older, less valuable one.

⁵ tn Heb “in the day of their destruction” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); cf. NAB, NRSV “on the day of their ruin.”

⁴ sn The ruin of Joseph may refer to the societal disintegration in Israel, or to the effects of the impending judgment.

³ tn Heb “to ruin the poor with words of falsehood, even when the needy speak what is just.”

³ tn Heb “death.” This could refer to literal death, but it is probably figurative here for mortal danger or ruin.

² sn The verse makes it clear that only pain and ruin can come from deception. The statement that the lying tongue “hates those crushed by it” suggests that the sentiments of hatred help the deceiver justify what he says about people. The ruin that he brings is probably on other people, but it could also be taken to include his own ruin.

¹ tn Heb “A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it.” The threefold repetition of the noun “ruin” is for emphasis and draws attention to the degree of ruin that would take place. See IBHS 233 §12.5a and GKC 431-32 §133.k. The pronominal suffix (translated “it”) on the verb “make” is feminine in Hebrew. The probable antecedent is the “turban/crown” (both nouns are feminine in form) mentioned in verse 26. The point is that the king’s royal splendor would be completely devastated as judgment overtook his realm and brought his reign to a violent end.

² tn Heb “and I will rebuke for you the eater and it will not ruin for you the fruit of the ground.”

⁴ tn The Hebrew term שַׁמָּה (shammah) can refer to “destruction; ruin,” or to the reaction it produces in those who witness the destruction.

¹ sn The figure here shifts to that of a burned-up city whose stones cannot be used for building. Babylon will become a permanent heap of ruins.

¹ tn Heb “Indeed your ruins and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction.” This statement is abruptly terminated in the Hebrew text and left incomplete.

³ tn Heb “bad, evil.” The moral connotation hardly fits here. The adjective would seem to indicate that the net is the instrument whereby the fish come to ruin.

¹ sn The terms death and grave could be hyperbolic of a ruined life, but probably refer primarily to the mortal consequences of a life of debauchery.