Discovery Box| (0.25) | (Pro 30:16) | 2 tn Heb “the closing of the womb,” a situation especially troubling for one who is consumed with a desire for children (e.g., Gen 16:2; 30:1). |
| (0.25) | (Pro 29:22) | 1 tn Heb “a man of anger.” Here “anger” is an attributive (“an angry man”). This expression describes one given to or characterized by anger, not merely temporarily angry. The same is true of the next description. |
| (0.25) | (Pro 28:22) | 2 sn The one who is hasty to gain wealth is involved in sin in some way, for which he will be punished by poverty. The idea of “hastening” after riches suggests a dishonest approach to acquiring wealth. |
| (0.25) | (Pro 27:9) | 2 tn Some think the MT is unintelligible as it stands: “The sweetness of his friend from the counsel of the soul.” The Latin version has “the soul is sweetened by the good counsels of a friend.” D. W. Thomas suggests, “counsels of a friend make sweet the soul” (“Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VT 15 [1965]: 275). G. R. Driver suggests, “the counsel of a friend is sweeter than one’s own advice” (literally, “more than the counsel of the soul”). He also suggests “more than of fragrant wood.” See G. R. Driver, “Hebrew Notes,” ZAW 52 (1934): 54; idem, “Suggestions and Objections,” ZAW 55 (1937): 69-70. The LXX reads “and the soul is rent by misfortunes.” The MT, for want of better or more convincing readings, may be interpreted to mean something like “[Just as] ointment and incense brings joy to the heart, [so] the sweetness of one’s friend [comes] from his sincere counsel.” |
| (0.25) | (Pro 26:23) | 3 sn The analogy fits the second line very well. Glaze makes a vessel look beautiful and certainly different from the clay that it actually is. So is one who has evil intent (“heart”) but covers it with glowing speech. |
| (0.25) | (Pro 26:9) | 4 tn The verb has been supplied from the first colon because of the convention of ellipsis and double duty (omitting a word in one line which is understood to apply from another line). |
| (0.25) | (Pro 26:7) | 5 tn The verb has been supplied from the first colon because of the convention of ellipsis and double duty (omitting a word in one line which is understood to apply from another line). |
| (0.25) | (Pro 25:16) | 2 tn The verb means “to be satisfied; to be sated; to be filled.” Here it means more than satisfied, since it describes one who overindulges and becomes sick. The English verb “stuffed” conveys this idea well. |
| (0.25) | (Pro 23:34) | 2 sn The point of these similes is to compare being drunk with being seasick. One who tries to sleep when at sea, or even worse, when up on the ropes of the mast, will be tossed back and forth. |
| (0.25) | (Pro 24:13) | 1 sn The twenty-sixth saying teaches that one should develop wisdom because it has a profitable future. The saying draws on the image of honey; its health-giving properties make a good analogy to wisdom. |
| (0.25) | (Pro 22:14) | 5 sn The proverb is saying that the Lord will use the seductive, deceptive words of the adulteress to bring about the downfall of one who is inclined to such folly. |
| (0.25) | (Pro 22:12) | 4 tn The participle בֹגֵד (voged) means “one who acts treacherously, a traitor;” cf. NASB “the treacherous man;” ESV “traitor;” NIV “unfaithful;” KJV “transgressor.” What treacherous people say is treachery, that which would distort or undermine a just cause. |
| (0.25) | (Pro 20:16) | 3 sn The one for whom the pledge is taken is called “a stranger” and “foreign.” These two words do not necessarily mean that the individual or individuals are non-Israelite—just outside the community and not well known. |
| (0.25) | (Pro 20:3) | 2 sn One cannot avoid conflict altogether, but the proverb is instructing that at the first sign of conflict the honorable thing to do is to find a way to end it. |
| (0.25) | (Pro 19:6) | 1 sn The Hebrew verb translated “entreat the favor” is often used to express prayer when God is the one whose favor is being sought; here it is the prince who can grant requests. |
| (0.25) | (Pro 17:4) | 1 tn The Hiphil participle מֵרַע (meraʿ) indicates one who is a doer of evil. The line affirms that a person of this nature will eagerly listen to evil talk—it is part of his nature. |
| (0.25) | (Pro 17:2) | 4 tn The form מֵבִישׁ (mevish) is a Hiphil participle, modifying בֵּן (ben). This original heir would then be one who caused shame or disgrace to the family, probably by showing a complete lack of wisdom in the choices he made. |
| (0.25) | (Pro 16:30) | 1 tn Or “who shuts.” HALOT suggests the idiom “to screw up the eyes” (HALOT I, 866) for this hapax legomenon (word which only occurs one time). The precise gesture is not certain. |
| (0.25) | (Pro 16:27) | 4 sn The simile stresses the devastating way that slander hurts people. W. McKane says that this one “digs for scandal and…propagates it with words which are ablaze with misanthropy” (Proverbs [OTL], 494). |
| (0.25) | (Pro 16:28) | 1 tn Heb “a man of perverse things”; NAB “an intriguer.” This refers to someone who destroys lives. The parallelism suggests that he is a “slanderer” or “gossip”—one who whispers and murmurs (18:8; 26:20, 22). |
