Proverbs 13:12

Hope ¹  deferred ²  makes the heart sick, ³  but a longing fulfilled ⁴  is like ⁵  a tree of life.

Ge 21:6,7; Ge 46:30; 1Sa 1:26-28; Ps 17:15; Ps 40:2,3; Ps 42:1-3; Ps 69:3; Ps 119:81-83; Ps 143:7; Pr 3:18; Pr 11:30; Pr 13:19; So 5:8; Lu 2:29,30; Joh 16:22; Re 22:2

¹ sn The word “hope” (תּוֹחֶלֶת [tokhelet] from יָחַל [yakhal]) also has the implication of a tense if not anxious wait.

² tn The verb is the Pual participle from מָשַׁךְ (mashakh,“to draw; to drag”).

³ sn Failure in realizing one’s hopes can be depressing or discouraging. People can bear frustration only so long (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 153).

⁴ tn Heb “a desire that comes”; cf. CEV “a wish that comes true.”

⁵ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.