Proverbs 14:32

The wicked will be thrown down in his trouble, ¹  but the righteous have refuge ²  even in the threat of death. ³ 

Ge 49:18; Job 13:15; Job 18:18; Job 19:25-27; Job 27:20-22; Ps 23:4; Ps 37:37; Ps 58:9; Da 5:26-30; Lu 2:29; Joh 8:21,24; Ro 9:22; 1Co 15:55-58; 2Co 1:9; 2Co 5:8; Php 1:21,23; 1Th 5:3; 2Ti 4:18; Re 14:13

¹ tn The prepositional phrase must be “in his time of trouble” (i.e., when catastrophe comes). Cf. CEV “In times of trouble the wicked are destroyed.” A wicked person has nothing to fall back on in such times.

² sn The righteous have hope in a just retribution – they have a place of safety even in death.

³ tc The LXX reads this as “in his integrity,” as if it were בְּתוּמּוֹ (bÿtumo) instead of “in his death” (בְּמוֹתוֹ, bÿmoto). The LXX is followed by some English versions (e.g., NAB “in his honesty,” NRSV “in their integrity,” and TEV “by their integrity”).

tn Heb “in his death.” The term “death” may function as a metonymy of effect for a life-threatening situation.