Proverbs 20:17
Context| NETBible | Bread gained by deceit 1 tastes sweet to a person, 2 but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel. 3 |
| XREF | Ge 3:6,7; Job 20:12-20; Pr 4:17; Pr 9:17,18; Ec 11:9; La 3:15,16; Heb 11:25 |
| NET © Notes |
1 tn Heb “bread of deceit” (so KJV, NAB). This refers to food gained through dishonest means. The term “bread” is a synecdoche of specific for general, referring to anything obtained by fraud, including food. 2 tn Heb “a man.” 3 sn The image of food and eating is carried throughout the proverb. Food taken by fraud seems sweet at first, but afterward it is not. To end up with a mouth full of gravel (a mass of small particles; e.g., Job 20:14-15; Lam 3:16) implies by comparison that what has been taken by fraud will be worthless and useless and certainly in the way (like food turning into sand and dirt). |
