2 Tawarikh 24:17-18

24:17 After Jehoiada died, the officials of Judah visited the king and declared their loyalty to him. ¹  The king listened to their advice. ²  24:18 They abandoned the temple of the Lord God of their ancestors, ³  and worshiped ⁴  the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this sinful activity, God was angry with Judah and Jerusalem.

Amsal 1:10

Admonition to Avoid Easy but Unjust Riches

1:10 My child, if sinners ⁵  try to entice ⁶  you,

do not consent! ⁷ 

Amsal 12:5

12:5 The plans ⁸  of the righteous are just;

the counsels of the wicked are deceitful. ⁹ 

Amsal 13:20

13:20 The one who associates ¹⁰  with the wise grows wise,

but a companion of fools suffers harm. ¹¹ 

Amsal 19:27

19:27 If you stop listening to ¹²  instruction, my child,

you will stray ¹³  from the words of knowledge.

[24:17]  ¹ tn Heb “came and bowed down to the king.”

[24:17]  ² tn Heb “to them.”

[24:18]  ³ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 24).

[24:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “served.”

[1:10]  ⁵ tn The term חַטָּא (khatta’) is the common word for “sinner” in the OT. Because the related verb is used once of sling-shot throwers who miss the mark (Judg 20:16), the idea of sin is often explained as “missing the moral mark” (BDB 306-8 s.v.). But the term should not be restricted to the idea of a sin of ignorance or simply falling short of the moral ideal. Its meaning is more likely seen in the related Akkadian term “to revolt, rebel.” It is active rebellion against authority. It is used here in reference to a gang of robbers.

[1:10]  ⁶ tn The imperfect tense verb יְפַתּוּךָ (yÿftukha) may be nuanced in a connotative sense: “(If) they attempt to
persuade you.” The verb פָּתָה (patah) means “to persuade, entice” a person to sin (BDB 834 s.v. פָּתָה 1; see, e.g., Judg 14:15; 16:5; Prov 16:29; Hos 2:16).

[1:10]  ⁷ tc The MT reads the root אָבָה (’avah, “to be willing; to consent”). Some medieval Hebrew mss read the root בּוֹא (bo’, “to go”): “do not go with them.” The majority of Hebrew mss and the versions support the MT reading, which is the less common word and so the more likely original reading.

[12:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “thoughts.” This term refers not just to random thoughts, however, but to what is planned or devised.

[12:5]  ⁹ sn The plans of good people are directed toward what is right. Advice from the wicked, however, is deceitful and can only lead to trouble.

[13:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “walks.” When used with the preposition אֶת (’et, “with”), the verb הָלַךְ (halakh, “to walk”) means “to associate with” someone (BDB 234 s.v. הָלַךְ II.3.b; e.g., Mic 6:8; Job 34:8). The active participle of הָלַךְ (“to walk”) stresses continual, durative action. One should stay in close association with the wise, and move in the same direction they do.

[13:20]  ¹¹ tn The verb form יֵרוֹעַ (yeroa’) is the Niphal imperfect of רָעַע (ra’a’), meaning “to suffer hurt.” Several have attempted to parallel the repetition in the wordplay of the first colon. A. Guillaume has “he who associates with fools will be left a fool” (“A Note on the Roots רִיע, יָרַע, and רָעַע in Hebrew,” JTS 15 [1964]: 294). Knox translated the Vulgate thus: “Fool he ends that fool befriends” (cited by D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 104).

[19:27]  ¹² tn Heb “Stop listening…!” The infinitive construct לִשְׁמֹעַ (lishmoa’) functions as the direct object of the imperative: “stop heeding [or, listening to].” Of course in this proverb which shows the consequences of doing so, this is irony. The sage is instructing not to stop. The conditional protasis construction does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation.

[19:27]  ¹³ tn The second line has an infinitive construct לִשְׁגוֹת (lishgot), meaning “to stray; to go astray; to err.” It indicates the result of the instruction – stop listening, and as a result you will go astray. The LXX took it differently: “A son who ceases to attend to discipline is likely to stray from words of knowledge.” RSV sees the final clause as the purpose of the instructions to be avoided: “do not listen to instructions to err.”