Amsal 12:1

12:1 The one who loves discipline loves knowledge, ¹ 

but the one who hates reproof is stupid. ² 

Amsal 13:1

13:1 A wise son accepts ³  his father’s discipline, ⁴ 

but a scoffer ⁵  does not listen to rebuke.

Amsal 13:18

13:18 The one who neglects ⁶  discipline ends up in ⁷  poverty and shame,

but the one who accepts reproof is honored. ⁸ 

Amsal 15:5

15:5 A fool rejects his father’s discipline,

but whoever heeds reproof shows good sense. ⁹ 

Amsal 15:10

15:10 Severe discipline ¹⁰  is for the one who abandons the way;

the one who hates reproof ¹¹  will die.

Amsal 15:31-32

15:31 The person ¹²  who hears the reproof that leads to life ¹³ 

is at home ¹⁴  among the wise. ¹⁵ 

15:32 The one who refuses correction despises himself, ¹⁶ 

but whoever hears ¹⁷  reproof acquires understanding. ¹⁸ 

Amsal 17:10

17:10 A rebuke makes a greater impression on ¹⁹  a discerning person

than a hundred blows on a fool. ²⁰ 

Amsal 27:15

27:15 A continual dripping on a rainy day

and a contentious wife ²¹  are alike. ²² 

[12:1]  ¹ sn Those who wish to improve themselves must learn to accept correction; the fool hates/rejects any correction.

[12:1]  ² sn The word בָּעַר (ba’ar, “brutish; stupid”) normally describes dumb animals that lack intellectual sense. Here, it describes the moral fool who is not willing to learn from correction. He is like a dumb animal (so the term here functions as a hypocatastasis: implied comparison).

[13:1]  ³ tn The term “accepts” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and clarity.

[13:1]  ⁴ tc G. R. Driver suggested reading this word as מְיֻסַּר (mÿyussar, “allows himself to be disciplined”); see his “Hebrew Notes on Prophets and Proverbs,” JTS 41 (1940): 174. But this is not necessary at all; the MT makes good sense as it stands. Similarly, the LXX has “a wise son listens to his father.”

[13:1]  tn Heb “discipline of a father.”

[13:1]  ⁵ sn The “scoffer” is the worst kind of fool. He has no respect for authority, reviles worship of God, and is unteachable because he thinks he knows it all. The change to a stronger word in the second colon – “rebuke” (גָּעַר, ga’ar) – shows that he does not respond to instruction on any level. Cf. NLT “a young mocker,” taking this to refer to the opposite of the “wise son” in the first colon.

[13:18]  ⁶ tn The verb III פָּרַע (para’) normally means “to let go; to let alone” and here “to neglect; to avoid; to reject” (BDB 828 s.v.).

[13:18]  ⁷ tn The phrase “ends up in” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[13:18]  ⁸ sn Honor and success are contrasted with poverty and shame; the key to enjoying the one and escaping the other is discipline and correction. W. McKane, Proverbs (OTL), 456, notes that it is a difference between a man of weight (power and wealth, from the idea of “heavy” for “honor”) and the man of straw (lowly esteemed and poor).

[15:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “is prudent” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NCV, NLT “is wise.” Anyone who accepts correction or rebuke will become prudent in life.

[15:10]  ¹⁰ tn The two lines are parallel synonymously, so the “severe discipline” of the first colon is parallel to “will die” of the second. The expression מוּסָר רָע (musar ra’, “severe discipline”) indicates a discipline that is catastrophic or harmful to life.

[15:10]  ¹¹ sn If this line and the previous line are synonymous, then the one who abandons the way also refuses any correction, and so there is severe punishment. To abandon the way means to leave the life of righteousness which is the repeated subject of the book of Proverbs.

[15:31]  ¹² tn Heb “ear” (so KJV, NRSV). The term “ear” is a synecdoche of part (= ear) for the whole (= person).

[15:31]  ¹³ tn “Life” is an objective genitive: Reproof brings or preserves life. Cf. NIV “life-giving rebuke”; NLT “constructive criticism.”

[15:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lodges.” This means to live with, to be at home with.

[15:31]  ¹⁵ sn The proverb is one full sentence; it affirms that a teachable person is among the wise.

[15:32]  ¹⁶ sn To “despise oneself” means to reject oneself as if there was little value. The one who ignores discipline is not interested in improving himself.

[15:32]  ¹⁷ tn Or “heeds” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “listens to.”

[15:32]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text reads קוֹנֶה לֵּב (qoneh lev), the participle of קָנָה (qanah, “to acquire; to possess”) with its object, “heart.” The word “heart” is frequently a metonymy of subject, meaning all the capacities of the human spirit and/or mind. Here it refers to the ability to make judgments or discernment.

[17:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “goes in deeper” (cf. NASB, NRSV). The verb נָחֵת (nakhet) “to go down; to descend” with the preposition בְּ (bet) means “to descend into; to make an impression on” someone.

[17:10]  ²⁰ tn The form is the Hiphil infinitive of נָכָה (nakhah) with the comparative מִן, min. The word “fool” then would be an objective genitive – more than blows to/on a fool.

[27:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “a wife of contentions” (an attributive genitive). Cf. NAB, NIV “a quarrelsome wife”; NLT “a nagging wife.”

[27:15]  ²² tn The form נִשְׁתָּוָה (nishtavah) is classified by BDB as a Nitpael perfect from the root שָׁוָה (shavah, “to be like; to resemble”; BDB 1001 s.v. I שָׁוָה). The form also has metathesis before the sibilant. The LXX interprets it as “Drops drive a man out of his house on a wintry day; so a railing woman also drives him out of his own house.”