Amsal 9:12

9:12 If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage, ¹ 

but if you are a mocker, ²  you alone must ³  bear it. ⁴ 

Amsal 29:20

29:20 Do you see someone ⁵  who is hasty in his words? ⁶ 

There is more hope for a fool than for him. ⁷ 

Amsal 31:5

31:5 lest they drink and forget what is decreed,

and remove ⁸  from all the poor ⁹  their legal rights. ¹⁰ 

[9:12]  ¹ tn The text simply has the preposition לְ (lamed) with a suffix; but this will be the use of the preposition classified as “interest,” either for advantage or disadvantage (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 48-49, §271).

[9:12]  ² tn The perfect tense is here in a conditional clause because of the conjunction following the first colon of the verse that begins with “if.” The perfect tense then lays down the antithetical condition – “if you mock,” or “if you are a mocker.”

[9:12]  ³ tn The use of the imperfect tense here could be the simple future tense (cf. NASB, NRSV “you…will bear it”), but the obligatory nuance is more appropriate – “you must bear it.” These words anticipate James’ warnings that the words we speak will haunt us through life (e.g., James 3:1-12).

[9:12]  ⁴ tc The LXX has an addition: “Forsake folly, that you may reign forever; and seek discretion and direct understanding in knowledge.”

[29:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man,” but there is no indication in the immediate context that this should be limited only to males.

[29:20]  ⁶ sn The focus of this proverb is on someone who is hasty in his words. This is the person who does not stop to think, but acts on the spur of the moment. To speak before thinking is foolishness.

[29:20]  ⁷ sn Rash speech cannot easily be remedied. The prospects for a fool are better (e.g., Prov 26:12).

[31:5]  ⁸ tn The verb means “change,” perhaps expressed in reversing decisions or removing rights.

[31:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “all the children of poverty.” This expression refers to the poor by nature. Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the afflicted”; NIV “oppressed.”

[31:5]  ¹⁰ sn The word is דִּין (din, “judgment”; so KJV). In this passage it refers to the cause or the plea for justice, i.e., the “legal rights.”