Amsal 1:21

1:21 at the head of the noisy ¹  streets she calls,

in the entrances of the gates in the city ²  she utters her words: ³ 

Amsal 5:21

5:21 For the ways of a person ⁴  are in front of the Lord’s eyes,

and the Lord ⁵  weighs ⁶  all that person’s ⁷  paths.

Amsal 9:14

9:14 So she sits at the door of her house,

on a seat at the highest point of the city,

Amsal 14:8

14:8 The wisdom of the shrewd person ⁸  is to discern ⁹  his way,

but the folly of fools is deception. ¹⁰ 

Amsal 14:19

14:19 Those who are evil will bow ¹¹  before those who are good,

and the wicked will bow ¹²  at the gates ¹³  of the righteous.

Amsal 21:20

21:20 There is desirable treasure and olive oil ¹⁴  in the dwelling of the wise,

but a foolish person ¹⁵  devours all he has. ¹⁶ 

Amsal 23:17

23:17 Do not let your heart envy ¹⁷  sinners,

but rather be zealous in fearing the Lord ¹⁸  all the time.

Amsal 24:19

24:19 Do not fret because of evil people

or be envious of wicked people,

[1:21]  ¹ tc MT reads הֹמִיּוֹת (homyyot, “noisy streets”; Qal participle feminine plural from הָמָה [hamah], “to murmur; to roar”), referring to the busy, bustling place where the street branches off from the gate complex. The LXX reads τειχέων (teicewn) which reflects חֹמוֹת (khomot), “walls” (feminine plural noun from חוֹמָה [khomah], “wall”): “She proclaims on the summits of the walls.” MT is preferred because it is the more difficult form. The LXX textual error was caused by simple omission of yod (י). In addition, the LXX expands the verse to read, “she sits at the gates of the princes, at the gates of the city she boldly says.” The shorter MT reading is preferred.

[1:21]  ² sn The phrase “in the city” further defines the area of the entrance just inside the gate complex, the business area. In an ancient Near Eastern city, business dealings and judicial proceedings would both take place in this area.

[1:21]  ³ tn Heb “she speaks her words.”

[5:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “man.”

[5:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:21]  ⁶ tn BDB 814 s.v. פָּלַס 2 suggests that the participle מְפַּלֵּס (mÿpalles) means “to make level [or, straight].” As one’s ways are in front of the eyes of the Lord, they become straight or right. It could be translated “weighs” since it is a denominative from the noun for “balance, scale”; the Lord weighs or examines the actions.

[5:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “all his”; the referent (the person mentioned in the first half of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:8]  ⁸ tn Or “the prudent [person]” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).

[14:8]  ⁹ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct denotes purpose. Those who are shrewd will use it to give careful consideration to all their ways.

[14:8]  ¹⁰ tn The word means “deception,” but some suggest “self-deception” here (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 466; and D. W. Thomas, “Textual and Philological Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 286); cf. NLT “fools deceive themselves.” The parallelism would favor this, but there is little support for it. The word usually means “craft practiced on others.” If the line is saying the fool is deceitful, there is only a loose antithesis between the cola.

[14:19]  ¹¹ tn Many versions nuance the perfect tense verb שָׁחַח (shakhakh) as a characteristic perfect. But the proverb suggests that the reality lies in the future. So the verb is best classified as a prophetic perfect (cf. NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT): Ultimately the wicked will acknowledge and serve the righteous – a point the prophets make.

[14:19]  ¹² tn The phrase “will bow” does not appear in this line but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[14:19]  ¹³ sn J. H. Greenstone suggests that this means that they are begging for favors (Proverbs, 154).

[21:20]  ¹⁴ tn The mention of “olive oil” (שֶׁמֶן, shemen) is problematic in the line – how can a fool devour it? Several attempts have been made to alleviate the problem. The NIV interprets “treasure” as “choice food,” so that food and oil would make more sense being swallowed. C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 406) suggests dropping “oil” altogether based on the reading in the LXX, but the Greek is too general for any support: It has “precious treasure will rest on the mouth of the sage.” W. McKane wants to change “oil” to an Arabic word “expensive” to read “desirable and rare wealth” (Proverbs [OTL], 552), but this idea does not match the metaphor any better. The figure of “devouring” in the second line simply means the fool uses up whatever he has.

[21:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a fool of a man.”

[21:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he swallows it.” The imagery compares swallowing food with consuming one’s substance. The fool does not prepare for the future.

[23:17]  ¹⁷ tn The verb in this line is אַל־יְקַנֵּא (’al-yÿqanne’), the Piel jussive negated. The verb means “to be jealous, to be zealous”; it describes passionate intensity for something. In English, if the object is illegitimate, it is called “envy”; if it is correct, it is called “zeal.” Here the warning is not to envy the sinners. The second colon could use the verb in the positive sense to mean “but rather let your passion burn for the fear of the Lord.”

[23:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord.” This expression features an objective genitive: “fearing the Lord.”