Amsal 11:28

11:28 The one who trusts in his riches will fall,

but the righteous ¹  will flourish like a green leaf. ² 

Amsal 16:20

16:20 The one who deals wisely ³  in a matter ⁴  will find success, ⁵ 

and blessed ⁶  is the one who trusts in the Lord. ⁷ 

Amsal 23:6

23:6 Do not eat the food of a stingy person, ⁸ 

do not crave his delicacies;

Amsal 24:13

24:13 Eat honey, ⁹  my child, for it is good,

and honey from the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.

Amsal 25:19

25:19 Like a bad tooth or a foot out of joint, ¹⁰ 

so is confidence ¹¹  in an unfaithful person at the time of trouble. ¹² 

[11:28]  ¹ sn The implication from the parallelism is that the righteous do not trust in their own riches, but in the Lord.

[11:28]  ² tn Heb “leafage” or “leaf” (cf. KJV “as a branch”); TEV “leaves of summer”; NLT “leaves in spring.” The simile of a leaf is a figure of prosperity and fertility throughout the ancient Near East.

[16:20]  ³ tn Heb “he who is prudent” or “he who deals wisely” (cf. KJV). The proverb seems to be referring to wise business concerns and the reward for the righteous. One who deals wisely in a matter will find good results. R. N. Whybray sees a contrast here: “The shrewd man of business will succeed well, but the happy man is he who trusts the Lord” (Proverbs [CBC], 92). Synonymous parallelism is more appropriate.

[16:20]  ⁴ tn Or “he who gives heed to a word,” that is, “who listens to instruction” (cf. NIV, NLT).

[16:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “good” (so KJV, ASV).

[16:20]  ⁶ tn Although traditionally this word is translated “happy” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NRSV, NLT), such a translation can be misleading because the word means far more than that. It describes the heavenly bliss that comes from knowing one is right with God and following God’s precepts. The “blessed” could be at odds with the world (Ps 1:1-3).

[16:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the one who trusts in the Lord – blessed is he.”

[23:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “an evil eye.” This is the opposite of the “good eye” which meant the generous man. The “evil eye” refers to a person who is out to get everything for himself (cf. NASB, NCV, CEV “selfish”). He is ill-mannered and inhospitable (e.g., Prov 28:22). He is up to no good – even though he may appear to be a host.

[24:13]  ⁹ sn The twenty-sixth saying teaches that one should develop wisdom because it has a profitable future. The saying draws on the image of honey; its health-giving properties make a good analogy to wisdom.

[25:19]  ¹⁰ sn The similes in this emblematic parallelism focus on things that are incapable of performing certain activities – they are either too painful to use or are ineffective.

[25:19]  ¹¹ tn Since there is no preposition to clarify the construction, there are two ways to take the term מִבְטָח (mivtakh, “confidence”) in the context. It can either refer (1) to reliance on an unfaithful person, or it can refer (2) to that on which the unfaithful person relies. C. H. Toy argues for the second, that what the faithless person relies on will fail him in the time of trouble (Proverbs [ICC], 466). This view requires a slight change in the MT to make “confidence” a construct noun (i.e., the confidence of the faithless); the first view, which fits better the MT as it stands, says that “confidence [in] a faithless person” is like relying on a decaying tooth or a lame foot. This is the view preferred in most English versions, including the present one.

[25:19]  ¹² tn Heb “in the day of trouble”; KJV, NASB “in time of trouble.”