Amsal 11:7

11:7 When a wicked person dies, his expectation perishes, ¹ 

and the hope of his strength ²  perishes. ³ 

Amsal 11:23

11:23 What the righteous desire ⁴  leads ⁵  only to good,

but what the wicked hope for ⁶  leads ⁷  to wrath.

Amsal 23:18

23:18 For surely there is a future, ⁸ 

and your hope will not be cut off. ⁹ 

Amsal 26:12

26:12 Do you see ¹⁰  a man wise in his own eyes? ¹¹ 

There is more hope for a fool ¹²  than for him.

Amsal 29:20

29:20 Do you see someone ¹³  who is hasty in his words? ¹⁴ 

There is more hope for a fool than for him. ¹⁵ 

[11:7]  ¹ tn The first colon features an imperfect tense depicting habitual action, while the second has a perfect tense verb depicting gnomic action.

[11:7]  sn The subject of this proverb is the hope of the wicked, showing its consequences – his expectations die with him (Ps 49). Any hope for long life and success borne of wickedness will be disappointed.

[11:7]  ² tc There are several suggested changes for this word אוֹנִים (’onim, “vigor” or “strength”). Rashi, a Jewish scholar who lived a.d. 1040-1105, suggests that the word refers to children, a meaning implied from Gen 49:3. This would mean that even his children would not benefit from his wickedness. Tg. Prov 11:7 rendered it “who practice crookedness,” deriving it from the first root which means “wickedness.”

[11:7]  ³ tc The LXX adds an antithesis to this: “When the righteous dies, hope does not perish.” The LXX translators wanted to see the hope of the righteous fulfilled in the world to come.

[11:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “the desire of the righteous.” The noun תַּאֲוַת (ta’avat) functions as an objective genitive: “what the righteous desire.”

[11:23]  ⁵ tn The phrase “leads to” does not appear in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation. The desire of the righteous (in itself good) ends in good things, whereas the hope of the wicked ends in wrath, i.e., divine judgment on them. Another interpretation is that the righteous desire is to do good things, but the wicked hope to produce wrath (cf. CEV “troublemakers hope to stir up trouble”).

[11:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “the hope of the wicked.” The noun תִּקְוַת (tiqvat) “expectation” functions as an objective genitive: “what the wicked hope for.”

[11:23]  ⁷ tn The term “leads” does not appear in the Hebrew text in this line but is implied by the parallelism. It is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[23:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “end” (so KJV); ASV “a reward.”

[23:18]  ⁹ sn The saying is an understatement; far from being cut off, the “hope” will be realized in the end. So this saying, the thirteenth, advises people to be zealous for the fear of the Lord, their religion, rather than for anything that sinners have to offer.

[26:12]  ¹⁰ tn The verse simply uses a perfect tense. The meaning of the verse would be the same if this were interpreted as an affirmation rather than as an interrogative. The first line calls such a person to one’s attention.

[26:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in his own eyes” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[26:12]  sn The subject matter of the verse is the person who is wise in his own opinion. Self-conceit is actually part of the folly that the book of Proverbs criticizes; those who think they are wise even though they are not are impossible to help. For someone to think he is wise when he is not makes him a conceited ignoramus (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 268).

[26:12]  ¹² sn Previous passages in the book of Proverbs all but deny the possibility of hope for the fool. So this proverb is saying there is absolutely no hope for the self-conceited person, and there might be a slight hope for the fool – he may yet figure out that he really is a fool.

[29:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “a man,” but there is no indication in the immediate context that this should be limited only to males.

[29:20]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ sn Rash speech cannot easily be remedied. The prospects for a fool are better (e.g., Prov 26:12).