Amsal 14:35

14:35 The king shows favor ¹  to a wise ²  servant,

but his wrath falls ³  on one who acts shamefully.

Amsal 31:5

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

and remove ⁴  from all the poor ⁵  their legal rights. ⁶ 

[14:35]  ¹ tn Heb “the favor of a king.” The noun “king” functions as a subjective genitive: “the king shows favor….”

[14:35]  ² sn The wise servant is shown favor, while the shameful servant is shown anger. Two Hiphil participles make the contrast: מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil, “wise”) and מֵבִישׁ (mevish, “one who acts shamefully”). The wise servant is a delight and enjoys the favor of the king because he is skillful and clever. The shameful one botches his duties; his indiscretions and incapacity expose the master to criticism (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 470).

[14:35]  ³ tn Heb “is” (so KJV, ASV).

[31:5]  ⁴ tn The verb means “change,” perhaps expressed in reversing decisions or removing rights.

[31:5]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.”