Amsal 17:10

17:10 A rebuke makes a greater impression on ¹  a discerning person

than a hundred blows on a fool. ² 

Amsal 18:19

18:19 A relative ³  offended ⁴  is harder to reach than ⁵  a strong city,

and disputes are like the barred gates ⁶  of a fortified citadel. ⁷ 

Amsal 26:12

26:12 Do you see ⁸  a man wise in his own eyes? ⁹ 

There is more hope for a fool ¹⁰  than for him.

[17:10]  ¹ tn Heb “goes in deeper” (cf. NASB, NRSV). The verb נָחֵת (nakhet) “to go down; to descend” with the preposition בְּ (bet) means “to descend into; to make an impression on” someone.

[17:10]  ² tn The form is the Hiphil infinitive of נָכָה (nakhah) with the comparative מִן, min. The word “fool” then would be an objective genitive – more than blows to/on a fool.

[18:19]  ³ tn Heb “brother,” but this is not limited to actual siblings (cf. NRSV “an ally”; CEV, NLT “friend”).

[18:19]  ⁴ tn The Niphal participle from פָּשַׁע (pasha’) modifies “brother”: a brother transgressed, offended, sinned against.

[18:19]  ⁵ tc The LXX has a clear antithetical proverb here: “A brother helped is like a stronghold, but disputes are like bars of a citadel.” Accordingly, the editors of BHS propose מוֹשִׁיעַ (moshia’) instead of נִפְשָׁע (nifsha’, so also the other versions and the RSV). But since both lines use the comparison with a citadel (fortified/barred), the antithesis is problematic.

[18:19]  tn The phrase “is harder to reach” is supplied in the translation on the basis of the comparative מִן (min). It is difficult to get into a fortified city; it is more difficult to reach an offended brother.

[18:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “bars,” but this could be understood to mean “taverns,” so “barred gates” is employed in the translation.

[18:19]  ⁷ sn The proverb is talking about changing a friend or a relative into an enemy by abuse or strife – the bars go up, as it were. And the “walls” that are erected are not easily torn down.

[26:12]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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.