Amsal 3:12

3:12 For the Lord disciplines ¹  those he loves,

just as a father ²  disciplines ³  the son in whom he delights.

Amsal 6:5

6:5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a snare, ⁴ 

and like a bird from the trap ⁵  of the fowler.

Amsal 18:8

18:8 The words of a gossip ⁶  are like choice morsels; ⁷ 

they go down into the person’s innermost being. ⁸ 

Amsal 19:12

19:12 A king’s wrath is like ⁹  the roar of a lion, ¹⁰ 

but his favor is like dew on the grass. ¹¹ 

Amsal 20:7

20:7 The righteous person ¹²  behaves in integrity; ¹³ 

blessed are his children after him. ¹⁴ 

Amsal 23:7

23:7 for he is ¹⁵  like someone calculating the cost ¹⁶  in his mind. ¹⁷ 

“Eat and drink,” he says to you,

but his heart is not with you;

Amsal 23:28

23:28 Indeed, she lies in wait like a robber, ¹⁸ 

and increases the unfaithful ¹⁹  among men. ²⁰ 

Amsal 31:14

31:14 She is like ²¹  the merchant ships; ²² 

she brings her food from afar.

[3:12]  ¹ tn Heb “chastens.” The verb יָכַח (yakhakh) here means “to chasten; to punish” (HALOT 410 s.v. יכח 1) or “to correct; to rebuke” (BDB 407 s.v. 6). The context suggests some kind of corporeal discipline rather than mere verbal rebuke or cognitive correction. This verse is quoted in Heb 12:5-6 to show that suffering in the service of the Lord is a sign of membership in the covenant community (i.e., sonship).

[3:12]  ² tc MT reads וּכְאָב (ukh’av, “and like a father”) but the LXX reflects the Hiphil verb וְיַכְאִב (vÿyakh’iv, “and scourges every son he receives”). Both readings fit the parallelism; however, it is unnecessary to emend MT which makes perfectly good sense. The fact that the writer of Hebrews quotes this passage from the LXX and it became part of the inspired NT text does not mean that the LXX reflects the original Hebrew reading here.

[3:12]  ³ tn The verb “disciplines” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[6:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “from the hand.” Most translations supply “of the hunter.” The word “hand” can signify power, control; so the meaning is that of a gazelle freeing itself from a snare or a trap that a hunter set.

[6:5]  ⁵ tc Heb “hand” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV). Some mss and versions have it as “trap,” which may very well represent an interpretation too.

[18:8]  ⁶ tn Or “slanderer”; KJV, NAB “talebearer”; ASV, NRSV “whisperer.”

[18:8]  ⁷ tn The word כְּמִתְלַהֲמִים (kÿmitlahamim) occurs only here. It is related to a cognate verb meaning “to swallow greedily.” Earlier English versions took it from a Hebrew root הָלַם (halam, see the word לְמַהֲלֻמוֹת [lÿmahalumot] in v. 6) meaning “wounds” (so KJV). But the translation of “choice morsels” fits the idea of gossip better.

[18:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “they go down [into] the innermost parts of the belly”; NASB “of the body.”

[18:8]  sn When the choice morsels of gossip are received, they go down like delicious food – into the innermost being. R. N. Whybray says, “There is a flaw in human nature that assures slander will be listened to” (Proverbs [CBC], 105).

[19:12]  ⁹ sn The verse contrasts the “rage” of the king with his “favor” by using two similes. The first simile presents the king at his most dangerous – his anger (e.g., 20:2; Amos 3:4). The second simile presents his favor as beneficial for life (e.g., 16:14-15; 28:15).

[19:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “is a roaring like a lion.”

[19:12]  ¹¹ sn The proverb makes an observation about a king’s power to terrify or to refresh. It advises people to use tact with a king.

[20:7]  ¹² sn Two terms describe the subject of this proverb: “righteous” and “integrity.” The first describes the person as a member of the covenant community who strives to live according to God’s standards; the second emphasizes that his lifestyle is blameless.

[20:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “walks in his integrity” (so NASB); cf. NIV “leads a blameless life.” The Hitpael participle of הָלַךְ (halakh) means “to walk about; to walk to and fro.” The idiom of walking representing living is intensified here in this stem. This verbal stem is used in scripture to describe people “walking with” God.

[20:7]  ¹⁴ sn The nature and the actions of parents have an effect on children (e.g., Exod 20:4-6); if the parents are righteous, the children will enjoy a blessing – the respect and the happiness which the parent reflects on them.

[23:7]  ¹⁵ tc The line is difficult; it appears to mean that the miser is the kind of person who has calculated the cost of everything in his mind as he offers the food. The LXX has: “Eating and drinking with him is as if one should swallow a hair; do not introduce him to your company nor eat bread with him.” The Hebrew verb “to calculate” (שָׁעַר, sha’ar) with a change of vocalization and of sibilant would yield “hair” (שֵׂעָר, se’ar) – “like a hair in the throat [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh], so is he.” This would picture an irritating experience. The Instruction of Amenemope uses “blocking the throat” in a similar saying (chapt. 11, 14:7 [ANET 423]). The suggested change is plausible and is followed by NRSV; but the rare verb “to calculate” in the MT would be easier to defend on the basis of the canons of textual criticism because it is the more difficult reading.

[23:7]  ¹⁶ tn The phrase “the cost” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the verb; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[23:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “soul.”

[23:28]  ¹⁸ tn The noun חֶתֶף (khetef) is defined by BDB 369 s.v. as “prey,” but this is the only occurrence of the word. The related verb BDB 368-69 s.v. חָתַף defines as “to seize; to snatch away” (with an Aramaic cognate meaning “to break in pieces” [Pa], and an Arabic word “death”). But the only occurrence of that word is in Job 9:12, where it is defined as “seizes.” So in this passage the noun could have either a passive sense (what is seized = prey), or an active sense (the one who seizes = a robber, bandit). The traditional rendering is “prey” (KJV); most modern English versions have the active sense (“robber” or similar; cf. NIV “like a bandit”). Since the prepositional phrase (the simile) is modifying the woman, the active sense works better in the translation.

[23:28]  ¹⁹ tn The participle means “unfaithful [men]” (masculine plural); it could also be interpreted as “unfaithfulness” in the abstract sense. M. Dahood interprets it to mean “garments” (which would have to be repointed), saying that she collects garments in pledge for her service (M. Dahood, “To Pawn One’s Cloak,” Bib 42 [1961]: 359-66). But that is far-fetched; it might have happened on occasion, but as a common custom it is unlikely. Besides that, the text in the MT makes perfectly good sense without such a change.

[23:28]  sn Such a woman makes more people prove unfaithful to the law of God through her practice.

[23:28]  ²⁰ sn Verses 26-28 comprise the seventeenth saying; it warns the young person to follow the instructions about temptations because there are plenty of temptresses lurking about.

[31:14]  ²¹ tn The first word of the fifth line begins with ה (he), the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[31:14]  ²² sn The point of the simile is that she goes wherever she needs to go, near and far, to gather in all the food for the needs and the likes of the family. The line captures the vision and the industry of this woman.