Amsal 5:6

5:6 Lest ¹  she should make level the path leading to life, ² 

her paths are unstable ³  but she does not know it. ⁴ 

Amsal 10:25

10:25 When the storm ⁵  passes through, the wicked are swept away, ⁶ 

but the righteous are an everlasting foundation. ⁷ 

Amsal 11:18

11:18 The wicked person ⁸  earns ⁹  deceitful wages, ¹⁰ 

but the one who sows ¹¹  righteousness reaps ¹²  a genuine ¹³  reward. ¹⁴ 

[5:6]  ¹ tn The particle פֶּן (pen) means “lest” (probably from “for the aversion of”). It occurs this once, unusually, preceding the principal clause (BDB 814 s.v.). It means that some action has been taken to avert or avoid what follows. She avoids the path of life, albeit ignorantly.

[5:6]  ² tn Heb “the path of life.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “of life”) functions as a genitive of direction (“leading to”).

[5:6]  ³ sn The verb נוּעַ (nua’) means “to quiver; to wave; to waver; to tremble”; cf. KJV “her ways are moveable”; NAB “her paths will ramble”; NLT “She staggers down a crooked trail.” The ways of the adulterous woman are unstable (BDB 631 s.v.).

[5:6]  ⁴ sn The sadder part of the description is that this woman does not know how unstable her life is, or how uneven. However, Thomas suggests that it means, “she is not tranquil.” See D. W. Thomas, “A Note on לא תדע in Proverbs v 6,” JTS 37 (1936): 59.

[10:25]  ⁵ sn The word for “storm wind” comes from the root סוּף (suf, “to come to an end; to cease”). The noun may then describe the kind of storm that makes an end of things, a “whirlwind” (so KJV, NASB; NLT “cyclone”). It is used in prophetic passages that describe swift judgment and destruction.

[10:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “the wicked are not”; ASV, NAB, NASB “is no more.”

[10:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “a foundation forever”; NLT “have a lasting foundation.”

[10:25]  sn The metaphor compares the righteous to an everlasting foundation to stress that they are secure when the catastrophes of life come along. He is fixed in a covenantal relationship and needs not to fear passing misfortunes. The wicked has no such security.

[11:18]  ⁸ tn The form is the masculine singular adjective used as a substantive.

[11:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “makes” (so NAB).

[11:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “wages of deception.”

[11:18]  sn Whatever recompense or reward the wicked receive will not last, hence, it is deceptive (R. B. Y. Scott, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes [AB], 88).

[11:18]  ¹¹ sn The participle “sowing” provides an implied comparison (the figure is known as hypocatastasis) with the point of practicing righteousness and inspiring others to do the same. What is sown will yield fruit (1 Cor 9:11; 2 Cor 9:6; Jas 3:18).

[11:18]  ¹² tn The term “reaps” does not appear in the Hebrew but has been supplied in the translation from context for the sake of smoothness.

[11:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “true” (so NASB, NRSV); KJV, NAB, NIV “sure.”

[11:18]  ¹⁴ sn A wordplay (paronomasia) occurs between “deceptive” (שָׁקֶר, shaqer) and “reward” (שֶׂכֶר, sekher), underscoring the contrast by the repetition of sounds. The wages of the wicked are deceptive; the reward of the righteous is sure.