Amsal 6:1

Admonitions and Warnings against Dangerous and Destructive Acts ¹ 

6:1 My child, ²  if you have made a pledge ³  for your neighbor,

and ⁴  have become a guarantor ⁵  for a stranger, ⁶ 

Amsal 5:18

5:18 May your fountain be blessed, ⁷ 

and may you rejoice ⁸  in your young wife ⁹  –

Amsal 23:2

23:2 and put a knife to your throat ¹⁰ 

if you possess a large appetite. ¹¹ 

Amsal 27:22

27:22 If you should pound ¹²  the fool in the mortar

among the grain ¹³  with the pestle,

his foolishness would not depart from him. ¹⁴ 

Amsal 3:3

3:3 Do not let truth and mercy ¹⁵  leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart. ¹⁶ 

Amsal 19:19

19:19 A person with great anger bears the penalty, ¹⁷ 

but if you deliver him from it once, you will have to do it again. ¹⁸ 

Amsal 30:8

30:8 Remove falsehood and lies ¹⁹  far from me;

do not give me poverty or riches,

feed me with my allotted portion ²⁰  of bread, ²¹ 

Amsal 5:1

Admonition to Avoid Seduction to Evil ²² 

5:1 My child, ²³  be attentive to my wisdom,

pay close attention ²⁴  to my understanding,

Amsal 5:7

5:7 So now, children, ²⁵  listen to me;

do not turn aside from the words I speak. ²⁶ 

Amsal 6:25

6:25 Do not lust ²⁷  in your heart for her beauty,

and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes; ²⁸ 

Amsal 7:1

Admonition to Avoid the Wiles of the Adulteress ²⁹ 

7:1 My child, ³⁰  keep my words

and treasure up my commands in your own keeping. ³¹ 

Amsal 7:24

7:24 So now, sons, ³²  listen to me,

and pay attention to the words I speak. ³³ 

Amsal 20:7

20:7 The righteous person ³⁴  behaves in integrity; ³⁵ 

blessed are his children after him. ³⁶ 

Amsal 23:4

23:4 Do not wear yourself out to become rich;

be wise enough to restrain yourself. ³⁷ 

Amsal 23:15

23:15 My child, ³⁸  if your heart is wise,

then my heart also will be glad;

Amsal 3:1

Exhortations to Seek Wisdom and Walk with the Lord ³⁹ 

3:1 My child, ⁴⁰  do not forget my teaching,

but let your heart keep ⁴¹  my commandments,

Amsal 8:6

8:6 Listen, for I will speak excellent things, ⁴² 

and my lips will utter ⁴³  what is right.

Amsal 8:32

8:32 “So now, children, ⁴⁴  listen to me;

blessed are those who keep my ways.

Amsal 30:32

30:32 If you have done foolishly by exalting yourself ⁴⁵ 

or if you have planned evil,

put ⁴⁶  your hand over your mouth!

Amsal 1:11

1:11 If they say, “Come with us!

We will ⁴⁷  lie in wait ⁴⁸  to shed blood; ⁴⁹ 

we will ambush ⁵⁰  an innocent person ⁵¹  capriciously. ⁵² 

Amsal 24:16

24:16 Although ⁵³  a righteous person may fall seven times, he gets up again,

but the wicked will be brought down ⁵⁴  by calamity.

Amsal 6:3

6:3 then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself, ⁵⁵ 

because you have fallen into your neighbor’s power: ⁵⁶ 

go, humble yourself, ⁵⁷ 

and appeal firmly ⁵⁸  to your neighbor.

Amsal 24:11-12

24:11 Deliver those being taken away to death,

and hold back those slipping to the slaughter. ⁵⁹ 

24:12 If you say, “But we did not know about this,”

does not the one who evaluates ⁶⁰  hearts consider?

Does not the one who guards your life know?

Will he not repay each person according to his deeds? ⁶¹ 

Amsal 30:4

30:4 Who has ascended into heaven, and then descended? ⁶² 

Who has gathered up the winds in his fists? ⁶³ 

Who has bound up the waters in his cloak? ⁶⁴ 

Who has established all the ends of the earth? ⁶⁵ 

What is his name, and what is his son’s name? ⁶⁶  – if you know!

[6:1]  ¹ sn The chapter advises release from foolish indebtedness (1-5), admonishes avoiding laziness (6-11), warns of the danger of poverty (9-11) and deviousness (12-15), lists conduct that the Lord hates (16-19), and warns about immorality (20-35).

[6:1]  ² tn Heb “my son” (likewise in vv. 3, 20).

[6:1]  ³ sn It was fairly common for people to put up some kind of financial security for someone else, that is, to underwrite another’s debts. But the pledge in view here was foolish because the debtor was a neighbor who was not well known (זָר, zar), perhaps a misfit in the community. The one who pledged security for this one was simply gullible.

[6:1]  ⁴ tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[6:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “struck your hands”; NIV “have struck hands in pledge”; NASB “have given a pledge.” The guarantee of a pledge was signaled by a handshake (e.g., 11:15; 17:18; 22:26).

[6:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “stranger.” The term זוּר (zur, “stranger”) probably refers to a neighbor who was not well-known. Alternatively, it could describe a person who is living outside the norms of convention, a moral misfit in the community. In any case, this “stranger” is a high risk in any financial arrangement.

[5:18]  ⁷ sn The positive instruction is now given: Find pleasure in a fulfilling marriage. The “fountain” is another in the series of implied comparisons with the sexual pleasure that must be fulfilled at home. That it should be blessed (the passive participle of בָּרַךְ, barakh) indicates that sexual delight is God-given; having it blessed would mean that it would be endowed with fruitfulness, that it would fulfill all that God intended it to do.

[5:18]  ⁸ tn The form is a Qal imperative with a vav (ו) of sequence; after the jussive of the first half this colon could be given an equivalent translation or logically subordinated.

[5:18]  ⁹ tn Or “in the wife you married when you were young” (cf. NCV, CEV); Heb “in the wife of your youth” (so NIV, NLT). The genitive functions as an attributive adjective: “young wife” or “youthful wife.” Another possibility is that it refers to the age in which a man married his wife: “the wife you married in your youth.”

[23:2]  ¹⁰ sn The expression “put a knife to your throat” is an idiom that means “curb your appetite” or “control yourself” (cf. TEV). The instruction was from a time when people dealt with all-powerful tyrants. To enter the presence of such a person and indulge one’s appetites would be to take a very high risk.

[23:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “lord of appetite.” The idiom בַּעַל נֶפֶשׁ (ba’al nefesh) refers to someone who possesses a large appetite (cf. NAB “a ravenous appetite”). A person with a big appetite is in danger of taking liberties when invited to court.

[27:22]  ¹² tn The verb means “to pound” in a mortar with a pestle (cf. NRSV “Crush”; NLT “grind”). The imperfect is in a conditional clause, an unreal, hypothetical condition to make the point.

[27:22]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term רִיפוֹת (rifot) refers to some kind of grain spread out to dry and then pounded. It may refer to barley groats (coarsely ground barley), but others have suggested the term means “cheeses” (BDB 937 s.v.). Most English versions have “grain” without being more specific; NAB “grits.”

[27:22]  ¹⁴ tn The LXX contains this paraphrase: “If you scourge a fool in the assembly, dishonoring him, you would not remove his folly.” This removes the imagery of mortar and pestle from the verse. Using the analogy of pounding something in a mortar, the proverb is saying even if a fool was pounded or pulverized, meaning severe physical punishment, his folly would not leave him – it is too ingrained in his nature.

[3:3]  ¹⁵ tn The two words חֶסֶד וֶאֶמֶת (khesed ve’emet, “mercy and truth”) form a nominal hendiadys, the second word becoming an adjective: “faithful covenant love” or “loyal [covenant] love and faithfulness.”

[3:3]  ¹⁶ sn This involves two implied comparisons (hypocatastasis). One is a comparison of living out the duties and responsibilities taught with binding a chain around the neck, and the other is a comparison of the inward appropriation of the teachings with writing them on a tablet. So the teachings are not only to become the lifestyle of the disciple but his very nature.

[19:19]  ¹⁷ sn The Hebrew word means “indemnity, fine”; this suggests that the trouble could be legal, and the angry person has to pay for it.

[19:19]  ¹⁸ tn The second colon of the verse is very difficult, and there have been many proposals as to its meaning: (1) “If you save [your enemy], you will add [good to yourself]”; (2) “If you save [your son by chastening], you may continue [chastisement and so educate him]”; (3) “If you deliver [him by paying the fine for him once], you will have to do it again”; (4) “If you save [him this time], you will have to increase [the punishment later on].” All interpretations have to supply a considerable amount of material (indicated by brackets). Many English versions are similar to (3).

[30:8]  ¹⁹ tn The two words might form a hendiadys: “falsehood and lies” being equivalent to “complete deception.” The word שָׁוְא means “false; empty; vain; to a false purpose.” The second word means “word of lying,” thus “a lying word.” Taken separately they might refer to false intentions and false words.

[30:8]  ²⁰ tn The word חֹק (khoq) means “statute”; it is also used of a definite assignment in labor (Exod 5:14; Prov 31:15), or of a set portion of food (Gen 47:22). Here it refers to food that is the proper proportion for the speaker.

[30:8]  ²¹ sn Agur requested an honest life (not deceitful) and a balanced life (not self-sufficient). The second request about his provision is clarified in v. 9.

[5:1]  ²² sn In this chapter the sage/father exhorts discretion (1, 2) then explains how to avoid seduction (3-6); this is followed by a second exhortation to prevention (7, 8) and an explanation that obedience will avoid ruin and regret (9-14); finally, he warns against sharing love with strangers (15-17) but to find it at home (18-23). For an analysis of the chapter, see J. E. Goldingay, “Proverbs V and IX,” RB 84 (1977): 80-93.

[5:1]  ²³ tn The text again has “my son.” In this passage perhaps “son” would be the most fitting because of the warning against going to the adulterous woman. However, since the image of the adulterous woman probably represents all kinds of folly (through personification), and since even in this particular folly the temptation works both ways, the general address to either young men or women should be retained. The text was certainly not intended to convey that only women could seduce men.

[5:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “incline your ear” (so NAB, NRSV); NLT “listen carefully.”

[5:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “sons.”

[5:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the words of my mouth” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).

[6:25]  ²⁷ tn The negated jussive gives the young person an immediate warning. The verb חָמַד (khamad) means “to desire,” and here in the sense of lust. The word is used in the Decalogue of Deut 5:21 for the warning against coveting.

[6:25]  sn Lusting after someone in the heart, according to Jesus, is a sin of the same kind as the act, not just the first step toward it (Matt 5:28). Playing with temptation in the heart – the seat of the will and the emotions – is only the heart reaching out after the sin.

[6:25]  ²⁸ tn Heb “her eyelids” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “eyelashes”; TEV “flirting eyes”). This term is a synecdoche of part (eyelids) for the whole (eyes) or a metonymy of association for painted eyes and the luring glances that are the symptoms of seduction (e.g., 2 Kgs 9:30). The term “alluring” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarification.

[7:1]  ²⁹ sn The chapter begins with the important teaching of the father (1-5), then it focuses on the seduction: first of the victim (6-9), then the temptress (10-12), then the seduction (13-20), and the capitulation (21-23); the chapter concludes with the deadly results of consorting (24-27).

[7:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “my son.”

[7:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “within you” (so NASB, NIV); KJV, ASV, NRSV “with you.” BDB 860 s.v. צָפַן Qal.1 suggests that “within you” means “in your own keeping.”

[7:24]  ³² tn The literal translation “sons” works well here in view of the warning. Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “children.”

[7:24]  ³³ tn Heb “the words of my mouth.”

[20:7]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ 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.

[23:4]  ³⁷ tn Heb “from your understanding cease.” In the context this means that the person should have enough understanding to stop wearing himself out trying to be rich (cf. NRSV “be wise enough to desist”).

[23:15]  ³⁸ tn Heb “my son,” although the context does not limit this exhortation to male children.

[3:1]  ³⁹ sn The chapter begins with an introductory exhortation (1-4), followed by an admonition to be faithful to the Lord (5-12). Wisdom is commended as the most valuable possession (13-18), essential to creation (19-20), and the way to a long and safe life (21-26). There then follows a warning to avoid unneighborliness (27-30) and emulating the wicked (31-35).

[3:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “my son” (likewise in vv. 11, 21).

[3:1]  ⁴¹ tn The verb יִצֹּר (yitsor) is a Qal jussive and the noun לִבֶּךָ (libbekha, “your heart”) functions as the subject: “let your heart keep my commandments.”

[8:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “noble” or “princely.” Wisdom begins the first motivation by claiming to speak noble things, that is, excellent things.

[8:6]  ⁴³ tn Heb “opening of my lips” (so KJV, NASB). The noun “lips” is a metonymy of cause, with the organ of speech put for what is said.

[8:32]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “sons.”

[30:32]  ⁴⁵ tn The construction has the בְּ (bet) preposition with the Hitpael infinitive construct, forming a temporal clause. This clause explains the way in which the person has acted foolishly.

[30:32]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “hand to mouth.” This express means “put your hand to your mouth” (e.g., Job 40:4, 5); cf. NIV “clap your hand over.”

[1:11]  ⁴⁷ tn This cohortative נֶאֶרְבָה (ne’ervah) could denote resolve (“We will lie in wait!”) or exhortation (“Let us lie in wait!”). These sinners are either expressing their determination to carry out a violent plan or they are trying to entice the lad to participate with them.

[1:11]  ⁴⁸ tn The verb אָרַב (’arav, “to lie in wait”) it is used for planning murder (Deut 19:11), kidnapping (Judg 21:20), or seduction (Prov 23:28).

[1:11]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “for blood.” The term דָּם (dam, “blood”) functions as a metonymy of effect for “blood shed violently” through murder (HALOT 224 s.v. 4).

[1:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “lie in hiding.”

[1:11]  ⁵¹ tn The term “innocent” (נָקִי, naqi) intimates that the person to be attacked is harmless.

[1:11]  ⁵² tn Heb “without cause” (so KJV, NASB); NCV “just for fun.” The term חִנָּם (khinnam, “without cause”) emphasizes that the planned attack is completely unwarranted.

[24:16]  ⁵³ tn The clause beginning with כִּי (ki) could be interpreted as causal or conditional; but in view of the significance of the next clause it seems better to take it as a concessive clause (“although”). Its verb then receives a modal nuance of possibility. The apodosis is then “and he rises up,” which could be a participle or a perfect tense; although he may fall, he gets up (or, will get up).

[24:16]  sn The righteous may suffer adversity or misfortune any number of times – seven times here – but they will “rise” for virtue triumphs over evil in the end (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 140).

[24:16]  ⁵⁴ tn The verb could be translated with an English present tense (“are brought down,” so NIV) to express what happens to the wicked in this life; but since the saying warns against being like the wicked, their destruction is more likely directed to the future.

[6:3]  ⁵⁵ tn The syntactical construction of imperative followed by an imperative + vav consecutive denotes purpose: “in order to be delivered.” The verb means “to deliver oneself, be delivered” in the Niphal. The image is one of being snatched or plucked quickly out of some danger or trouble, in the sense of a rescue, as in a “brand snatched [Hophal stem] from the fire” (Zech 3:2).

[6:3]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “have come into the hand of your neighbor” (so NASB; cf. KJV, ASV). The idiom using the “hand” means that the individual has come under the control or the power of someone else. This particular word for hand is used to play ironically on its first occurrence in v. 1.

[6:3]  ⁵⁷ tn In the Hitpael the verb רָפַס (rafas) means “to stamp oneself down” or “to humble oneself” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV). BDB 952 s.v. Hithp suggests “become a suppliant.” G. R. Driver related it to the Akkadian cognate rapasu, “trample,” and interpreted as trampling oneself, swallowing pride, being unremitting in effort (“Some Hebrew Verbs, Nouns, and Pronouns,” JTS 30 [1929]: 374).

[6:3]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “be bold.” The verb רָהַב (rahav) means “to act stormily; to act boisterously; to act arrogantly.” The idea here is a strong one: storm against (beset, importune) your neighbor. The meaning is that he should be bold and not take no for an answer. Cf. NIV “press your plea”; TEV “beg him to release you.”

[24:11]  ⁵⁹ tn The idea of “slipping” (participle from מוֹט, mot) has troubled some commentators. G. R. Driver emends it to read “at the point of” (“Problems in Proverbs,” ZAW 50 [1932]: 146). But the MT as it stands makes good sense. The reference would be general, viz., to help any who are in mortal danger or who might be tottering on the edge of such disaster – whether through sin, or through disease, war, or danger. Several English versions (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV) render this term as “staggering.”

[24:11]  sn God holds people responsible for rescuing those who are in mortal danger. The use of “death” and “slaughter” seems rather strong in the passage, but they have been used before in the book for the destruction that comes through evil.

[24:12]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “weighs” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV) meaning “tests” or “evaluates.”

[24:12]  ⁶¹ sn The verse completes the saying by affirming that people will be judged responsible for helping those in mortal danger. The verse uses a series of rhetorical questions to affirm that God knows our hearts and we cannot plead ignorance.

[30:4]  ⁶² sn To make his point Agur includes five questions. These, like Job 38–41, or Proverbs 8:24-29, focus on the divine acts to show that it is absurd for a mere mortal to think that he can explain God’s work or compare himself to God. These questions display mankind’s limitations and God’s incomparable nature. The first question could be open to include humans, but may refer to God alone (as the other questions do).

[30:4]  ⁶³ sn The questions are filled with anthropomorphic language. The questioner is asking what humans have ever done this, but the meaning is that only God has done this. “Gathering the wind in his fists” is a way of expressing absolute sovereign control over the forces of nature.

[30:4]  ⁶⁴ sn The question is comparing the clouds of the heavens to garments (e.g., Job 26:8). T. T. Perowne writes, “Men bind up water in skins or bottles; God binds up the rain-floods in the thin, gauzy texture of the changing clouds, which yet by his power does not rend under its burden of waters.”

[30:4]  ⁶⁵ sn The ends of the earth is an expression often used in scripture as a metonymy of subject referring to the people who live in the ends of the earth, the far off and remote lands and islands. While that is possible here as well, this may simply be a synecdoche saying that God created the whole world, even the most remote and distant places.

[30:4]  ⁶⁶ sn The reference to “son” in this passage has prompted many suggestions down through the years: It was identified as Israel in the Jewish Midrashim, the Logos or demiurge by some of the philosophers and allegorical writers, as simple poetic parallelism without a separate identity by some critical scholars, and as Jesus by Christian commentators. Parallels with Ugaritic are interesting, because Baal is referred to as a son; but that is bound up within the pantheon where there was a father god. Some of the Jewish commentators exhibit a strange logic in expressing what Christians would say is only their blindness to the full revelation: There is little cogency in this being a reference to Jesus because if there had been such a person at any time in the past he would have left some tradition about it through his descendants (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 317). But Judaism has taught from the earliest times that Messiah was preexistent (especially in view of Micah 5 and Daniel 7); and the claims of Jesus in the Gospels bear this out. It seems best to say that there is a hint here of the nature of the Messiah as Son, a hint that will later be revealed in full through the incarnation.