Amsal 10:1

The First Collection of Solomonic Proverbs ¹ 

10:1 The Proverbs of Solomon:

A wise child ²  makes a father rejoice, ³ 

but a foolish child ⁴  is a grief to his mother. ⁵ 

Amsal 13:1

13:1 A wise son accepts ⁶  his father’s discipline, ⁷ 

but a scoffer ⁸  does not listen to rebuke.

Amsal 13:18

13:18 The one who neglects ⁹  discipline ends up in ¹⁰  poverty and shame,

but the one who accepts reproof is honored. ¹¹ 

Amsal 13:1

13:1 A wise son accepts ¹²  his father’s discipline, ¹³ 

but a scoffer ¹⁴  does not listen to rebuke.

1 Samuel 2:23-25

2:23 He said to them, “Why do you behave in this way? For I hear about these evil things from all these ¹⁵  people. 2:24 This ought not to be, ¹⁶  my sons! For the report that I hear circulating among the Lord’s people is not good. 2:25 If a man sins against a man, one may appeal to God on his behalf. But if a man sins against the Lord, who then will intercede for him?” But Eli’s sons ¹⁷  would not listen to their father, for the Lord had decided ¹⁸  to kill them.

1 Samuel 2:2

2:2 No one is holy ¹⁹  like the Lord!

There is no one other than you!

There is no rock ²⁰  like our God!

1 Samuel 15:1-6

Saul Is Rejected as King

15:1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “I was the one the Lord sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord says. ²¹  15:2 Here is what the Lord of hosts says: ‘I carefully observed how the Amalekites opposed ²²  Israel along the way when Israel ²³  came up from Egypt. 15:3 So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare ²⁴  them. Put them to death – man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’”

15:4 So Saul assembled ²⁵  the army ²⁶  and mustered them at Telaim. There were 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. 15:5 Saul proceeded to the city ²⁷  of Amalek, where he set an ambush ²⁸  in the wadi. ²⁹  15:6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go on and leave! Go down from among the Amalekites! Otherwise I will sweep you away ³⁰  with them! After all, you were kind to all the Israelites when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from among the Amalekites.

1 Samuel 15:1

Saul Is Rejected as King

15:1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “I was the one the Lord sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord says. ³¹ 

1 Samuel 22:11-13

22:11 Then the king arranged for a meeting with the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and all the priests of his father’s house who were at Nob. They all came to the king. 22:12 Then Saul said, “Listen, son of Ahitub.” He replied, “Here I am, my lord.” 22:13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and this son of Jesse? You gave ³²  him bread and a sword and inquired of God on his behalf, so that he opposes ³³  me and waits in ambush, as is the case today!”

1 Samuel 28:9

28:9 But the woman said to him, “Look, you are aware of what Saul has done; he has removed ³⁴  the mediums and magicians ³⁵  from the land! Why are you trapping me ³⁶  so you can put me to death?”

1 Samuel 28:20

28:20 Saul quickly fell full length on the ground and was very afraid because of Samuel’s words. He was completely drained of energy, ³⁷  not having eaten anything ³⁸  all that day and night.

[10:1]  ¹ sn Beginning with ch. 10 there is a difference in the form of the material contained in the book of Proverbs. No longer are there long admonitions, but the actual proverbs, short aphorisms dealing with right or wrong choices. Other than a few similar themes grouped together here and there, there is no arrangement to the material as a whole. It is a long collection of approximately 400 proverbs.

[10:1]  ² tn Heb “son.”

[10:1]  ³ tn The imperfect tense describes progressive or habitual action, translated here with an English present tense. These fit the nature of proverbs which are general maxims, and not necessarily absolutes or universal truths. One may normally expect to find what the proverb notes, and one should live according to its instructions in the light of those expectations; but one should not be surprised if from time to time there is an exception. The fact that there may be an exception does not diminish the need to live by the sayings.

[10:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “son.”

[10:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “grief of his mother.” The noun “grief” is in construct, and “mother” is an objective genitive. The saying declares that the consequences of wisdom or folly affects the parents.

[13:1]  ⁶ tn The term “accepts” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and clarity.

[13:1]  ⁷ tc G. R. Driver suggested reading this word as מְיֻסַּר (mÿyussar, “allows himself to be disciplined”); see his “Hebrew Notes on Prophets and Proverbs,” JTS 41 (1940): 174. But this is not necessary at all; the MT makes good sense as it stands. Similarly, the LXX has “a wise son listens to his father.”

[13:1]  tn Heb “discipline of a father.”

[13:1]  ⁸ sn The “scoffer” is the worst kind of fool. He has no respect for authority, reviles worship of God, and is unteachable because he thinks he knows it all. The change to a stronger word in the second colon – “rebuke” (גָּעַר, ga’ar) – shows that he does not respond to instruction on any level. Cf. NLT “a young mocker,” taking this to refer to the opposite of the “wise son” in the first colon.

[13:18]  ⁹ tn The verb III פָּרַע (para’) normally means “to let go; to let alone” and here “to neglect; to avoid; to reject” (BDB 828 s.v.).

[13:18]  ¹⁰ tn The phrase “ends up in” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[13:18]  ¹¹ sn Honor and success are contrasted with poverty and shame; the key to enjoying the one and escaping the other is discipline and correction. W. McKane, Proverbs (OTL), 456, notes that it is a difference between a man of weight (power and wealth, from the idea of “heavy” for “honor”) and the man of straw (lowly esteemed and poor).

[13:1]  ¹² tn The term “accepts” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and clarity.

[13:1]  ¹³ tc G. R. Driver suggested reading this word as מְיֻסַּר (mÿyussar, “allows himself to be disciplined”); see his “Hebrew Notes on Prophets and Proverbs,” JTS 41 (1940): 174. But this is not necessary at all; the MT makes good sense as it stands. Similarly, the LXX has “a wise son listens to his father.”

[13:1]  tn Heb “discipline of a father.”

[13:1]  ¹⁴ sn The “scoffer” is the worst kind of fool. He has no respect for authority, reviles worship of God, and is unteachable because he thinks he knows it all. The change to a stronger word in the second colon – “rebuke” (גָּעַר, ga’ar) – shows that he does not respond to instruction on any level. Cf. NLT “a young mocker,” taking this to refer to the opposite of the “wise son” in the first colon.

[2:23]  ¹⁵ tc For “these” the LXX has “of the Lord” (κυρίου, kuriou), perhaps through the influence of the final phrase of v. 24 (“the people of the Lord”). Somewhat less likely is the view that the MT reading is due to a distorted dittography of the first word of v. 24. The Vulgate lacks the word.

[2:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “no.”

[2:25]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (Eli’s sons) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:25]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “desired.”

[2:2]  ¹⁹ sn In this context God’s holiness refers primarily to his sovereignty and incomparability. He is unique and distinct from all other so-called gods.

[2:2]  ²⁰ tn The LXX has “and there is none righteous like our God.” The Hebrew term translated “rock” refers to a rocky cliff where one can seek refuge from enemies. Here the metaphor depicts God as a protector of his people. Cf. TEV “no protector like our God”; CEV “We’re safer with you than on a high mountain.”

[15:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “to the voice of the words of the Lord” (so KJV).

[15:2]  ²² tn Heb “what Amalek did to Israel, how he placed against him.”

[15:2]  ²³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:3]  ²⁴ tn Or perhaps “don’t take pity on” (cf. CEV).

[15:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “caused the people to hear.”

[15:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “people.”

[15:5]  ²⁷ tc The LXX has the plural here, “cities.”

[15:5]  ²⁸ tc The translation follows the LXX and Vulgate which assume a reading וַיָּאָרֶב (vayya’arev, “and he set an ambush,” from the root ארב [’rv] with quiescence of alef) rather than the MT, which has וַיָּרֶב (vayyareb, “and he contended,” from the root ריב [ryv]).

[15:5]  ²⁹ tn That is, “the dry stream bed.”

[15:6]  ³⁰ tc The translation follows the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate which assume a reading אֶסִפְךָ (’esfÿka, “I sweep you away,” from the root ספה [sfh]) rather than the MT אֹסִפְךָ (’osifÿka, “I am gathering you,” from the root אסף[’sf]).

[15:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “to the voice of the words of the Lord” (so KJV).

[22:13]  ³² tn Heb “by giving.”

[22:13]  ³³ tn Heb “rises up against.”

[28:9]  ³⁴ tn Heb “how he has cut off.”

[28:9]  ³⁵ tn See the note at v. 3.

[28:9]  ³⁶ tn Heb “my life.”

[28:20]  ³⁷ tn Heb “also there was no strength in him.”

[28:20]  ³⁸ tn Heb “food.”