Amsal 9:7-8

9:7 Whoever corrects ¹  a mocker is asking for ²  insult; ³ 

whoever reproves a wicked person receives ⁴  abuse.

9:8 Do not reprove ⁵  a mocker or ⁶  he will hate you;

reprove a wise person and he will love you.

Amsal 14:6

14:6 The scorner ⁷  seeks wisdom but finds none, ⁸ 

but understanding is easy ⁹  for a discerning person.

Amsal 14:1

14:1 Every wise woman ¹⁰  builds ¹¹  her household, ¹² 

but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

1 Samuel 2:25

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 ¹³  would not listen to their father, for the Lord had decided ¹⁴  to kill them.

Yesaya 28:14-15

The Lord Will Judge Jerusalem

28:14 Therefore, listen to the Lord’s word,

you who mock,

you rulers of these people

who reside in Jerusalem! ¹⁵ 

28:15 For you say,

“We have made a treaty with death,

with Sheol ¹⁶  we have made an agreement. ¹⁷ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by ¹⁸ 

it will not reach us.

For we have made a lie our refuge,

we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.” ¹⁹ 

[9:7]  ¹ tn The active participle יֹסֵר (yoser) describes one who tries to correct by means of instruction and discipline; it is paralleled by the Hiphil participle which refers to someone who rebukes or reproves another. Anyone trying this on these types of people would be inviting trouble.

[9:7]  ² tn Heb “receives for himself.”

[9:7]  ³ tn The word means “dishonor” or “disgrace.” It is paralleled with מוּמוֹ (mumo), translated “abuse.” The latter term means “blemish,” although some would emend the text to read “reproach.” The MT is figurative but not impossible to interpret: Whoever tries to rebuke a wicked person will receive only insults and perhaps physical attack.

[9:7]  ⁴ tn The verb “receives” is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[9:8]  ⁵ tn In view of the expected response for reproof, the text now uses a negated jussive to advise against the attempt. This is paralleled antithetically by the imperative in the second colon. This imperative is in an understood conditional clause: “if you reprove a wise person.”

[9:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “lest he hate you.” The particle פֶּן (pen, “lest”) expresses fear or precaution (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 79, §476). The antonyms “love” and “hate” suggest that the latter means “reject” and the former means “choosing and embracing.”

[14:6]  ⁷ sn The “scorner” (לֵץ, lets) is intellectually arrogant; he lacks any serious interest in knowledge or religion. He pursues wisdom in a superficial way so that he can appear wise. The acquisition of wisdom is conditioned by one’s attitude toward it (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 149).

[14:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “and there is not.”

[14:6]  ⁹ sn The Niphal of קָלַל (qalal) means “to appear light; to appear trifling; to appear easy.”

[14:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “wise ones of women.” The construct phrase חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים (khakhmot nashim) features a wholistic genitive: “wise women.” The plural functions in a distributive sense: “every wise woman.” The contrast is between wise and foolish women (e.g., Prov 7:10-23; 31:10-31).

[14:1]  ¹¹ tn The perfect tense verb in the first colon functions in a gnomic sense, while the imperfect tense in the second colon is a habitual imperfect.

[14:1]  ¹² tn Heb “house.” This term functions as a synecdoche of container (= house) for contents (= household, family).

[2:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (Eli’s sons) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “desired.”

[28:14]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[28:15]  ¹⁶ sn Sheol is the underworld, land of the dead, according to the OT world view.

[28:15]  ¹⁷ tn Elsewhere the noun חֹזֶה (khozeh) refers to a prophet who sees visions. In v. 18 the related term חָזוּת (khazut, “vision”) is used. The parallelism in both verses (note “treaty”) seems to demand a meaning “agreement” for both nouns. Perhaps חֹזֶה and חזוּת are used in a metonymic sense in vv. 15 and 18. Another option is to propose a homonymic root. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:514, and HALOT 301 s.v. II חֹזֶה.

[28:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the overwhelming scourge, when it passes by” (NRSV similar).

[28:15]  ¹⁹ sn “Lie” and “deceitful word” would not be the terms used by the people. They would likely use the words “promise” and “reliable word,” but the prophet substitutes “lie” and “deceitful word” to emphasize that this treaty with death will really prove to be disappointing.