Proverbs

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 12:25):

[hebrew]D)GH BLB )Y$ Y$XnH
WDBR +WB Y$mXnH[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

d^e’āgā b^elēb ’īsh yashkhennā,
w^edābār tōb y^esamm^ekhennā.

Translation (Waltke):

Anxiety in an individual's heart weighs it down,
but a good word cheers it up.

Comment (brackets added):

Anxiety (d^e’āgā) denotes the extreme emotional distress caused by the situation of fearing to lose something vital to life [...]. In an individuals heart (b^elēb ’īsh; [...]) is nonrestrictive, underscoring that worry strikes at a person's very core, destabilizing all his behavior so that he wavers like the restless sea. The incomplete metaphor weighs it down [yashkhennā] implies an intolerable, crushing burden, such as a depressed psyche [...]. [...] But a good word (w^edābār tōb; [...]) here denotes speech that effectively offsets the threat that produces the damaging anxiety. [...] Cheers it up (y^esamm^ekhennā; [...]), as Jacob's spirit revived when he learned that Joseph was still alive in Egypt [...].

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 12:26):

[hebrew]YTR mR(HW cDYQ
WDRQ R$(YM TT(M[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

yātēr mērēa‘hū tsaddīq,
w^ederek r^eshā‘īm tat‘ēm.

Translation (Waltke):

A righteous man searches out his confidential friend,
but the way of wicked men leads them astray.

Comment (brackets added):

The righteous person (tsaddīq; [...]) searches out (yātēr [= Hiph‘il imperfect, 3^rd person masculine singular apocopated, of [hebrew]TWR[/hebrew] (tūr)]; [...] "to send out for intelligent information") -- a metaphor denoting a careful, diligent, and penetrating examination in order to find what is concealed -- his confidential friend (mērēa‘hū). Mērēa‘ refers to a personal adviser [...] or close friend [...] [-hū = possessive pronoun suffix]. [...] The way (derek; [...]) of the wicked (r^eshā‘īm; [...]) does not include listening to wisdom or having close friends who direct them in the ways of righteousness, for they hate wisdom [...]. Leads them astray (tat‘ēm [= Hiph‘il imperfect of [hebrew]T(H[/hebrew] (tā‘āh) + 3^rd person masculine plural pronoun suffix [hebrew]M[/hebrew] (m = 'them'); [...]) [...].

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 12:28):

[hebrew]B)RX cDQH XYYM
WDRK nTYBH )L mWT[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

b^e’ōrakh ts^edāqā khayyīm,
w^ederek n^etībā ’al māwet.

Translation (Waltke):

In the path of righteousness is life,
and the journey of its byway is immortality.

Comment (brackets added):

In the path (b^e’ōrakh; [...]) of righteousness (ts^edāqā; [...]) denotes the route of travel through human existence in the ethical sphere of piety toward God and kindness and dependability toward humanity. [...] The LORD alone maintains the moral order so that righteousness is the sphere of abundant, eternal life (khayyīm; [...]). [...] [In the first word of the B verset (and {w^e} the journey {derek})], derek denotes broadly the whole context, conduct and consequences of a person's lifestyle [...]. Of its by-way (n^etībā) narrows down the broad course of one's lifestyle to the specific aspect of righteousness [...]. The God-ordained consequences of that lifestyle is now said to be in the realm of immortality (’al māwet; [’al = no + māwet = death]).

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 13:1):

[hebrew]BN XkM mWSR )B
WLC $m( G(RH[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

bēn khākām mūsār ’āb,
w^elēts lō’ shāma‘ g^e‘ārā.

Translation (Waltke):

A wise son listens to a father's instruction,
but a mocker doe not listen to rebuke.

Comment (brackets added):

This introductory saying aims to motivate the son to listen to the parental instruction that follows in this unit by giving a sharp point to the contrast between a wise son (bēn khākām; [...]) and a mocker (lēts; [...]). The former listens to a father's (’āb; [...]) chastening instruction (mūsār; [...]). The latter is contemptuous of moral rebuke (g^e‘ārā) and the educational process. [Note that the verb rendered "listen to" ([hebrew]$m([/Hebrew] shāma‘) occurs in the Hebrew only in verset B and is gapped in verset A]

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 13:2):

[hebrew]mpRY pY )Y$ Y)kL +WB
Wnp$ BGDYM XmS[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

mipp^erī pī-’īsh yō’kal tōb,
w^enepesh bōg^edīm khāmās.

Translation (Waltke):

From the fruit of a person's mouth one eats good things,
but the appetite of the treacherous is violence.

Comment (brackets added):

The antithesis between from the fruit of a person's mouth (mipp^erī pī-’īsh; see 12:14) and the appetite (nepesh; [...]) of the treacherous (bōg^edīm; [...]) is imprecise. Accordingly, the speaker producing edible fruit is loyal to God and the community, and the disloyal do not produce edible fruit. One eats (yō’kal; [...]) good things (tōb; [...]) -- a metonymy for the desirable and beneficial things that reliable speech produces -- is an intentional pun. [...] On the one hand, the treacherous, whose words cannot be relied upon, crave to do violence (khāmās; [...]) to the community through the cold infringement of their rights, mostly through their speech, and so to plunder them [...]. People like that, including the mocker, need to be sternly rebuked [...]. On the other hand, their violence against others boomerangs against themselves (see 10:6; 11:27b).

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 13:3):

[hebrew]ncR pYW $mR np$W
p$Q $pTYW mXTH LW[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

nōtsēr pīw shōmēr napshō,
pōsēq s^epātāyw m^ekhittā-lō.

Translation (Waltke):

He who guards his mouth is one who protects his life,
but as for the one who opens his lips wide, he has terror.

Comment (brackets added):

The antithesis who guards (nōtsēr; [...]) his mouth (pīw; see 13:2a) and as for the one who opens wide (pōsēq) his lips implies that the former is cautious, not garrulous, and that the latter is incautious and garrulous. Pāsaq occurs elsewhere only in Ezek. 16:25 for a woman who promiscuously spreads apart her legs. With his lips (s^epātāyw; [...]) the expression may denote either spreading the lips wide apart so that the words flow out unrestrained in torrents, and/or, according to Ezek. 16:25, connote lewd and indiscreet speech that does not restrict itself to norms of propriety, especially if "lips" has a sexual association [...]. Likewise the antithesis is one who protects (shōmēr; [...]) his life (napshō; [...]) and has terror (m^ekhittā-lō; [...]) implies that the tight-lipped does not have terror and the "big mouth" does not guard his life.

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 13:4):

[hebrew]mT)WH W)YN np$W (cL
Wnp$ XRcYM TD$N[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

mit’awwā wā‘ayin napshō ‘ātsēl;
w^enepesh khārutsīm t^edushshān.

Translation (Waltke):

The sluggard's appetite craves, and he has not;
but the life of the diligent is fattened.

Comment (brackets added):

A play on both senses of nepesh ("appetite" [v. 2] and "life" [v. 3]) shifts the thought from the topic of speech to industry, but the paronomasia suggests applying industry to the teachings about speech in verses 2-3 [footnote: There may also be a pun in the proverb itself, for it can mean "the desires of the diligent are fattened" (i.e., fully satisfied).]. On the one hand, the "appetite of the treacherous" damages the community through his violent speech (v. 2b) and the sluggards appetite (napshō ‘ātsēl; [...]) would drain it of its resources. On the other hand, "the life of the tight-lipped is protected" (v. 3a) is escalated to the life of the diligent (nepesh khārutsīm; [...]) is fattened (t^edushshān; see 11:25). By contrast, the sluggard's appetite is not fattened but craves [or is never filled, mit’awwā; [...]], and he has not (wā‘ayin).

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 13:5):

[hebrew]DBR $QR Y$n) cDYQ
WR$( YB)Y$ WYXpYR[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

dābār sheqer yishnā’ tsaddīq,
w^erāshā‘ yab’īsh w^eyakhpīr.

Translation (Waltke):

A righteous person hates a false word,
but a wicked person becomes a stench and comes to feel ashamed.

Comment (brackets added):

The righteous person whose lips produce and eat good fruit (v. 2a), who protects his life through discreet speech (v. 4), and who through diligence has every appetite satisfied (v. 4b), is now defined as a righteous person (tsaddīq; [...]). [...] Because the righteous loves the LORD, who hates lying lips, delights in faithfulness (12:22), and values people, who are best served by truth, he hates with a passion (yishnā’; [...]) any false (sheqer; [...]) word (dābār). But a wicked person (w^erāshā‘; [...]), whose vanity and selfishness poison personal relationships and destroy society [...], becomes a stench (yab’īsh; [...]). Bā’ash [the lexical form of yab’īsh] implies that the lier has become exposed and so becomes repulsive to society. He also comes to feel ashamed (w^eyakhpīr; [...]).

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 13:6):

[hebrew]cDQH T(R TM DRK
WR$(H TSLP X+)T[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

ts^edāqā titstsōr tom-dārek,
w^erishā t^esallēp khattā’t.

Translation (Waltke):

Righteousness guards the blameless way,
but wickedness overturns the sinful [way].

Comment (brackets added):

Righteousness (ts^edāqā; [...]) guards (titstsōr; [...]) the blameless (tom; [...]) way [dārek]. Just as the metonymies, "the sacrifices of righteousness" [...] and "the gates of righteousness" [in the Psalms] do not describe the sacrifices themselves or the gate itself but the righteous state or quality of the people who sacrifice and who go through the gate respectively, so also "blameless way" (tom-dārek) refers to the context, conduct, and blessed destiny of people whose very step is oriented toward the LORD and the well-being of his universal kingdom. But wickedness (w^erishā; [...]) overturns (t^esallēp; see selep "perversity" in 11:3) the sinful (khattā’t; [...]). Sālap [the lexical form of the grammatically inflected verb t^esallēp and the verbal cognate of the noun selep] means "to twist, distort, pervert and so to ruin something pertaining to ethics.".

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 13:7):

[hebrew]Y$ mT($R W)YN kL
mTRW$$ WHWN RB[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

yēsh mit‘ashshēr w^e’ēn kōl;
mitrōshēsh w^ehōn rāb.

Translation (Waltke):

There is one who pretends to be rich, yet has nothing;
and [there is] one who pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

Comment (brackets added):

[...] there is [yēsh] one who pretends to be rich (mit‘ashshēr), yet has nothing (w^e’ēn kōl); and there is one who pretends to be poor (mitrōshēsh; [...]), yet [w^e] has great (rāb; [...]) wealth (hōn; [...]).

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 13:8):

[hebrew]kpR np$ )Y$ ($RW
WR$ L) $m( G(RH[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

kōper nepesh-’īsh ‘oshrō,
w^erāsh lō-shāma‘ g^e‘ārā.

Translation (Waltke):

The ransom of a person's life is his riches,
but a poor person does not listen to a rebuke.

Comment (brackets added):

The ransom (kōper; [...]) occurs a dozen times in the Bible and designates the price paid or demanded in exchange for saving a life with reference to either an innocent or a guilty person. [...] of a person's life (nepesh-’īsh; [...]) refers to that of any person. The predicate is his riches (‘oshrō; [...]) assumes that a normal person will give all he has for his life (Job 2:4) and that the offended will accept it. By contrast, a poor person (rāsh) cannot be motivated to respond to moral censure by threatening him with loss of life unless he redeems it. [...] Shāma‘ (does not listen, lō-shāma‘; [...]) outside Proverbs may mean "to hear a word with the external ear" [...], but its 30 occurrences in Proverbs denote "to hear with the heart," "to listen and obey," its meaning in the precise parallel of 13:1b. As in that parallel, rebuke (g^e‘ārā) denotes an angry protest of moral censure involving loss, either real or threatened (see 13:1), not the threat of extortion.

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 13:9):

[hebrew])WR cDYQYM Y$mX
WGR R$(YM YD(K[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

’ōr tsaddīqīm yismākh,
w^egēr r^eshā‘īm yid‘ākh.

Translation (Waltke):

The light of righteous people shines brightly,
but the lamp of wicked people is snuffed out.

Comment (brackets added):

Since the light (’ōr) is part of the broken, stereotyped phrase "light of the lamp" [...], it should be interpreted as part of that imagery and not contrasted with the artificial light of a "lamp." The light of a lamp symbolizes a person's success and well-being entailing his endurance in life, not merely his clinical life [...]. The contrast between the versets pertains to the enduring prosperity of righteous people [tsaddīqīm] versus the temporary duration of the light of the lamp [gēr] of wicked people (r^eshā‘īm; [...]). Though shines brightley (yismākh [= Qal impf. 3 m.s. of [hebrew]$mX[/hebrew]]) connotes joy and gladness, it denotes "to shine," "to beam," the more fitting contrast to "to be extinguished" [yid‘ākh = Qal impf. 3 m.s. of [hebrew]D(K[/hebrew]]. The seven occurrences of the verb is snuffed out (yid‘ākh) always refer to deliberately extinguishing a lamp or wick; [...]). It symbolizes the final misfortune and hopelessness of the wicked [...].

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 13:10):

[hebrew]RQ BZDWN YTN mcH
W)T nW(cYM XkmH[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

raq b^ezādōn yittēn matstsā,
w^e’et nō‘āsīm khokmā.

Translation (Waltke):

There is is strife only with pride,
but with those who take counsel [there is] wisdom.

Comment (brackets added):

There is (yittēn; see "give" [...]) signifies "to set in motion" with an indefinite subject. Its object, strife (matstsā), refers to the way guilty people with with a colossal ego respond to moral rebuke. [...] Only (raq) modifies "pride," not the whole clause or "strife," because it is followed by a prepositional phrase, not a verb or nominal clause. [...] But those who take counsel (w^e’et nō‘āsīm; [...]) refers to the modesty of those who acknowledge the limitations of their knowledge and the humility to allow themselves to be corrected, criticized, and led to a better plan of action. With those who listen to competent counselors [there is] wisdom (khokmā; [...]), the knowledge of reality and of right order, and acting accordingly, leading to peace.

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 13:11):

[hebrew]HWN mHBL Ym(+
WQBC (L YD YRBH[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

hōn mēhebel yim‘āt,
w^eqōbēts ‘al yād yarbeh.

Translation (Waltke):

Wealth [gotten] by unsound means dwindles,
but he who gathers by hand increases [his wealth].

Comment (brackets added):

The inclusio wealth [hōn] rounds out the subunit on wealth and ethics. [...] [Gotten] by unsound means (mēhebel) basically means "puff of air/vapor"; it is often used metaphorically for what lacks permanence. [...] Dwindles (yim‘āt) is a denominative of the mā‘āt that denotes "to be little," such as small in size (10:23; 13:11) and/or short in duration (5:14; 6:10).Qābats in but he who gathers (w^eqōbēts) here means "to collect/gather," not "to assemble," its more frequent meaning. The implied object , "wealth," is gapped in verset B with both verbs. By (‘al; [...]) hand (yād; [...]) in post biblical Hebrew denotes "gradually," the apparent sense here. [...] This descriptive proverb does not explain why hasty wealth dwindles and the patient worker increases [his wealth] (yarbeh; [...])

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)

[John Reece]

Text (Proverbs 13:12):

[hebrew]TWXLT mm$kH mXLH LB
W(C XYYM T)WH B)H[/Hebrew]

Transliteration:

tōkhelet m^emushshākā makh^alā lēb,
w^e‘ēts khayyīm ta’^awā bā’ā.

Translation (Waltke):

Expectation deferred causes the heart to become sick,
but a tree of life is desire fulfilled.

Comment (brackets added):

Expectation (tōkhelet; [...]) denotes a change from perceived misfortune to good fortune. Deferred (m^emushshākā) does not imply a revised time schedule but a never-ending extension of time. That hopeless external situation debilitates the heart (lēb; [...]), the center from which his physical psychic, and spiritual energies flow to the rest of his body. Contextual determinatives can delimit the broad range of causes . . . to be sick (makh^alā) to physical and/or mental impotence, organic diseases, and/or injuries [...]. Here the antithetical parallel suggests that the frustrated suffers a loss of morale. [...] A desire (ta’^awā; [...]) denotes an inspiration rooted deep in one's personality that draws him along to a desired state [...]. Fulfilled (bā’ā; [...]) glosses the verb bō’ "to come/enter," commonly used in Proverbs of bringing to realization the consequences appropriate to the cause. The metaphor a tree of life (‘ēts khayyīm; [...]) functions as the antithesis of sickness; he is transferred from the realm of sickness and death into the realm of health and life.

-- Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs 1-15 (NICOT: Eerdmans, 2004)