Amsal 3:25

3:25 You will not be afraid ¹  of sudden ²  disaster, ³ 

or when destruction overtakes ⁴  the wicked; ⁵ 

Amsal 3:31

3:31 Do not envy a violent man, ⁶ 

and do not choose to imitate ⁷  any of his ways;

Amsal 4:5

4:5 Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding;

do not forget and do not turn aside from the words I speak. ⁸ 

Amsal 6:11

6:11 and your poverty will come like a robber, ⁹ 

and your need like an armed man. ¹⁰ 

Amsal 23:10

23:10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone,

or take over ¹¹  the fields of the fatherless,

Amsal 23:19

23:19 Listen, my child, ¹²  and be wise,

and guide your heart on the right way.

Amsal 23:33

23:33 Your eyes will see strange things, ¹³ 

and your mind will speak perverse things.

Amsal 24:19

24:19 Do not fret because of evil people

or be envious of wicked people,

Amsal 25:6

25:6 Do not honor yourself before the king,

and do not stand in the place of great men;

Amsal 28:14

28:14 Blessed is the one who is always cautious, ¹⁴ 

but whoever hardens his heart ¹⁵  will fall into evil.

Amsal 31:3

31:3 Do not give your strength ¹⁶  to women,

nor your ways ¹⁷  to that which ruins ¹⁸  kings.

[3:25]  ¹ tn Heb “do not be afraid.” The negative exhortation אַל־תִּירָא (’al-tira’, “do not be afraid”) is used rhetorically to emphasize that the person who seeks wisdom will have no reason to fear the consequences of wicked actions.

[3:25]  ² tn Heb “terror of suddenness.” The noun פִּתְאֹם (pit’om, “sudden”) functions as an attributive genitive: “sudden terror” (e.g., Job 22:10; BDB 837 s.v.).

[3:25]  ³ tn Heb “terror.” The noun פַּחַד (pakhad, “terror”) is a metonymy of effect for cause (= disaster); see BDB 808 s.v. 2. This is suggested by the parallelism with the noun מִשֹּׁאַת (misho’at, “destruction”) in the following colon. The term פַּחַד (“terror”) often refers to the object (or cause) of terror (e.g., Job 3:25; 15:21; 22:10; 31:23; Pss 31:12; 36:2; Isa 24:18; Jer 48:44).

[3:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “or the destruction of the wicked when it comes.”

[3:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “destruction of the wicked.” The noun רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked ones”) probably functions as an objective genitive (the destruction that comes on the wicked) or a genitive of source (the destruction that the wicked bring on others).

[3:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “a man of violence.” The noun חָמָס (khamas, “violence”) functions as an attributive genitive. The word itself means “violence, wrong” (HALOT 329 s.v.) and refers to physical violence, social injustice, harsh treatment, wild ruthlessness, injurious words, hatred, and general rudeness (BDB 329 s.v.).

[3:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “do not choose.”

[4:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “from the words of my mouth” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); TEV, CEV “what I say.”

[4:5]  sn The verse uses repetition for the imperative “acquire” to underscore the importance of getting wisdom; it then uses two verb forms for the one prepositional phrase to stress the warning.

[6:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “like a wayfarer” or “like a traveler” (cf. KJV). The LXX has “swiftness like a traveler.” It has also been interpreted as a “highwayman” (cf. NAB) or a “dangerous assailant.” W. McKane suggests “vagrant” (Proverbs [OTL], 324); cf. NASB “vagabond.” Someone traveling swiftly would likely be a robber.

[6:11]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew word for “armed” is probably connected to the word for “shield” and “deliver” (s.v. גָּנַן). G. R. Driver connects it to the Arabic word for “bold; insolent,” interpreting its use here as referring to a beggar or an insolent man (“Studies in the Vocabulary of the Old Testament, IV,” JTS 33 [1933]: 38-47).

[23:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “encroach on” (NIV, NRSV); Heb “go into.”

[23:19]  ¹² tn Heb “my son,” but the immediate context does not limit this to male children.

[23:33]  ¹³ tn The feminine plural of זָר (zar, “strange things”) refers to the trouble one has in seeing and speaking when drunk.

[28:14]  ¹⁴ tn Most commentators (and some English versions, e.g., NIV) assume that the participle מְפַחֵד (mÿfakhed, “fears”) means “fears the Lord,” even though “the Lord” is not present in the text. Such an assumption would be more convincing if the word יִרְאַת (yir’at) had been used. It is possible that the verse refers to fearing sin or its consequences. In other words, the one who is always apprehensive about the nature and consequences of sin will avoid sin and find God’s blessing. Of course the assumption that the phrase means “fear the Lord” could be correct as well. There would be little difference in the outcome; in either case sin would be avoided.

[28:14]  ¹⁵ sn The one who “hardens his heart” in this context is the person who refuses to fear sin and its consequences. The image of the “hard heart” is one of a stubborn will, unyielding and unbending (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT). This individual will fall into sin.

[31:3]  ¹⁶ sn The word translated “strength” refers to physical powers here, i.e., “vigor” (so NAB) or “stamina.” It is therefore a metonymy of cause; the effect would be what spending this strength meant – sexual involvement with women. It would be easy for a king to spend his energy enjoying women, but that would be unwise.

[31:3]  ¹⁷ sn The word “ways” may in general refer to the heart’s affection for or attention to, or it may more specifically refer to sexual intercourse. While in the book of Proverbs the term is an idiom for the course of life, in this context it must refer to the energy spent in this activity.

[31:3]  ¹⁸ tn The construction uses Qal infinitive construct לַמְחוֹת (lamkhot, “to wipe out; to blot out; to destroy”). The construction is somewhat strange, and so some interpreters suggest changing it to מֹחוֹת (mokhot, “destroyers of kings”); cf. BDB 562 s.v. מָחָה Qal.3. Commentators note that the form is close to an Aramaic word that means “concubine,” and an Arabic word that is an indelicate description for women.