Amsal 1:24

1:24 However, ¹  because ²  I called but you refused to listen, ³ 

because ⁴  I stretched out my hand ⁵  but no one paid attention,

Amsal 5:12

5:12 And you will say, “How I hated discipline!

My heart spurned reproof!

Amsal 12:27

12:27 The lazy person does not roast ⁶  his prey,

but personal possessions ⁷  are precious to the diligent.

Amsal 13:19

13:19 A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul,

but fools abhor ⁸  turning away from evil.

Amsal 15:32

15:32 The one who refuses correction despises himself, ⁹ 

but whoever hears ¹⁰  reproof acquires understanding. ¹¹ 

Amsal 18:14

18:14 A person’s spirit ¹²  sustains him through sickness –

but who can bear ¹³  a crushed spirit? ¹⁴ 

[1:24]  ¹ tn The term “however” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the contrast between the offer in 1:23 and the accusation in 1:24-25. It is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:24]  ² tn The particle יַעַן (ya’an, “because”) introduces a causal clause which forms part of an extended protasis; the apodosis is 1:26.

[1:24]  ³ tn The phrase “to listen” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:24]  ⁴ tn The term “because” does not appear in this line but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[1:24]  ⁵ sn This expression is a metonymy of adjunct; it is a gesture that goes with the appeal for some to approach.

[12:27]  ⁶ tc The MT reads יַחֲרֹךְ (yakharokh) from II חָרַךְ (kharakh, “to roast”?). On the other hand, several versions (LXX, Syriac, Vulgate) reflect a Hebrew Vorlage of יַדְרִיךְ (yadrikh) from דָרַךְ (darakh, “to gain”), meaning: “a lazy person cannot catch his prey” (suggested by Gemser; cf. NAB). The MT is the more difficult reading, being a hapax legomenon, and therefore should be retained; the versions are trying to make sense out of a rare expression.

[12:27]  tn The verb II חָרַךְ (kharakh) is a hapax legomenon, appearing in the OT only here. BDB suggests that it means “to start; to set in motion” (BDB 355 s.v.). The related Aramaic and Syriac verb means “to scorch; to parch,” and the related Arabic verb means “to roast; to scorch by burning”; so it may mean “to roast; to fry” (HALOT 353 s.v. I חרך). The lazy person can’t be bothered cooking what he has hunted. The Midrash sees an allusion to Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25. M. Dahood translates it: “the languid man will roast no game for himself, but the diligent will come on the wealth of the steppe” (“The Hapax harak in Proverbs 12:27,” Bib 63 [1982]: 60-62). This hyperbole means that the lazy person does not complete a project.

[12:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “the wealth of a man.”

[13:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “an abomination of fools.” The noun כְּסִילִים (kÿsilim, “fools”) functions as a subjective genitive: “fools hate to turn away from evil” (cf. NAB, TEV, CEV). T. T. Perowne says: “In spite of the sweetness of good desires accomplished, fools will not forsake evil to attain it” (Proverbs, 103). Cf. Prov 13:12; 29:27.

[15:32]  ⁹ sn To “despise oneself” means to reject oneself as if there was little value. The one who ignores discipline is not interested in improving himself.

[15:32]  ¹⁰ tn Or “heeds” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “listens to.”

[15:32]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text reads קוֹנֶה לֵּב (qoneh lev), the participle of קָנָה (qanah, “to acquire; to possess”) with its object, “heart.” The word “heart” is frequently a metonymy of subject, meaning all the capacities of the human spirit and/or mind. Here it refers to the ability to make judgments or discernment.

[18:14]  ¹² tn Heb “the spirit of a man.” Because the verb of this clause is a masculine form, some have translated this line as “with spirit a man sustains,” but that is an unnecessary change.

[18:14]  ¹³ sn This is a rhetorical question, asserting that very few can cope with depression.

[18:14]  ¹⁴ sn The figure of a “crushed spirit” (ASV, NAB, NCV, NRSV “a broken spirit,” comparing depression to something smashed or crushed) suggests a broken will, a loss of vitality, despair, and emotional pain. In physical sickness one can fall back on the will to live; but in depression even the will to live is gone.