Amsal 10:32

10:32 The lips of the righteous know ¹  what is pleasing, ² 

but the speech ³  of the wicked is perverse.

Amsal 22:20

22:20 Have I not written thirty sayings ⁴  for you,

sayings ⁵  of counsel and knowledge,

Amsal 23:33

23:33 Your eyes will see strange things, ⁶ 

and your mind will speak perverse things.

Amsal 25:2

25:2 It is the glory of God ⁷  to conceal ⁸  a matter,

and it is the glory of a king to search out a matter.

Amsal 28:5

28:5 Evil people ⁹  do not understand justice, ¹⁰ 

but those who seek the Lord ¹¹  understand it all.

Amsal 30:7

30:7 Two things ¹²  I ask from you; ¹³ 

do not refuse me before I die:

Amsal 30:29

30:29 There are three things that are magnificent ¹⁴  in their step,

four things that move about magnificently: ¹⁵ 

[10:32]  ¹ sn The verb “know” applied to “lips” is unusual. “Lips” is a metonymy for what the righteous say; and their words “know” (a personification) what is pleasing, i.e., they are acquainted with.

[10:32]  ² sn The righteous say what is pleasing, acceptable, or delightful; but the wicked say perverse and destructive things.

[10:32]  ³ tn Heb “lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause for what is said.

[22:20]  ⁴ tn Older English versions and a few more recent ones render this phrase as either “excellent things” following the Qere (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NKJV), “officers,” or “heretofore” [day before yesterday], following the Kethib. However (as in most recent English versions) the Qere should be rendered “thirty,” referring to the number in the collection (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[22:20]  ⁵ tn The term “sayings” does not appear in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[23:33]  ⁶ tn The feminine plural of זָר (zar, “strange things”) refers to the trouble one has in seeing and speaking when drunk.

[25:2]  ⁷ sn The proverb provides a contrast between God and the king, and therein is the clue to the range of application involved. The interest of the king is ruling or administering his government; and so the subject matter is a contrast to the way God rules his kingdom.

[25:2]  ⁸ sn The two infinitives form the heart of the contrast – “to conceal a matter” and “to search out a matter.” God’s government of the universe is beyond human understanding – humans cannot begin to fathom the intentions and operations of it. But it is the glory of kings to search out matters and make them intelligible to the people. Human government cannot claim divine secrecy; kings have to study and investigate everything before making a decision, even divine government as far as possible. But kings who rule as God’s representatives must also try to represent his will in human affairs – they must even inquire after God to find his will. This is their glorious nature and responsibility. For more general information on vv. 2-27, see G. E. Bryce, “Another Wisdom ‘Book’ in Proverbs,” JBL 91 (1972): 145-57.

[28:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “men of evil”; the context does not limit this to males only, however.

[28:5]  ¹⁰ tn The term translated “justice” is מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat); it refers to the legal rights of people, decisions that are equitable in the community. W. G. Plaut observes that there are always those who think that “justice” is that which benefits them, otherwise it is not justice (Proverbs, 282).

[28:5]  ¹¹ sn The contrast (and the difference) is between the wicked and those who seek the Lord. Originally the idea of seeking the Lord meant to obtain an oracle (2 Sam 21:1), but then it came to mean devotion to God – seeking to learn and do his will. Only people who are interested in doing the Lord’s will can fully understand justice. Without that standard, legal activity can become self-serving.

[30:7]  ¹² sn Wisdom literature often groups things in twos and fours, or in other numerical arrangements (e.g., Amos 1:3–2:6; Job 5:19; Prov 6:16-19).

[30:7]  ¹³ tn Assuming that the contents of vv. 7-9 are a prayer, several English versions have supplied a vocative phrase: “O Lord” (NIV); “O God” (NLT); others have supplied a similar phrase without the vocative “O”: NCV, CEV “Lord”; TEV “God.”

[30:29]  ¹⁴ tn The form מֵיטִיבֵי (metibe) is the Hiphil participle, plural construct. It has the idea of “doing good [in] their step.” They move about well, i.e., magnificently. The genitive would be a genitive of specification.

[30:29]  ¹⁵ tn The construction uses the Hiphil participle again (as in the previous line) followed by the infinitive construct of הָלַךְ (halakh). This forms a verbal hendiadys, the infinitive becoming the main verb and the participle before it the adverb.