Amsal 22:21

22:21 to show you true and reliable words, ¹ 

so that you may give accurate answers ²  to those who sent you?

Amsal 23:7

23:7 for he is ³  like someone calculating the cost ⁴  in his mind. ⁵ 

“Eat and drink,” he says to you,

but his heart is not with you;

Amsal 25:7

25:7 for it is better for him ⁶  to say to you, “Come up here,” ⁷ 

than to put you lower ⁸  before a prince,

whom your eyes have seen. ⁹ 

[22:21]  ¹ tn Heb “to cause you to know the truth of words of truth” (NASB similar).

[22:21]  ² tn Heb “to return true words”; NAB “a dependable report”; NIV “sound answers.”

[23:7]  ³ tc The line is difficult; it appears to mean that the miser is the kind of person who has calculated the cost of everything in his mind as he offers the food. The LXX has: “Eating and drinking with him is as if one should swallow a hair; do not introduce him to your company nor eat bread with him.” The Hebrew verb “to calculate” (שָׁעַר, sha’ar) with a change of vocalization and of sibilant would yield “hair” (שֵׂעָר, se’ar) – “like a hair in the throat [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh], so is he.” This would picture an irritating experience. The Instruction of Amenemope uses “blocking the throat” in a similar saying (chapt. 11, 14:7 [ANET 423]). The suggested change is plausible and is followed by NRSV; but the rare verb “to calculate” in the MT would be easier to defend on the basis of the canons of textual criticism because it is the more difficult reading.

[23:7]  ⁴ tn The phrase “the cost” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the verb; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[23:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “soul.”

[25:7]  ⁶ tn The phrase “for him” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[25:7]  ⁷ sn This proverb, covering the two verses, is teaching that it is wiser to be promoted than to risk demotion by self-promotion. The point is clear: Trying to promote oneself could bring on public humiliation; but it would be an honor to have everyone in court hear the promotion by the king.

[25:7]  ⁸ tn The two infinitives construct form the contrast in this “better” sayings; each serves as the subject of its respective clause.

[25:7]  ⁹ tc Most modern commentators either omit this last line or attach it to the next verse. But it is in the text of the MT as well as the LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and most modern English versions (although some of them do connect it to the following verse, e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).