Amsal 1:27

1:27 when what you dread ¹  comes like a whirlwind, ² 

and disaster strikes you ³  like a devastating storm, ⁴ 

when distressing trouble ⁵  comes on you.

Amsal 11:27

11:27 The one who diligently seeks ⁶  good seeks favor,

but the one who searches ⁷  for evil – it will come to him. ⁸ 

[1:27]  ¹ tn Heb “your dread.” See note on 1:31.

[1:27]  ² sn The term “whirlwind” (NAB, NIV, NRSV; cf. TEV, NLT “storm”) refers to a devastating storm and is related to the verb שׁוֹא (sho’, “to crash into ruins”; see BDB 996 s.v. שׁוֹאָה). Disaster will come swiftly and crush them like a devastating whirlwind.

[1:27]  ³ tn Heb “your disaster.” The 2nd person masculine singular suffix is an objective genitive: “disaster strikes you.”

[1:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “like a storm.” The noun סוּפָה (sufah, “storm”) is often used in similes to describe sudden devastation (Isa 5:28; Hos 8:7; Amos 1:14).

[1:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “distress and trouble.” The nouns “distress and trouble” mean almost the same thing so they may form a hendiadys. The two similar sounding terms צוּקָה (tsuqah) and צָרָה (tsarah) also form a wordplay (paronomasia) which also links them together.

[11:27]  ⁶ tn Two separate words are used here for “seek.” The first is שָׁחַר (shakhar, “to seek diligently”) and the second is בָּקַשׁ (baqash, “to seek after; to look for”). Whoever is seeking good is in effect seeking favor – from either God or man (e.g., Ps 5:12; Isa 49:8).

[11:27]  ⁷ tn The participle דֹּרֵשׁ (doresh) means “to seek; to inquire; to investigate.” A person generally receives the consequences of the kind of life he seeks.

[11:27]  ⁸ tn The verb is the imperfect tense, third feminine singular, referring to “evil,” the object of the participle.