Amsal 3:21

3:21 My child, do not let them ¹  escape from your sight;

safeguard sound wisdom and discretion. ² 

Amsal 10:2

10:2 Treasures gained by wickedness ³  do not profit,

but righteousness ⁴  delivers from mortal danger. ⁵ 

Amsal 11:6

11:6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, ⁶ 

but the faithless will be captured ⁷  by their own desires. ⁸ 

Amsal 11:8

11:8 The righteous person is delivered ⁹  out of trouble,

and the wicked turns up in his stead. ¹⁰ 

Amsal 12:13

12:13 The evil person is ensnared ¹¹  by the transgression of his speech, ¹² 

but the righteous person escapes out of trouble. ¹³ 

Amsal 13:14

13:14 Instruction ¹⁴  from the wise ¹⁵  is like ¹⁶  a life-giving fountain, ¹⁷ 

to turn ¹⁸  a person ¹⁹  from deadly snares. ²⁰ 

Amsal 16:5

16:5 The Lord abhors ²¹  every arrogant person; ²² 

rest assured ²³  that they will not go unpunished. ²⁴ 

Amsal 19:9

19:9 A false witness will not go unpunished,

and the one who spouts out ²⁵  lies will perish. ²⁶ 

[3:21]  ¹ tn The object of the verb “escape” is either (1) wisdom, knowledge, and understanding in vv. 13-20 or (2) “wisdom and discretion” in the second colon of this verse. Several English versions transpose the terms “wisdom and discretion” from the second colon into the first colon for the sake of clarity and smoothness (e.g., RSV, NRSV, NIV, TEV, CEV).
NIV takes the subject from the second colon and reverses the clauses to clarify that.

[3:21]  ² tn Or: “purpose,” “power of devising.”

[10:2]  ³ tn Heb “treasures of wickedness” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “Ill-gotten gains”; TEV “Wealth that you get by dishonesty.”

[10:2]  ⁴ sn The term “righteousness” here means honesty (cf. TEV). Wealth has limited value even if gained honestly; but honesty delivers from mortal danger.

[10:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “death.” This could refer to literal death, but it is probably figurative here for mortal danger or ruin.

[11:6]  ⁶ sn The contrast is between being rescued or delivered (נָצַל, natsal) and being captured (לָכַד, lakhad). Righteousness is freeing; [evil] desires are enslaving.

[11:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “taken captive” (so NRSV); NIV, TEV “are trapped.”

[11:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “but by the desire of the faithless are they taken captive.”

[11:8]  ⁹ tn The verb is the Niphal perfect from the first root חָלַץ (khalats), meaning “to draw off; to withdraw,” and hence “to be delivered.”

[11:8]  sn The verse is not concerned with the problem of evil and the suffering of the righteous; it is only concerned with the principle of divine justice.

[11:8]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is masculine singular, so the subject cannot be “trouble.” The trouble from which the righteous escape will come on the wicked – but the Hebrew text literally says that the wicked “comes [= arrives; turns up; shows up] in the place of the righteous.” Cf. NASB “the wicked takes his place”; NRSV “the wicked get into it instead”; NIV “it comes on the wicked instead.”

[12:13]  ¹¹ tc MT reads the noun מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “bait; lure”). The LXX, Syriac and Tg. Prov 12:13 took it as a passive participle (“is ensnared”). The MT is the more difficult reading and so is preferred. The versions appear to be trying to clarify a difficult reading.

[12:13]  tn Heb “snare of a man.” The word “snare” is the figurative meaning of the noun מוֹקֵשׁ (“bait; lure” from יָקַשׁ [yaqash, “to lay a bait, or lure”]).

[12:13]  ¹² tn Heb “transgression of the lips.” The noun “lips” is a genitive of specification and it functions as a metonymy of cause for speech: sinful talk or sinning by talking. J. H. Greenstone suggests that this refers to litigation; the wicked attempt to involve the innocent (Proverbs, 131).

[12:13]  ¹³ sn J. H. Greenstone suggests that when the wicked become involved in contradictions of testimony, the innocent is freed from the trouble. Another meaning would be that the wicked get themselves trapped by what they say, but the righteous avoid that (Proverbs, 131).

[13:14]  ¹⁴ tn The term תוֹרָה (torah) in legal literature means “law,” but in wisdom literature often means “instruction; teaching” (BDB 435 s.v.); cf. NAV, NIV, NRSV “teaching”; NLT “advice.”

[13:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “instruction of the wise.” The term חָכָם (khakham, “the wise”) is a genitive of source.

[13:14]  ¹⁶ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[13:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “fountain of life” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). The genitive חַיִּים (khayyim) functions as a genitive of material, similar to the expression “fountain of water.” The metaphor means that the teaching of the wise is life-giving. The second colon is the consequence of the first, explaining this metaphor.

[13:14]  ¹⁸ tn The infinitive construct with preposition לְ (lamed) gives the result (or, purpose) of the first statement. It could also be taken epexegetically, “by turning.”

[13:14]  ¹⁹ tn The term “person” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[13:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “snares of death” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The genitive מָוֶת (mavet) functions as an attributive adjective. The term “snares” makes an implied comparison with hunting; death is like a hunter. W. McKane compares the idea to the Ugaritic god Mot, the god of death, carrying people off to the realm of the departed (Proverbs [OTL], 455). The expression could also mean that the snares lead to death.

[16:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) is a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.”

[16:5]  ²² tn Heb “every proud of heart”; NIV “all the proud of heart.” “Heart” is the genitive of specification; the phrase is talking about people who have proud hearts, whose ideas are arrogant. These are people who set themselves presumptuously against God (e.g., 2 Chr 26:16; Ps 131:1; Prov 18:12).

[16:5]  ²³ tn Heb “hand to hand.” This idiom means “you can be assured” (e.g., Prov 11:21).

[16:5]  ²⁴ tc The LXX has inserted two couplets here: “The beginning of a good way is to do justly, // and it is more acceptable with God than to do sacrifices; // he who seeks the Lord will find knowledge with righteousness, // and they who rightly seek him will find peace.” C. H. Toy reminds the reader that there were many proverbs in existence that sounded similar to those in the book of Proverbs; these lines are in the Greek OT as well as in Sirach (Proverbs [ICC], 321-22).

[16:5]  tn The B-line continues the A-line, but explains what it means that they are an abomination to the Lord – he will punish them. “Will not go unpunished” is an understatement (tapeinosis) to stress first that they will certainly be punished; those who humble themselves before God in faith will not be punished.

[19:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “breathes out”; NAB “utters”; NIV “pours out.”

[19:9]  ²⁶ sn The verse is the same as v. 5, except that the last word changes to the verb “will perish” (cf. NCV “will die”; CEV, NLT “will be destroyed”; TEV “is doomed”).