Amsal 5:8-14

5:8 Keep yourself ¹  far ²  from her,

and do not go near the door of her house,

5:9 lest you give your vigor ³  to others

and your years to a cruel person,

5:10 lest strangers devour ⁴  your strength, ⁵ 

and your labor ⁶  benefit ⁷  another man’s house.

5:11 And at the end of your life ⁸  you will groan ⁹ 

when your flesh and your body are wasted away. ¹⁰ 

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

My heart spurned reproof!

5:13 For ¹¹  I did not obey my teachers ¹² 

and I did not heed ¹³  my instructors. ¹⁴ 

5:14 I almost ¹⁵  came to complete ruin ¹⁶ 

in the midst of the whole congregation!” ¹⁷ 

Amsal 6:26

6:26 for on account ¹⁸  of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread,

but the wife of another man ¹⁹  preys on your precious life. ²⁰ 

Amsal 18:9

18:9 The one who ²¹  is slack ²²  in his work

is a brother ²³  to one who destroys. ²⁴ 

Amsal 21:17

21:17 The one who loves ²⁵  pleasure ²⁶  will be ²⁷  a poor person; ²⁸ 

whoever loves wine and anointing oil ²⁹  will not be rich.

Amsal 21:20

21:20 There is desirable treasure and olive oil ³⁰  in the dwelling of the wise,

but a foolish person ³¹  devours all he has. ³² 

Amsal 23:19-22

23:19 Listen, my child, ³³  and be wise,

and guide your heart on the right way.

23:20 Do not spend time ³⁴  among drunkards, ³⁵ 

among those who eat too much ³⁶  meat,

23:21 because drunkards and gluttons become impoverished,

and drowsiness ³⁷  clothes them with rags. ³⁸ 

23:22 Listen to your father who begot you,

and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Amsal 28:7

28:7 The one who keeps the law ³⁹  is a discerning child, ⁴⁰ 

but a companion of gluttons brings shame ⁴¹  to his parents. ⁴² 

Amsal 29:3

29:3 The man ⁴³  who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, ⁴⁴ 

but whoever associates ⁴⁵  with prostitutes wastes ⁴⁶  his wealth. ⁴⁷ 

[5:8]  ¹ tn Heb “your way.”

[5:8]  ² sn There is a contrast made between “keep far away” (הַרְחֵק, harkheq) and “do not draw near” (וְאַל־תִּקְרַב, vÿ’al-tiqrav).

[5:9]  ³ sn The term הוֹד (hod, “vigor; splendor; majesty”) in this context means the best time of one’s life (cf. NIV “your best strength”), the full manly vigor that will be wasted with licentiousness. Here it is paralleled by “years,” which refers to the best years of that vigor, the prime of life. Life would be ruined by living this way, or the revenge of the woman’s husband would cut it short.

[5:10]  ⁴ tn Or “are sated, satisfied.”

[5:10]  ⁵ tn The word כֹּחַ (coakh, “strength”) refers to what laborious toil would produce (so a metonymy of cause). Everything that this person worked for could become the property for others to enjoy.

[5:10]  ⁶ tn “labor, painful toil.”

[5:10]  ⁷ tn The term “benefit” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[5:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “at your end.”

[5:11]  ⁹ tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive; it is equal to a specific future within this context.

[5:11]  sn The verb means “to growl, groan.” It refers to a lion when it devours its prey, and to a sufferer in pain or remorse (e.g., Ezek 24:23).

[5:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the finishing of your flesh and your body.” The construction uses the Qal infinitive construct of כָּלָה (calah) in a temporal clause; the verb means “be complete, at an end, finished, spent.”

[5:13]  ¹¹ tn The vav that introduces this clause functions in an explanatory sense.

[5:13]  ¹² tn The Hebrew term מוֹרַי (moray) is the nominal form based on the Hiphil plural participle with a suffix, from the root יָרָה (yarah). The verb is “to teach,” the common noun is “instruction, law [torah],” and this participle form is teacher (“my teachers”).

[5:13]  ¹³ sn The idioms are vivid: This expression is “incline the ear”; earlier in the first line is “listen to the voice,” meaning “obey.” Such detailed description emphasizes the importance of the material.

[5:13]  ¹⁴ tn The form is the Piel plural participle of לָמַד (lamad) used substantivally.

[5:14]  ¹⁵ tn The expression כִּמְעַט (kim’at) is “like a little.” It means “almost,” and is used of unrealized action (BDB 590 s.v. 2). Cf. NCV “I came close to”; NLT “I have come to the brink of.”

[5:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I was in all evil” (cf. KJV, ASV).

[5:14]  ¹⁷ tn The text uses the two words “congregation and assembly” to form a hendiadys, meaning the entire assembly.

[6:26]  ¹⁸ tn The word בְעַד (bÿ’ad) may be taken either as “on account of” (= by means of a) prostitute (cf. ASV, NASB), or “for the price of” a prostitute (cf. NAB). Most expositors take the first reading, though that use of the preposition is unattested, and then must supply “one is brought to.” The verse would then say that going to a prostitute can bring a man to poverty, but going to another man’s wife can lead to death. If the second view were taken, it would mean that one had a smaller price than the other. It is not indicating that one is preferable to the other; both are to be avoided.

[6:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the wife of a man.”

[6:26]  ²⁰ tn These two lines might be an example of synthetic parallelism, that is, “A, what’s more B.” The A-line describes the detrimental moral effect of a man going to a professional prostitute; the B-line heightens this and describes the far worse effect – moral and mortal! – of a man committing adultery with another man’s wife. When a man goes to a prostitute, he lowers himself to become nothing more than a “meal ticket” to sustain the life of that woman; however, when a man commits adultery, he places his very life in jeopardy – the rage of the husband could very well kill him.

[18:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “Also, the one who.” Many commentators and a number of English versions omit the word “also.”

[18:9]  ²² tn The form מִתְרַפֶּה (mitrappeh) is the Hitpael participle, “showing oneself slack.” The verb means “to sink; to relax,” and in the causative stem “to let drop” the hands. This is the lazy person who does not even try to work.

[18:9]  ²³ sn These two troubling types, the slacker and the destroyer, are closely related.

[18:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “possessor of destruction.” This idiom means “destroyer” (so ASV); KJV “a great waster”; NRSV “a vandal.”

[21:17]  ²⁵ sn The participle “loves” (אֹהֵב, ’ohev) indicates in this context that more is involved than the enjoyment of pleasure, for which there is no problem. The proverb is looking at “love” in the sense of needing and choosing, an excessive or uncontrolled indulgence in pleasure.

[21:17]  ²⁶ sn “Pleasure” is actually the Hebrew word “joy” (שִׂמְחָה, simkhah). It is a metonymy of effect, the cause being the good life that brings the joy. In the second colon, “wine” and “oil” would be metonymies of cause, the particular things in life that bring joy. Therefore the figures in the lines work together to give the complete picture.

[21:17]  ²⁷ tn The phrase “will be” is supplied in the translation.

[21:17]  ²⁸ tn Heb “a man of poverty”; NRSV “will suffer want.”

[21:17]  ²⁹ sn In elaborate feasts and celebrations the wine was for drinking but the oil was for anointing (cf. NAB, NCV “perfume”). Both of these characterize the luxurious life (e.g., Ps 23:5; 104:15; Amos 6:6).

[21:20]  ³⁰ tn The mention of “olive oil” (שֶׁמֶן, shemen) is problematic in the line – how can a fool devour it? Several attempts have been made to alleviate the problem. The NIV interprets “treasure” as “choice food,” so that food and oil would make more sense being swallowed. C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 406) suggests dropping “oil” altogether based on the reading in the LXX, but the Greek is too general for any support: It has “precious treasure will rest on the mouth of the sage.” W. McKane wants to change “oil” to an Arabic word “expensive” to read “desirable and rare wealth” (Proverbs [OTL], 552), but this idea does not match the metaphor any better. The figure of “devouring” in the second line simply means the fool uses up whatever he has.

[21:20]  ³¹ tn Heb “a fool of a man.”

[21:20]  ³² tn Heb “he swallows it.” The imagery compares swallowing food with consuming one’s substance. The fool does not prepare for the future.

[23:19]  ³³ tn Heb “my son,” but the immediate context does not limit this to male children.

[23:20]  ³⁴ tn Heb “do not be among,” but in the sense of “associate with” (TEV); “join” (NIV); “consort…with” (NAB).

[23:20]  ³⁵ tn The verb סָבָא (sava’) means “to imbibe; to drink largely.” The participial construction here, סֹבְאֵי־יַיִן (sov’e-yayin), describes “drunkards” (cf. NLT) which is somewhat stronger than saying it refers to “people who drink too much” (cf. NIV, TEV).

[23:20]  ³⁶ tn The verb זָלַל (zalal) means “to be light; to be worthless; to make light of.” Making light of something came to mean “to be lavish with; to squander,” especially with regard to food. So it describes “gluttons” primarily; but in the expression there is also room for the person who wastes a lot of food as well.

[23:21]  ³⁷ tn Here “drowsiness” is a metonymy of effect or adjunct, put for the drunkenness and gluttony that causes it. So all of it, the drunkenness and the drowsiness that comes from it, brings on the ruin (cf. CEV “you will end up poor”). Likewise, “rags” is a metonymy of adjunct, associated with the poverty brought on by a dissolute lifestyle.

[23:21]  ³⁸ sn This is the fourteenth saying, warning about poor associations. Drunkenness and gluttony represent the epitome of the lack of discipline. In the Mishnah they are used to measure a stubborn and rebellious son (m. Sanhedrin 8). W. G. Plaut notes that excessive drinking and eating are usually symptoms of deeper problems; we usually focus more on the drinking because it is dangerous to others (Proverbs, 241-42).

[28:7]  ³⁹ tn The Hebrew word could refer (1) to “instruction” by the father (cf. NCV) or (2) the Mosaic law (so most English versions). The chapter seems to be stressing religious obedience, so the referent is probably the law. Besides, the father’s teaching will be what the law demands, and the one who associates with gluttons is not abiding by the law.

[28:7]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “son,” but the immediate context does not suggest limiting this only to male children.

[28:7]  ⁴¹ sn The companion of gluttons shames his father and his family because such a life style as he now embraces is both unruly and antisocial.

[28:7]  ⁴² tn Heb “father,” but the immediate context does not suggest limiting this only to the male parent.

[29:3]  ⁴³ tn Heb “a man.” Here “man” is retained in the translation because the second colon mentions prostitutes.

[29:3]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “causes his father to rejoice”; NAB “makes his father glad.”

[29:3]  ⁴⁵ tn The active participle רֹעֶה (ro’eh) is from the second root רָעָה (ra’ah), meaning “to associate with.” The verb occurs only a few times, and mostly in the book of Proverbs. It is related to רֵעֶה (re’eh, “friend; companion; fellow”). To describe someone as a “companion” or “friend” of prostitutes is somewhat euphemistic; it surely means someone who is frequently engaging the services of prostitutes.

[29:3]  ⁴⁶ tn The Hebrew verb יְאַבֶּד (yÿ’abbed) means “destroys”; it is the Piel imperfect of the verb that means “to perish.”

[29:3]  ⁴⁷ sn Wealth was seen as a sign of success and of God’s blessings, pretty much as it always has been. To be seen as honorable in the community meant one had acquired some substance and kept his reputation. It would be a disgrace to the family to have a son who squandered his money on prostitutes (e.g., Prov 5:10; 6:31).