Amsal 11:13

11:13 The one who goes about slandering others ¹  reveals ²  secrets,

but the one who is trustworthy ³  conceals a matter.

Amsal 13:5

13:5 The righteous person hates anything false, ⁴ 

but the wicked person acts in shameful disgrace. ⁵ 

Amsal 25:6

25:6 Do not honor yourself before the king,

and do not stand in the place of great men;

Amsal 31:29

31:29 “Many ⁶  daughters ⁷  have done valiantly, ⁸ 

but you surpass them all!”

[11:13]  ¹ tn Heb “going about in slander.” This expression refers to a slanderer. The noun means “slander” and so “tale-bearer” (so KJV, ASV, NASB), “informer.” The related verb (רָכַל, rakhal) means “to go about” from one person to another, either for trade or for gossip.

[11:13]  ² tn The participle מְגַלֶּה (mÿgaleh) means “uncovering” or “revealing” secrets.

[11:13]  sn This is the intent of a person who makes disparaging comments about others – he cannot wait to share secrets that should be kept.

[11:13]  ³ tn Heb “faithful of spirit.” This phrase describes the inner nature of the person as faithful and trustworthy. This individual will not rush out to tell whatever information he has heard, but will conceal it.

[13:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “a word of falsehood.” The genitive “falsehood” functions as an attributive genitive. The construct noun דְּבַר (dÿvar) means either “word” or “thing.” Hence, the phrase means “a false word” or “a false thing.”

[13:5]  ⁵ tc The versions render this phrase variously: “is ashamed and without confidence” (LXX); “is ashamed and put to the blush” (Tg. Prov 13:5); “confounds and will be confounded” (Vulgate). The variety is due in part to confusion of בָּאַשׁ (ba’sh, “to stink”) and בּוֹשׁ (bosh, “to be ashamed”). Cf. NASB “acts disgustingly and shamefully.”

[13:5]  tn Heb “acts shamefully and disgracefully.” The verb בָּאַשׁ (ba’ash) literally means “to cause a stink; to emit a stinking odor” (e.g., Exod 5:21; Eccl 10:1) and figuratively means “to act shamefully” (BDB 92 s.v.). The verb וְיַחְפִּיר (vÿyakhppir) means “to display shame.” Together, they can be treated as a verbal hendiadys: “to act in disgraceful shame,” or more colorfully “to make a shameful smell,” or as W. McKane has it, “spread the smell of scandal” (Proverbs [OTL], 460). W. G. Plaut says, “Unhappily, the bad odor adheres not only to the liar but also to the one about whom he lies – especially when the lie is a big one” (Proverbs, 152).

[31:29]  ⁶ tn The first word of the twentieth line begins with ר (resh), the twentieth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[31:29]  ⁷ tn Or “women” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[31:29]  ⁸ tn The word is the same as in v. 10, “noble, valiant.”