Amsal 15:25

15:25 The Lord tears down the house of the proud, ¹ 

but he maintains the boundaries of the widow. ² 

Amsal 21:26

21:26 All day long he craves greedily, ³ 

but the righteous gives and does not hold back. ⁴ 

Amsal 27:20

27:20 As ⁵  Death and Destruction are never satisfied, ⁶ 

so the eyes of a person ⁷  are never satisfied. ⁸ 

[15:25]  ¹ sn The “proud” have to be understood here in contrast to the widow, and their “house” has to be interpreted in contrast to the widow’s territory. The implication may be that the “proud” make their gain from the needy, and so God will set the balance right.

[15:25]  ² sn The Lord administers justice in his time. The Lord champions the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the needy. These people were often the prey of the proud, who would take and devour their houses and lands (e.g., 1 Kgs 21; Prov 16:19; Isa 5:8-10).

[21:26]  ³ tn The construction uses the Hitpael perfect tense הִתְאַוָּה (hit’avvah) followed by the cognate accusative תַאֲוָה (ta’avah). It describes one who is consumed with craving for more. The verse has been placed with the preceding because of the literary connection with “desire/craving.”

[21:26]  ⁴ sn The additional clause, “and does not hold back,” emphasizes that when the righteous gives he gives freely, without fearing that his generosity will bring him to poverty. This is the contrast with the one who is self-indulgent and craves for more.

[27:20]  ⁵ tn The term “as” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation in light of the analogy.

[27:20]  ⁶ sn Countless generations of people have gone into the world below; yet “death” is never satisfied – it always takes more. The line personifies Death and Destruction. It forms the emblem in the parallelism.

[27:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “eyes of a man.” This expression refers to the desires – what the individual looks longingly on. Ecclesiastes Rabbah 1:34 (one of the rabbinic Midrashim) says, “No man dies and has one-half of what he wanted.”

[27:20]  ⁸ tc The LXX contains a scribal addition: “He who fixes his eye is an abomination to the Lord, and the uninstructed do not restrain their tongues.” This is unlikely to be original.