Amsal 17:21

17:21 Whoever brings a fool ¹  into the world ²  does so ³  to his grief,

and the father of a fool has no joy. ⁴ 

Amsal 23:34

23:34 And you will be like one who lies down in the midst ⁵  of the sea,

and like one who lies down on the top of the rigging. ⁶ 

Amsal 28:9

28:9 The one who turns away his ear ⁷  from hearing the law,

even his prayer ⁸  is an abomination. ⁹ 

Amsal 28:22

28:22 The stingy person ¹⁰  hastens after riches

and does not know that poverty will overtake him. ¹¹ 

[17:21]  ¹ sn Here the Hebrew terms כְּסִיל (kÿsil) and נָבָל (naval) are paired. The first one, which occurs about fifty times in the book, refers to a dullard, whether it be in spiritual, intellectual, or moral matters. The second word, rare in the book, primarily focuses on religious folly – it refers to the practical atheist, the one who lives as if there is no God.

[17:21]  ² tn The form simply means “bears” or “gives birth to,” but since it is masculine it could be rendered “fathers” (cf. NASB “he who begets a fool”; NIV “To have a fool for a son”). The form for “fool” is masculine, but the proverb is not limited only to male children (cf. NCV “It is sad to have a foolish child”).

[17:21]  ³ tn The phrase “does so” is supplied for the sake of clarification.

[17:21]  ⁴ sn Parents of fools, who had hoped for children who would be a credit to the family, find only bitter disappointment (cf. TEV “nothing but sadness and sorrow”).

[23:34]  ⁵ tn Heb “heart.” The idiom here means “middle”; KJV “in the midst.”

[23:34]  ⁶ sn The point of these similes is to compare being drunk with being seasick. One who tries to sleep when at sea, or even worse, when up on the ropes of the mast, will be tossed back and forth.

[28:9]  ⁷ sn The expression “turn away the ear from hearing” uses a metonymy to mean that this individual will not listen – it indicates a deliberate refusal to follow the instruction of the law.

[28:9]  ⁸ sn It is hard to imagine how someone who willfully refuses to obey the law of God would pray according to the will of God. Such a person is more apt to pray for some physical thing or make demands on God. (Of course a prayer of repentance would be an exception and would not be an abomination to the Lord.)

[28:9]  ⁹ sn C. H. Toy says, “If a man, on his part, is deaf to instruction, then God, on his part, is deaf to prayer” (Proverbs [ICC], 499). And W. McKane observes that one who fails to attend to God’s law is a wicked person, even if he is a man of prayer (Proverbs [OTL], 623).

[28:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a man with an evil eye” (as opposed to the generous man who has a “good” eye). This individual is selfish, unkind, unsympathetic to others. He looks only to his own gain. Cf. NAB “The avaricious man”; NLT “A greedy person.”

[28:22]  ¹¹ sn The one who is hasty to gain wealth is involved in sin in some way, for which he will be punished by poverty. The idea of “hastening” after riches suggests a dishonest approach to acquiring wealth.