Amsal 18:22

18:22 The one who finds ¹  a wife finds what is enjoyable, ² 

and receives a pleasurable gift ³  from the Lord. ⁴ 

Amsal 20:25

20:25 It is a snare ⁵  for a person ⁶  to rashly cry, ⁷  “Holy!”

and only afterward to consider ⁸  what he has vowed. ⁹ 

Amsal 21:15

21:15 Doing ¹⁰  justice brings ¹¹  joy to the righteous

and terror ¹²  to those who do evil.

Amsal 21:27

21:27 The wicked person’s sacrifice ¹³  is an abomination;

how much more ¹⁴  when he brings it with evil intent! ¹⁵ 

Amsal 28:9

28:9 The one who turns away his ear ¹⁶  from hearing the law,

even his prayer ¹⁷  is an abomination. ¹⁸ 

[18:22]  ¹ tn The verb מָצָא (matsa’, translated “finds”) is used twice in the first colon. It is paralleled by the verb פּוּק (puq, translated “receives”) in the second colon, which carries the same nuance as the preceding verbs. The first perfect tense verb might function in a hypothetical or conditional sense: “If a man finds…then he finds.” But taken as a principle the nuances of the verbs would be gnomic or characteristic.

[18:22]  ² tn Heb “good.” The term טוֹב (tov, “good; enjoyable; fortune”) might be an allusion to Gen 2:18, which affirms that it is not good for man to be alone. The word describes that which is pleasing to God, beneficial for life, and abundantly enjoyable.

[18:22]  ³ tn Heb “what is pleasant.” The noun רָצוֹן (ratson, “what is pleasing”) is often interpreted in a religious-theological sense here: “receives favor from the Lord” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV). However, this term is probably referring to the pleasure that a person enjoys in marriage, so it should be understood in a nonreligious, marital sense: “pleasure” (e.g., Esth 1:8; HALOT 1282 s.v. 1); cf. CEV “she is a gift from the Lord.”

[18:22]  sn The parallelism is formal; the second line of the verse continues the first but explains it further: Finding a spouse, one receives a pleasurable gift from God.

[18:22]  ⁴ tc The LXX adds this embellishment to complete the thought: “Whoever puts away a good wife puts away good, and whoever keeps an adulteress is foolish and ungodly.”

[20:25]  ⁵ sn It would be a “snare” because it would lead people into financial difficulties; Leviticus 27 talks about foolish or rash vows.

[20:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “a man.”

[20:25]  ⁷ tn The verb is from לוּע (lu’) or לָעַע (la’a’); it means “to talk wildly” (not to be confused with the homonym “to swallow”). It occurs here and in Job 6:3.

[20:25]  sn This refers to speaking rashly in dedicating something to the sanctuary by calling it “Holy.”

[20:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “reflect on.” The person is to consider the vows before making them, to ensure that they can be fulfilled. Too many people make their vow or promise without thinking, and then later worry about how they will fulfill their vows.

[20:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “the vows” (so NASB); CEV “promises.”

[21:15]  ¹⁰ tn The Qal infinitive construct עֲשׂוֹת (’asot) functions as the subject of the sentence.

[21:15]  ¹¹ tn The term “brings” is supplied in the translation; many English versions supply a simple copula (“is”).

[21:15]  ¹² sn The noun means “terror (NAB, NASB, NIV), destruction (KJV, ASV), ruin (cf. NCV).” Its related verb means “be shattered, dismayed.” The idea of “dismay” (NRSV) or “terror” would make the better choice to contrast with “joy” in the first line, but “ruin” is also possible. Whenever justice prevails, whether in the courts or simply in society, the people who practice iniquity may be shaken into reality by fear (cf. CEV “crooks are terrified”).

[21:27]  ¹³ tn Heb “the sacrifice of the wicked” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This is a subjective genitive. The foundational clause states that ritual acts of worship brought by the wicked (thus a subjective genitive) are detestable to God. The “wicked” refers here to people who are not members of the covenant (no faith) and are not following after righteousness (no acceptable works). But often they participate in sanctuary ritual, which amounts to hypocrisy.

[21:27]  ¹⁴ sn This rhetorical device shows that if the act is abomination, the wicked heart is an even greater sin. It argues from the lesser to the greater.

[21:27]  ¹⁵ tn The noun זִמָּה (zimmah) means “plan; device; wickedness”; here it indicates that the person is coming to the ritual with “sinful purpose.” Some commentators suggest that this would mean he comes with the sacrifice as a bribe to pacify his conscience for a crime committed, over which he has little remorse or intent to cease (cf. NLT “with ulterior motives”). In this view, people in ancient Israel came to think that sacrifices could be given for any reason without genuine submission to God.

[28:9]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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).