Amsal 5:23

5:23 He will die because ¹  there was no discipline;

because of the greatness of his folly ²  he will reel. ³ 

Amsal 7:25

7:25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways –

do not wander into her pathways;

Amsal 16:5

16:5 The Lord abhors ⁴  every arrogant person; ⁵ 

rest assured ⁶  that they will not go unpunished. ⁷ 

Amsal 20:3

20:3 It is an honor for a person ⁸  to cease ⁹  from strife,

but every fool quarrels. ¹⁰ 

[5:23]  ¹ tn The preposition בּ (bet) is used in a causal sense: “because” (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV).

[5:23]  ² sn The word אִוַּלְתּוֹ (’ivvalto, “his folly”) is from the root אול and is related to the noun אֶוִיל (’evil, “foolish; fool”). The noun אִוֶּלֶת (’ivvelet, “folly”) describes foolish and destructive activity. It lacks understanding, destroys what wisdom builds, and leads to destruction if it is not corrected.

[5:23]  ³ sn The verb שָׁגָה (shagah, “to swerve; to reel”) is repeated in a negative sense. If the young man is not captivated by his wife but is captivated with a stranger in sinful acts, then his own iniquities will captivate him and he will be led to ruin.

[16:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) is a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.”

[16:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “every proud of heart”; NIV “all the proud of heart.” “Heart” is the genitive of specification; the phrase is talking about people who have proud hearts, whose ideas are arrogant. These are people who set themselves presumptuously against God (e.g., 2 Chr 26:16; Ps 131:1; Prov 18:12).

[16:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “hand to hand.” This idiom means “you can be assured” (e.g., Prov 11:21).

[16:5]  ⁷ tc The LXX has inserted two couplets here: “The beginning of a good way is to do justly, // and it is more acceptable with God than to do sacrifices; // he who seeks the Lord will find knowledge with righteousness, // and they who rightly seek him will find peace.” C. H. Toy reminds the reader that there were many proverbs in existence that sounded similar to those in the book of Proverbs; these lines are in the Greek OT as well as in Sirach (Proverbs [ICC], 321-22).

[16:5]  tn The B-line continues the A-line, but explains what it means that they are an abomination to the Lord – he will punish them. “Will not go unpunished” is an understatement (tapeinosis) to stress first that they will certainly be punished; those who humble themselves before God in faith will not be punished.

[20:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “man.”

[20:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “cessation” (שֶׁבֶת, shevet); NAB “to shun strife”; NRSV “refrain from strife.”

[20:3]  sn One cannot avoid conflict altogether; but the proverb is instructing that at the first sign of conflict the honorable thing to do is to find a way to end it.

[20:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “breaks out.” The Hitpael of the verb גָּלַע (gala’, “to expose; to lay bare”) means “to break out; to disclose oneself,” and so the idea of flaring up in a quarrel is clear. But there are also cognate connections to the idea of “showing the teeth; snarling” and so quarreling viciously.