Amsal 12:22

12:22 The Lord ¹  abhors a person who lies, ² 

but those who deal truthfully ³  are his delight. ⁴ 

Amsal 16:12

16:12 Doing wickedness ⁵  is an abomination to kings,

because a throne ⁶  is established in righteousness.

Amsal 29:27

29:27 An unjust person is an abomination to the righteous,

and the one who lives an upright life is an abomination to the wicked. ⁷ 

[12:22]  ¹ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) is a subjective genitive.

[12:22]  ² tn Heb “lips of lying.” The genitive שָׁקֶר (shaqer, “lying”) functions as an attributive genitive: “lying lips.” The term “lips” functions as a synecdoche of part (= lips) for the whole (= person): “a liar.”

[12:22]  ³ tn Heb “but doers of truthfulness.” The term “truthfulness” is an objective genitive, meaning: “those who practice truth” or “those who act in good faith.” Their words and works are reliable.

[12:22]  ⁴ sn The contrast between “delight/pleasure” and “abomination” is emphatic. What pleases the Lord is acting truthfully or faithfully.

[16:12]  ⁵ sn The “wickedness” mentioned here (רֶשַׁע, resha’) might better be understood as a criminal act, for the related word “wicked” can also mean the guilty criminal. If a king is trying to have a righteous administration, he will detest any criminal acts.

[16:12]  ⁶ tn The “throne” represents the administration, or the decisions made from the throne by the king, and so the word is a metonymy of adjunct (cf. NLT “his rule”).

[29:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “who is upright in the way” (so NASB; KJV and ASV are similar). Here “in the way” refers to the course of a person’s life, hence “who lives an upright life.” Cf. NAB “he who walks uprightly.”

[29:27]  sn The proverb makes a simple observation on life: The righteous detest the wicked, and the wicked detest the lifestyle of the righteous. Each is troublesome to the beliefs and the activities of the other.