¹Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity[#sn People should follow honesty even if it leads to poverty (e.g., Prov 18:23; 19:22).]

than one who is perverse in his speech and is a fool.

²It is dangerous to have zeal without knowledge,[#tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis (a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario): “it is dangerous!”; #tn The interpretation of this line depends largely on the meaning of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) which has a broad range of meanings: (1) the breathing substance of man, (2) living being, (3) life, (4) person, (5) seat of the appetites, (6) seat of emotions and passions, (7) activities of intellect, emotion and will, (8) moral character, etc. (BDB 659-61 s.v.). In light of the synonymous parallelism, the most likely nuance here is “zeal, passion” (HALOT 713 s.v. 8). NIV takes the word in the sense of “vitality” and “drive” – “it is not good to have zeal without knowledge” (cf. NCV, TEV, and NLT which are all similar).]

and the one who acts hastily makes poor choices.

³A person’s folly subverts his way,[#tn Heb “the folly of a man.”; #tn The verb סָלַף (salaf) normally means “to twist; to pervert; to overturn,” but in this context it means “to subvert” (BDB 701 s.v.); cf. ASV “subverteth.” sn J. H. Greenstone comments: “Man’s own failures are the result of his own folly and should not be attributed to God” (Proverbs, 201).]

and his heart rages against the Lord .

⁴Wealth adds many friends,

but a poor person is separated from his friend.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished,[#tn Heb “a witness of lies.” This expression is an attributive genitive: “a lying witness” (cf. CEV “dishonest witnesses”). This is paralleled by “the one who pours out lies.”]

and the one who spouts out lies will not escape punishment.

⁶Many people entreat the favor of a generous person,[#tn The verb יְחַלּוּ (yÿkhalu) is a Piel imperfect of חָלָה (khalah) meaning “to seek favor; to entreat favor; to mollify; to appease”; cf. NIV “curry favor.” It literally means “making the face of someone sweet or pleasant,” as in stroking the face. To “entreat the favor” of someone is to induce him to show favor; the action aims at receiving gifts, benefits, or any other kind of success. sn The Hebrew verb translated “entreat the favor” is often used to express prayer when God is the one whose favor is being sought; here it is the prince who can grant requests.; #tn Heb “the face of a generous man”; ASV “the liberal man.” The term “face” is a synecdoche of part (= face) for the whole (= person).]

and everyone is the friend of the person who gives gifts.

⁷All the relatives of a poor person hate him;[#tn Heb “brothers,” but not limited only to male siblings in this context.; #tn Heb “hate him.” The verb שָׂנֵא (sane’) may be nuanced “reject” here (metonymy of effect, cf. CEV). The kind of “dislike” or “hatred” family members show to a poor relative is to have nothing to do with him (NIV “is shunned”). If relatives do this, how much more will the poor person’s friends do so.]

how much more do his friends avoid him –

he pursues them with words, but they do not respond.

⁸The one who acquires wisdom loves himself;[#tn Heb “heart.” Most English versions translate as “wisdom,” but cf. NAB “intelligence.” This refers to a mind that works (e.g., Prov 7:7; 9:4).; #tn Heb “his own soul.” The expression “loves his soul” means that he is paying attention to his needs or taking care of his life (cf. NAB “is his own best friend”). This expression works with its parallel to provide the whole idea: “loving the soul” is the metonymy of the cause for prospering, and “prospering” is the metonymy of the effect (of loving).]

the one who preserves understanding will prosper.

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished,

and the one who spouts out lies will perish.

¹⁰Luxury is not appropriate for a fool;[#tn The form נָאוֶה (na’veh) is an adjective meaning “seemly; comely” in the older English versions like KJV, ASV, “fitting” in more recent ones (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV). The verbal root נוֹה only occurs in the Pilel stem; but it also has the basic meaning of “being fitting; being comely.” In this sentence the form is a predicate adjective.; #sn The verse is simply observing two things that are misfits. It is not concerned with a fool who changes and can handle wealth, or a servant who changes to become a nobleman. It is focused on things that are incongruous.]

how much less for a servant to rule over princes!

¹¹A person’s wisdom makes him slow to anger,[#tn Or “prudence,” the successful use of wisdom in discretion. Cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT “good sense.”; #tn The Hiphil perfect of אָרַךְ (’arakh, “to be long”) means “to make long; to prolong.” Patience and slowness to anger lead to forgiveness of sins.]

and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

¹²A king’s wrath is like the roar of a lion,[#sn The verse contrasts the “rage” of the king with his “favor” by using two similes. The first simile presents the king at his most dangerous – his anger (e.g., 20:2; Amos 3:4). The second simile presents his favor as beneficial for life (e.g., 16:14-15; 28:15).; #tn Heb “is a roaring like a lion.”]

but his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹³A foolish child is the ruin of his father,[#tn Heb “a foolish son” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, CEV); NRSV “a stupid child.”]

and a contentious wife is like a constant dripping.

¹⁴A house and wealth are inherited from parents,[#tn Heb “inheritance of fathers” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).]

but a prudent wife is from the Lord .

¹⁵Laziness brings on a deep sleep,[#tn Heb “causes to fall” or “casts”; NAB “plunges…into.”; #tn Or “complete inactivity”; the word תַּרְדֵּמָה (tardemah) can refer to a physical “deep sleep” (e.g., Gen 2:21; Jonah 1:5, 6); but it can also be used figuratively for complete inactivity, as other words for “sleep” can. Here it refers to lethargy or debility and morbidness.]

and the idle person will go hungry.

¹⁶The one who obeys commandments guards his life;[#tn The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) is repeated twice in this line but with two different senses, creating a polysemantic wordplay: “he who obeys/keeps (ֹֹשׁמֵר, shomer) the commandment safeguards/keeps (שֹׁמֵר, shomer) his life.”]

the one who despises his ways will die.

¹⁷The one who is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord ,[#sn The participle חוֹנֵן (khonen, “shows favor to”) is related to the word for “grace.” The activity here is the kind favor shown poor people for no particular reason and with no hope of repayment. It is literally an act of grace.; #tn The form מַלְוֵה (malveh) is the Hiphil participle from לָוָה (lavah) in construct; it means “to cause to borrow; to lend.” The expression here is “lender of the Lord.” The person who helps the poor becomes the creditor of God.]

and the Lord will repay him for his good deed.

¹⁸Discipline your child, for there is hope,[#tn The translation understands כִּי (ki) as causal. Some prefer to take כִּי as temporal and translate, “while there is hope” (so KJV, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT), meaning that discipline should be administered when the child is young and easily guided. In the causal reading of כִּי, the idea seems to be that children should be disciplined because change is possible due to their youth and the fact that they are not set in their ways.]

but do not set your heart on causing his death.

¹⁹A person with great anger bears the penalty,[#sn The Hebrew word means “indemnity, fine”; this suggests that the trouble could be legal, and the angry person has to pay for it.]

but if you deliver him from it once, you will have to do it again.

²⁰Listen to advice and receive discipline,[#sn The advice refers in all probability to the teachings of the sages that will make one wise.]

that you may become wise by the end of your life.

²¹There are many plans in a person’s mind,[#sn The plans (from the Hebrew verb חָשַׁב [khashav], “to think; to reckon; to devise”) in the human heart are many. But only those which God approves will succeed.; #tn Heb “in the heart of a man” (cf. NAB, NIV). Here “heart” is used for the seat of thoughts, plans, and reasoning, so the translation uses “mind.” In contemporary English “heart” is more often associated with the seat of emotion than with the seat of planning and reasoning.]

but it is the counsel of the Lord which will stand.

²²What is desirable for a person is to show loyal love,[#tn Heb “the desire of a man” (so KJV). The noun in construct is תַּאֲוַת (ta’avat), “desire [of].” Here it refers to “the desire of a man [= person].” Two problems surface here, the connotation of the word and the kind of genitive. “Desire” can also be translated “lust,” and so J. H. Greenstone has “The lust of a man is his shame” (Proverbs, 208). But the sentence is more likely positive in view of the more common uses of the words. “Man” could be a genitive of possession or subjective genitive – the man desires loyal love. It could also be an objective genitive, meaning “what is desired for a man.” The first would be the more natural in the proverb, which is showing that loyal love is better than wealth.; #tn Heb “[is] his loyal love”; NIV “unfailing love”; NRSV “loyalty.”]

and a poor person is better than a liar.

²³Fearing the Lord leads to life,[#tn Heb “the fear of the Lord.” This expression features an objective genitive: “fearing the Lord.”; #tn The term “leads” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and style.; #tn Here “life” is probably a metonymy of subject for “blessings and prosperity in life.” The plural form often covers a person’s “lifetime.”]

and one who does so will live satisfied; he will not be afflicted by calamity.

²⁴The sluggard plunges his hand in the dish,[#tn Heb “buries” (so many English versions); KJV “hideth”; NAB “loses.”]

and he will not even bring it back to his mouth!

²⁵Flog a scorner, and as a result the simpleton will learn prudence;[#tn The Hiphil imperfect תַּכֶּה (takeh) is followed by another imperfect. It could be rendered: “strike a scorner [imperfect of instruction] and a simpleton will become prudent.” But the first of the parallel verbs can also be subordinated to the second as a temporal or conditional clause. Some English versions translate “beat” (NAB “if you beat an arrogant man”), but this could be understood to refer to competition rather than physical punishment. Therefore “flog” has been used in the translation, since it is normally associated with punishment or discipline.; #sn Different people learn differently. There are three types of people in this proverb: the scorner with a closed mind, the simpleton with an empty mind, and the discerning person with an open mind (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 135). The simpleton learns by observing a scoffer being punished, even though the punishment will have no effect on the scoffer.; #sn The word is related to “shrewdness” (cf. 1:4). The simpleton will learn at least where the traps are and how to avoid them.]

correct a discerning person, and as a result he will understand knowledge.

²⁶The one who robs his father and chases away his mother[#tn The construction joins the Piel participle מְשַׁדֶּד (mÿshaded, “one who robs”) with the Hiphil imperfect יַבְרִיחַ (yavriakh, “causes to flee” = chases away). The imperfect given a progressive imperfect nuance matches the timeless description of the participle as a substantive.; #sn “Father” and “mother” here represent a stereotypical word pair in the book of Proverbs, rather than describing separate crimes against each individual parent. Both crimes are against both parents.]

is a son who brings shame and disgrace.

²⁷If you stop listening to instruction, my child,[#tn Heb “Stop listening…!” The infinitive construct לִשְׁמֹעַ (lishmoa’) functions as the direct object of the imperative: “stop heeding [or, listening to].” Of course in this proverb which shows the consequences of doing so, this is irony. The sage is instructing not to stop. The conditional protasis construction does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation.]

you will stray from the words of knowledge.

²⁸A crooked witness scorns justice,[#tn Heb “a witness who is worthless and wicked” (עֵד בְּלִיַּעַל, ’ed beliyya’al). Cf. KJV “an ungodly witness”; NAB “an unprincipled witness”; NCV “an evil witness”; NASB “a rascally witness.”sn These are crooked or corrupt witnesses who willfully distort the facts and make a mockery of the whole legal process.]

and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.

²⁹Judgments are prepared for scorners,[#tc Some (cf. NAB) suggest emending the MT’s “judgments” (from שָׁפַט, shafat) to “rods” (from שָׁבַט, shavat); however, this is not necessary if the term in the MT is interpreted figuratively. The LXX “scourges” might reflect a different Vorlage, but it also could have been an interpretive translation from the same text. “Judgments” is a metonymy of cause and refers to the punishment that the scoffer is to receive.]

and floggings for the backs of fools.