¹Every wise woman builds her household,[#tn Heb “wise ones of women.” The construct phrase חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים (khakhmot nashim) features a wholistic genitive: “wise women.” The plural functions in a distributive sense: “every wise woman.” The contrast is between wise and foolish women (e.g., Prov 7:10-23; 31:10-31).; #tn The perfect tense verb in the first colon functions in a gnomic sense, while the imperfect tense in the second colon is a habitual imperfect.; #tn Heb “house.” This term functions as a synecdoche of container (= house) for contents (= household, family).]

but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

²The one who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord ,[#tn Heb “fear of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions as an objective genitive.]

but the one who is perverted in his ways despises him.

³In the speech of a fool is a rod for his back,[#tn The preposition בְּ (bet) may denote (1) exchange: “in exchange for” foolish talk there is a rod; or (2) cause: “because of” foolish talk.; #sn The noun פֶּה (peh, “mouth”) functions as a metonymy of cause for what is said (“speech, words, talk”).; #tc The MT reads גַּאֲוָה (ga’avah, “pride”) which creates an awkward sense “in the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride” (cf. KJV, ASV). The BHS editors suggest emending the form to גֵּוֹה (“disciplining-rod”) to create tighter parallelism and irony: “in the mouth of a fool is a rod for the back” (e.g., Prov 10:13). What the fools says will bring discipline.tn Heb “a rod of back.” The noun גֵּוֹה functions as a genitive of specification: “a rod for his back.” The fool is punished because of what he says.]

but the words of the wise protect them.

⁴Where there are no oxen, the feeding trough is clean,

but an abundant harvest is produced by strong oxen.

⁵A truthful witness does not lie,[#tn Heb “a witness of faithfulness.” The genitive functions in an attributive sense: “faithful witness” (so KJV, NRSV); TEV “reliable witness.”]

but a false witness breathes out lies.

⁶The scorner seeks wisdom but finds none,[#sn The “scorner” (לֵץ, lets) is intellectually arrogant; he lacks any serious interest in knowledge or religion. He pursues wisdom in a superficial way so that he can appear wise. The acquisition of wisdom is conditioned by one’s attitude toward it (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 149).; #tn Heb “and there is not.”]

but understanding is easy for a discerning person.

⁷Leave the presence of a foolish person,[#tn Heb “a man, a stupid fellow.”]

or you will not understand wise counsel.

⁸The wisdom of the shrewd person is to discern his way,[#tn Or “the prudent [person]” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).; #tn The Hiphil infinitive construct denotes purpose. Those who are shrewd will use it to give careful consideration to all their ways.]

but the folly of fools is deception.

⁹Fools mock at reparation,[#tn The noun “fools” is plural but the verb “mock” is singular. This has led some to reverse the line to say “guilty/guilt offering mocks fools” (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 287); see, e.g., Isa 1:14; Amos 5:22. But lack of agreement between subject and verb is not an insurmountable difficulty.; #tc The LXX reads “houses of transgressors will owe purification.” Tg. Prov 14:9 has “guilt has its home among fools” (apparently reading לִין לוּן, lin lun).tn Heb “guilt.” The word אָשָׁם (’asham) has a broad range of meanings: “guilt; reparation.” According to Leviticus, when someone realized he was guilty he would bring a “reparation offering,” a sin offering with an additional tribute for restitution (Lev 5:1-6). It would be left up to the guilty to come forward; it was for the kind of thing that only he would know, for which his conscience would bother him. Fools mock any need or attempt to make things right, to make restitution (cf. NIV, NRSV, NCV, TEV).]

but among the upright there is favor.

¹⁰The heart knows its own bitterness,[#tn Heb “bitterness of its soul.”]

and with its joy no one else can share.

¹¹The household of the wicked will be destroyed,[#tn Heb “house.” The term “house” is a metonymy of subject, referring to their contents: families and family life. sn Personal integrity ensures domestic stability and prosperity, while lack of such integrity (= wickedness) will lead to the opposite.]

but the tent of the upright will flourish.

¹²There is a way that seems right to a person,[#tn Heb “which is straight before a man.”sn The proverb recalls the ways of the adulterous woman in chapters 1-9, and so the translation of “man” is retained. The first line does not say that the “way” that seems right is “vice,” but the second line clarifies that. The individual can rationalize all he wants, but the result is still the same. The proverb warns that any evil activity can take any number of ways (plural) to destruction.]

but its end is the way that leads to death.

¹³Even in laughter the heart may ache,[#sn No joy is completely free of grief. There is a joy that is superficial and there is underlying pain that will remain after the joy is gone.]

and the end of joy may be grief.

¹⁴The backslider will be paid back from his own ways,[#tn Heb “a turning away of heart.” The genitive לֵב (lev, “heart”) functions as an attributive adjective: “a backslidden heart.” The term סוּג (sug) means “to move away; to move backwards; to depart; to backslide” (BDB 690 s.v. I סוּג). This individual is the one who backslides, that is, who departs from the path of righteousness.; #tn Heb “will be filled”; cf. KJV, ASV. The verb (“to be filled, to be satisfied”) here means “to be repaid,” that is, to partake in his own evil ways. His faithlessness will come back to haunt him.]

but a good person will be rewarded for his.

¹⁵A naive person believes everything,[#sn The contrast is with the simpleton and the shrewd. The simpleton is the young person who is untrained morally or intellectually, and therefore gullible. The shrewd one is the prudent person, the one who has the ability to make critical discriminations.]

but the shrewd person discerns his steps.

¹⁶A wise person is cautious and turns from evil,[#tn Heb “fears.” Since the holy name (Yahweh, translated “the Lord”) is not used, it probably does not here mean fear of the Lord, but of the consequences of actions.]

but a fool throws off restraint and is overconfident.

¹⁷A person who has a quick temper does foolish things,[#sn The proverb discusses two character traits that are distasteful to others – the quick tempered person (“short of anger” or impatient) and the crafty person (“man of devices”). C. H. Toy thinks that the proverb is antithetical and renders it “but a wise man endures” (Proverbs [ICC], 292). In other words, the quick-tempered person acts foolishly and loses people’s respect, but the wise man does not.]

and a person with crafty schemes is hated.

¹⁸The naive inherit folly,[#tc G. R. Driver, however, proposed reading the verb as “are adorned” from הלה (“Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs,” Bib 32 [1951]: 181). A similar reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).sn The proverb anticipates what the simple will receive, assuming they remain simpletons.]

but the shrewd are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹Those who are evil will bow before those who are good,[#tn Many versions nuance the perfect tense verb שָׁחַח (shakhakh) as a characteristic perfect. But the proverb suggests that the reality lies in the future. So the verb is best classified as a prophetic perfect (cf. NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT): Ultimately the wicked will acknowledge and serve the righteous – a point the prophets make.]

and the wicked will bow at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰A poor person is disliked even by his neighbors,[#tn Heb “hated.” The verse is just a statement of fact. The verbs “love” and “hate” must be seen in their connotations: The poor are rejected, avoided, shunned – that is, hated; but the rich are sought after, favored, embraced – that is, loved.]

but those who love the rich are many.

²¹The one who despises his neighbor sins,

but whoever is kind to the needy is blessed.

²²Do not those who devise evil go astray?[#sn The verb חָרַשׁ (kharash) means (1) literally: “to cut in; to engrave; to plow,” describing the work of a craftsman; and (2) figuratively: “to devise,” describing the mental activity of planning evil (what will harm people) in the first colon, and planning good (what will benefit them) in the second colon.]

But those who plan good exhibit faithful covenant love.

²³In all hard work there is profit,[#sn The Hebrew term עֶצֶב (’etsev, “painful toil; labor”) is first used in scripture in Gen 3:19 to describe the effects of the Fall. The point here is that people should be more afraid of idle talk than of hard labor.]

but merely talking about it only brings poverty.

²⁴The crown of the wise is their riches,[#sn C. H. Toy suggests that this line probably means that wealth is an ornament to those who use it well (Proverbs [ICC], 269). J. H. Greenstone suggests that it means that the wisdom of the wise, which is their crown of glory, constitutes their wealth (Proverbs, 155).]

but the folly of fools is folly.

²⁵A truthful witness rescues lives,[#tn Heb “a witness of truth”; cf. CEV “an honest witness.”; #tn The noun נְפָשׁוֹת (nÿfashot) often means “souls,” but here “lives” – it functions as a metonymy for life (BDB 659 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 3.c).sn The setting of this proverb is the courtroom. One who tells the truth “saves” (מַצִּיל [matsil, “rescues; delivers”]) the lives of those falsely accused.]

but the one who breathes lies brings deception.

²⁶In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence,[#tn Heb “In the fear of the Lord [is] confidence of strength.” The phrase “one has” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.; #tn Heb “confidence of strength.” This construct phrase features an attributive genitive: “strong confidence” (so most English versions; NIV “a secure fortress”).]

and it will be a refuge for his children.

²⁷The fear of the Lord is like a life-giving fountain,[#sn The verse is similar to Prov 13:14 except that “the fear of the Lord” has replaced “the teaching of the wise.”; #tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.; #tn Heb “fountain of life.”]

to turn people from deadly snares.

²⁸A king’s glory is the abundance of people,[#tn The preposition serves as the beth essentiae – the glory is the abundant population, not in it.]

but the lack of subjects is the ruin of a ruler.

²⁹The one who is slow to anger has great understanding,

but the one who has a quick temper exalts folly.

³⁰A tranquil spirit revives the body,[#tn Heb “heart of healing.” The genitive מַרְפֵּא (marpe’, “healing”) functions as an attributive adjective: “a healing heart.” The term לֵב (lev, “heart”) is a metonymy for the emotional state of a person (BDB 660 s.v. 6). A healthy spirit is tranquil, bringing peace to the body (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 158).; #tn Heb “life of the flesh” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NIV “gives life to the body.”]

but envy is rottenness to the bones.

³¹The one who oppresses the poor insults his Creator,[#tn The verb עָשַׁק (’ashaq) normally means “to oppress” (as in many English versions). However, here it might mean “to slander.” See J. A. Emerton, “Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” JTS 20 (1969): 202-22.; #sn In the Piel this verb has the meaning of “to reproach; to taunt; to say sharp things against” someone (cf. NIV “shows contempt for”). By oppressing the poor one taunts or mistreats God because that person is in the image of God – hence the reference to the “Creator.” To ridicule what God made is to ridicule God himself.]

but whoever shows favor to the needy honors him.

³²The wicked will be thrown down in his trouble,[#tn The prepositional phrase must be “in his time of trouble” (i.e., when catastrophe comes). Cf. CEV “In times of trouble the wicked are destroyed.” A wicked person has nothing to fall back on in such times.]

but the righteous have refuge even in the threat of death.

³³Wisdom rests in the heart of the discerning;

it is known even in the heart of fools.

³⁴Righteousness exalts a nation,[#sn The verb תְּרוֹמֵם (tÿromem, translated “exalts”) is a Polel imperfect; it means “to lift up; to raise up; to elevate.” Here the upright dealings of the leaders and the people will lift up the people. The people’s condition in that nation will be raised.]

but sin is a disgrace to any people.

³⁵The king shows favor to a wise servant,[#tn Heb “the favor of a king.” The noun “king” functions as a subjective genitive: “the king shows favor….”; #sn The wise servant is shown favor, while the shameful servant is shown anger. Two Hiphil participles make the contrast: מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil, “wise”) and מֵבִישׁ (mevish, “one who acts shamefully”). The wise servant is a delight and enjoys the favor of the king because he is skillful and clever. The shameful one botches his duties; his indiscretions and incapacity expose the master to criticism (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 470).]

but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.