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Proverbs 1:15-19  New English Translation

15 My child, do not go down[a] their way,[b]
withhold yourself[c] from their path;[d]
16 for they[e] are eager[f] to inflict harm,[g]
and they hasten[h] to shed blood.[i]
17 Surely it is futile to spread[j] a net
in plain sight of[k] any bird,[l]
18 but these men lie in wait for their own blood,[m]
they ambush their own lives![n]
19 Such[o] are the ways[p] of all who gain profit unjustly;[q]
it[r] takes away the life[s] of those who obtain it![t]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 1:15 tn Heb “do not walk.”
  2. Proverbs 1:15 tn Heb “in the way with them.”
  3. Proverbs 1:15 tn Heb “your foot.” The term “foot” (רֶגֶל, regel) is a synecdoche of part (= your foot) for the whole person (= yourself).
  4. Proverbs 1:15 sn The word “path” (נְתִיבָה, netivah) like the word “way” (דֶּרֶךְ, derekh) is used as an idiom (developed from a hypocatastasis), meaning “conduct, course of life.”
  5. Proverbs 1:16 tn Heb “their feet.” The term “feet” is a synecdoche of the part (= their feet) for the whole person (= they), stressing the eagerness of the robbers.
  6. Proverbs 1:16 tn Heb “run.” The verb רוּץ (ruts, “run”) functions here as a metonymy of association, meaning “to be eager” to do something (BDB 930 s.v.).
  7. Proverbs 1:16 tn Heb “to harm.” The noun רַע (raʿ) has a four-fold range of meanings: (1) “pain, harm” (Prov 3:30), (2) “calamity, disaster” (13:21), (3) “distress, misery” (14:32) and (4) “moral evil” (8:13; see BDB 948-49 s.v.). The parallelism with “swift to shed blood” suggests it means “to inflict harm, injury.”
  8. Proverbs 1:16 tn The imperfect tense verbs may be classified as habitual or progressive imperfects describing their ongoing continual activity.
  9. Proverbs 1:16 tc The BHS editors suggest deleting this entire verse from MT because it does not appear in several versions (Codex B of the LXX, Coptic, Arabic) and is similar to Isa 59:7a. It is possible that it was a scribal gloss (intentional addition) copied into the margin from Isaiah. But this does not adequately explain the differences. It does fit the context well enough to be original.
  10. Proverbs 1:17 tn Heb “for the net to be spread out.” The Pual participle of זָרָה (zarah) means “to be spread” (HALOT 280 s.v. I זרה pu.1). The subject of this verbal use of the participle is the noun הָרָשֶׁת (harashet, “the net”). It is futile for the net to be spread out in plain view of birds.
  11. Proverbs 1:17 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”sn This means either: (1) Spreading a net in view of birds is futile because birds will avoid the trap, but the wicked are so blind that they fail to see danger; or (2) it does not matter if a net is spread because birds are so hungry they will eat anyway and be trapped; the wicked act in a similar way.
  12. Proverbs 1:17 tn Heb “all of the possessors of wings.”
  13. Proverbs 1:18 sn They think that they are going to shed innocent blood, but in their blindness they do not realize that it is their own blood they shed. Their greed will lead to their destruction. This is an example of ironic poetic justice. They do not intend to destroy themselves, but this is what they accomplish.
  14. Proverbs 1:18 tn Heb “their own souls.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is used as a metonymy (= soul) of association (= life). The noun נֶפֶשׁ often refers to physical “life” (Exod 21:23; Num 17:3; Judg 5:18; Prov 12:10; BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).
  15. Proverbs 1:19 tn The exclamation כֵּן (ken, “so; thus; such”) marks a conclusion (BDB 485 s.v.). It draws a comparison between the destruction of the wicked in v. 18 and the concluding statement in v. 19.
  16. Proverbs 1:19 tc The MT reads אָרְחוֹת (ʾorkhot, “paths; ways” as a figure for mode of life): “so are the ways [or, paths] of all who gain profit unjustly.” The BHS editors suggest emending the text to אַחֲרִית (ʾakharit, “end” as figure for their fate) by simple metathesis between ח (khet) and ר (resh) and by orthographic confusion between י (yod) and ו (vav), both common scribal errors: “so is the fate of all who gain profit unjustly.” The external evidence supports MT, which is also the more difficult reading. It adequately fits the context which uses “way” and “path” imagery throughout 1:10-19.
  17. Proverbs 1:19 tn Heb “those who unjustly gain unjust gain.” The participle בֹּצֵעַ (botseaʿ, “those who unjustly gain”) is followed by the cognate accusative of the same root בָּצַע (batsaʿ, “unjust gain”) to underscore the idea that they gained their wealth through heinous criminal activity. sn The verb followed by the cognate noun usually means seeking gain in an unjust way (1 Sam 8:3), or for selfish purposes (Gen 37:26), or gaining by violence. The word may have the sense of covetousness.
  18. Proverbs 1:19 tn The subject of the verb is the noun בָּצַע (batsaʿ, “unjust gain”), which is also the referent of the third person masculine singular suffix on בְּעָלָיו (beʿalav, “its owners”). Greed takes away the life of those who live by greed (e.g., 15:27; 26:27). See G. R. Driver, “Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs,” Bib 32 (1951): 173-74.
  19. Proverbs 1:19 tn The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is used as a metonymy (= soul) of association (= life). The noun נֶפֶשׁ often refers to physical “life” (Exod 21:23; Num 17:3; Judg 5:18; Prov 12:10; BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).
  20. Proverbs 1:19 tn Heb “its owners.”
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