Proverbs 18:12-14

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 18:12 sn The term “heart” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the seat of the spiritual and intellectual capacities—the mind, the will, the motivations and intentions. Proud ambitions and intentions will lead to a fall.
2. Proverbs 18:12 tn Heb “[is] before honor”; cf. CEV “humility leads to honor.”
3. Proverbs 18:12 sn The way to honor is through humility (e.g., Prov 11:2; 15:33; 16:18). The humility and exaltation of Jesus provides the classic example (Phil 2:1-10).
4. Proverbs 18:13 tn Heb “returns a word”; KJV “He that answereth a matter.”
5. Proverbs 18:13 sn Poor listening and premature answering indicate that the person has a low regard for what the other is saying, or that he is too absorbed in his own ideas. The Mishnah lists this as the second characteristic of the uncultured person (m. Avot 5:7).
6. Proverbs 18:13 tn Heb “it is folly to him and shame.” The verse uses formal parallelism, with the second colon simply completing the thought of the first.
7. Proverbs 18:14 tn Heb “the spirit of a man.” Because the verb of this clause is a masculine form, some have translated this line as “with spirit a man sustains,” but that is an unnecessary change.
8. Proverbs 18:14 sn This is a rhetorical question, asserting that very few can cope with depression.
9. Proverbs 18:14 sn The figure of a “crushed spirit” (ASV, NAB, NCV, NRSV “a broken spirit,” comparing depression to something smashed or crushed) suggests a broken will, a loss of vitality, despair, and emotional pain. In physical sickness one can fall back on the will to live, but in depression even the will to live is gone.