Proverbs 1:26-28

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 1:26 tn The conclusion or apodosis is now introduced.
2. Proverbs 1:26 sn Laughing at the consequences of the fool’s rejection of wisdom does not convey hardness against the fool; it reveals the folly of rejecting wisdom (e.g., Ps 2:4). It vindicates wisdom and the appropriateness of the disaster (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 60).
3. Proverbs 1:26 tn Heb “at your disaster.” The second person masculine plural suffix is either (1) a genitive of worth: “the disaster due you” or (2) an objective genitive: “disaster strikes you.” The term “disaster” (אֵיד, ʾed) often refers to final life-ending calamity (Prov 6:15; 24:22; BDB 15 s.v. 3). The preposition ב (bet) focuses upon time here.
4. Proverbs 1:26 tn Heb “your dread” (so NASB); KJV “your fear”; NRSV “panic.” The second person masculine plural suffix is a subjective genitive: “that which you dread.”
5. Proverbs 1:27 tn Heb “your dread.” See note on 1:26.
6. Proverbs 1:27 sn The term “whirlwind” (NAB, NIV, NRSV; cf. TEV, NLT “storm”) refers to a devastating storm and is related to the verb שׁוֹא (shoʾ, “to crash into ruins”; see BDB 996 s.v. שׁוֹאָה). Disaster will come swiftly and crush them like a devastating whirlwind.
7. Proverbs 1:27 tn Heb “your disaster.” The second person masculine plural suffix is an objective genitive: “disaster strikes you.”
8. Proverbs 1:27 tn Heb “like a storm.” The noun סוּפָה (sufah, “storm”) is often used in similes to describe sudden devastation (Isa 5:28; Hos 8:7; Amos 1:14).
9. Proverbs 1:27 tn Heb “distress and trouble.” The nouns “distress and trouble” mean almost the same thing so they may form a hendiadys. The two similar sounding terms צוּקָה (tsuqah) and צָרָה (tsarah) also form a wordplay (paronomasia) which also links them together.
10. Proverbs 1:28 tn Heb “look to.” The verb שָׁחַר (shakhar, “to look”) is used figuratively of intensely looking (i.e., seeking) for deliverance out of trouble (W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 366); cf. NLT “anxiously search for.” It is used elsewhere in parallelism with בָּקַשׁ (baqash, “to seek rescue”; Hos 5:15). It does not mean “to seek early” (cf. KJV) as is popularly taught due to etymological connections with the noun שַׁחַר (shakhar, “dawn”; so BDB 1007 s.v. שָׁחַר).