Proverbs 1:10-12 New English Translation

Admonition to Avoid Easy but Unjust Riches

¹⁰My child, if sinners^[a] try to entice^[b] you,
do not consent!^[c]
¹¹If they say, “Come with us!
We will^[d] lie in wait^[e] to shed blood;^[f]
we will ambush^[g] an innocent person^[h] capriciously.^[i]
¹²We will swallow them alive^[j] like Sheol,^[k]
those full of vigor^[l] like those going down to the Pit.

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Footnotes

Proverbs 1:10 tn The term חַטָּא (khattaʾ) is the common word for “sinner” in the OT. Because the related verb is used once of sling throwers who miss the mark (Judg 20:16), the idea of sin is often explained as “missing the moral mark” (BDB 306-8 s.v.). But the term should not be restricted to simply falling short of the moral ideal. Its basic meaning is to do wrongly. For a slinger or an archer that would mean missing the mark, but in the arena of morality and relationships, behaving wrongly refers to committing an offense or sinning, doing what is wrong. Here it involves the conscious intent to harm, referring to a gang of robbers.
Proverbs 1:10 tn The Piel stem of the verb פָּתָה (patah) means “to persuade, entice” (BDB 834 s.v. פָּתָה 1; see, e.g., Judg 14:15; 16:5; Prov 16:29; Hos 2:16). In this context, the imperfect form יְפַתּוּךָ (y^efattukha) considers the process of offering persuasion rather than the result of someone being persuaded and may be nuanced modally: “(If) they attempt to persuade you.”
Proverbs 1:10 tc The MT reads the root אָבָה (ʾavah, “to be willing; to consent”). Some medieval Hebrew mss read the root בּוֹא (boʾ, “to go”): “do not go with them.” The majority of Hebrew mss and the versions support the MT reading, which is the less common word and so the more likely original reading.
Proverbs 1:11 tn The cohortative verb (נֶאֶרְבָה; neʾer^evah) could indicate exhortation (“Let us lie in wait!”), resolve (“We will lie in wait!”), or purpose (“so that we may lie in wait”). Regardless of classification the verse indicates both invitation and intention.
Proverbs 1:11 tn The verb אָרַב (ʾarav, “to lie in wait”) is used for planning murder (Deut 19:11), kidnapping (Judg 21:20), or seduction (Prov 23:28).
Proverbs 1:11 tn Heb “for blood.” The term דָּם (dam, “blood”) functions as a metonymy of effect for “blood shed violently” through murder (HALOT 224 s.v. 4).
Proverbs 1:11 tn Heb “lie in hiding.”
Proverbs 1:11 tn The term “innocent” (נָקִי, naqi) intimates that the person to be attacked is harmless.
Proverbs 1:11 tn Heb “without cause” (so KJV, NASB); NCV “just for fun.” The term חִנָּם (khinnam, “without cause”) emphasizes that the planned attack is completely unwarranted.
Proverbs 1:12 tn Heb “life.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “life”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner: “alive.” The noun is a plural of state, where the plural morpheme is used for the abstract concept (“life” not “lives”).
Proverbs 1:12 tn The noun שְׁאוֹל (sh^eʾol) can mean (1) “death,” cf. NCV; (2) “the grave,” cf. KJV, NIV, NLT (3) “Sheol” as the realm of departed spirits, cf. NAB “the nether world,” and (4) “extreme danger.” Here it is parallel to the noun בוֹר (vor, “the Pit”) so it is the grave or more likely “Sheol” (cf. ASV, NRSV). Elsewhere Sheol is personified as having an insatiable appetite and swallowing people alive as they descend to their death (e.g., Num 16:30, 33; Isa 5:14; Hab 2:5). The grave is often personified similarly in ancient Near Eastern literature, e.g., in Ugaritic mythological texts Mot (= “death”) is referred to as “the great swallower.”
Proverbs 1:12 tn Heb “and whole.” The vav (ו) is asseverative or appositional (“even”); it is omitted in the translation for the sake of style and smoothness. The substantival adjective תָּמִים (tamim, “whole; perfect; blameless”) is an adverbial accusative describing the condition and state of the object. Used in parallel to חַיִּים (khayyim, “alive”), it must mean “full of health” (BDB 1071 s.v. תָּמִים 2). These cutthroats want to murder people who are full of vigor.

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