Proverbs 10:5-7 New English Translation
5 The one who gathers crops[a] in the summer is a wise[b] son,
but the one who sleeps[c] during harvest is a shameful son.[d]
6 Blessings[e] are on the head of the righteous,
but the speech[f] of the wicked conceals[g] violence.[h]
7 The memory[i] of the righteous is a blessing,
but the reputation[j] of the wicked will rot.[k]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 10:5 tn The direct object “crops” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the verb; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.
- Proverbs 10:5 tn Heb “prudent.” The term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) refers to a wise and so successful person. He seizes the opportunity, knowing the importance of the season.
- Proverbs 10:5 sn The term “sleeps” is figurative, an implied comparison that has become idiomatic (like the contemporary English expression “asleep on the job”). It means that this individual is lazy or oblivious to the needs of the hour.
- Proverbs 10:5 tn Heb “a son who acts shamefully.”
- Proverbs 10:6 sn The word “blessings” has the sense of gifts, enrichments, that is, the rewards or the results of being righteous. The blessings come either from the people the righteous deal with, or from God. CEV understands the blessings as praise for good behavior (“Everyone praises good people”).
- Proverbs 10:6 tn Heb “the mouth.” The term פֶּה (peh, “mouth”) functions as a metonymy of cause for speech.
- Proverbs 10:6 tn Heb “covers.” Behind the speech of the wicked is aggressive violence (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 422).
- Proverbs 10:6 tn The syntax of this line is ambiguous. The translation takes “the mouth of the wicked” as the nominative subject and “violence” as the accusative direct object; however, the subject might be “violence,” hence: “violence covers the mouth of the wicked” (cf. KJV, ASV, NIV).
- Proverbs 10:7 sn “Memory” (זֵכֶר, zekher) and “name” are often paired as synonyms. “Memory” in this sense has to do with reputation, fame. One’s reputation will be good or bad by righteousness or wickedness respectively.
- Proverbs 10:7 tn Heb “name.” The term “name” often functions as a metonymy of association for reputation (BDB 1028 s.v. שֵׁם 2.b).
- Proverbs 10:7 tn The editors of BHS suggest a reading “will be cursed” to make a better parallelism, but the reading of the MT is more striking as a metaphor.sn To say the wicked’s name will rot means that the name will be obliterated from memory (Exod 17:14; Deut 25:19), leaving only a bad memory for a while.
New English Translation (NET)
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