Proverbs 22:2-4

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 22:2 tn The form of the verb is the Niphal perfect of פָּגַשׁ (pagash). The perfect verb form can be understood as perfective “have met together” but the Niphal may focus on the result “are met together.” Having different economic status does not affect that they are met together (cf. NAB, NASB “have a common bond,” NIV, NLV “have this in common”) in having the same Maker. Some commentators have taken this to mean that they should live together because they are part of God’s creation, but the verb form will not sustain that meaning.
2. Proverbs 22:2 tn Heb “all of them.” The proverb may be emphasizing that everyone has the same creator regardless of their financial status, or be pointing out that God is the one who makes rich or poor. Either way it advises treating all people with respect, and not thinking too much, or too little, of oneself.
3. Proverbs 22:3 sn The contrast is between the “shrewd” (prudent) person and the “simpleton.” The shrewd person knows where the dangers and pitfalls are in life and so can avoid them; the naive person is unwary, untrained, and gullible, unable to survive the dangers of the world and blundering into them.
4. Proverbs 22:3 tn All the verbs in this verse are perfect forms, so past tense in English. They portray events that have happened as prototypical of what commonly happens.
5. Proverbs 22:3 tn Heb “evil,” a term that is broad enough to include (1) “sin” as well as (2) any form of “danger” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT) or “trouble” (TEV, CEV). The second option is more likely what is meant here: The naive simpleton does not see the danger to be avoided and so suffers for it.
6. Proverbs 22:3 tc The Kethib is a Niphal imperfect, while the Qere is a Niphal perfect. The perfect form matches the rest of the verbs in the verse and is followed here.
7. Proverbs 22:3 tn The verb עָנַשׁ (ʿanash) means “to fine” specifically. In the Niphal stem it means “to be fined,” or more generally, “to be punished.” In this line the punishment is the consequence of blundering into trouble—they will pay for it.
8. Proverbs 22:4 tn The Hebrew term עֵקֶב (ʿeqev, “reward”) is related to the term meaning “heel”; it refers to the consequences or the reward that follows (akin to the English expression “on the heels of”).
9. Proverbs 22:4 tn “Humility” is used here in the religious sense of “piety”; it is appropriately joined with “the fear of the Lord.” Some commentators, however, make “the fear of the Lord” the first in the series of rewards for humility, but that arrangement is less likely here.
10. Proverbs 22:4 tn Heb “the fear of the Lord.” This is an objective genitive; the Lord is the object of the fear.