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Proverbs 24:1-3
New English Translation
Proverbs 24:1-3
New English Translation
24 Do not envy evil people,[a]
do not desire[b] to be with them;
2 for their hearts contemplate violence,
and their lips speak harm.[c]
3 By[d] wisdom a house is built,[e]
and through understanding it is established;
Footnotes
- Proverbs 24:1 tn Heb “evil men,” although the context indicates a generic sense.
- Proverbs 24:1 tn The Hitpael jussive is from the verb that means “to crave; to desire.” This is more of a coveting, an intense desire.
- Proverbs 24:2 sn This nineteenth saying warns against evil associations. Evil people are obsessed with destruction and trouble. See on this theme 1:10-19; 3:31 and 23:17. D. Kidner observes that a close view of sinners is often a good antidote to envying them (Proverbs [TOTC], 153).
- Proverbs 24:3 tn The preposition ב (bet, “by; through”) in these two lines indicates means.
- Proverbs 24:3 sn The twentieth saying, vv. 3-4, concerns the use of wisdom for domestic enterprises. In Prov 9:1 wisdom was personified as a woman who builds a house, but here the emphasis is primarily on the building—it is a sign of security and prosperity (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 442). One could still make a secondary application from this line for a household or “family” (cf. NCV, which sees this as a reference to the family).
New English Translation (NET)
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