Proverbs 6:30-32

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 6:30 tn Heb “they do not despise.”
2. Proverbs 6:30 tn Heb “himself” or “his life.” Since the word נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, traditionally “soul”) refers to the whole person, body and soul, and since it has a basic idea of the bundle of appetites that make up a person, the use here for satisfying his hunger is appropriate.
3. Proverbs 6:31 tn The term “yet” is supplied in the translation.
4. Proverbs 6:31 tn Heb “is found out.” The perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive may continue or advance from a previous verb’s framework. Here it advances from “steals” in 6:30 and serves as the condition for the following imperfect verb.
5. Proverbs 6:31 tn The imperfect tense has an obligatory nuance. The verb in the Piel means “to repay; to make restitution; to recompense”; cf. NCV, TEV, CEV “must pay back.”
6. Proverbs 6:31 tn This final clause in the section is somewhat cryptic. The guilty thief must pay back sevenfold what he stole, even if it means he must use the substance of his whole house. The verb functions as an imperfect of possibility: “he might even give.”
7. Proverbs 6:32 tn The term לֵב (lev, “mind, heart”) here represents thinking by means of metonymy (i.e., the mind stands for what the mind does). The overstatement, “lacking the ability to think,” means lacking discernment, wisdom, good sense. Cf. NAB “is a fool”; NIV “lacks judgment”; NKJV “lacks understanding,” NCV, NRSV “has no sense.”
8. Proverbs 6:32 tn Heb “soul.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a metonymy of association for “life” (BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).