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Proverbs

About this book
Chapter 24

1 Do not envy evil people do not desire to be with them; 2 for their hearts contemplate violence, and their lips speak harm. 3 By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; 4 by knowledge its rooms are filled with all kinds of precious and pleasing treasures. 5 A wise warrior is strong, and a man of knowledge makes his strength stronger; 6 for with guidance you wage your war, and with numerous advisers there is victory. 7 Wisdom is unattainable for a fool; in court he does not open his mouth. 8 The one who plans to do evil will be called a scheming person. 9 A foolish scheme is sin, and the scorner is an abomination to people. 10 You have slacked off in the day of trouble— your strength is small! 11 Deliver those being taken away to death, and hold back those slipping to the slaughter. 12 If you say, “But we did not know about this,” won’t the one who evaluates hearts discern it? Won’t the one who guards your life realize and repay each person according to his deeds?⁠ 13 Eat honey, my child, for it is good, and honey from the honeycomb is sweet to your taste. 14 Likewise, know that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you have found it, you have a future, and your hope will not be cut off. 15 Do not lie in wait like the wicked against the place where the righteous live; do not assault his home. 16 Indeed a righteous person will fall seven times, and then get up again, but the guilty will collapse in calamity. 17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and when he stumbles do not let your heart rejoice,⁠ 18 lest the Lord see it, and be displeased, and turn his wrath away from him. 19 Do not fret because of evil people or be envious of wicked people, 20 for the evil person has no future, and the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished. 21 Fear the Lord, my child, as well as the king, and do not associate with rebels,⁠ 22 for suddenly their destruction will overtake them, and who knows the ruinous judgment both the Lord and the king can bring?⁠ 23 These sayings also are from the wise: To show partiality in judgment is terrible: 24 The one who says to the guilty, “You are innocent,” peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him. 25 But there will be delight for those who convict the guilty, and a pleasing blessing will come on them. 26 Like a kiss on the lips is the one who gives an honest answer. 27 Establish your work outside and get your fields ready; afterward build your house. 28 Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your words. 29 Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me; I will pay him back according to what he has done.”⁠ 30 I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of one who lacks sense. 31 I saw that thorns had grown up all over it; the ground was covered with weeds, and its stone wall was broken down. 32 Then I scrutinized it. I was putting my mind to it—I saw; I took in a lesson: 33 “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to relax, 34 and your poverty will come like a bandit, and your need like an armed robber.”

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Compare Proverbs 24:22 and LXX Proverbs 24:22

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

The Greek Septuagint translation of Proverbs 24 adds a phrase not found in the Hebrew, imitating a Hebrew grammatical form used for emphasis. This may point to a different Hebrew source or the translator’s attempt to give it a more biblical tone.

Passages

Proverbs 24:22

Hebrew Bible
21 Fear the Lord, my child, as well as the king, and do not associate with rebels, 22 for suddenly their destruction will overtake them, and who knows the ruinous judgment both the Lord and the king can bring? 23 These sayings also are from the wise: To show partiality in judgment is terrible:
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Proverbs

LXX Proverbs 24:22

Septuagint
21 My son, fear God and the king; and do not disobey either of them. 22 For they will suddenly punish the ungodly, and who can know the vengeance inflicted by both? 22a A son that keeps the word shall escape destruction; and receiving, he has received it. 22b Let no falsehood be spoken by the king from the tongue; yes, let no falsehood proceed from his tongue.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Proverbs

References

"... Proverbs 24:22 ... Virtually every existing translation has a different interpretation of this enigmatic clause. For example, the English renderings that have been proposed are the following: “for he hath received it to good effect”, “for such an one has fully received it” (Brenton), “for he received it willingly” (NETS), “when he receives (a command) he truly absorbs” (Fox), and “receiving it, they receive it indeed” (King). My own translation renders the Greek as it was most likely to have been understood by a Greek speaker, although admittedly it makes little sense in the context. The expression δεχόμενος ἐδέξατο, literally “receiving he received,” looks like one of the standard ways of translating the “emphatic” use of the Hebrew infinitive absolute. This suggests either that this verb had a Hebrew Vorlage (now lost), or that the LXX translator chose to use this un-Greek Septuagintalism for this verse (which has no counterpart in the canonical Hebrew text) in order to give it a biblical flavor ..."
Albert M. Wolters, Septuagint Commentary Series: Proverbs (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 233–234.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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