1Who loves reproof loves knowledge,
but who hates rebuke is a brute.
2The good man finds favor from the LORD,
but He will condemn the cunning schemer.
3A man will not be firm-founded in wickedness,
but the root of the righteous is not shaken.
4A worthy woman is her husband’s crown,
but like rot in his bones a shameful wife.
5The plans of the righteous are justice;
the designs of the wicked, deceit.
6The words of the wicked are a bloody ambush,
but the mouth of the upright will save them.
7Overturn the wicked and they are gone,
but the house of the righteous will stand.
8By his insight will a man be praised,
but the crooked of heart is despised.
Better a scorned man who has a slave
than one who fancies himself honored and lacks bread.
9The righteous man knows the life of his beast,
but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
10Who works his soil is sated with bread,
but who pursues empty things lacks sense.
12The wicked covets the evil men’s trap,
but the root of the righteous stands firm.
13In the crime of lips is an evil snare,
but the righteous comes out from straits.
14From the fruit of a man’s mouth he is sated with good,
a man gets recompense for his acts.
15The way of a dolt seems right in his eyes,
but who listens to counsel is wise.
16The anger of a dolt becomes known in a trice,
but the shrewd man conceals his disgrace.
17A faithful deposer will tell what is right,
18One may speak out like sword stabs,
but the tongue of the wise is healing.
19True speech stands firm always,
but a mere moment—a lying tongue.
20Deceit is in the heart of plotters of evil,
but councillors of peace have joy.
21No wrong will befall the righteous,
but the wicked are filled with harm.
22The LORD’s loathing—lying lips,
but who act in good faith are His pleasure.
23A shrewd man conceals what he knows,
but the heart of dullards proclaims folly.
24The diligent’s hand will rule,
and the shiftless put to forced labor.
25Worry in a man’s heart brings him low,
but a good word will gladden him.
26The righteous exceeds his fellow man,
but the wicked’s way leads him astray.
27The shiftless will not roast his game,
but a man’s wealth is precious gold.
28On the path of righteousness is life,
but the way of mischief is to death.
CHAPTER 12 NOTES
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4. A worthy woman. Fox, hewing to the etymology, renders this as “a woman of strength.”
her husband’s crown, / . . . rot in his bones. In this instance, the antithesis of the two versets diverges from the general pattern of stereotypical predictability, as in the three preceding lines, to exhibit an energy of biting satiric wit. After the crown image, which is conventional and decorous, the antithetical second verset moves from an adornment sitting on the head to something eating away the bones from within, suggesting that the badness of a bad wife has a more intense effect on the negative side than the goodness of a good wife on the positive side. The object of this strong simile, moreover, “a shameful wife” (one Hebrew word, mevishah), is held back to the very end of the line, thus becoming a kind of punch word.
6. save them. The vague pronominal object would be the victims of the wicked who appear in the first verset.
9. Better a scorned man . . . /than one who fancies himself. This formulation of “better x than y” is a classic proverb pattern in biblical Hebrew.
10. the mercy of the wicked is cruel. Here the antithesis between versets takes an interesting turn. The righteous man is so compassionate that he has an intuitive sense of the needs and discomforts of his beast. The wicked person, on the other hand, is so utterly devoid of compassion that even what he affects to be an expression of mercy turns out to be cruel.
12. The wicked covets the evil men’s trap. The Hebrew is a little obscure. It could mean that he covets whatever is caught in the evil men’s trap, or perhaps that he envies the malicious ingenuity that is manifested in contriving the trap.
stands firm. This translation reads, with the Septuagint, yikon for the Masoretic yitein, “will give.”
17. a lying witness—deceit. The verb “tell” in the first verset does double duty for this verset, too.
18. sword stabs, / . . . healing. Even though the image of malicious speech as a cutting sword is conventional, the antithesis between stabbing and healing at the end of the respective versets produces a striking effect.
23. what he knows. Literally, “knowledge.” It is notable in this verse that discretion is thought of as a cardinal virtue of wisdom.
24. the shiftless. The Hebrew remiyah usually means “deceit,” but the context requires something like “slackness.” Perhaps someone failing to do a job he is given is thought to be deceitful for not honoring his commitment out of laziness.
26. exceeds his fellow man. While this is a reasonable construction of the original, the Hebrew looks a little odd and has often invited emendation.
27. The shiftless will not roast his game. Though the idea may well be that a slacker will never enjoy the fruits of his highly dubious labor, the Hebrew is cryptic and the text may be suspect.
a man’s wealth is precious gold. In the implied antithesis, the assiduous person knows how to hang on to his substance.
28. but the way of mischief is to death. The Masoretic Text, wederekh netivah ʾal-mawet, seems to say literally “and the way of path un-death.” This does not sound like intelligible Hebrew. This translation, following a hint from three ancient versions, reads meshuvah, “mischief” (or “waywardness”), for netivah, “path,” and, in accordance with many Hebrew manuscripts, revocalizes ʾal (“not” or “un”) as ʾel, “to.”