Proverbs 22:20-22

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 22:20 tn Older English versions and a few more recent ones render this phrase as either “excellent things” following the Qere (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NKJV), “officers,” or “heretofore” [day before yesterday], following the Kethib. However (as in most recent English versions) the Qere should be rendered “thirty,” referring to the number in the collection (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
2. Proverbs 22:20 tn The term “sayings” does not appear in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
3. Proverbs 22:21 tn Heb “to cause you to know the truth of words of truth” (NASB similar).
4. Proverbs 22:21 tn Heb “to return true words”; NAB “a dependable report”; NIV “sound answers.”
5. Proverbs 22:22 tn Two negated jussives form the instruction here: אַל־תִּגְזָל (ʾal tigzal, “do not exploit”) and וְאַל־תְּדַכֵּא (veʾal t^edakkeʾ, “do not crush”). sn Robbing or oppressing the poor is easy because they are defenseless. But this makes the crime tempting as well as contemptible. What is envisioned may be in bounds legally (just) but out of bounds morally.
6. Proverbs 22:22 tn Heb “in the gate” (so KJV); NAB, NASB, NRSV “at the gate.” The “gate” of the city was the center of activity, the place of business as well as the place for settling legal disputes. The language of the next verse suggests a legal setting, so “court” is an appropriate translation here.