PROV 1:19 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) That’s what happens to anyone who gains wealth illegally—
⇔ it takes that person’s life.

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Αὗται αἱ ὁδοί εἰσι πάντων τῶν συντελούντων τὰ ἄνομα· τῇ γὰρ ἀσεβείᾳ τὴν ἑαυτῶν ψυχὴν ἀφαιροῦνται.
(Hautai hai hodoi eisi pantōn tōn suntelountōn ta anoma; taʸ gar asebeia taʸn heautōn psuⱪaʸn afairountai. )

BrTr These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; for by ungodliness they destroy their own life.

ULT So are the paths of all who unjustly gain unjust gain;
⇔ it takes the life of its owner.

UST That is what happens to anyone who gains wealth in an unjust manner.
⇔ What they gained unjustly will kill them.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain.
⇔ It takes away the life of its owners.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Such are the ways of all who gain profit unjustly;
⇔ it takes away the life of those who obtain it!

LSV So [are] the paths of every gainer of dishonest gain,
It takes the life of its owners.

FBV This is what happens to you if you try to become rich through crime—it kills you!

T4T That is what happens to people who eagerly try to get things by violently attacking others.
⇔ They will only destroy themselves!

LEB • Thus are the ways of all who are greedy for gain— it will take the life of its possessors.

BBE Such is the fate of everyone who goes in search of profit; it takes away the life of its owners.

Moff Such is the fate of gain ill-got;
⇔ it ruins those who grasp it.
¶ 

JPS So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; it taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

ASV So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain;
⇔ It taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

DRA So the wage of every covetous man destroy the souls of the possessors.

YLT So [are] the paths of every gainer of dishonest gain, The life of its owners it taketh.

Drby So are the paths of every one that is greedy of gain: it taketh away the life of its possessors.

RV So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; it taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
(So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; it taketh/takes away the life of the owners thereof. )

SLT So the ways of every one plundering plunder; he will take the soul of those possessing it.

Wbstr So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; who taketh away the life of its owners.

KJB-1769 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
(So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh/takes away the life of the owners thereof. )

KJB-1611 So are the waies of euery one that is greedie of gaine: which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
(So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gaine: which taketh/takes away the life of the owners thereof.)

Bshps Such are the wayes of euery one that is greedie of gayne, who taketh away the life of the owner therof.
(Such are the ways of every one that is greedy of gayne, who taketh/takes away the life of the owner thereof.)

Gnva Such are the wayes of euery one that is greedy of gaine: he would take away the life of the owners thereof.
(Such are the ways of every one that is greedy of gaine: he would take away the life of the owners thereof. )

Cvdl These are the wayes of all soch as be couetous, that one wolde rauysh anothers life.
(These are the ways of all such as be covetous, that one would rauysh anothers life.)

Wycl So the pathis of ech auerouse man rauyschen the soulis of hem that welden.
(So the paths of each avaricious/greedy_for_wealth man ravish/seizen the souls of hem that welden.)

Luth Also tun alle Geizigen, daß einer dem andern das Leben nimmt.
(So do/put all misers, that one/a to_him change the life takes.)

ClVg Sic semitæ omnis avari: animas possidentium rapiunt.]
(So paths everyone avari: souls get_itntium rapiunt.] )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:8–19: First lesson: Avoid evil companions

This first lesson may be summarized as follows:

Introduction: Pay attention to your parents’ advice, because it will improve your character (1:8–9).
Lesson: If robbers try to persuade you to do evil (1:10–14), refuse to join them (1:15), because they will destroy their own lives (1:16–18).
Conclusion: People who are greedy and try to obtain wealth illegally will die (1:19).This outline is based on “The Design of Lecture 1” in Fox (page 92).

Some other headings for this section are:

Warnings against Bad Friends (CEV)

Advice to a young man to not be tempted by evil people

Paragraph 1:15–19

In this paragraph, the father repeats his advice to the son to reject the sinners’ invitation (1:15). He then gives two reasons: (a) Criminals lead evil lives (1:16). (b) They are so foolish they will end up destroying themselves (1:17–18). The paragraph ends with a summary statement (1:19).

1:19

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^19a Such is the fate of all who are greedy,

^19bwhose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

Both lines state what happens to people who obtain wealth by wrongful means.

1:19a

Such is the fate of all who are greedy,

In fact, this is what will happen to all who try to obtain wealth wrongfully/unjustly,
So we^(dual/incl)/you^(sing) understand that everyone who is greedy to take away what belongs to others
What I mean to say is this: If anyone gets wealth from doing what is wrong,

Such is the fate of all who are greedy: The word Such marks the father’s/writer’s summary or conclusion of the first lesson. His conclusion is that death is the resultThe Hebrew text is literally: “Such are the ways.” The LXX has a word meaning “end/fate.” It is not necessary to emend “ways” to “end,” as Toy (page 20) and the BHS editors suggest. The metaphor of the way/ways/path in Proverbs refers to both a person’s way of life and its outcome. See Delitzsch (page 47) and Fox (page 90). for anyone who spends his life gaining wealth unjustly, like the criminals described in the preceding verses.

In some languages, a summary or conclusion may be introduced as follows:

So we^(dual/incl) understand that…

What I mean to say is…

Use a natural way in your language to introduce this conclusion.

the fate: The word that the BSB translates as fate can be literally translated as “ways.” Sometimes it refers to a person’s manner of life, but here it refers to the result or outcome of his manner of life.

are greedy: There are different ways to interpret the meaning of these words:

These words refer to people who try to get rich illegally or dishonestly. For example:
Such are the paths of all who seek dishonest gain (NJB) (NIV, CEV, REB, NJB)
These words refer broadly to people who are greedy/covetous. For example:
All greedy people end up this way (NCV) (BSB, RSV, NLT, GW, NCV)
These words refer specifically to people who try to gain wealth by violence/murder. For example:
this is what happens to anyone who lives by violence (GNT) (GNT)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).Whybray (page 42) says that the verb may have a double meaning “cut off (life).” Toy (page 18) also feels that the term “gain” has here the connotation of violence. But Fox (page 90) says that beṣaʿ usually connotes wrongful profit, almost always in the form of bribes and embezzlement and that in the phrase boṣeaʿ beṣaʿ, beṣaʿ always designates illegal profit. He concludes that the principle is thus broader than the situation described in the preceding verses and that the “untimely death of cutthroats is paradigmatic for all cheats, even the petty embezzler.” Waltke (pages 196–197), Murphy (page 10), and McKane (page 271) also understand this to refer to “unjust gain.”

1:19a–b

(combined/reordered)

To summarize, if we^(dual/incl)/you^(sing) get wealth dishonestly, the result will be our/your death.

1:19b

whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

because living this way results in death.
will lose his own life.
it will lead to his death.

whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors: The first word whose refers to the “greedy” who are trying to become wealthy by doing what is wrong. The last word its refers to the wealth that is gained in this way. This meaning is clearly expressed by the NAB:

unlawful gain takes away the life of him who acquires it (NAB)

General Comment on 1:19a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parts of these two lines. For example:

To summarize, if you get wealth dishonestly, it will take away your life.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

אָ֭רְחוֹת

ways_of

Here Solomon uses paths to refer to the destiny of those sinners. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “are the destinies of”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj

כָּל

all/each/any/every

Here Solomon uses the adjective all as a noun to mean “every person.” Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this word with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: “all people”

Note 3 topic: writing-poetry

בֹּ֣צֵֽעַ בָּ֑צַע

greedy gain

Here, unjustly gain unjust gain is an emphatic construction that uses a verb and its object that come from the same root. You may be able to use the same construction in your language to express the meaning here. Alternatively, your language may have another way of showing the emphasis. Alternate translation: “who are greedy for unjust gain”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

בָּ֑צַע

gain

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of gain, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: “what they gain unjustly”

Note 5 topic: writing-pronouns

אֶת־נֶ֖פֶשׁ בְּעָלָ֣י⁠ו יִקָּֽח

DOM creature its_owners_of,of takes_away

Here, the pronouns it and its refer to the unjust gain that is mentioned in the previous clause. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “that unjust gain takes the life of the unjust gain’s owner”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

אֶת־נֶ֖פֶשׁ בְּעָלָ֣י⁠ו יִקָּֽח

DOM creature its_owners_of,of takes_away

Solomon speaks of unjust gain as if it were a person who could kill its owner. He means that the wicked things that sinful people do to unjustly gain unjust gain will cause them to die. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly or use a simile. Alternate translation: “unjust gain results in its owner dying” or “seeking unjust gain kills those who do it” or “it is as if unjust gain takes the life of its owner”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

אֶת־נֶ֖פֶשׁ & יִקָּֽח

DOM creature & takes_away

Here, the phrase takes the life of means to kill someone. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “it kills”