PROV 29:10 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.

Part a: Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal
Part b: Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=unclear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) People who’ve killed hate those who are blameless,
⇔ ^ but good citizens try to protect them .

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 Ἄνδρες αἱμάτων μέτοχοι μισοῦσιν ὅσιον, οἱ δὲ εὐθεῖς ἐκζητήσουσι ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ.
(Andres haimatōn metoⱪoi misousin hosion, hoi de eutheis ekzaʸtaʸsousi psuⱪaʸn autou. )

ULT Men of bloodshed hate a blameless one,
⇔ but upright ones seek his life.

UST Murderers despise people who always try to do what is right,
⇔ but righteous people try to protect them.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE The bloodthirsty hate a man of integrity;
⇔ and they seek the life of the upright.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Bloodthirsty people hate someone with integrity;
⇔ as for the upright, they seek his life.

LSV Men of blood hate the perfect,
And the upright seek his soul.

FBV Murderers hate people of integrity, but those who live right try to help them.[fn]

29:10 The meaning of the second phrase is debatable.

T4T ⇔ Those who murder others hate people who ◄are honest/always do what is right►,
⇔ but righteous people try to protect them.

LEB • Men of blood hate the blameless, and they seek the life of the upright.[fn]

29:? Or “soul,” or “inner self”

BBE Men of blood are haters of the good man, and evil-doers go after his soul.

Moff Blood-thirsty creatures hate a blameless man;
⇔ the upright plan how to protect him.

JPS The men of blood hate him that is sincere; and as for the upright, they seek his life.

ASV The bloodthirsty hate him that is perfect;
⇔ And as for the upright, they seek his life.

DRA Bloodthirsty men hate the upright: but just men seek his soul.

YLT Men of blood hate the perfect, And the upright seek his soul.

Drby The bloodthirsty hate the perfect, but the upright care for his soul.

RV The bloodthirsty hate him that is perfect: and as for the upright, they seek his life.

SLT Men of bloods will hate the upright one: and the upright will seek his soul.

Wbstr The blood-thirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul.

KJB-1769 The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul.[fn]

29.10 The bloodthirsty: Heb. Men of blood

KJB-1611 [fn]The bloodthirstie hate the vpright: but the iust seeke his soule.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above apart from footnotes)

29:10 Heb. men of blood.

Bshps The bloodthirstie hate the righteous: but the iust seeke his soule.
(The bloodthirsty hate the righteous: but the just seek his soul.)

Gnva Bloodie men hate him that is vpright: but the iust haue care of his soule.
(Bloodie men hate him that is upright: but the just have care of his soul. )

Cvdl The bloudethyrstie hate the rightuous, but the iust seke his soule.
(The bloodthyrstie hate the righteous, but the just seek his soul.)

Wycl Menquelleris haten a simple man; but iust men seken his soule.
(Menquelleris hate a simple man; but just men seek his soul.)

Luth Die Blutgierigen hassen den Frommen; aber die Gerechten suchen seine SeeLE.
(The bloodthirsty_(person) hate(v) the pious/devout_(one); but the righteous_(ones) search_for his soul.)

ClVg Viri sanguinum oderunt simplicem; justi autem quærunt animam ejus.
(Men bloody they_hate simple; just however they_seek the_soul his. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 25:1–29:27: This is Hezekiah’s collection of Solomon’s proverbs

This section is the second collection of Solomon’s proverbs. These proverbs were organized and copied by men who served King Hezekiah. Most scholars divide this section into two groups. These groups differ in several ways.

The first group (chapters 25–27) has many more comparisons and admonitions. In Hebrew, most of these comparisons are metaphors in which one or more illustrations precede the topic. Some English versions change the order so that the topic precedes the illustration(s). You should follow the order that expresses the meaning naturally and effectively in your language.

In the first group, many proverbs are one verse long. As with the individual proverbs in the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs (Section 10:1–22:16), they are not related to the proverbs around them. Other proverbs in this group are two or more verses long. Still others are one-verse proverbs that are closely related in theme. Proverbs in all three categories will be marked as separate paragraphs.

The second group (chapters 28–29) has more contrastive proverbs. The proverbs in this group are each one verse long. They will not be marked as separate paragraphs.

Some other headings for this section are:

More Proverbs of Solomon (NIV)

Proverbs of Solomon Collected by Hezekiah (NET)

These are also wise things that Solomon said

29:10

The NIV has been used as the source line for all of 29:10 because it follows the recommended interpretations. Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning. The underlined parts indicate an increasing emphasis in the parallelism from attitude (10a) to action (10b).

^10aBloodthirsty men hate a man of integrity (NIV)

^10band seek to kill the upright. (NIV)

The overall meaning is that murderers hate consistently good people and try to kill them.

29:10a–b

(combined/reordered)

A murderer hates and tries to kill any person who is honest and consistently does what is right.

(NIV) Bloodthirsty men: This phrase is the subject of both parallel lines.

(NIV) hate…seek to kill: These parallel verb phrases apply equally to “a man of integrity” and “the upright.” No contrast is implied.

(NIV) a man of integrity…the upright: As with similar parallel phrases,For example, see 2:7a–b, where the BSB has: “upright” (Heb. yǝšarim) and “blameless” (Heb. tom). Sometimes terms with overlapping meanings occur in the same phrase. For example, see 11:3a, where the BSB speaks of the “integrity” (Heb. tummat) of the” upright” (Heb. yǝšarim), and 11:5a, where the BSB has the “righteousness” (Heb. tsǝdaqah) of the “blameless” (Heb. tamim).” these two phrases both refer to the same group of people. There is little difference in meaning between them. Both refer to a person who has integrity. This kind of person lives a consistently good life in obedience to God’s law. He does nothing that is worthy of blame.

29:10a

Men of bloodshed hate a blameless man,

Murderers hate a person who is innocent/blameless
People who kill/murder their fellowmen hate anyone with an honest and wholesome character.

(NIV) Bloodthirsty men: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “men of blood(s).”According to a grammatical note in BART, the plural “bloods” is a collective plural that indicates spilled blood. It refers to people whose lives are characterized by murder.

(NIV) a man of integrity: In Hebrew, the word translated here as integrity is often translated as “perfect.” It refers specifically to a person whose character is complete and wholesome. Such a person is honest and innocent of wrongdoing.See TWOT #2522c and Vine (p. 176) for more details. According to TWOT, this Hebrew word (tam) is translated as “perfect” in 9 of its 13 occurrences. Many of these refer to Job.

Some other ways to translate this line are:

The bloodthirsty hate the blameless (NRSV)

Murderers hate an honest person (NCV)

29:10b

but the upright care for his life.

and try to kill anyone who consistently obeys Yahweh’s law.
They try to murder consistently good/godly people like that.

(NIV) and seek to kill the upright: In Hebrew, this line is literally “and the upright, they seek his life.” There are several textual and interpretation issues. The Notes will discuss them together. This line means:

Bloodthirsty men seek to kill each of the upright. For example:
and they seek the life of the upright (NRSV) (CEV, ESV, NCV, NET, NIV, NRSV)
Upright people protect or show concern for a blameless person. For example:
but righteous people will protect the life of such a person (GNT) (BSB, GW, NAB, NASB, REB, GNT)
Upright people seek out a blameless person to help him. For example:
but the upright seek to help them (NLT) (NJB, NJPS, NLT)The NJB and NJPS have “seek them out.” They do not specify a purpose as the NLT does.
The wicked seek to kill a blameless person. For example:
and the wicked seek his life (RSV) (RSV)The RSV has followed a change of text from yǝšarim (“upright”) to rǝšaʿim (“wicked”). There is no textual support for this change. See Waltke (p. 400).

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Everywhere else in the OT, the phrase “seek the life” means “seek to kill.”See UBS (p. 609), Waltke (p. 438). Both Waltke and Fox (p. 837) make the point that in the 29 other times where this phrase occurs, it always means “seek to kill.” The main objections to interpretation (1) involve the change of word order and the apparent lack of agreement between singular (“his life”) and plural (“the upright”). There are good explanations for both of these objections.Waltke (p. 400) translates: “and as for the upright, they seek to kill each of them.” He comments, “As for the upright must be taken as a nominative absolute with the resumptive pronoun ‘his’ (i.e., the upright’s) in connection with the object, ‘life.’ They [i.e., the bloodthirsty] seek to kill each of them” (p. 438). Delitzsch (p. 429) agrees that the change from plural to singular refers to each individual in the group of “upright” people.

(NIV) the upright: In Hebrew, the word upright refers here to a person who is good, honest, and fair. He consistently obeys God and does what is right.

Some other ways to translate this line are:

and try to kill those who do right (NCV)

as for an upright person, they try to kill anyone like that

General Comment on 29:10a–b