Proverbs 11

Translators make their best guess about this perplexing proverb. Some say the proverb has been tweaked and corrupted by a scribe, editor, or perhaps a cleaning lady on a break. Scholars say it’s unclear what kind of people the writer is talking about. The words in the first line could describe “wicked people,” “bad people,” or even “all people.” And key words in the second line, they say, might point back to the first line by referring to people counting on wealth or affluence to make a difference for them.

There’s a wordplay in Hebrew: seqer and seker. Wicked people make a seqer, a “deceptive” reward, apparently deceptive in that it’s less than they expected. But good people earn a seker, “wages” that are emet, “true” or “sure.” The English paraphrase here is an attempt to express that wordplay.

The Hebrew word could describe a woman with “bad taste,” “poor judgment,” or “no sense.” Any of which could seem like a waste of good looks.

More literally, “those who water will be watered.” It seems to be a metaphor similar to the one in Jeremiah 31:25, “I satisfy the weary ones and refresh [literally fill] everyone who languishes” (New American Standard Bible). In other words, if you help others then others will help you.

In the Creation story of Genesis, God put two trees in the Garden of Eden. “The fruit of one tree extended a person’s life” (Genesis 2:9). That’s the Tree of Life. The other tree allowed them to tell the difference between right and wrong. That was the forbidden fruit, which was too tempting to pass up.

Bible experts translate the perplexing second line in various ways. The wise person: “wins souls” (New American Standard Version), “wins friends” (New Living Translation), “teaches others how to live” (New Century Version), “captivates people” (Jewish Tanakh Translation).