Sunday, May 4, 2025

Proverbs 14:35

A few months ago, I read Proverbs 14 in the ESV and noticed a loose chiastic structure in verse 35:
A servant who deals wisely
Has the king's favor,
But his wrath falls on
One who acts shamefully.
Such a structure highlights the opposite nature of how the two servants behave (wisely or shamefully) and of the king's disposition toward them (favor or wrath).

The NIV has a similar structure but in a different order:
A king delights in
A wise servant,
But a shameful servant
Incurs his wrath.
This structure isn't in the Hebrew, though, or in any of the other translations I referenced.