Proverbs 10:16

Footnotes

1. 58 Heb “recompense” (so ); , “wages.” The noun פְּעֻלַּה (pé’ullah) has a two-fold range of meanings: (1) “work; deed” and (2) “reward; recompense” ( 821 ). There is a clear correlation between a person’s conduct and its consequences. Rewards are determined by moral choices. What one receives in life depends on the use of gifts and a righteous character.
2. 59 Heb “the recompense of the righteous.”
3. 60 Heb “harvest.” The term תְּבוּאַת (tévu’at, “harvest; yield”) is used figuratively here (hypocatastasis), drawing an implied comparison between the agricultural yield of a farmer’s labors with the consequences of the actions of the wicked. They will “reap” (= judgment) what they “sow” (= sin).
4. 61 Heb “the harvest of the wicked.”
5. 62 Heb “sin.” The term חַטָּאת (khatta’t, “sin”) functions as a metonymy of cause (= sin) for effect (= punishment). In contrast to the righteous who receive a reward, the wicked receive punishment for their sin (cf. , , ). See D. W. Thomas, “The Meaning of חַטָּאת in Proverbs X.16,” 15 (1964): 295–96.