Proverbs 28:25

Footnotes

1. 70 Heb “wide of soul.” This is an idiom meaning “a greedy person.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, traditionally, “soul”) has here its more basic meaning of appetites (a person is a soul, a bundle of appetites; 660 5.a). It would mean “wide of appetite” (רְהַב־נֶפֶשׁ), thus “greedy.”
2. 71 Greed “stirs up” the strife. This individual’s attitude and actions stir up dissension because people do not long tolerate him.
3. 72 The construction uses the participle בּוֹטֵחַ (boteakh) followed by עַל־יְהוָה (’al-yéhvah), which gives the sense of “relying confidently on the Lord.” This is the antithesis of the greedy person who pushes to get what he desires.
4. 73 The verb דָּשֵׁן (dashen) means “to be fat,” and in the Piel/Pual stems “to make fat/to be made fat” (cf. , ). The idea of being “fat” was symbolic of health and prosperity—the one who trusts in the Lord will be abundantly prosperous and fully gratified (cf. “will be enriched”).