12:12

Notice the parallelism:

12a
The wicked desire the plunder of evil men,

12b but the root of the righteous flourishes.

The underlined parallel parts contrast in meaning. The parts in bold print do not directly contrast. The part in bold print in 12:12a describes the bad desires of wicked men. The part in bold print in 12:12b describes the good result of being a righteous person.

12:12a

The wicked desire the plunder of evil men: There is a textual issue here:

(1) The Masoretic Text is literally: “The wicked ⌊person⌋ desires/covets a net of evil.” For example:

The godless delights in the snare of the wicked (New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) Some scholars think that the original text had: “The stronghold of the wicked ⌊person⌋ will be destroyed.” For example:

The strong tower of the wicked comes to ruin (Revised Standard Version)

(3) The LXX has: “The desires of the wicked are evil.” The Syriac is similar. It has: “The wicked desire to do evil.” For example:

All that wicked people want is to find evil things to do (Good News Translation)

It is recommended that you follow option (1), along with most versions and scholars.

The wicked…evil men: The words wicked and evil are synonyms. In Hebrew, the word translated as wicked is singular, and the word translated as evil men is plural. This difference probably implies that a wicked person desires the same kind of things as other people who are evil/wicked like himself.

desire: Other ways to translate the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as desire are:

delights in (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
covets (New Revised Standard Version)

the plunder of evil men: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as plunder is literally “net/snare.” The whole phrase has at least two figures of speech. The word “net” represents what is caught in the net. It is also a metaphor. It compares the wealth that evil people obtain by violent or dishonest means to an animal or bird that a hunter catches in a net or snare.

In most languages, it will not be possible to make explicit all the parts of this complex metaphor. Most English versions translate this phrase without using a figure of speech. For example:

the proceeds of wickedness (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
what other evil people have stolen (New Century Version)
-or-
each other’s loot (New Living Translation (2004))

12:12b

but the root of the righteous flourishes: There is a textual issue here:

(1) The Masoretic Text has: “but the root of the righteous gives.” The object of “gives” is not expressed, but most versions understand the phrase to mean “bears fruit.” With this text, the line describes the productive lives of the righteous. It contrasts their lives with the temporary wealth that the wicked desire to gain dishonestly. For example:

but the root of the righteous bears fruit (English Standard Version)

(2) The LXX has: “but the root of the righteous endures.” With this text, the line describes the secure lives of the righteous. It contrasts their lives with the dishonestly gained wealth on which the wicked rely. For example:

but the root of the righteous stands firm (Revised Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1), along with most versions. However, there is also good support for option (2). The Berean Standard Bible translation flourishes is actually ambiguous, since a flourishing root connotes a tree that is both secure (firmly rooted) and productive (bears fruit). You may be able to include both ideas in your translation, as the Berean Standard Bible has done.

The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the root of the righteous flourishes is a metaphor. This metaphor compares the productive life of righteous people to a tree with a strong root system that produces fruit. In some languages, a literal translation of this metaphor may not be clear or natural. If that is true in your language, some other ways to translate the metaphor are:

• Change the metaphor to a simile. For example:

but righteous people are like a fruit-bearing tree with strong roots
-or-
good people are like trees with deep roots (Contemporary English Version)

• Express the meaning without a figure of speech. For example:

but the lives of righteous people are useful/beneficial to others

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