3:1 My child, 2 do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep 3 my commandments,
4:24 Remove perverse speech 4 from your mouth; 5
keep devious talk far from your lips. 6
5:8 Keep yourself 7 far 8 from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,
7:1 My child, 10 keep my words
and treasure up my commands in your own keeping. 11
8:32 “So now, children, 12 listen to me;
blessed are those who keep my ways.
1 sn The chapter begins with an introductory exhortation (1-4), followed by an admonition to be faithful to the
2 tn Heb “my son” (likewise in vv. 11, 21).
3 tn The verb יִצֹּר (yitsor) is a Qal jussive and the noun לִבֶּךָ (libbekha, “your heart”) functions as the subject: “let your heart keep my commandments.”
4 tn Heb “crookedness.” The noun עִקְּשׁוּת (’iqqÿshut) refers to what is morally twisted or perverted. Here it refers to things that are said (cf. NAB “dishonest talk”; NRSV “crooked speech”). The term “mouth” functions as a metonymy of cause for perverse speech. Such perverse talking could be subtle or blatant.
5 tn Heb “crookedness of mouth.”
6 tn Heb “deviousness of lips put far from you.”
7 tn Heb “your way.”
8 sn There is a contrast made between “keep far away” (הַרְחֵק, harkheq) and “do not draw near” (וְאַל־תִּקְרַב, vÿ’al-tiqrav).
9 sn The chapter begins with the important teaching of the father (1-5), then it focuses on the seduction: first of the victim (6-9), then the temptress (10-12), then the seduction (13-20), and the capitulation (21-23); the chapter concludes with the deadly results of consorting (24-27).
10 tn Heb “my son.”
11 tn Heb “within you” (so NASB, NIV); KJV, ASV, NRSV “with you.” BDB 860 s.v. צָפַן Qal.1 suggests that “within you” means “in your own keeping.”
12 tn Heb “sons.”