3:22 So 1 they will give 2 life to you, 3
and grace to adorn 4 your neck. 5
4:7 Wisdom is supreme 6 – so 7 acquire wisdom,
and whatever you acquire, 8 acquire understanding! 9
4:26 Make the path for your feet 10 level, 11
so that 12 all your ways may be established. 13
5:7 So now, children, 14 listen to me;
do not turn aside from the words I speak. 15
7:13 So she grabbed him and kissed him,
and with a bold expression 16 she said to him,
7:24 So now, sons, 17 listen to me,
and pay attention to the words I speak. 18
8:32 “So now, children, 19 listen to me;
blessed are those who keep my ways.
8:33 Listen to my instruction 20 so that you may be wise, 21
and do not neglect it.
9:6 Abandon your foolish ways 22 so that you may live, 23
and proceed 24 in the way of understanding.”
15:7 The lips of the wise spread 25 knowledge,
but not so the heart of fools. 26
17:11 An evil person seeks only rebellion, 27
and so 28 a cruel messenger 29 will be sent against him.
25:11 Like apples of gold in settings of silver, 30
so is a word skillfully spoken. 31
25:25 Like cold water to a weary person, 32
so is good news from a distant land. 33
26:1 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
so honor 34 is not fitting for a fool. 35
26:8 Like tying a stone in a sling, 36
so is giving honor to a fool.
26:11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit, 37
so a fool repeats his folly. 38
26:14 Like 39 a door that turns on its hinges, 40
so a sluggard turns 41 on his bed.
26:19 so is a person 42 who deceives his neighbor,
and says, “Was I not only joking?” 43
27:20 As 44 Death and Destruction are never satisfied, 45
so the eyes of a person 46 are never satisfied. 47
30:13 There is a generation whose eyes are so lofty, 48
and whose eyelids are lifted up disdainfully. 49
1 tn Heb “and.” The vav probably denotes purpose/result.
2 tn Heb “they will be.”
3 tn Heb “your soul.” The noun נַפְשֶׁךָ (nafshekha, “your soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= inner soul) for the whole person (= you); see BDB 600 s.v. 4.a.2.
4 tn The phrase “to adorn” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.
5 tn Heb “grace for your neck.” See note on 1:9.
6 tn The absolute and construct state of רֵאשִׁית (re’shit) are identical (BDB 912 s.v.). Some treat רֵאשִׁית חָכְמָה (re’shit khokhmah) as a genitive-construct phrase: “the beginning of wisdom” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV). Others take רֵאשִׁית as an absolute functioning as predicate and חָכְמָה as the subject: “wisdom is the first/chief thing” (cf. KJV, ASV). The context here suggests the predicate.
7 tn The term “so” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style.
8 tn The noun קִנְיָן (qinyan) means “thing got or acquired; acquisition” (BDB 889 s.v.). With the preposition that denotes price, it means “with (or at the price of) all that you have acquired.” The point is that no price is too high for wisdom – give everything for it (K&D 16:108).
9 tc The verse is not in the LXX; some textual critics delete the verse as an impossible gloss that interrupts vv. 6 and 8 (e.g., C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 88).
10 tn Heb “path of your foot.”
11 sn The verb is a denominative Piel from the word פֶּלֶס (peles), “balance; scale.” In addition to telling the disciple to keep focused on a righteous life, the sage tells him to keep his path level, which is figurative for living the righteous life.
12 tn The vav prefixed to the beginning of this dependent clause denotes purpose/result following the preceding imperative.
13 tn The Niphal jussive from כּוּן (cun, “to be fixed; to be established; to be steadfast”) continues the idiom of walking and ways for the moral sense in life.
14 tn Heb “sons.”
15 tn Heb “the words of my mouth” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).
16 tn Heb “she makes bold her face.” The Hiphil perfect of עָזַז (’azar, “to be strong”) means she has an impudent face (cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV), a bold or brazen expression (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).
17 tn The literal translation “sons” works well here in view of the warning. Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “children.”
18 tn Heb “the words of my mouth.”
19 tn Heb “sons.”
20 tn Heb “discipline.”
21 tn The construction uses two imperatives joined with the vav (ו); this is a volitive sequence in which result or consequence is being expressed.
22 tn There are two ways to take this word: either as “fools” or as “foolish ways.” The spelling for “foolishness” in v. 13 differs from this spelling, and so some have taken that as an indicator that this should be “fools.” But this could still be an abstract plural here as in 1:22. Either the message is to forsake fools (i.e., bad company; cf. KJV, TEV) or forsake foolishness (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).
23 tn The two imperatives are joined with vav; this is a volitive sequence in which result or consequence is expressed.
24 tn The verb means “go straight, go on, advance” or “go straight on in the way of understanding” (BDB 80 s.v. אָשַׁר).
25 tc The verb of the first colon is difficult because it does not fit the second very well – a heart does not “scatter” or “spread” knowledge. On the basis of the LXX, C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 305) suggests a change to יִצְּרוּ (yitsÿru, “they preserve”). The Greek evidence, however, is not strong. For the second line the LXX has “hearts of fools are not safe,” apparently taking לֹא־כֵן (lo’-khen) as “unstable” instead of “not so.” So it seems futile to use the Greek version to modify the first colon to make a better parallel, when the Greek has such a different reading in the second colon anyway.
26 sn The phrase “the heart of fools” emphasizes that fools do not comprehend knowledge. Cf. NCV “there is no knowledge in the thoughts of fools.”
27 sn The proverb is set up in a cause and effect relationship. The cause is that evil people seek rebellion. The term מְרִי (mÿri) means “rebellion.” It is related to the verb מָרָה (marah, “to be contentious; to be rebellious; to be refractory”). BDB 598 s.v. מְרִי translates the line “a rebellious man seeketh only evil” (so NASB).
28 tn The parallelism seems to be formal, with the idea simply continuing to the second line; the conjunction is therefore translated to reflect this. However, the proverb could be interpreted as antithetical just as easily.
29 sn Those bent on rebellion will meet with retribution. The messenger could very well be a merciless messenger from the king; but the expression could also figuratively describe something God sends – storms, pestilence, or any other misfortune.
30 sn The verse uses emblematic parallelism, stating the simile in the first part and the point in the second. The meaning of the simile is not entirely clear, but it does speak of beauty, value, and artistry. The “apples of gold” (possibly citrons, quinces, oranges, or apricots) may refer to carvings of fruit in gold on columns.
31 tn Heb “on its wheels.” This expression means “aptly, fittingly.” The point is obviously about the immense value and memorable beauty of words used skillfully (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 148). Noting the meaning of the term and the dual form of the word, W. McKane suggests that the expression is metaphorical for the balancing halves of a Hebrew parallel wisdom saying: “The stichos is a wheel, and the sentence consisting of two wheels is a ‘well-turned’ expression” (Proverbs [OTL], 584). The line then would be describing a balanced, well-turned saying, a proverb; it is skillfully constructed, beautifully written, and of lasting value.
32 tn Heb “a weary [or, faint] soul” (so NASB, NIV); KJV, ASV, NRSV “a thirsty soul,” but “soul” here refers to the whole person.
33 sn The difficulty of getting news of any kind from a distant land made its reception all the more delightful when it was good (e.g., Gen 45:27; Prov 15:30).
34 sn “Honor” in this passage probably means respect, external recognition of worth, accolades, advancement to high position, etc. All of these would be out of place with a fool; so the sage is warning against elevating or acclaiming those who are worthless. See also J. A. Emerton, “Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VT 15 (1965): 271-79.
35 sn The first twelve verses of this chapter, Prov 26:1-12, are sometimes called “the Book of Fools” because they deal with the actions of fools.
36 tn The translation “like tying a stone in a sling” seems to make the most sense, even though the word for “sling” occurs only here.
sn The point is that only someone who does not know how a sling works would do such a stupid thing (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 152). So to honor a fool would be absurd; it would be counterproductive, for he would still be a fool.
37 sn The simile is graphic and debasing (cf. 2 Peter 2:22).
38 sn The point is clear: Fools repeat their disgusting mistakes, or to put it another way, whenever we repeat our disgusting mistakes we are fools. The proverb is affirming that no matter how many times a fool is warned, he never learns.
39 tn The comparative “like” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied from context in the translation.
40 sn The sluggard is too lazy to get out of bed – although he would probably rationalize this by saying that he is not at his best in the morning. The humor of the verse is based on an analogy with a door – it moves back and forth on its hinges but goes nowhere. Like the door to the wall, the sluggard is “hinged” to his bed (e.g., Prov 6:9-10; 24:33).
41 tn The term “turns” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation from the parallelism.
42 tn Heb “man.”
43 sn The subject of this proverb is not simply a deceiver, but one who does so out of jest, or at least who claims he was joking afterward. The participle מְשַׂחֵק has the idea of “laughing, mocking”; in this context it might convey the idea of “kidding” or “joking.” The point is that such practical joking is immature and often dangerous. To the foolish deceiver it might all seem like fun, like sport; but it can destroy people. One cannot trifle with dangerous weapons, or put them in irresponsible hands; likewise one cannot trifle with human relationships. W. G. Plaut notes, “The only worthwhile humor is that which laughs with, not at others” (Proverbs, 270).
44 tn The term “as” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation in light of the analogy.
45 sn Countless generations of people have gone into the world below; yet “death” is never satisfied – it always takes more. The line personifies Death and Destruction. It forms the emblem in the parallelism.
46 tn Heb “eyes of a man.” This expression refers to the desires – what the individual looks longingly on. Ecclesiastes Rabbah 1:34 (one of the rabbinic Midrashim) says, “No man dies and has one-half of what he wanted.”
47 tc The LXX contains a scribal addition: “He who fixes his eye is an abomination to the
48 tn Heb “how high are its eyes!” This is a use of the interrogative pronoun in exclamatory sentences (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 25, §127).
49 tn Heb “its eyelids are lifted up,” a gesture indicating arrogance and contempt or disdain for others. To make this clear, the present translation supplies the adverb “disdainfully” at the end of the verse.
sn The verbs “to be high” (translated “are…lofty”) and “to be lifted up” depict arrogance and disdain for others. The emphasis on the eyes and eyelids (parasynonyms in poetry) is employed because the glance, the look, is the immediate evidence of contempt for others (e.g., also 6:17 and Ps 131:1).