4:5 Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding;
do not forget and do not turn aside from the words I speak. 1
31:5 lest they drink and forget what is decreed,
and remove 2 from all the poor 3 their legal rights. 4
1 tn Heb “from the words of my mouth” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); TEV, CEV “what I say.”
sn The verse uses repetition for the imperative “acquire” to underscore the importance of getting wisdom; it then uses two verb forms for the one prepositional phrase to stress the warning.
2 tn The verb means “change,” perhaps expressed in reversing decisions or removing rights.
3 tn Heb “all the children of poverty.” This expression refers to the poor by nature. Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the afflicted”; NIV “oppressed.”
4 sn The word is דִּין (din, “judgment”; so KJV). In this passage it refers to the cause or the plea for justice, i.e., the “legal rights.”