8:32 “So now, children, 1 listen to me;
blessed are those who keep my ways.
8:33 Listen to my instruction 2 so that you may be wise, 3
and do not neglect it.
8:34 Blessed is the one 4 who listens to me,
watching 5 at my doors day by day,
waiting 6 beside my doorway. 7
8:35 For the one who finds me finds 8 life
and receives 9 favor from the Lord.
1 tn Heb “sons.”
2 tn Heb “discipline.”
3 tn The construction uses two imperatives joined with the vav (ו); this is a volitive sequence in which result or consequence is being expressed.
4 tn Heb “the man.”
5 tn The form לִשְׁקֹד (lishqod) is the infinitive construct serving epexegetically in the sentence. It explains how the person will listen to wisdom.
6 tn Heb “keeping” or “guarding.”
7 tn Heb “at the posts of my doors” (so KJV, ASV).
8 tc The Kethib reads plurals: “those who find me are finders of life”; this is reflected in the LXX and Syriac. But the Qere is singular: “whoever finds me finds life.” The Qere is generally favored as the original reading in such cases as these.
9 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same nuance as the perfect tense that came before it, setting out the timeless principle.