Discovery BoxProverbs 6:22 
Context6:22 When you walk about, 1 they 2 will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, 3 they will talk 4 to you.
Proverbs 6:31
Context6:31 Yet 5 if he is caught 6 he must repay 7 seven times over,
he might even have to give 8 all the wealth of his house.
Proverbs 8:29
Context8:29 when he gave the sea his decree
that the waters should not pass over his command, 9
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
Proverbs 17:2
Context17:2 A servant who acts wisely 10 will rule
over 11 an heir 12 who behaves shamefully, 13
and will share the inheritance along with the relatives. 14
Proverbs 24:31
Context24:31 I saw 15 that thorns had grown up all over it,
the ground 16 was covered with weeds,
and its stone wall was broken down.
Proverbs 26:17
Context26:17 Like one who grabs a wild dog by the ears, 17
so is the person passing by who becomes furious 18 over a quarrel not his own.
1 tn The verbal form is the Hitpael infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffixed subjective genitive to form a temporal clause. The term הָלַךְ (halakh) in this verbal stem means “to go about; to go to and fro.” The use of these terms in v. 22 also alludes to Deut 6:7.
2 tn Heb “it will guide you.” The verb is singular and the instruction is the subject.
3 tn In both of the preceding cola an infinitive construct was used for the temporal clauses; now the construction uses a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. The verb would then be equivalent to an imperfect tense, but subordinated as a temporal clause here.
4 sn The Hebrew verb means “talk” in the sense of “to muse; to complain; to meditate”; cf. TEV, NLT “advise you.” Instruction bound to the heart will speak to the disciple on awaking.
5 tn The term “yet” is supplied in the translation.
6 tn Heb “is found out.” The perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to the imperfect nuances. Here it introduces either a conditional or a temporal clause before the imperfect.
7 tn The imperfect tense has an obligatory nuance. The verb in the Piel means “to repay; to make restitution; to recompense”; cf. NCV, TEV, CEV “must pay back.”
8 tn This final clause in the section is somewhat cryptic. The guilty thief must pay back sevenfold what he stole, even if it means he must use the substance of his whole house. The verb functions as an imperfect of possibility: “he might even give.”
9 tn Heb “his mouth.”
10 sn The setting is in the ancient world where a servant rarely advanced beyond his or her station in life. But there are notable exceptions (e.g., Gen 15:3 where the possibility is mentioned, 1 Chr 2:35 where it changed through marriage, and 2 Sam 16:1-4; 19:24-30, with the story of Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth). This proverb focuses on a servant who is wise, one who uses all his abilities effectively – a Joseph figure.
11 sn The parallelism indicates that “ruling over” and “sharing in the inheritance” means that the disgraceful son will be disinherited.
12 tn Heb “son.”
13 tn The form מֵבִישׁ (mevish) is a Hiphil participle, modifying בֵן (ben). This original heir would then be one who caused shame or disgrace to the family, probably by showing a complete lack of wisdom in the choices he made.
14 tn Heb “in the midst of the brothers”; NIV “as one of the brothers.”
15 tn The Hebrew term וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, traditionally “and, lo” [KJV, ASV]) is a deictic particle that calls attention to what comes next. “And look” is too abrupt here; “I saw” calls attention to the field that was noticed.
16 tn Heb “its face” (so KJV, ASV).
17 tn Heb “grabs the ears of a dog. The word “wild” has been supplied in the translation to make clear that these were not domesticated pets. CEV, to accomplish the same point, has “a mad dog,” but there is no indication of that in context.
sn Someone who did this ran a serious risk of injury or harm. Dogs were not domestic pets in the ancient Near East; they were scavengers that ran in packs like jackals.
18 tn The word מִתְעַבֵּר (mit’abber) means “to put oneself in a fury” or “become furious” (BDB 720 s.v.). The Latin version apparently assumed the verb was עָרַב (’arav), for it has the sense of “meddle” (so also NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). However, the MT reading could easily fit the verse, referring to anyone passing by who gets furious over a fight that is not his.
