Discovery BoxProverbs 8:6-11 
Context8:6 Listen, for I will speak excellent things, 1
and my lips will utter 2 what is right.
8:7 For my mouth 3 speaks truth, 4
and my lips 5 hate wickedness. 6
8:8 All the words of my mouth are righteous; 7
there is nothing in them twisted 8 or crooked.
8:9 All of them are clear 9 to the discerning
and upright to those who find knowledge.
8:10 Receive my instruction 10 rather than 11 silver,
and knowledge rather than choice gold.
8:11 For wisdom is better than rubies,
and desirable things cannot be compared 12 to her.
1 tn Heb “noble” or “princely.” Wisdom begins the first motivation by claiming to speak noble things, that is, excellent things.
2 tn Heb “opening of my lips” (so KJV, NASB). The noun “lips” is a metonymy of cause, with the organ of speech put for what is said.
3 tn Heb “roof of the mouth.” This expression is a metonymy of cause for the activity of speaking.
4 tn The word “truth” (אֱמֶת, ’emet) is derived from the verbal root אָמַן (’aman) which means “to support.” There are a number of derived nouns that have the sense of reliability: “pillars,” “master craftsman,” “nurse,” “guardian.” Modifiers related to this group of words includes things like “faithful,” “surely,” “truly” (amen). In the derived stems the verb develops various nuances: The Niphal has the meanings of “reliable, faithful, sure, steadfast,” and the Hiphil has the meaning “believe” (i.e., consider something dependable). The noun “truth” means what is reliable or dependable, firm or sure.
5 sn Wise lips detest wickedness; wisdom hates speaking wicked things. In fact, speaking truth results in part from detesting wickedness.
6 tn Heb “wickedness is an abomination to my lips” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
7 tn The phrase could be rendered with an understood ellipsis: “all the words of my mouth [are said] in righteousness”; or the preposition could be interpreted as a beth essentiae: “all the words of my mouth are righteousness.”
8 sn The verb פָּתַל (patal) means “to twist.” In the Niphal it means “to wrestle” (to twist oneself). It was used in Gen 30:8 for the naming of Naphtali, with the motivation for the name from this verb: “with great struggling.” Here it describes speech that is twisted. It is a synonym for the next word, which means “twisted; crooked; perverse.”
9 tn Heb “front of.” Describing the sayings as “right in front” means they are open, obvious, and clear, as opposed to words that might be twisted or perverse. The parallel word “upright” means “straight, smooth, right.” Wisdom’s teachings are in plain view and intelligible for those who find knowledge.
10 tn Heb “discipline.” The term refers to instruction that trains with discipline (e.g., Prov 1:2).
11 tn Heb “and not” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “in preference to.”
12 tn The verb יִשְׁווּ (yishvu, from שָׁוָה, shavah) can be rendered “are not comparable” or in a potential nuance “cannot be compared” with her.
