Discovery BoxProverbs 9:4 
Context9:4 “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”
she says 1 to those 2 who lack understanding. 3
Proverbs 9:16
Context9:16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here,”
she says to those who lack understanding. 4
Proverbs 10:21
Context10:21 The teaching 5 of the righteous feeds 6 many,
but fools die 7 for lack of wisdom. 8
Proverbs 31:11
Context31:11 The heart of her husband has confidence 9 in her,
and he has no lack of gain. 10
1 tn Heb “lacking of heart she says to him.” The pronominal suffix is a resumptive pronoun, meaning, “she says to the lacking of heart.”
2 tn Heb “him.”
3 tn Heb “heart”; cf. NIV “to those who lack judgment.”
4 tn This expression is almost identical to v. 4, with the exception of the addition of conjunctions in the second colon: “and the lacking of understanding and she says to him.” The parallel is deliberate, of course, showing the competing appeals for those passing by.
5 tn Heb “lips.” The term “lips” functions as a metonymy of cause for what is said (or in this case taught).
6 tn The verb רָעָה (ra’ah) means “to feed” or “to shepherd” (e.g., Gen 48:15). What they say will meet the needs of many.
7 tn In what sense the fool “dies” is unclear. Fools ruin their lives and the lives of others by their lack of discipline and knowledge. The contrast is between enhancing life and ruining life.
8 tn Heb “heart.” The term לֵב (lev, “heart”) functions as a metonymy of association for wisdom and knowledge (BDB 524 s.v. 3.a).
9 tn The first word of the second line begins with בּ (bet), the second letter in the Hebrew alphabet. The verb בָּטַח (batakh) means “to trust; to have confidence in.” With the subject of the verb being “the heart of her husband,” the idea is strengthened – he truly trusts her. Cf. NCV “trusts her completely”; NIV “has full confidence in her.”
10 sn The Hebrew word used here for “gain” (שָׁלָל, shalal) is unusual; it means “plunder; spoil” of war primarily (e.g., Isa 8:1-4 and the name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz). The point is that the gain will be as rich and bountiful as the spoils of war. The wife’s capabilities in business and domestic matters guarantee a rich profit and inspire the confidence of her husband.
