² tn Heb “to the wise of heart it will be called discerning.” This means that the wise of heart, those who make wise decisions (“heart” being the metonymy), will gain a reputation of being the discerning ones.

¹ tn The cohortative אֶחְכָּמָה (ʾekhkamah, from חָכַם, khakham, “to be wise”) emphasizes the resolve (determination) of Qoheleth to become wise enough to understand the perplexities of life.

² tn Heb “the ear of the wise.” The term “ear” is a synecdoche of part (= ear) for the whole (= person): “wise person.”

² tn Heb “Who is the wise man that he may understand this?”

³ tn Heb “a man who understands [and] knows”; NRSV “an intelligent ruler”; NLT “wise and knowledgeable leaders.”

⁵ tn Heb “a man of understanding”; TEV “someone with insight”; NLT “the wise.”

⁴ tn Heb “become wise in your latter end” (cf. KJV, ASV) which could obviously be misunderstood.

³ sn Those who are wise say wise things. The proverb uses synthetic parallelism: The first line asserts that the wise heart ensures that what is said is wise, and the second line adds that such a person increases the reception of what is said.

⁴ sn The proverb is one full sentence; it affirms that a teachable person is among the wise.

¹ tn Heb “wise ones of women.” The construct phrase חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים (khakhmot nashim) features a wholistic genitive: “wise women.” The plural functions in a distributive sense: “every wise woman.” The contrast is between wise and foolish women (e.g., Prov 7:10-23; 31:10-31).

² tc The Kethib of the MT and two important Greek witnesses read “Walk with the wise and become wise.” The Qere and other important Greek witnesses along with the Syriac, Targum and Vulgate read “One who walks with the wise will become wise.”

⁴ tn Or “a wise person listens to advice” (cf. NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

² sn The parallelism shows what Proverbs will repeatedly stress, that the wise person is the righteous person.

¹ sn The phrase “wise of heart” was used in Job 9:4 in a negative sense.

¹ tn Adding “that” in the translation clarifies Elihu’s indirect citation of the wise individuals’ words.

⁵ tn Heb “and be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

⁴ tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

² tn Heb “and in the heart of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom.”

¹ sn Pharaoh’s speech invites evaluation. How wise did his plans prove to be?

¹ tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.