³ sn The commendation Blessed are you among women means that Mary has a unique privilege to be the mother of the promised one of God.

² tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is used twice in this verse in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”

⁴ tn Heb “enlarging your eyes with antimony.” Antimony was a black powder used by women as eyeliner to make their eyes look larger.

² tn Heb “women come [and] light it.” The city is likened to a dead tree with dried-up branches that is only good for firewood.

³ tn The article on הָאִשָּׁה (haʾishah) functions in a particularizing sense (“the kind of woman”) rather than in a generic sense (i.e., “women”).

¹ tn Heb “my son”; the reference to a “son” is retained in the translation here because in the following lines the advice is to avoid women who are prostitutes.

¹ tn Heb “my son”; the reference to a “son” is retained in the translation here because in the following lines the advice is to avoid women who are prostitutes.

³ tn Heb “were not praised,” that is, in wedding songs. The young men died in masses, leaving no husbands for the young women.

² sn To celebrate a military victory, women would play tambourines (see Exod 15:20; Judg 11:34; 1 Sam 18:6).

¹ tc The MT omits “and all,” while the LXX includes it. That the next verse refers to the children as well as the women argues in favor of it.

² tn The third person feminine plural form of the pronominal suffix indicates the women of the village (see v. 19) are the addressees.

⁶ tn Heb “they said,” but the verb form is third person feminine plural, indicating that the women of the village are the subject.

² tn The language is fluid enough to include women and perhaps even animals, but the translation uses the masculine pronoun because the Hebrew form is grammatically masculine.

¹ tn The formula is used here again: “a man or a woman—when he takes.” The vow is open to both men and women.

¹ tn The text simply uses a prepositional phrase, “with/in wisdom.” It seems to be qualifying “the women” as the relative clause is.

¹ sn Mary Magdalene is always noted first in the appearance lists in the gospels. It is unusual that the first appearance would involve women as in this culture their role as witnesses would not be well accepted. It is a sign of the veracity of the account because if an ancient were to create such a story he would never have it start with women.

¹ sn The expression cows of Bashan is used by the prophet to address the wealthy women of Samaria, who demand that their husbands satisfy their cravings. The derogatory language perhaps suggests that they, like the livestock of Bashan, were well fed, ironically in preparation for the coming slaughter. This phrase is sometimes cited to critique the book’s view of women.

³ tn Heb “at the sight of all the daughters of my city.” It is understood that seeing the plight of the women, not simply seeing the women, is what is so grievous. To make this clear, “suffering” was supplied in the translation.

¹ tn Heb “and to all the women.” The “and” (ו, vav) is to be explained here according to BDB 252 s.v. וַ 1.a. The focus of the address that follows is on the women. See the translator’s note on the next verse.

¹ sn Solomon calls attention to the sandals the “noble daughter” was wearing. While it was common for women in aristocratic circles in the ancient Near East to wear sandals, women of the lower classes usually went barefoot (e.g., Ezek 16:10).