² tn The meaning of the word comes close to “riotous.” W. McKane describes her as restless and rootless (Proverbs [OTL], 366).

¹ tn The verb יִשְׁווּ (yish^evu, from שָׁוָה, shavah) can be rendered “are not comparable” or with a modal nuance, “cannot be compared” with her.

¹ tn Heb “her feet.” This is a synecdoche, a part for the whole; the point is that she never stays home, but is out and about all the time.

¹ sn Heb “her end” (so KJV). D. Kidner notes that Proverbs does not allow us to forget that there is an afterward (Proverbs [TOTC], 65).

² sn This verse uses wedding imagery: The wife (wisdom) who is embraced by her husband (the disciple) will place the wedding crown on the head of her new bridegroom. Wisdom, like a virtuous wife, will crown the individual with honor and grace. In vv. 4-9 Murphy points out the four fold repetition of “acquire” (קָנָה, qanah), the same term used of Boaz taking Ruth as a wife (Ruth 4:8, 10), and the calls to love her (Prov 4:6) and embrace her (4:8) (R. Murphy, Proverbs [WBC], 27). This section personifies wisdom and portrays the pursuit of wisdom as a paramount romantic pursuit.

³ tn Heb “she gives her voice.” The expression means to shout loudly (BDB 679 s.v. נָתַן Qal 1.x, HALOT 735 s.v. נָתַן Qal 12).

¹ sn The metaphor of the fruitful vine pictures the wife as fertile; she will give her husband numerous children (see the next line).

³ tc Heb “within, from settings of gold, her clothing.” The Hebrew term פְּנִימָה (p^enimah, “within”), if retained, would go with the preceding line and perhaps refer to the bride being “within” the palace or her bridal chamber (cf. NIV, NRSV). Since the next two lines refer to her attire (see also v. 9b), it is preferable to emend the form to פְּנִינִיהָּ (p^eniniha, “her pearls”) or to פְּנִינִים (p^eninim, “pearls”). The mem (מ) prefixed to “settings” is probably dittographic.

³ tn Heb “for there was not to her father or mother.” This is universally understood to mean Esther’s father and mother were no longer alive.

³ tn In 2 Sam 11:3 Bathsheba is called “the daughter of Eliam,” while here her father’s name is given as “Ammiel.”

¹ tn Heb “and they placed hands on her, and she went the way of the entrance of the horses [into] the house of the king.”

⁵ tn Heb “from the inheritance of God.” The expression refers to the property that was granted to her family line in the division of the land authorized by God.

² sn My remaining coal is here metaphorical language, describing the one remaining son as her only source of lingering hope for continuing the family line.

¹ tn Heb “Amnon the son of David loved her.” The following verse indicates the extreme nature of his infatuation, so the translation uses “madly in love” here.

³ tn The Hebrew verb is a perfect with nonconsecutive vav, probably indicating an action (locking the door) that complements the preceding one (pushing her out the door).

³ tn Heb “he lay down with her.” The verb שָׁכַב (shakav) “to lie down” can be a euphemism for going to bed for sexual relations.

¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “in her heart.” Cf. CEV “she was disgusted (+ with him TEV)”; NLT “was filled with contempt for him”; NCV “she hated him.”

³ tn Heb “and [there was] to Naomi a relative, to her husband, a man mighty in substance, from the clan of Elimelech, and his name [was] Boaz.”

² tn Heb “The woman came at the turning of the morning and fell at the door of the house of the man where her master was until the light.”

¹ tn Heb “on her knees.” The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 160-61 s.v. בֶּרֶךְ.