² sn The participle חוֹשֵׂךְ (khosekh) means “withholds; restrains; refrains; spares; holds in check,” etc. One who has knowledge speaks carefully.

¹ sn The proverb uses anthropomorphic language to describe God’s exacting and evaluating knowledge of all people.

¹ sn A shrewd person knows how to use knowledge wisely, and restrains himself from revealing all he knows.

⁵ tc The LXX has an addition: “Forsake folly, that you may reign forever; and seek discretion and direct understanding in knowledge.”

¹ tn Or “just.” Perhaps the idea is that they impart a knowledge of what is just and right.

² tn The Hebrew word means “the men who know,” and without a complement it means “to possess knowledge.”

¹ tn Heb “for without knowledge he killed his neighbor, and he was not hating him prior to that.”

¹ tn Heb “he will be satisfied by his knowledge,” i.e., “when he knows.” The preposition is understood as temporal and the suffix as a subjective genitive. Some take בְּדַעְתּוֹ (b^edaʿto, “by his knowledge”) with what follows and translate “by knowledge of him,” understanding the preposition as instrumental and the suffix as objective.

³ tn The term “such” is supplied in the translation for clarification. It is not simply any knowledge that the wicked do not understand, but the knowledge mentioned in the first colon. They do not understand the “sympathetic knowledge” or “concern” for the cause of the poor.

¹ tn Heb עַל־דַּעְתְּךָ (ʿal daʿt^ekha, “upon your knowledge”). The use of the preposition means basically “in addition to your knowledge,” or “in spite of your knowledge,” i.e., “notwithstanding” or “although” (see GKC 383 §119.aa, n. 2).

² sn The construction uses repetition to make the point emphatically: “I do not know the knowledge of the Holy One.” Agur’s claim to being “brutish” is here clarified—he is not one of those who has knowledge or understanding of God. C. H. Toy thinks the speaker is being sarcastic in reference to others who may have claimed such knowledge (Proverbs [ICC], 521).

⁴ sn Throughout the world. Note how some of those present had knowledge of what had happened elsewhere. Word about Paul and his companions and their message was spreading.

⁵ sn Strengthen your brothers refers to Peter helping to strengthen their faith. Jesus quite graciously restores Peter “in advance,” even with the knowledge of his approaching denials.

¹ sn You have taken away the key to knowledge is another stinging rebuke. They had done the opposite of what they were trying to do.

¹ sn John’s role, to give his people knowledge of salvation, is similar to that of Jesus (Luke 3:1-14; 5:31-32).

¹ tn Heb “for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, just as the waters cover over the sea.”

⁴ sn The proverb affirms that God in safeguarding true knowledge will frustrate deception from faithless people—what they say will not have its intended effect.

² sn The wise continually seek more knowledge. D. Kidner says, “Those who know most know best how little they know” (Proverbs [TOTC], 129).

² tn Heb “how vast are their heads.” Here the Hebrew word “head” is used of the “sum total” of God’s knowledge of the psalmist.

¹ tn Or “you will have understanding.” This obviously refers to the acquisition of the “knowledge of good and evil,” as the next statement makes clear.