Proverbs 1:9

For they will be like ¹  an elegant ²  garland ³  on ⁴  your head, and like ⁵  pendants ⁶  around ⁷  your neck.

Ge 41:42; Pr 3:22; Pr 4:9; Pr 6:20,21; So 1:10; So 4:9; Isa 3:19; Eze 16:11; Da 5:7,16,29; 1Ti 2:9,10; 1Pe 3:3,4

¹ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

² tn Heb “a garland of grace.” The word חֵן (khen, “grace”) refers to qualities that make a person pleasant and agreeable, e.g., a gracious and charming person (BDB 336 s.v.). The metaphor compares the teachings that produce these qualities to an attractive wreath.

³ tn The noun לִוְיַה (livyah, “wreath; garland”) refers to a headdress and appears only twice in the OT (Prov 1:9; 4:9; BDB 531 s.v.; HALOT 524 s.v.).

⁴ tn Heb “for.”

⁵ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

⁶ tn Cf. KJV, ASV “chains”; NIV “a chain”; but this English term could suggest a prisoner’s chain to the modern reader rather than adornment.

⁷ tn Heb “for.”