Proverbs 16:16

How much better it is to acquire ¹  wisdom than gold; to acquire understanding is more desirable ²  than silver.

Job 28:13-28; Ps 119:127; Pr 3:15-18; Pr 4:7; Pr 8:10,11,19; Ec 7:12; Mt 16:26; Lu 12:21

¹ tn The form קְנֹה (qÿnoh) is an infinitive; the Greek version apparently took it as a participle, and the Latin as an imperative – both working with an unpointed קנה, the letter ה (he) being unexpected in the form if it is an infinitive construct (the parallel clause has קְנוֹת [qÿnot] for the infinitive, but the ancient versions also translate that as either a participle or an imperative).

² tn The form is a Niphal participle, masculine singular. If it is modifying “understanding” it should be a feminine form. If it is to be translated, it would have to be rendered “and to acquire understanding is to be chosen more than silver” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). Many commentaries consider it superfluous. NIV and NCV simply have “to choose understanding rather than silver!”