Proverbs 2:9

Then you will understand ¹  righteousness and justice and equity – every ²  good ³  way. ⁴ 

Ps 25:8,9; Ps 32:8; Ps 119:99,105; Ps 143:8-10; Pr 1:2-6; Isa 35:8; Isa 48:17; Jer 6:16; Mt 7:13,14; Joh 14:6

¹ tn Heb “discern.” See preceding note on בִּין (bin) in 2:5.

² tn The phrase “every good way” functions appositionally to the preceding triad of righteous attributes, further explaining and defining them.

³ tn Heb “every way of good.” The term טוֹב (tov, “good”) functions as an attributive genitive: “good way.”

⁴ tn Heb “track”; KJV, NIV, NRSV “path.” The noun מַעְגַּל (ma’gal) is used (1) literally of “wagon-wheel track; firm path” and (2) figuratively (as a metaphor) to describe the course of life (Pss 17:5; 23:3; 140:6; Prov 2:9, 15, 18; 4:11, 26; 5:6, 21; Isa 26:7; 59:8; see BDB 722-23 s.v. 2; KBL 2:609). It is related to the feminine noun עֲגָלָה (’agalah, “cart”) and the verb עָגַל (’agal) “to be round” (Qal) and “to roll” (Niphal). As a wagon-wheel cuts a deep track in a much traversed dirt road, so a person falls into routines and habits that reveal his moral character. In Proverbs the “paths” of the righteous are characterized by uprightness and integrity.