Proverbs 2:10

2:10 For wisdom will enter your heart, ¹ 

and moral knowledge ²  will be attractive ³  to you. ⁴ 

Proverbs 22:18

22:18 For it is pleasing if ⁵  you keep these sayings ⁶  within you,

and ⁷  they are ready on your lips. ⁸ 

Psalms 19:10-11

19:10 They are of greater value ⁹  than gold,

than even a great amount of pure gold;

they bring greater delight ¹⁰  than honey,

than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb.

19:11 Yes, your servant finds moral guidance there; ¹¹ 

those who obey them receive a rich reward. ¹² 

Psalms 63:3-5

63:3 Because ¹³  experiencing ¹⁴  your loyal love is better than life itself,

my lips will praise you.

63:4 For this reason ¹⁵  I will praise you while I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands. ¹⁶ 

63:5 As if with choice meat ¹⁷  you satisfy my soul. ¹⁸ 

My mouth joyfully praises you, ¹⁹ 

Psalms 112:1

Psalm 112 ²⁰ 

112:1 Praise the Lord!

How blessed is the one ²¹  who obeys ²²  the Lord,

who takes great delight in keeping his commands. ²³ 

Psalms 119:14

119:14 I rejoice in the lifestyle prescribed by your rules ²⁴ 

as if ²⁵  they were riches of all kinds. ²⁶ 

Psalms 119:47

119:47 I will find delight in your commands,

which I love.

Psalms 119:103

119:103 Your words are sweeter

in my mouth than honey! ²⁷ 

Psalms 119:174

119:174 I long for your deliverance, O Lord;

I find delight in your law.

Matthew 11:28-30

11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 11:29 Take my yoke ²⁸  on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 11:30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.”

[2:10]  ¹ tn The noun לֵב (lev, “heart”) functions as a metonymy of association for “mind” and “thoughts” (BDB 524 s.v. 3). It represents the center of the inner life where the volition and emotions join to bring about actions. It is used here in parallelism with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”), for which see note.

[2:10]  ² tn Heb “knowledge.” For the noun דַּעַת (da’at), see the note on 1:7.

[2:10]  ³ tn Heb “pleasant.” The verb יִנְעָם (yin’am, “to be pleasant”) describes what is attractive. It is used of being physically attracted to one’s lover (Song 7:7) or to a close friendship (2 Sam 1:26). Here wisdom becomes attractive to the righteous, that is, the righteous desires to acquire it.

[2:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “your soul.” The term נַפְשְׁךָ (nafshÿkha, “your soul”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= soul) for the whole person (= you); see BDB 660 s.v. 4.a.2. It also might function as a metonymy of association for emotions and passions (BDB 660 s.v. 6) or mental cognition (BDB 660 s.v. 7).

[22:18]  ⁵ tn Or “when” (so NIV).

[22:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “keep them,” referring to the words of the wise expressed in these sayings. The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:18]  ⁷ tn The term “and” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation.

[22:18]  ⁸ sn If the teachings are preserved in the heart/mind of the disciple, then that individual will always be ready to speak what was retained.

[19:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “more desirable.”

[19:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “are sweeter.” God’s law is “sweet’ in the sense that, when obeyed, it brings a great reward (see v. 11b).

[19:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “moreover your servant is warned by them.”

[19:11]  ¹² tn Heb “in the keeping of them [there is] a great reward.”

[63:3]  ¹³ tn This line is understood as giving the basis for the praise promised in the following line. Another option is to take the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) as asseverative/emphasizing, “Indeed, your loyal love is better” (cf. NEB, which leaves the particle untranslated).

[63:3]  ¹⁴ tn The word “experiencing” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist does not speak here of divine loyal love in some abstract sense, but of loyal love revealed and experienced.

[63:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or perhaps “then.”

[63:4]  ¹⁶ sn I will lift up my hands. Lifting up one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19) or respect (Ps 119:48).

[63:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “like fat and fatness.”

[63:5]  ¹⁸ tn Or “me.”

[63:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and [with] lips of joy my mouth praises.”

[112:1]  ²⁰ sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[112:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.

[112:1]  ²² tn Heb “fears.”

[112:1]  ²³ tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.

[119:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “in the way of your rules.”

[119:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “as upon,” meaning “as if” (see 2 Chr 32:19).

[119:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “all wealth.” The phrase refers to all kinds of wealth and riches. See Prov 1:13; 6:31; 24:4; Ezek 27:12, 18.

[119:103]  ²⁷ tn Heb “How smooth they are to my palate, your word, more than honey to my mouth.” A few medieval Hebrew mss, as well as several other ancient witnesses, read the plural “your words,” which can then be understood as the subject of the plural verb “they are smooth.”

[11:29]  ²⁸ sn A yoke is a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals like oxen or horses so that they can pull a wagon, plow, etc. together. Here it is used figuratively of the restrictions that a teacher or rabbi would place on his followers.