Job 28:28

28:28 And he said to mankind,

‘The fear of the Lord ¹  – that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” ² 

Psalms 111:10

111:10 To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living; ³ 

all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight. ⁴ 

He will receive praise forever. ⁵ 

Psalms 119:99

119:99 I have more insight than all my teachers,

for I meditate on your rules.

Psalms 119:130

119:130 Your instructions are a doorway through which light shines. ⁶ 

They give ⁷  insight to the untrained. ⁸ 

Proverbs 10:8

10:8 The wise person ⁹  accepts instructions, ¹⁰ 

but the one who speaks foolishness ¹¹  will come to ruin. ¹² 

Proverbs 14:8

14:8 The wisdom of the shrewd person ¹³  is to discern ¹⁴  his way,

but the folly of fools is deception. ¹⁵ 

James 3:13-18

True Wisdom

3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom brings. ¹⁶  3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth. 3:15 Such ¹⁷  wisdom does not come ¹⁸  from above but is earthly, natural, ¹⁹  demonic. 3:16 For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice. 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, ²⁰  full of mercy and good fruit, ²¹  impartial, and not hypocritical. ²²  3:18 And the fruit that consists of righteousness ²³  is planted ²⁴  in peace among ²⁵  those who make peace.

¹ tc A number of medieval Hebrew manuscripts have YHWH (“Lord”); BHS has אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). As J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 383) points out, this is the only occurrence of אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”) in the book of Job, creating doubt for retaining it. Normally, YHWH is avoided in the book. “Fear of” (יִרְאַת, yir’at) is followed by שַׁדַּי (shadday, “Almighty”) in 6:14 – the only other occurrence of this term for “fear” in construct with a divine title.

² tc Many commentators delete this verse because (1) many read the divine name Yahweh (translated “Lord”) here, and (2) it is not consistent with the argument that precedes it. But as H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 185) points out, there is inconsistency in this reasoning, for many of the critics have already said that this chapter is an interpolation. Following that line of thought, then, one would not expect it to conform to the rest of the book in this matter of the divine name. And concerning the second difficulty, the point of this chapter is that wisdom is beyond human comprehension and control. It belongs to God alone. So the conclusion that the fear of the Lord is wisdom is the necessary conclusion. Rowley concludes: “It is a pity to rob the poem of its climax and turn it into the expression of unrelieved agnosticism.”

³ tn Heb “the beginning of wisdom [is] the fear of the Lord.”

⁴ tn Heb “good sense [is] to all who do them.” The third masculine plural pronominal suffix must refer back to the “precepts” mentioned in v. 7. In the translation the referent has been specified for clarity. The phrase שֵׂכֶל טוֹב (shekhel tov) also occurs in Prov 3:4; 13:15 and 2 Chr 30:22.

⁵ tn Heb “his praise stands forever.”

⁶ tn Heb “the doorway of your words gives light.” God’s “words” refer here to the instructions in his law (see vv. 9, 57).

⁷ tn Heb “it [i.e., the doorway] gives.”

⁸ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly. See Pss 19:7; 116:6.

⁹ tn Heb “the wise of heart” (so NASB, NRSV). The genitive noun לֵב (lev, “heart”) functions as an attributive adjective: “the wise heart.” The term לֵב functions as a synecdoche of part (= heart) for the whole person (= person). The heart is emphasized because it is the seat of wisdom (BDB 524 s.v. 3.b).

¹⁰ tn Heb “commandments.”

¹¹ tn Heb “fool of lips.” The phrase is a genitive of specification: “a fool in respect to lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause (= lips) for effect (= speech). This person talks foolishness; he is too busy talking to pay attention to instruction.

¹² tn The Niphal verb לָבַט (lavat) means “to be thrust down [or, away]”; that is, “to be ruined; to fall” or “to stumble” (e.g., Hos 4:14). The fool who refuses to listen to advice – but abides by his own standards which he freely expresses – will suffer the predicaments that he creates.

¹³ tn Or “the prudent [person]” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).

¹⁴ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct denotes purpose. Those who are shrewd will use it to give careful consideration to all their ways.

¹⁵ tn The word means “deception,” but some suggest “self-deception” here (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 466; and D. W. Thomas, “Textual and Philological Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 286); cf. NLT “fools deceive themselves.” The parallelism would favor this, but there is little support for it. The word usually means “craft practiced on others.” If the line is saying the fool is deceitful, there is only a loose antithesis between the cola.

¹⁶ tn Grk “works in the gentleness of wisdom.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “This.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “come down”; “descend.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “soulish,” which describes life apart from God, characteristic of earthly human life as opposed to what is spiritual. Cf. 1 Cor 2:14; 15:44-46; Jude 19.

²⁰ tn Or “willing to yield,” “open to persuasion.”

²¹ tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit.”

²² tn Or “sincere.”

²³ tn Grk “the fruit of righteousness,” meaning righteous living as a fruit, as the thing produced.

²⁴ tn Grk “is sown.”

²⁵ tn Or “for,” or possibly “by.”