34:2 “Listen to my words, you wise men;
hear 1 me, you learned men. 2
34:3 For the ear assesses 3 words
as the mouth 4 tastes food.
34:34 Men of understanding say to me –
any wise man listening to me says –
6:32 A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom, 5
whoever does it destroys his own life. 6
15:32 The one who refuses correction despises himself, 7
but whoever hears 8 reproof acquires understanding. 9
1 tn Heb “give ear to me.”
2 tn The Hebrew word means “the men who know,” and without a complement it means “to possess knowledge.”
3 tn Or “examines; tests; tries; discerns.”
4 tn Or “palate”; the Hebrew term refers to the tongue or to the mouth in general.
5 tn Heb “heart.” The term “heart” is used as a metonymy of association for discernment, wisdom, good sense. Cf. NAB “is a fool”; NIV “lacks judgment”; NCV, NRSV “has no sense.”
6 tn Heb “soul.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a metonymy of association for “life” (BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).
7 sn To “despise oneself” means to reject oneself as if there was little value. The one who ignores discipline is not interested in improving himself.
8 tn Or “heeds” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “listens to.”
9 tn The Hebrew text reads קוֹנֶה לֵּב (qoneh lev), the participle of קָנָה (qanah, “to acquire; to possess”) with its object, “heart.” The word “heart” is frequently a metonymy of subject, meaning all the capacities of the human spirit and/or mind. Here it refers to the ability to make judgments or discernment.