2:3 indeed, if 1 you call out for 2 discernment 3 –
raise your voice 4 for understanding –
5:13 For 5 I did not obey my teachers 6
and I did not heed 7 my instructors. 8
8:4 “To you, O people, 9 I call out,
and my voice calls 10 to all mankind. 11
1 tn Both particles retain their individual meanings, otherwise the verse would begin with a strong adversative and be a contrast to what has been said.
2 tn Heb “summon.”
3 sn The noun recalls the second purpose of the book (1:2). It is also cognate to the last word of 2:2, forming a transition. The two objects of the prepositions in this verse are actually personifications, as if they could be summoned.
4 tn Heb “give your voice”; the expression is idiomatic for raising or lifting the voice to make a sound that carries further (e.g., Jer 2:15). This deliberate expression indicates that something significant is being uttered. J. H. Greenstone says, “If it [understanding] does not come at your first call, raise your voice to a higher pitch, put forth greater efforts” (Proverbs, 17).
5 tn The vav that introduces this clause functions in an explanatory sense.
6 tn The Hebrew term מוֹרַי (moray) is the nominal form based on the Hiphil plural participle with a suffix, from the root יָרָה (yarah). The verb is “to teach,” the common noun is “instruction, law [torah],” and this participle form is teacher (“my teachers”).
7 sn The idioms are vivid: This expression is “incline the ear”; earlier in the first line is “listen to the voice,” meaning “obey.” Such detailed description emphasizes the importance of the material.
8 tn The form is the Piel plural participle of לָמַד (lamad) used substantivally.
9 tn Heb “men.” Although it might be argued in light of the preceding material that males would be particularly addressed by wisdom here, the following material indicates a more universal appeal. Cf. TEV, NLT “to all of you.”
10 tn The verb “calls” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of style.
11 tn Heb “sons of man.” Cf. NAB “the children of men”; NCV, NLT “all people”; NRSV “all that live.”