3:18 She is like 1 a tree of life 2 to those who obtain her, 3
and everyone who grasps hold of her will be blessed. 4
4:4 he taught me, and he said to me:
“Let your heart lay hold of my words;
keep my commands so that 5 you will live.
4:13 Hold on to instruction, 6 do not let it go;
protect it, 7 because it is your life.
15:24 The path of life is upward 8 for the wise person, 9
to 10 keep him from going downward to Sheol. 11
21:8 “But 12 tell the people of Jerusalem 13 that the Lord says, ‘I will give you a choice between two courses of action. One will result in life; the other will result in death. 14
1 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
2 sn The metaphor compares wisdom to the symbol of vitality and fullness of life. This might be an allusion to Gen 3:22, suggesting that what was lost as a result of the Fall may be recovered through wisdom: long and beneficial life (R. Marcus, “The Tree of Life in Proverbs,” JBL 62 [1943]: 117-20).
3 tn Heb “lay hold of her.”
4 tn The singular participle מְאֻשָּׁר (mÿ’ushar, literally, “he will be blessed”) functions as a distributive singular for a plural subject (GKC 464 §145.l): “each and everyone will be blessed.” Not recognizing this point of syntax, the BHS editors unnecessarily suggest emending this singular form to the plural.
5 tn The imperative with the vav expresses volitional sequence after the preceding imperative: “keep and then you will live,” meaning “keep so that you may live.”
6 tn Heb “discipline.”
7 tn The form נִצְּרֶהָ (nitsÿreha, from נָצַר, natsar) has an anomalous doubled letter (see GKC 73 §20.h).
8 tn There is disagreement over the meaning of the term translated “upward.” The verse is usually taken to mean that “upward” is a reference to physical life and well-being (cf. NCV), and “going down to Sheol” is a reference to physical death, that is, the grave, because the concept of immortality is said not to appear in the book of Proverbs. The proverb then would mean that the wise live long and healthy lives. But W. McKane argues (correctly) that “upwards” in contrast to Sheol, does not fit the ways of describing the worldly pattern of conduct and that it is only intelligible if taken as a reference to immortality (Proverbs [OTL], 480). The translations “upwards” and “downwards” are not found in the LXX. This has led some commentators to speculate that these terms were not found in the original, but were added later, after the idea of immortality became prominent. However, this is mere speculation.
9 tn Heb “to the wise [man],” because the form is masculine.
10 tn The term לְמַעַן (lema’an, “in order to”) introduces a purpose clause; the path leads upward in order to turn the wise away from Sheol.
11 tn Heb “to turn from Sheol downward”; cf. NAB “the nether world below.”
12 tn Heb “And/But unto this people you shall say…” “But” is suggested here by the unusual word order which offsets what they are to say to Zedekiah (v. 3).
13 tn Heb “these people.”
14 tn Heb “Behold I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.”