4:9 She will place a fair 1 garland on your head;
she will bestow 2 a beautiful crown 3 on you.”
12:4 A noble wife 4 is the crown 5 of her husband,
but the wife 6 who acts shamefully is like rottenness in his bones. 7
17:6 Grandchildren 8 are like 9 a crown 10 to the elderly,
and the glory 11 of children is their parents. 12
1 sn The personification of wisdom continues with the bestowal of a wreath for the head (e.g., 1:9). The point is that grace will be given to the individual like a wreath about the head.
2 tn The verb מָגַן (magan) is a Piel (denominative) verb from the noun “shield.” Here it means “to bestow” (BDB 171 s.v.).
3 sn This verse uses wedding imagery: The wife (wisdom) who is embraced by her husband (the disciple) will place the wedding crown on the head of her new bridegroom. Wisdom, like a virtuous wife, will crown the individual with honor and grace.
4 tn Heb “a wife of virtue”; NAB, NLT “a worthy wife.” This noble woman (אֵשֶׁת־חַיִל, ’shet-khayil) is the subject of Prov 31. She is a “virtuous woman” (cf. KJV), a capable woman of noble character. She is contrasted with the woman who is disgraceful (מְבִישָׁה, mÿvishah; “one who causes shame”) or who lowers his standing in the community.
5 sn The metaphor of the “crown” emphasizes that such a wife is a symbol of honor and glory.
6 tn Heb “she”; the referent (the wife) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 sn The simile means that the shameful acts of such a woman will eat away her husband’s strength and influence and destroy his happiness.
7 tn Heb “children of children [sons of sons].”
8 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.
9 sn The metaphor signifies that grandchildren are like a crown, that is, they are the “crowning glory” of life. The proverb comes from a culture that places great importance on the family in society and that values its heritage.
10 tn The noun תִּפְאָרָת (tif’arat) means “beauty; glory” (BDB 802 s.v.). In this passage “glory” seems to be identified with “glorying; boasting”; so a rendering that children are proud of their parents would be in order. Thus, “glory of children” would be a subjective genitive, the glorying that children do.”
11 tc The LXX has inserted: “To the faithful belongs the whole world of wealth, but to the unfaithful not an obulus.” It was apparently some popular sentiment at the time.