8:30 then I was 1 beside him as a master craftsman, 2
and I was his delight 3 day by day,
rejoicing before him at all times,
8:34 Blessed is the one 4 who listens to me,
watching 5 at my doors day by day,
waiting 6 beside my doorway. 7
7:9 in the twilight, the evening, 8
in the dark of the night. 9
27:1 Do not boast 10 about tomorrow; 11
for you do not know 12 what a day may bring forth.
1 tn The verb form is a preterite with vav consecutive, although it has not been apocopated. It provides the concluding statement for the temporal clauses as well as the parallel to v. 27.
2 tn Critical to the interpretation of this line is the meaning of אָמוֹן (’amon). Several suggestions have been made: “master craftsman” (cf. ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV), “nursing child” (cf. NCV), “foster father.” R. B. Y. Scott chooses “faithful” – a binding or living link (“Wisdom in Creation: The ‘Amon of Proverbs 8:30,” VT 10 [1960]: 213-23). The image of a child is consistent with the previous figure of being “given birth to” (vv. 24, 25). However, “craftsman” has the most support (LXX, Vulgate, Syriac, Tg. Prov 8:30, Song 7:1; Jer 52:15; also P. W. Skehan, “Structures in Poems on Wisdom: Proverbs 8 and Sirach 24,” CBQ 41 [1979]: 365-79).
3 tn The word is a plural of intensification for “delight”; it describes wisdom as the object of delight. The LXX has the suffix; the Hebrew does not.
4 tn Heb “the man.”
5 tn The form לִשְׁקֹד (lishqod) is the infinitive construct serving epexegetically in the sentence. It explains how the person will listen to wisdom.
6 tn Heb “keeping” or “guarding.”
7 tn Heb “at the posts of my doors” (so KJV, ASV).
7 tn Heb “in the evening of the day.”
8 tn Heb “in the middle of the night, and dark”; KJV “in the black and dark night”; NRSV “at the time of night and darkness.”
10 tn The form אַל־תִּתְהַלֵּל (’al-tithallel) is the Hitpael jussive negated; it is from the common verb “to praise,” and so in this setting means “to praise oneself” or “to boast.”
11 sn The word “tomorrow” is a metonymy of subject, meaning what will be done tomorrow, or in the future in general.
12 sn The expression “you do not know” balances the presumption of the first line, reminding the disciple of his ignorance and therefore his need for humility (e.g., Matt 6:34; Luke 12:20; Jas 4:13-16).