37:30 The godly speak wise words
and promote justice. 1
37:31 The law of their God controls their thinking; 2
their 3 feet do not slip.
40:8 I want to do what pleases you, 4 my God.
Your law dominates my thoughts.” 5
40:9 I have told the great assembly 6 about your justice. 7
Look! I spare no words! 8
O Lord, you know this is true.
40:10 I have not failed to tell about your justice; 9
I spoke about your reliability and deliverance;
I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness. 10
71:15 I will tell about your justice,
and all day long proclaim your salvation, 11
though I cannot fathom its full extent. 12
71:16 I will come and tell about 13 the mighty acts of the sovereign Lord.
I will proclaim your justice – yours alone.
71:17 O God, you have taught me since I was young,
and I am still declaring 14 your amazing deeds.
71:18 Even when I am old and gray, 15
O God, do not abandon me,
until I tell the next generation about your strength,
and those coming after me about your power. 16
10:20 What the righteous say 17 is like 18 the best 19 silver,
but what the wicked think 20 is of little value. 21
10:21 The teaching 22 of the righteous feeds 23 many,
but fools die 24 for lack of wisdom. 25
12:18 Speaking recklessly 26 is like the thrusts of a sword,
but the words 27 of the wise bring 28 healing. 29
15:23 A person has joy 30 in giving an appropriate answer, 31
and a word at the right time 32 – how good it is!
22:17 Incline your ear 34 and listen to the words of the wise,
and apply your heart to my instruction. 35
22:18 For it is pleasing if 36 you keep these sayings 37 within you,
and 38 they are ready on your lips. 39
1 tn Heb “The mouth of the godly [one] utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.” The singular form is used in a representative sense; the typical godly individual is in view. The imperfect verbal forms draw attention to the characteristic behavior of the godly.
2 tn Heb “the law of his God [is] in his heart.” The “heart” is here the seat of one’s thoughts and motives.
3 tn Heb “his.” The pronoun has been translated as plural to agree with the representative or typical “godly” in v. 30.
4 tn Or “your will.”
5 tn Heb “your law [is] in the midst of my inner parts.” The “inner parts” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s thought life and moral decision making.
6 sn The great assembly is also mentioned in Pss 22:25 and 35:18.
7 tn Heb “I proclaim justice in the great assembly.” Though “justice” appears without a pronoun here, the
8 tn Heb “Look! My lips I do not restrain.”
9 tn Heb “your justice I have not hidden in the midst of my heart.”
10 tn Heb “I have not hidden your loyal love and reliability.”
11 tn Heb “my mouth declares your vindication, all the day your deliverance.”
12 tn Heb “though I do not know [the] numbers,” that is, the tally of God’s just and saving acts. HALOT 768 s.v. סְפֹרוֹת understands the plural noun to mean “the art of writing.”
13 tn Heb “I will come with.”
14 tn Heb “and until now I am declaring.”
15 tn Heb “and even unto old age and gray hair.”
16 tn Heb “until I declare your arm to a generation, to everyone who comes your power.” God’s “arm” here is an anthropomorphism that symbolizes his great strength.
17 tn Heb “the lips of the righteous.” The term “lips” functions as a metonymy of cause for speech. This contrasts the tongue (metonymy of cause for what they say) with the heart (metonymy of subject for what they intend). What the righteous say is more valuable than what the wicked intend.
18 tn The comparative “like” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
19 tn Or “pure”; Heb “choice.”
20 tn Heb “the heart of the wicked” (so KJV, NAB, NIV). The term “heart” functions as a metonymy of cause for thoughts. The term לֵב (lev, “heart”) often refers to the seat of thoughts, will and emotions (BDB 524 s.v. 3-4).
21 tn Heb “like little.” This expression refers to what has little value: “little worth” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV; cf. BDB 590 s.v. מְעַט 2.d). The point of the metaphor is clarified by the parallelism: Silver is valuable; the heart of the wicked is worth little. Tg. Prov 10:20 says it was full of dross, a contrast with choice silver.
22 tn Heb “lips.” The term “lips” functions as a metonymy of cause for what is said (or in this case taught).
23 tn The verb רָעָה (ra’ah) means “to feed” or “to shepherd” (e.g., Gen 48:15). What they say will meet the needs of many.
24 tn In what sense the fool “dies” is unclear. Fools ruin their lives and the lives of others by their lack of discipline and knowledge. The contrast is between enhancing life and ruining life.
25 tn Heb “heart.” The term לֵב (lev, “heart”) functions as a metonymy of association for wisdom and knowledge (BDB 524 s.v. 3.a).
26 tn The term בּוֹטֶה (boteh) means “to speak rashly [or, thoughtlessly]” (e.g., Lev 5:4; Num 30:7).
27 tn Heb “the tongue” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV). The term לָשׁוֹן (lashon, “tongue”) functions as a metonymy of cause for what is said.
28 tn The term “brings” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.
29 sn Healing is a metonymy of effect. Healing words are the opposite of the cutting, irresponsible words. What the wise say is faithful and true, gentle and kind, uplifting and encouraging; so their words bring healing.
30 tn Heb “joy to the man” or “the man has joy.”
31 tn Heb “in the answer of his mouth” (so ASV); NASB “in an apt answer.” The term “mouth” is a metonymy of cause for what he says. But because the parallelism is loosely synonymous, the answer given here must be equal to the good word spoken in season. So it is an answer that is proper or fitting.
32 tn Heb “in its season.” To say the right thing at the right time is useful; to say the right thing at the wrong time is counterproductive.
33 sn A new collection of sayings begins here, forming the fourth section of the book of Proverbs. This collection is not like that of 1:1–9:18; here the introductory material is more personal than 1:1-7, and the style differs, showing great similarity to the Instruction of Amenemope in Egypt (especially the thirty precepts of the sages in 22:17–24:22). Verses 17-21 form the introduction, and then the sayings begin in v. 22. After the thirty sayings are given, there are further sayings in 24:23-34. There is much literature on this material: see W. K. Simpson, ed., Literature of Ancient Egypt; ANET 412-425; and A. Cody, “Notes on Proverbs 22:21 and 22:23b,” Bib 61 (1980): 418-26.
34 sn To “incline the ear” means to “listen carefully” (cf. NCV); the expression is metonymical in that the ear is the instrument for hearing. It is like telling someone to lean over to hear better.
35 tn Heb “knowledge” (so KJV, NASB); in this context it refers to the knowledge that is spoken by the wise, hence “instruction.”
36 tn Or “when” (so NIV).
37 tn Heb “keep them,” referring to the words of the wise expressed in these sayings. The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
38 tn The term “and” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation.
39 sn If the teachings are preserved in the heart/mind of the disciple, then that individual will always be ready to speak what was retained.
40 tn The Greek text reads here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos). The term is generic referring to any person.
41 tn Grk “the”; the Greek article has been translated here and in the following clause (“his evil treasury”) as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
42 sn The treasury here is a metaphorical reference to a person’s heart (cf. BDAG 456 s.v. θησαυρός 1.b and the parallel passage in Luke 6:45).
43 tn An alternate way of punctuating the Greek text of vv. 37-38 results in this translation: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38 has been the subject of considerable scholarly debate. Certainly Jesus picks up on the literal water used in the ceremony and uses it figuratively. But what does the figure mean? According to popular understanding, it refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell in the believer. There is some difficulty in locating an OT text which speaks of rivers of water flowing from within such a person, but Isa 58:11 is often suggested: “The
44 tn Or “out of the innermost part of his person”; Grk “out of his belly.”
45 sn An OT quotation whose source is difficult to determine; Isa 44:3, 55:1, 58:11, and Zech 14:8 have all been suggested.
46 tn Grk “but if something good for the building up of the need.” The final genitive τῆς χρείας (th" creia") may refer to “the need of the moment” or it may refer to the need of a particular person or group of people as the next phrase “give grace to those who hear” indicates.
47 tn The term “But” translates the δέ (de) in a contrastive way in light of the perfect obedience of Jesus in vv. 1-2 and the vices mentioned in v. 3.
48 tn Grk “all impurity.”
49 tn Grk “just as is fitting for saints.” The καθώς (kaqws) was rendered with “as” and the sense is causal, i.e., “for” or “because.” The negative particle “not” (“for these are not proper for the saints”) in this clause was supplied in English so as to make the sense very clear, i.e., that these vices are not befitting of those who name the name of Christ.
50 tn See BDAG 1096 s.v. ψάλλω.
51 tn Or “with.”