119:11 In my heart I store up 1 your words, 2
so I might not sin against you.
119:18 Open 3 my eyes so I can truly see 4
the marvelous things in your law!
119:19 I am like a foreigner in this land. 5
Do not hide your commands from me!
119:29 Remove me from the path of deceit! 6
Graciously give me 7 your law!
9:10 The beginning 8 of wisdom is to fear the Lord, 9
and acknowledging 10 the Holy One 11 is understanding.
14:8 The wisdom of the shrewd person 12 is to discern 13 his way,
but the folly of fools is deception. 14
1 tn Or “hide.”
2 tn Heb “your word.” Some medieval Hebrew
3 tn Heb “uncover.” The verb form גַּל (gal) is an apocopated Piel imperative from גָּלָה (galah, see GKC 214 §75.cc).
4 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
5 tn Heb “I am a resident alien in the land.” Resident aliens were especially vulnerable and in need of help. They needed to know the social and legal customs of the land to avoid getting into trouble. The translation (note the addition of “like”) assumes the psalmist is speaking metaphorically, not literally.
6 tn The “path of deceit” refers to a lifestyle characterized by deceit and disloyalty to God. It stands in contrast to the “way of faithfulness” in v. 30.
7 tn Heb “be gracious to me.” The verb is used metonymically here for “graciously giving” the law. (See Gen 33:5, where Jacob uses this verb in describing how God had graciously given him children.)
8 sn The difference between תְּחִלַּת (tÿkhillat) here and רֵאשִׁית (re’shit) of 1:7, if there is any substantial difference, is that this term refers to the starting point of wisdom, and the earlier one indicates the primary place of wisdom (K&D 16:202).
9 tn Heb “fear of the
10 tn Heb “knowledge of the Holy One” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
11 tn The word is in the plural in the Hebrew (literally “holy ones”; KJV “the holy”). It was translated “holy men” in Tg. Prov 9:10. But it probably was meant to signify the majestic nature of the
12 tn Or “the prudent [person]” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).
13 tn The Hiphil infinitive construct denotes purpose. Those who are shrewd will use it to give careful consideration to all their ways.
14 tn The word means “deception,” but some suggest “self-deception” here (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 466; and D. W. Thomas, “Textual and Philological Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 286); cf. NLT “fools deceive themselves.” The parallelism would favor this, but there is little support for it. The word usually means “craft practiced on others.” If the line is saying the fool is deceitful, there is only a loose antithesis between the cola.