1 Kings 3:28

3:28 When all Israel heard about the judicial decision which the king had rendered, they respected ¹  the king, for they realized ²  that he possessed supernatural wisdom ³  to make judicial decisions.

Psalms 72:1-2

Psalm 72 ⁴ 

For ⁵  Solomon.

72:1 O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions! ⁶ 

Grant the king’s son ⁷  the ability to make fair decisions! ⁸ 

72:2 Then he will judge ⁹  your people fairly,

and your oppressed ones ¹⁰  equitably.

Proverbs 14:8

14:8 The wisdom of the shrewd person ¹¹  is to discern ¹²  his way,

but the folly of fools is deception. ¹³ 

Ecclesiastes 7:11

Wisdom Can Lengthen One’s Life

7:11 Wisdom, like ¹⁴  an inheritance, is a good thing;

it benefits those who see the light of day. ¹⁵ 

Ecclesiastes 7:19

Wisdom Needed Because No One is Truly Righteous

7:19 Wisdom gives a wise person more protection ¹⁶ 

than ten rulers in a city.

Ecclesiastes 9:15-18

9:15 However, a poor but wise man lived in the city, ¹⁷ 

and he could have delivered ¹⁸  the city by his wisdom,

but no one listened ¹⁹  to that poor man.

9:16 So I concluded that wisdom is better than might, ²⁰ 

but a poor man’s wisdom is despised; no one ever listens ²¹  to his advice. ²² 

Wisdom versus Fools, Sin, and Folly

9:17 The words of the wise are heard in quiet,

more than the shouting of a ruler is heard ²³  among fools.

9:18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,

but one sinner can destroy much that is good.

John 5:30

5:30 I can do nothing on my own initiative. ²⁴  Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, ²⁵  because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me. ²⁶ 

[3:28]  ¹ tn Heb “feared,” perhaps in the sense, “stood in awe of.”

[3:28]  ² tn Heb “saw.”

[3:28]  ³ tn Heb “the wisdom of God within him.”

[72:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 72. This royal psalm contains a prayer for the Davidic king (note the imperatival form in v. 1 and the jussive forms in vv. 16-17). It is not entirely clear if vv. 2-15 express a prayer or anticipate a future reign. The translation assumes a blend of petition and vision: (I) opening prayer (v. 1), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 2-7); (II) prayer (v. 8), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 9-14); (III) closing prayer (vv. 15-17). Whether a prayer, vision, or combination of the two, the psalm depicts the king’s universal rule of peace and prosperity. As such it is indirectly messianic, for the ideal it expresses will only be fully realized during the Messiah’s earthly reign. Verses 18-19 are a conclusion for Book 2 of the Psalter (Pss 42-72; cf. Ps 41:13, which contains a similar conclusion for Book 1), while v. 20 appears to be a remnant of an earlier collection of psalms or an earlier edition of the Psalter.

[72:1]  ⁵ tn The preposition could be understood as indicating authorship (“Of Solomon”), but since the psalm is a prayer for a king, it may be that the superscription reflects a tradition that understood this as a prayer for Solomon.

[72:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “O God, your judgments to [the] king give.”

[72:1]  ⁷ sn Grant the king…Grant the king’s son. It is not entirely clear whether v. 1 envisions one individual or two. The phrase “the king’s son” in the second line may simply refer to “the king” of the first line, drawing attention to the fact that he has inherited his dynastic rule. Another option is that v. 1 envisions a co-regency between father and son (a common phenomenon in ancient Israel) or simply expresses a hope for a dynasty that champions justice.

[72:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “and your justice to [the] son of [the] king.”

[72:2]  ⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, not a jussive.

[72:2]  ¹⁰ sn These people are called God’s oppressed ones because he is their defender (see Pss 9:12, 18; 10:12; 12:5).

[14:8]  ¹¹ tn Or “the prudent [person]” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).

[14:8]  ¹² tn The Hiphil infinitive construct denotes purpose. Those who are shrewd will use it to give careful consideration to all their ways.

[14:8]  ¹³ 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.

[7:11]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Wisdom with an inheritance, is good”; or “Wisdom is as good as an inheritance.” This use of the preposition עִם (’im) may denote: (1) accompaniment: “together with,” or (2) comparison: “as good as; like; in comparison to” (HALOT 839–40 s.v. עִם; BDB 767–69 s.v. עִם). BDB 767 s.v. 1 suggests the accompaniment nuance “together with,” while HALOT 840 s.v. 2.c suggests the comparative sense “in comparison to.” The translations are also divided: “wisdom with an inheritance is good” (KJV, ASV margin, RSV, NASB, YLT); “wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing” (NIV); “wisdom is as good as an inheritance” (ASV, NRSV, MLB, NJPS, Moffatt); “wisdom is better than an inheritance” (NEB). Because v. 12 compares wisdom with money (i.e., an inheritance), v. 11 is probably making a comparison as well: “Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good” (7:11a) = “Wisdom provides protection, just as money provides protection” (7:12a). The “good thing” that wisdom – like an inheritance or money – provides is protection.

[7:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “see the sun.”

[7:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “gives strength.”

[9:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “was found in it”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:15]  ¹⁸ tn Or “he delivered.” The verb וּמִלַּט (umillat, from מָלַט, malat, “to deliver”) is functioning either in an indicative sense (past definite action: “he delivered”) or in a modal sense (past potential: “he could have delivered”). The literal meaning of זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”) in the following line harmonizes with the indicative: “but no one remembered that poor man [afterward].” However, the modal is supported by v. 16: “A poor man’s wisdom is despised; no one ever listens to his advice.” This approach must nuance זָכַר (“to remember”) as “[no one] listened to [that poor man].” Most translations favor the indicative approach: “he delivered” or “he saved” (KJV, RSV, NRSV, NAB, ASV, NASB, MLB, NIV); however, some adopt the modal nuance: “he might have saved” (NEB, NJPS, NASB margin).

[9:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “remembered.”

[9:16]  ²⁰ tn Or “power.”

[9:16]  ²¹ tn The participle form נִשְׁמָעִים (nishma’im, Niphal participle mpl from שָׁמַע, “to listen”) is used verbally to emphasize a continual, durative, gnomic action.

[9:16]  ²² tn Heb “his words are never listened to.”

[9:17]  ²³ tn The phrase “is heard” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness. Note its appearance in the previous line.

[5:30]  ²⁴ tn Grk “nothing from myself.”

[5:30]  ²⁵ tn Or “righteous,” or “proper.”

[5:30]  ²⁶ tn That is, “the will of the Father who sent me.”