1 Kings 3:9

3:9 So give your servant a discerning mind ¹  so he can make judicial decisions for ²  your people and distinguish right from wrong. ³  Otherwise ⁴  no one is able ⁵  to make judicial decisions for ⁶  this great nation of yours.” ⁷ 

1 Kings 3:2

3:2 Now the people were offering sacrifices at the high places, ⁸  because in those days a temple had not yet been built to honor the Lord. ⁹ 

1 Kings 2:11

2:11 David reigned over Israel forty years; he reigned in Hebron seven years, and in Jerusalem ¹⁰  thirty-three years.

Proverbs 10:1

The First Collection of Solomonic Proverbs ¹¹ 

10:1 The Proverbs of Solomon:

A wise child ¹²  makes a father rejoice, ¹³ 

but a foolish child ¹⁴  is a grief to his mother. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 13:1

13:1 A wise son accepts ¹⁶  his father’s discipline, ¹⁷ 

but a scoffer ¹⁸  does not listen to rebuke.

Proverbs 15:20

15:20 A wise child ¹⁹  brings joy to his father,

but a foolish person ²⁰  despises ²¹  his mother.

Proverbs 23:24

23:24 The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly; ²² 

whoever fathers a wise child ²³  will have joy in him.

[3:9]  ¹ tn Heb “a hearing heart.” (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)

[3:9]  ² tn Heb “to judge.”

[3:9]  ³ tn Heb “to understand between good and evil.”

[3:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “for”; the word “otherwise” is used to reflect the logical sense of the statement.

[3:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “who is able?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”

[3:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “to judge.”

[3:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “your numerous people.”

[3:2]  ⁸ sn Offering sacrifices at the high places. The “high places” were places of worship that were naturally or artificially elevated.

[3:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “for the name of the Lord.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor (thus the translation here, “to honor the Lord”). The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.

[2:11]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[10:1]  ¹¹ sn Beginning with ch. 10 there is a difference in the form of the material contained in the book of Proverbs. No longer are there long admonitions, but the actual proverbs, short aphorisms dealing with right or wrong choices. Other than a few similar themes grouped together here and there, there is no arrangement to the material as a whole. It is a long collection of approximately 400 proverbs.

[10:1]  ¹² tn Heb “son.”

[10:1]  ¹³ tn The imperfect tense describes progressive or habitual action, translated here with an English present tense. These fit the nature of proverbs which are general maxims, and not necessarily absolutes or universal truths. One may normally expect to find what the proverb notes, and one should live according to its instructions in the light of those expectations; but one should not be surprised if from time to time there is an exception. The fact that there may be an exception does not diminish the need to live by the sayings.

[10:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “son.”

[10:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “grief of his mother.” The noun “grief” is in construct, and “mother” is an objective genitive. The saying declares that the consequences of wisdom or folly affects the parents.

[13:1]  ¹⁶ tn The term “accepts” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and clarity.

[13:1]  ¹⁷ tc G. R. Driver suggested reading this word as מְיֻסַּר (mÿyussar, “allows himself to be disciplined”); see his “Hebrew Notes on Prophets and Proverbs,” JTS 41 (1940): 174. But this is not necessary at all; the MT makes good sense as it stands. Similarly, the LXX has “a wise son listens to his father.”

[13:1]  ¹⁸ sn The “scoffer” is the worst kind of fool. He has no respect for authority, reviles worship of God, and is unteachable because he thinks he knows it all. The change to a stronger word in the second colon – “rebuke” (גָּעַר, ga’ar) – shows that he does not respond to instruction on any level. Cf. NLT “a young mocker,” taking this to refer to the opposite of the “wise son” in the first colon.

[15:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “son.”

[15:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a fool of a man,” a genitive of specification.

[15:20]  ²¹ sn The proverb is almost the same as 10:1, except that “despises” replaces “grief.” This adds the idea of the callousness of the one who inflicts grief on his mother (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 116).

[23:24]  ²² tc The Qere reading has the imperfect יָגִיל (yagil) with the cognate accusative גִּיל (gil) which intensifies the meaning and the specific future of this verb.

[23:24]  ²³ tn The term “child” is supplied for the masculine singular adjective here.