Ecclesiastes 5:7

5:7 Just as there is futility in many dreams,

so also in many words. ¹ 

Therefore, fear God!

Ecclesiastes 8:12

8:12 Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes ²  and still live a long time, ³ 

yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people ⁴  – for they stand in fear ⁵  before him.

Genesis 22:12

22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” ⁶  the angel said. ⁷  “Do not do anything to him, for now I know ⁸  that you fear ⁹  God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

Deuteronomy 6:2

6:2 and that you may so revere the Lord your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments ¹⁰  that I am giving ¹¹  you – you, your children, and your grandchildren – all your lives, to prolong your days.

Deuteronomy 10:12

An Exhortation to Love Both God and People

10:12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him, ¹²  to obey all his commandments, ¹³  to love him, to serve him ¹⁴  with all your mind and being, ¹⁵ 

Psalms 111:10--112:1

111:10 To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living; ¹⁶ 

all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight. ¹⁷ 

He will receive praise forever. ¹⁸ 

Psalm 112 ¹⁹ 

112:1 Praise the Lord!

How blessed is the one ²⁰  who obeys ²¹  the Lord,

who takes great delight in keeping his commands. ²² 

Psalms 145:19

145:19 He satisfies the desire ²³  of his loyal followers; ²⁴ 

he hears their cry for help and delivers them.

Psalms 147:11

147:11 The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers, ²⁵ 

and in those who wait for his loyal love.

Proverbs 1:7

Introduction to the Theme of the Book

1:7 Fearing the Lord ²⁶  is the beginning ²⁷  of moral knowledge, ²⁸ 

but ²⁹  fools ³⁰  despise ³¹  wisdom and instruction. ³² 

Proverbs 23:17

23:17 Do not let your heart envy ³³  sinners,

but rather be zealous in fearing the Lord ³⁴  all the time.

Proverbs 23:1

23:1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

consider carefully ³⁵  what ³⁶  is before you,

Proverbs 2:17

2:17 who leaves ³⁷  the husband ³⁸  from her younger days, ³⁹ 

and forgets her marriage covenant ⁴⁰  made before God. ⁴¹ 

Revelation 19:5

19:5 Then ⁴²  a voice came from the throne, saying:

“Praise our God

all you his servants,

and all you who fear Him,

both the small and the great!”

[5:7]  ¹ tn The syntax of this verse is difficult. Perhaps the best approach is to classify the vav on וַהֲבָלִים (vahavalim, “futilities”) as introducing the predicate (e.g., Gen 40:9; 2 Sam 23:3; Prov 10:25; Isa 34:12; Job 4:6; 36:26); BDB 255 s.v. ו 5.c.γ: “There is futility….” The phrase בְרֹב הֲלֹמוֹת (vÿrob halomot) is an adverbial modifier (“in many dreams”), as is דְבָרִים הַרְבֵּה (dÿvarim harbeh, “many words”). The vav prefixed to וּדְבָרִים (udÿvarim) and the juxtaposition of the two lines suggests a comparison: “just as…so also…” (BDB 253 s.v. ו 1.j). The English versions reflect a variety of approaches: “In the multitude of dreams and many words there are also diverse vanities” (KJV); “In the multitude of dreams there are vanities, and in many words” (ASV); “When dreams increase, empty words grow many” (RSV); “In many dreams and follies and many words” (MLB); “In the abundance of dreams both vanities and words abound” (YLT); “Where there are many dreams, there are many vanities, and words without number” (Douay); “Many dreams and words mean many a vain folly” (Moffatt); “Much dreaming leads to futility and to superfluous talk” (NJPS); “In many dreams and in many words there is emptiness” (NASB); “Much dreaming and many words are meaningless” (NIV); “With many dreams comes vanities and a multitude of words” (NRSV).

[8:12]  ² tn Heb “does evil one hundred [times].”

[8:12]  ³ tn Heb “and prolongs his [life].”

[8:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “those who fear God.”

[8:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “they fear.”

[22:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”

[22:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Do not extend…’”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the context for clarity. The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[22:12]  ⁸ sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).

[22:12]  ⁹ sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.

[6:2]  ¹⁰ tn Here the terms are not the usual חֻקִּים (khuqqim) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim; as in v. 1) but חֻקֹּת (khuqqot, “statutes”) and מִצְוֹת (mitsot, “commandments”). It is clear that these terms are used interchangeably and that their technical precision ought not be overly stressed.

[6:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “commanding.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.

[10:12]  ¹² tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 10:4.

[10:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “to walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “follow his ways exactly”; NLT “to live according to his will.”

[10:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 10:4.

[10:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being”; NCV “with your whole being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

[111:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the beginning of wisdom [is] the fear of the Lord.”

[111:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “good sense [is] to all who do them.” The third masculine plural pronominal suffix must refer back to the “precepts” mentioned in v. 7. In the translation the referent has been specified for clarity. The phrase שֵׂכֶל טוֹב (shekhel tov) also occurs in Prov 3:4; 13:15 and 2 Chr 30:22.

[111:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his praise stands forever.”

[112:1]  ¹⁹ sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[112:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.

[112:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “fears.”

[112:1]  ²² tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.

[145:19]  ²³ tn In this context “desire” refers to the followers’ desire to be delivered from wicked enemies.

[145:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the desire of those who fear him, he does.”

[147:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[1:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “fear of the Lord.” The expression יְהוָה יִרְאַת (yir’at yÿhvah, “fear of Yahweh”) is a genitive-construct in which יְהוָה (“the Lord”) functions as an objective genitive: He is the object of fear. The term יָרַא (yara’) is the common word for fear in the OT and has a basic three-fold range of meanings: (1) “dread; terror” (Deut 1:29; Jonah 1:10), (2) “to stand in awe” (1 Kgs 3:28), (3) “to revere; to respect” (Lev 19:3). With the Lord as the object, it captures the polar opposites of shrinking back in fear and drawing close in awe and adoration. Both categories of meaning appear in Exod 20:20 (where the Lord descended upon Sinai amidst geophysical convulsions); Moses encouraged the Israelites to not be afraid of God arbitrarily striking them dead for no reason (“Do not fear!”) but informed the people that the Lord revealed himself in such a terrifying manner to scare them from sinning (“God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him in you so that you do not sin”). The fear of the Lord is expressed in reverential submission to his will – the characteristic of true worship. The fear of the Lord is the foundation for wisdom (9:10) and the discipline leading to wisdom (15:33). It is expressed in hatred of evil (8:13) and avoidance of sin (16:6), and so results in prolonged life (10:27; 19:23).

[1:7]  ²⁷ tn The noun רֵאשִׁית (re’shit) has a two-fold range of meaning (BDB 912 s.v.): (1) “beginning” = first step in a course of action (e.g., Ps 111:10; Prov 17:14; Mic 1:13) or (2) “chief thing” as the principal aspect of something (e.g., Prov 4:7). So fearing the Lord is either (1) the first step in acquiring moral knowledge or (2) the most important aspect of moral knowledge. The first option is preferred because 1:2-6 focuses on the acquisition of wisdom.

[1:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “knowledge.” The noun דָּעַת (da’at, “knowledge”) refers to experiential knowledge, not just cognitive knowledge, including the intellectual assimilation and practical application (BDB 394 s.v.). It is used in parallelism to מוּסָר (musar, “instruction, discipline”) and חָכְמָה (khokhmah, “wisdom, moral skill”).

[1:7]  ²⁹ tn The conjunction “but” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the antithetical parallelism. It is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:7]  ³⁰ tn The term אֱוִיל (’evil, “fool”) refers to a person characterized by moral folly (BDB 17 s.v.). Fools lack understanding (10:21), do not store up knowledge (10:14), fail to attain wisdom (24:7), and refuse correction (15:5; 27:22). They are arrogant (26:5), talk loosely (14:3) and are contentious (20:3). They might have mental intelligence but they are morally foolish. In sum, they are stubborn and “thick-brained” (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 6).

[1:7]  ³¹ tn The verb of בָּזָה (bazah, “despise”) means to treat things of value with contempt, as if they were worthless (BDB 102 s.v.). The classic example is Esau who despised his birthright and sold it for lentil stew (Gen 25:34). The perfect tense of this verb may be classified as characteristic perfect (what they have done and currently do) or gnomic perfect (what they always do in past, present and future). The latter is preferred; this describes a trait of fools, and elsewhere the book says that fools do not change.

[1:7]  ³² sn Hebrew word order is emphatic here. Normal word order is: verb + subject + direct object. Here it is: direct object + subject + verb (“wisdom and instruction fools despise”).

[23:17]  ³³ tn The verb in this line is אַל־יְקַנֵּא (’al-yÿqanne’), the Piel jussive negated. The verb means “to be jealous, to be zealous”; it describes passionate intensity for something. In English, if the object is illegitimate, it is called “envy”; if it is correct, it is called “zeal.” Here the warning is not to envy the sinners. The second colon could use the verb in the positive sense to mean “but rather let your passion burn for the fear of the Lord.”

[23:17]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord.” This expression features an objective genitive: “fearing the Lord.”

[23:1]  ³⁵ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense of instruction with the infinitive absolute to emphasize the careful discernment required on such occasions. Cf. NIV “note well”; NLT “pay attention.”

[23:1]  ³⁶ tn Or “who,” referring to the ruler (so ASV, NAB, TEV).

[2:17]  ³⁷ tn The construction is the active participle of עָזַב (’azav) with the article, serving as an attributive adjective. The verb means “to forsake; to leave; to abandon.”

[2:17]  ³⁸ tn Heb “companion” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “partner.” The term אַלּוּף (’alluf, “companion”) is from the root אָלַף (’alaf, “to be familiar with; to cleave to”) and refers to a woman’s husband (Prov 2:17; Jer 3:4; see BDB 48 s.v. אַלּוּף 2). This noun follows the passive adjectival formation and so signifies one who is well-known.

[2:17]  ³⁹ tn Heb “of her youth.” The noun נְעוּרֶיהָ (nÿ’ureha, “her youth”) functions as a temporal genitive. The plural form is characteristic of nouns that refer to long periods of duration in the various stages of life. The time of “youth” encompasses the entire formative period within marriage.

[2:17]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the covenant.” This could refer to the Mosaic covenant that prohibits adultery, or more likely, as in the present translation, the marriage covenant (cf. also TEV, CEV). The lexicons list this use of “covenant” (בְּרִית, bÿrit) among other referents to marriage (Prov 2:17; Ezek 16:8; Mal 2:14; BDB 136 s.v. 1.5; HALOT 157 s.v. A.9).

[2:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “covenant of God.” The genitive-construct could mean “covenant made before God.” The woman and her husband had made a marriage-covenant in which God was invoked as witness. Her sin is against her solemn pledge to her husband, as well as against God.

[19:5]  ⁴² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.