Job 28:28

28:28 And he said to mankind,

‘The fear of the Lord ¹  – that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” ² 

Psalms 19:7

19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect

and preserves one’s life. ³ 

The rules set down by the Lord ⁴  are reliable ⁵ 

and impart wisdom to the inexperienced. ⁶ 

Psalms 111:10

111:10 To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living; ⁷ 

all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight. ⁸ 

He will receive praise forever. ⁹ 

Psalms 119:98-100

119:98 Your commandments ¹⁰  make me wiser than my enemies,

for I am always aware of them.

119:99 I have more insight than all my teachers,

for I meditate on your rules.

119:100 I am more discerning than those older than I,

for I observe your precepts.

Proverbs 1:7

Introduction to the Theme of the Book

1:7 Fearing the Lord ¹¹  is the beginning ¹²  of moral knowledge, ¹³ 

but ¹⁴  fools ¹⁵  despise ¹⁶  wisdom and instruction. ¹⁷ 

Proverbs 14:8

14:8 The wisdom of the shrewd person ¹⁸  is to discern ¹⁹  his way,

but the folly of fools is deception. ²⁰ 

Jeremiah 8:9

8:9 Your wise men will be put to shame.

They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. ²¹ 

Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,

what wisdom do they really have?

Jeremiah 8:2

8:2 They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon and the stars. ²²  These are things they ²³  adored and served, things to which they paid allegiance, ²⁴  from which they sought guidance, and worshiped. The bones of these people ²⁵  will never be regathered and reburied. They will be like manure used to fertilize the ground. ²⁶ 

Jeremiah 3:15

3:15 I will give you leaders ²⁷  who will be faithful to me. ²⁸  They will lead you with knowledge and insight.

James 3:13

True Wisdom

3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom brings. ²⁹ 

[28:28]  ¹ tc A number of medieval Hebrew manuscripts have YHWH (“Lord”); BHS has אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). As J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 383) points out, this is the only occurrence of אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”) in the book of Job, creating doubt for retaining it. Normally, YHWH is avoided in the book. “Fear of” (יִרְאַת, yir’at) is followed by שַׁדַּי (shadday, “Almighty”) in 6:14 – the only other occurrence of this term for “fear” in construct with a divine title.

[28:28]  ² tc Many commentators delete this verse because (1) many read the divine name Yahweh (translated “Lord”) here, and (2) it is not consistent with the argument that precedes it. But as H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 185) points out, there is inconsistency in this reasoning, for many of the critics have already said that this chapter is an interpolation. Following that line of thought, then, one would not expect it to conform to the rest of the book in this matter of the divine name. And concerning the second difficulty, the point of this chapter is that wisdom is beyond human comprehension and control. It belongs to God alone. So the conclusion that the fear of the Lord is wisdom is the necessary conclusion. Rowley concludes: “It is a pity to rob the poem of its climax and turn it into the expression of unrelieved agnosticism.”

[19:7]  ³ tn Heb “[it] restores life.” Elsewhere the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) when used with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”) as object, means to “rescue or preserve one’s life” (Job 33:30; Ps 35:17) or to “revive one’s strength” (emotionally or physically; cf. Ruth 4:15; Lam 1:11, 16, 19). Here the point seems to be that the law preserves the life of the one who studies it by making known God’s will. Those who know God’s will know how to please him and can avoid offending him. See v. 11a.

[19:7]  ⁴ tn Traditionally, “the testimony of the Lord.” The noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to the demands of God’s covenant law.

[19:7]  ⁵ tn God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.

[19:7]  ⁶ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly.

[111:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “the beginning of wisdom [is] the fear of the Lord.”

[111:10]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “his praise stands forever.”

[119:98]  ¹⁰ tn The plural form needs to be revocalized as a singular in order to agree with the preceding singular verb and the singular pronoun in the next line. The Lord’s “command” refers here to the law (see Ps 19:8).

[1:7]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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”).

[14:8]  ¹⁸ tn Or “the prudent [person]” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).

[14:8]  ¹⁹ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct denotes purpose. Those who are shrewd will use it to give careful consideration to all their ways.

[14:8]  ²⁰ 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.

[8:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “be trapped.” However, the word “trapped” generally carries with it the connotation of divine judgment. See BDB 540 s.v. לָכַד Niph.2, and compare usage in Jer 6:11 for support. The verbs in the first two lines are again the form of the Hebrew verb that emphasizes that the action is as good as done (Hebrew prophetic perfects).

[8:2]  ²² tc MT, 4QJer^a and LXX read “the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven,” but 4QJer^c reads “the sun and all the stars.”

[8:2]  ²³ tn Heb “the sun, moon, and host of heaven which they…”

[8:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[8:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “they will not” but the referent is far enough removed that it might be ambiguous.

[8:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “like dung/manure on the surface of the ground.”

[3:15]  ²⁷ tn Heb “shepherds.”

[3:15]  ²⁸ tn Heb “after/according to my [own] heart.”

[3:13]  ²⁹ tn Grk “works in the gentleness of wisdom.”