Proverbs 3:6

3:6 Acknowledge ¹  him in all your ways, ² 

and he will make your paths straight. ³ 

Isaiah 31:1

Egypt Will Disappoint

31:1 Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, ⁴ 

those who rely on war horses,

and trust in Egypt’s many chariots ⁵ 

and in their many, many horsemen. ⁶ 

But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel ⁷ 

and do not seek help from the Lord.

Jeremiah 2:18

2:18 What good will it do you ⁸  then ⁹  to go down to Egypt

to seek help from the Egyptians? ¹⁰ 

What good will it do you ¹¹  to go over to Assyria

to seek help from the Assyrians? ¹² 

[3:6]  ¹ tn Heb “know him.” The verb יָדַע (yadah, “to know”) includes mental awareness of who God is and the consequential submission to his lordship. To know him is to obey him. The sage is calling for a life of trust and obedience in which the disciple sees the Lord in every event and relies on him. To acknowledge the Lord in every event means trusting and obeying him for guidance in right conduct.

[3:6]  ² tn The term דֶרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) is figurative (hypocatastasis: implied comparison) referring to a person’s course of life, actions and undertakings (Prov 2:8; 3:6, 23; 11:5; 20:24; 29:27; 31:3; BDB 203 s.v. 5; cf. TEV “in everything you do”; NCV, NLT “in all you do”). This is a call for total commitment in trust for obedience in all things.

[3:6]  ³ tn The verb יָשָׁר (yashar) means “to make smooth; to make straight” (BDB 444 s.v.). This phrase means “to make the way free from obstacles,” that is, to make it successful (e.g., Isa 40:3). The straight, even road is the right road; God will make the way smooth for the believer.

[31:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.”

[31:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.”

[31:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].”

[31:1]  ⁷ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[2:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “What to you to the way.”

[2:18]  ⁹ tn The introductory particle וְעַתָּה (vÿ’attah, “and now”) carries a logical, not temporal, connotation here (cf. BDB 274 s.v. עַתָּה 2.b).

[2:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to drink water from the Shihor [a branch of the Nile].” The reference is to seeking help through political alliance with Egypt as opposed to trusting in God for help. This is an extension of the figure in 2:13.

[2:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “What to you to the way.”

[2:18]  ¹² tn Heb “to drink water from the River [a common designation in biblical Hebrew for the Euphrates River].” This refers to seeking help through political alliance. See the preceding note.