Proverbs 1:20

Warning Against Disregarding Wisdom

1:20 Wisdom ¹  calls out ²  in the street,

she shouts loudly ³  in the plazas; ⁴ 

Proverbs 5:15

5:15 Drink water from your own cistern

and running water from your own well. ⁵ 

Proverbs 9:15

9:15 calling out ⁶  to those who are passing by her ⁷  in the way, ⁸ 

who go straight ⁹  on their way.

Proverbs 11:8

11:8 The righteous person is delivered ¹⁰  out of trouble,

and the wicked turns up in his stead. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 19:9

19:9 A false witness will not go unpunished,

and the one who spouts out ¹²  lies will perish. ¹³ 

[1:20]  ¹ tn The noun חָכְמָה (khokhmah, “wisdom”) is the abstract feminine plural form. It probably functions as a plural of intensity, stressing the all-embracing, elevated wisdom (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 272). As in 8:1-9:11, Wisdom is personified as a righteous woman in 1:20-33.

[1:20]  ² sn The verb רָנַן (ranan, “to cry out, give a ringing cry”) always expresses excitement, whether of joyful praise or lamentable sorrow (BDB 943 s.v.). Here it is an excited summons.

[1:20]  ³ tn Heb “she gives her voice.” The expression means to shout loudly (BDB 679 s.v. נָתַן Qal.x).

[1:20]  ⁴ sn The word רְחֹבוֹת (rÿkhovot, “plazas”) refers to the wide plazas or broad open spaces near the gate where all the people assembled. The personification of wisdom as a woman crying out in this place would be a vivid picture of the public appeal to all who pass by.

[5:15]  ⁵ sn Paul Kruger develops this section as an allegory consisting of a series of metaphors. He suggests that what is at issue is private versus common property. The images of the cistern, well, or fountain are used of a wife (e.g., Song 4:15) because she, like water, satisfies desires. Streams of water in the street would then mean sexual contact with a lewd woman. According to 7:12 she never stays home but is in the streets and is the property of many (P. Kruger, “Promiscuity and Marriage Fidelity? A Note on Prov 5:15-18,” JNSL 13 [1987]: 61-68).

[9:15]  ⁹ tn The infinitive construct “calling out” functions epexegetically in the sentence, explaining how the previous action was accomplished.

[9:15]  ¹⁰ tn The term “her” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[9:15]  ¹¹ tn The noun is a genitive of location after the construct participle. Its parallel word is also an adverbial accusative of location.

[9:15]  ¹² tn The participle modifies the participle in the first colon. To describe the passers-by in this context as those “who go straight” means that they are quiet and unwary.

[11:8]  ¹³ tn The verb is the Niphal perfect from the first root חָלַץ (khalats), meaning “to draw off; to withdraw,” and hence “to be delivered.”

[11:8]  ¹⁴ tn The verb is masculine singular, so the subject cannot be “trouble.” The trouble from which the righteous escape will come on the wicked – but the Hebrew text literally says that the wicked “comes [= arrives; turns up; shows up] in the place of the righteous.” Cf. NASB “the wicked takes his place”; NRSV “the wicked get into it instead”; NIV “it comes on the wicked instead.”

[19:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “breathes out”; NAB “utters”; NIV “pours out.”

[19:9]  ¹⁸ sn The verse is the same as v. 5, except that the last word changes to the verb “will perish” (cf. NCV “will die”; CEV, NLT “will be destroyed”; TEV “is doomed”).