Discovery BoxProverbs 1:3
Context1:3 To receive 1 moral instruction 2 in skillful living, 3
in 4 righteousness, 5 justice, 6 and equity. 7
Proverbs 3:1
Context3:1 My child, 9 do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep 10 my commandments,
Proverbs 4:4-8
Context4:4 he taught me, and he said to me:
“Let your heart lay hold of my words;
keep my commands so that 11 you will live.
4:5 Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding;
do not forget and do not turn aside from the words I speak. 12
4:6 Do not forsake wisdom, 13 and she will protect you;
love her, and she will guard you.
4:7 Wisdom is supreme 14 – so 15 acquire wisdom,
and whatever you acquire, 16 acquire understanding! 17
4:8 Esteem her highly 18 and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.
Proverbs 8:33-34
Context8:33 Listen to my instruction 19 so that you may be wise, 20
and do not neglect it.
8:34 Blessed is the one 21 who listens to me,
watching 22 at my doors day by day,
waiting 23 beside my doorway. 24
Isaiah 55:3
Context55:3 Pay attention and come to me!
Listen, so you can live! 25
Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to 26 you,
just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. 27
Matthew 17:5
Context17:5 While he was still speaking, a 28 bright cloud 29 overshadowed 30 them, and a voice from the cloud said, 31 “This is my one dear Son, 32 in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!” 33
[1:3] 1 tn The infinitive construct + ל (lamed) here designates a further purpose of the book: This focuses on the purpose of the book from the perspective of the student/disciple. The verb לָקַח (laqakh, “receive”) means to acquire something worth having. It is parallel to the verb “treasure up” in 2:1.
[1:3] 2 tn Heb “instruction.” See note on the same term in 1:2.
[1:3] 3 tc MT reads the genitive-construct phrase מוּסַר הַשְׂכֵּל (musar haskel, “discipline of prudence”). Syriac adds vav (ו) and reads מוּסַר וְהַשְׂכֵּל (musar wÿhaskel, “discipline and prudence”). MT is the more difficult reading in terms of syntax, so is preferred as the original reading.
[1:3] 4 tn Heb “righteousness and justice and equity.” The three nouns that follow “self-discipline of prudence” are adverbial accusatives of manner, describing the ways in which the disciplined prudent activity will be manifested: “in righteousness, justice, and equity.” The term “in” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the syntax; it is inserted in the translation for clarity.
[1:3] 5 sn The word “righteousness” (צֶדֶק, tsedeq) describes conduct that conforms to a standard. Elsewhere it is used in a concrete sense to refer to commercial weights and measures that conform to a standard (Deut 25:15). In the moral realm it refers to “righteous” conduct that conforms to God’s law.
[1:3] 6 tn Heb “and justice.” The conjunction “and” appears in the Hebrew text, but is omitted in the translation for the sake of English style and smoothness.
[1:3] 7 sn The Hebrew noun translated “equity” comes from the root יָשָׁר (yashar) which has the basic idea of “upright, straight, right.” It refers to activity that is morally upright and straight, that is, on the proper moral path. Elsewhere it is used in a concrete sense to describe cows walking straight down a path without turning right or left (1 Sam 6:12). Wisdom literature often uses the motif of the straight path to describe a morally “straight” life.
[3:1] 8 sn The chapter begins with an introductory exhortation (1-4), followed by an admonition to be faithful to the
[3:1] 9 tn Heb “my son” (likewise in vv. 11, 21).
[3:1] 10 tn The verb יִצֹּר (yitsor) is a Qal jussive and the noun לִבֶּךָ (libbekha, “your heart”) functions as the subject: “let your heart keep my commandments.”
[4:4] 11 tn The imperative with the vav expresses volitional sequence after the preceding imperative: “keep and then you will live,” meaning “keep so that you may live.”
[4:5] 12 tn Heb “from the words of my mouth” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); TEV, CEV “what I say.”
[4:6] 13 tn Heb “her”; the 3rd person feminine singular referent is personified “wisdom,” which has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:7] 14 tn The absolute and construct state of רֵאשִׁית (re’shit) are identical (BDB 912 s.v.). Some treat רֵאשִׁית חָכְמָה (re’shit khokhmah) as a genitive-construct phrase: “the beginning of wisdom” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV). Others take רֵאשִׁית as an absolute functioning as predicate and חָכְמָה as the subject: “wisdom is the first/chief thing” (cf. KJV, ASV). The context here suggests the predicate.
[4:7] 15 tn The term “so” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style.
[4:7] 16 tn The noun קִנְיָן (qinyan) means “thing got or acquired; acquisition” (BDB 889 s.v.). With the preposition that denotes price, it means “with (or at the price of) all that you have acquired.” The point is that no price is too high for wisdom – give everything for it (K&D 16:108).
[4:7] 17 tc The verse is not in the LXX; some textual critics delete the verse as an impossible gloss that interrupts vv. 6 and 8 (e.g., C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 88).
[4:8] 18 tn The verb is the Pilpel imperative from סָלַל (salal, “to lift up; to cast up”). So the imperative means “exalt her; esteem her highly; prize her.”
[8:33] 19 tn Heb “discipline.”
[8:33] 20 tn The construction uses two imperatives joined with the vav (ו); this is a volitive sequence in which result or consequence is being expressed.
[8:34] 22 tn The form לִשְׁקֹד (lishqod) is the infinitive construct serving epexegetically in the sentence. It explains how the person will listen to wisdom.
[8:34] 23 tn Heb “keeping” or “guarding.”
[8:34] 24 tn Heb “at the posts of my doors” (so KJV, ASV).
[55:3] 25 tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.
[55:3] 26 tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”
[55:3] 27 tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”
[17:5] 28 tn Grk “behold, a.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here or in the following clause because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
[17:5] 29 sn This cloud is the cloud of God’s presence and the voice is his as well.
[17:5] 31 tn Grk “behold, a voice from the cloud, saying.” This is an incomplete sentence in Greek which portrays intensity and emotion. The participle λέγουσα (legousa) was translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style.
[17:5] 32 tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).
[17:5] 33 sn The expression listen to him comes from Deut 18:15 and makes two points: 1) Jesus is a prophet like Moses, a leader-prophet, and 2) they have much yet to learn from him.
