Proverbs 1:8

1:8 Listen, ¹  my child, ²  to the instruction ³  from ⁴  your father,

and do not forsake the teaching ⁵  from ⁶  your mother.

Proverbs 3:11

3:11 My child, do not despise discipline from the Lord, ⁷ 

and do not loathe ⁸  his rebuke.

Proverbs 4:10

4:10 Listen, my child, ⁹  and accept my words,

so that ¹⁰  the years of your life will be many. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 6:1

Admonitions and Warnings against Dangerous and Destructive Acts ¹² 

6:1 My child, ¹³  if you have made a pledge ¹⁴  for your neighbor,

and ¹⁵  have become a guarantor ¹⁶  for a stranger, ¹⁷ 

Proverbs 13:24

13:24 The one who spares his rod ¹⁸  hates ¹⁹  his child, ²⁰ 

but the one who loves his child ²¹  is diligent ²²  in disciplining ²³  him.

Proverbs 17:2

17:2 A servant who acts wisely ²⁴  will rule

over ²⁵  an heir ²⁶  who behaves shamefully, ²⁷ 

and will share the inheritance along with the relatives. ²⁸ 

Proverbs 17:25

17:25 A foolish child is a grief ²⁹  to his father,

and bitterness to the mother who bore him. ³⁰ 

Proverbs 19:13

19:13 A foolish child ³¹  is the ruin of his father,

and a contentious wife ³²  is like ³³  a constant dripping. ³⁴ 

Proverbs 19:18

19:18 Discipline your child, for ³⁵  there is hope,

but do not set your heart ³⁶  on causing his death. ³⁷ 

Proverbs 19:27

19:27 If you stop listening to ³⁸  instruction, my child,

you will stray ³⁹  from the words of knowledge.

Proverbs 24:13

24:13 Eat honey, ⁴⁰  my child, for it is good,

and honey from the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.

Proverbs 24:21

24:21 Fear the Lord, my child, ⁴¹  as well as the king,

and do not associate ⁴²  with rebels, ⁴³ 

Proverbs 28:7

28:7 The one who keeps the law ⁴⁴  is a discerning child, ⁴⁵ 

but a companion of gluttons brings shame ⁴⁶  to his parents. ⁴⁷ 

Proverbs 29:17

29:17 Discipline your child, and he will give you rest; ⁴⁸ 

he will bring you ⁴⁹  happiness. ⁵⁰ 

[1:8]  ¹ tn The imperative שְׁמַע (shÿma’, “Listen!”) forms an urgent exhortation which expects immediate compliance with parental instruction.

[1:8]  ² tn Heb “my son.” It is likely that collections of proverbs grew up in the royal courts and were designed for the training of the youthful prince. But once the collection was included in the canon, the term “son” would be expanded to mean a disciple, for all the people were to learn wisdom when young. It would not be limited to sons alone but would include daughters – as the expression “the children of (בְּנֵי, bÿne) Israel” (including males and females) clearly shows. Several passages in the Mishnah and Talmud record instructions to teach daughters the Mosaic law so that they will be righteous and avoid sin as well. The translation “my child,” although not entirely satisfactory, will be used here.

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “training” or “discipline.” See note on 1:2.

[1:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “of.” The noun אָבִיךָ (’avikha, “of your father”) may be classified as a genitive of source.

[1:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “instruction.” In Proverbs the noun תּוֹרַה (torah) often means “instruction” or “moral direction” rather than “law” (BDB 435 s.v. 1.a). It is related to יָרָה (yarah, “to point [or, show] the way” in the Hiphil (BDB 435). Instruction attempts to point a person in the right direction (e.g., Gen 46:28).

[1:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “of.” The noun אִמֶּךָ (’immekha, “of your mother”) may be classified as a genitive of source.

[3:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “the discipline of the Lord.”

[3:11]  ⁸ tn The verb קוּץ (quts) has a two-fold range of meaning: (1) “to feel a loathing; to abhor” and (2) “to feel a sickening dread” (BDB 880 s.v.). The parallelism with “do not despise” suggests the former nuance here. The common response to suffering is to loathe it; however, the righteous understand that it refines one’s moral character and that it is a means to the blessing.

[4:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “my son” (likewise in v. 20).

[4:10]  ¹⁴ tn The vav prefixed to the imperfect verb follows an imperative; this volitive sequence depicts purpose/result.

[4:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the years of life will be many for you.”

[6:1]  ¹⁹ sn The chapter advises release from foolish indebtedness (1-5), admonishes avoiding laziness (6-11), warns of the danger of poverty (9-11) and deviousness (12-15), lists conduct that the Lord hates (16-19), and warns about immorality (20-35).

[6:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “my son” (likewise in vv. 3, 20).

[6:1]  ²¹ sn It was fairly common for people to put up some kind of financial security for someone else, that is, to underwrite another’s debts. But the pledge in view here was foolish because the debtor was a neighbor who was not well known (זָר, zar), perhaps a misfit in the community. The one who pledged security for this one was simply gullible.

[6:1]  ²² tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[6:1]  ²³ tn Heb “struck your hands”; NIV “have struck hands in pledge”; NASB “have given a pledge.” The guarantee of a pledge was signaled by a handshake (e.g., 11:15; 17:18; 22:26).

[6:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “stranger.” The term זוּר (zur, “stranger”) probably refers to a neighbor who was not well-known. Alternatively, it could describe a person who is living outside the norms of convention, a moral misfit in the community. In any case, this “stranger” is a high risk in any financial arrangement.

[13:24]  ²⁵ sn R. N. Whybray cites an Egyptian proverb that says that “boys have their ears on their backsides; they listen when they are beaten” (Proverbs [CBC], 80). Cf. Prov 4:3-4, 10-11; Eph 6:4; Heb 12:5-11.

[13:24]  ²⁶ sn The importance of parental disciplining is stressed by the verbs “hate” and “love.” “Hating” a child in this sense means in essence abandoning or rejecting him; “loving” a child means embracing and caring for him. Failure to discipline a child is tantamount to hating him – not caring about his character.

[13:24]  ²⁷ tn Heb “his son.”

[13:24]  ²⁸ tn Heb “him”; the referent (his child) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:24]  ²⁹ tn Heb “seeks him.” The verb שָׁחַר (shahar, “to be diligent; to do something early”; BDB 1007 s.v.) could mean “to be diligent to discipline,” or “to be early or prompt in disciplining.” See G. R. Driver, “Hebrew Notes on Prophets and Proverbs,” JTS 41 (1940): 170.

[13:24]  ³⁰ tn The noun מוּסָר (musar, “discipline”) functions as an adverbial accusative of reference: “he is diligent in reference to discipline.”

[17:2]  ³¹ sn The setting is in the ancient world where a servant rarely advanced beyond his or her station in life. But there are notable exceptions (e.g., Gen 15:3 where the possibility is mentioned, 1 Chr 2:35 where it changed through marriage, and 2 Sam 16:1-4; 19:24-30, with the story of Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth). This proverb focuses on a servant who is wise, one who uses all his abilities effectively – a Joseph figure.

[17:2]  ³² sn The parallelism indicates that “ruling over” and “sharing in the inheritance” means that the disgraceful son will be disinherited.

[17:2]  ³³ tn Heb “son.”

[17:2]  ³⁴ tn The form מֵבִישׁ (mevish) is a Hiphil participle, modifying בֵן (ben). This original heir would then be one who caused shame or disgrace to the family, probably by showing a complete lack of wisdom in the choices he made.

[17:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in the midst of the brothers”; NIV “as one of the brothers.”

[17:25]  ³⁷ sn The Hebrew noun means “vexation, anger, grief.”

[17:25]  ³⁸ tn Heb “to the one who bore him.” Because the participle is feminine singular in Hebrew, this has been translated as “the mother who bore him.”

[19:13]  ⁴³ tn Heb “a foolish son” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, CEV); NRSV “a stupid child.”

[19:13]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “the contentions of a wife” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “the nagging of a wife.” The genitive could be interpreted (1) as genitive of source or subjective genitive – she is quarreling; or (2) it could be a genitive of specification, making the word “contentions” a modifier, as in the present translation.

[19:13]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “is a constant dripping.” The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. The metaphor pictures water dropping (perhaps rain through the roof, cf. NRSV, CEV) in a continuous flow: It is annoying and irritating (e.g., Prov 27:15-16).

[19:13]  ⁴⁶ tc The LXX makes this moralistic statement for 13b: “vows paid out of hire of a harlot are not pure.” It is not based on the MT and attempts to reconstruct a text using this have been unsuccessful.

[19:18]  ⁴⁹ tn The translation understands כִּי (ki) as causal. Some prefer to take כִּי as temporal and translate, “while there is hope” (so KJV, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT), meaning that discipline should be administered when the child is young and easily guided. In the causal reading of כִּי, the idea seems to be that children should be disciplined because change is possible due to their youth and the fact that they are not set in their ways.

[19:18]  ⁵⁰ tn The expression “do not lift up your soul/life” to his death may mean (1) “do not set your heart” on his death (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV), or it may mean (2) “do not be a willing partner” (cf. NIV). The parent is to discipline a child, but he is not to take it to the extreme and destroy or kill the child.

[19:18]  ⁵¹ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct הֲמִיתוֹ (h^amito) means “taking it to heart” in this line. The traditional rendering was “and let not your soul spare for his crying.” This involved a different reading than “causing his death” (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 206-7).

[19:27]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “Stop listening…!” The infinitive construct לִשְׁמֹעַ (lishmoa’) functions as the direct object of the imperative: “stop heeding [or, listening to].” Of course in this proverb which shows the consequences of doing so, this is irony. The sage is instructing not to stop. The conditional protasis construction does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation.

[19:27]  ⁵⁶ tn The second line has an infinitive construct לִשְׁגוֹת (lishgot), meaning “to stray; to go astray; to err.” It indicates the result of the instruction – stop listening, and as a result you will go astray. The LXX took it differently: “A son who ceases to attend to discipline is likely to stray from words of knowledge.” RSV sees the final clause as the purpose of the instructions to be avoided: “do not listen to instructions to err.”

[24:13]  ⁶¹ sn The twenty-sixth saying teaches that one should develop wisdom because it has a profitable future. The saying draws on the image of honey; its health-giving properties make a good analogy to wisdom.

[24:21]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “my son,” but there is no indication in the immediate context that this should be limited only to male children.

[24:21]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “do not get mixed up with”; cf. TEV “Have nothing to do with”; NIV “do not join with.” The verb עָרַב (’arav) is used elsewhere meaning “to exchange; to take on pledge.” In the Hitpael stem it means “to have fellowship; to share; to associate with.” Some English versions (e.g., KJV) interpret as “to meddle” in this context, because “to have fellowship” is certainly not what is meant.

[24:21]  ⁶⁹ tn The form rendered “rebellious” is difficult; it appears to be the Qal active participle, plural, from שָׁנָה (shanah), “to change” – “those who change.” The RV might have thought of the idea of “change” when they rendered it “political agitators.” The Syriac and Tg. Prov 24:21 have “fools,” the Latin has “detractors,” and the LXX reads, “do not disobey either of them,” referring to God and the king in the first line. Accordingly the ruin predicted in the next line would be the ruin that God and the king can inflict. If the idea of “changers” is retained, it would have to mean people who at one time feared God and the king but no longer do.

[28:7]  ⁷³ tn The Hebrew word could refer (1) to “instruction” by the father (cf. NCV) or (2) the Mosaic law (so most English versions). The chapter seems to be stressing religious obedience, so the referent is probably the law. Besides, the father’s teaching will be what the law demands, and the one who associates with gluttons is not abiding by the law.

[28:7]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “son,” but the immediate context does not suggest limiting this only to male children.

[28:7]  ⁷⁵ sn The companion of gluttons shames his father and his family because such a life style as he now embraces is both unruly and antisocial.

[28:7]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “father,” but the immediate context does not suggest limiting this only to the male parent.

[29:17]  ⁷⁹ tn The verb, a Hiphil imperfect with a suffix, could be subordinated to the preceding imperative to form a purpose clause (indirect volitive classification): “that he may give you rest.” The same then could apply to the second part of the verse.

[29:17]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “your soul.” The noun נַפְשֶׁךָ (nafshekha, “your soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= inner soul) for the whole person (= you); see, e.g., Isa 43:4; 51:23; BDB 600 s.v. 4.a.2.

[29:17]  ⁸¹ sn The parallelism of this verse is synthetic; the second half adds the idea of “delight/pleasure” to that of “rest.” So a disciplined child will both relieve anxiety (“give…rest”) and bring happiness to the parents.