Proverbs 2:2

2:2 by making ¹  your ear ²  attentive to wisdom,

and ³  by turning ⁴  your heart ⁵  to understanding,

Proverbs 4:20

4:20 My child, pay attention to my words;

listen attentively ⁶  to my sayings.

Proverbs 5:1

Admonition to Avoid Seduction to Evil ⁷ 

5:1 My child, ⁸  be attentive to my wisdom,

pay close attention ⁹  to my understanding,

Proverbs 23:12

23:12 Apply ¹⁰  your heart to instruction

and your ears to the words of knowledge.

Proverbs 5:13

5:13 For ¹¹  I did not obey my teachers ¹² 

and I did not heed ¹³  my instructors. ¹⁴ 

Proverbs 15:31

15:31 The person ¹⁵  who hears the reproof that leads to life ¹⁶ 

is at home ¹⁷  among the wise. ¹⁸ 

Proverbs 18:15

18:15 The discerning person ¹⁹  acquires knowledge,

and the wise person ²⁰  seeks ²¹  knowledge.

Proverbs 20:12

20:12 The ear that hears and the eye that sees ²²  –

the Lord has made them both. ²³ 

Proverbs 22:17

The Sayings of the Wise ²⁴ 

22:17 Incline your ear ²⁵  and listen to the words of the wise,

and apply your heart to my instruction. ²⁶ 

Proverbs 23:9

23:9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool, ²⁷ 

for he will despise the wisdom of your words. ²⁸ 

Proverbs 28:9

28:9 The one who turns away his ear ²⁹  from hearing the law,

even his prayer ³⁰  is an abomination. ³¹ 

Proverbs 21:13

21:13 The one who shuts his ears ³²  to the cry ³³  of the poor,

he too will cry out and will not be answered. ³⁴ 

Proverbs 25:12

25:12 Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold, ³⁵ 

so is a wise reprover to the ear of the one who listens. ³⁶ 

Proverbs 26:17

26:17 Like one who grabs a wild dog by the ears, ³⁷ 

so is the person passing by who becomes furious ³⁸  over a quarrel not his own.

[2:2]  ¹ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct לְהַקְשִׁיב (lÿhaqshiv, “by making attentive”) functions as an epexegetical explanation of how one will receive the instruction.

[2:2]  ² sn The word “ear” is a metonymy of cause; the word is used as the instrument of hearing. But in parallelism with “heart” it indicates one aspect of the mental process of hearing and understanding. A “hearing ear” describes an obedient or responsive person (BDB 24 s.v. אֹזֶן 2).

[2:2]  ³ tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[2:2]  ⁴ tn The Hiphil imperfect (“by turning”) continues the nuance introduced by the infinitive construct in the first colon (GKC 352 §114.r). The verb נָטָה (natah) normally means “to stretch out” and only occasionally “to turn” or “to incline” one’s heart to something, as is the case here.

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Or “mind” (the center of the will, the choice).

[4:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “incline your ear.” The verb הַט (hat) is the Hiphil imperative from נָטָה (natah, Hiphil: “to turn to; to incline”). The idiom “to incline the ear” gives the picture of “lean over and listen closely.”

[5:1]  ¹¹ sn In this chapter the sage/father exhorts discretion (1, 2) then explains how to avoid seduction (3-6); this is followed by a second exhortation to prevention (7, 8) and an explanation that obedience will avoid ruin and regret (9-14); finally, he warns against sharing love with strangers (15-17) but to find it at home (18-23). For an analysis of the chapter, see J. E. Goldingay, “Proverbs V and IX,” RB 84 (1977): 80-93.

[5:1]  ¹² tn The text again has “my son.” In this passage perhaps “son” would be the most fitting because of the warning against going to the adulterous woman. However, since the image of the adulterous woman probably represents all kinds of folly (through personification), and since even in this particular folly the temptation works both ways, the general address to either young men or women should be retained. The text was certainly not intended to convey that only women could seduce men.

[5:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “incline your ear” (so NAB, NRSV); NLT “listen carefully.”

[23:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “bring.” The Hiphil imperative “come; enter” means “to apply the heart,” to use the heart or mind in the process. The same would be true in the second half: “to bring the ears” would mean to listen very carefully. Cf. TEV “Pay attention.”

[5:13]  ²¹ tn The vav that introduces this clause functions in an explanatory sense.

[5:13]  ²² tn The Hebrew term מוֹרַי (moray) is the nominal form based on the Hiphil plural participle with a suffix, from the root יָרָה (yarah). The verb is “to teach,” the common noun is “instruction, law [torah],” and this participle form is teacher (“my teachers”).

[5:13]  ²³ sn The idioms are vivid: This expression is “incline the ear”; earlier in the first line is “listen to the voice,” meaning “obey.” Such detailed description emphasizes the importance of the material.

[5:13]  ²⁴ tn The form is the Piel plural participle of לָמַד (lamad) used substantivally.

[15:31]  ²⁶ tn Heb “ear” (so KJV, NRSV). The term “ear” is a synecdoche of part (= ear) for the whole (= person).

[15:31]  ²⁷ tn “Life” is an objective genitive: Reproof brings or preserves life. Cf. NIV “life-giving rebuke”; NLT “constructive criticism.”

[15:31]  ²⁸ tn Heb “lodges.” This means to live with, to be at home with.

[15:31]  ²⁹ sn The proverb is one full sentence; it affirms that a teachable person is among the wise.

[18:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “discerning heart.” The term “heart” is a synecdoche of part (= heart) for the whole (= person); cf. TEV, NLT “intelligent people.” By paralleling “heart” and “ear” the proverb stresses the full acquisition of knowledge. The “ear” listens to instruction, and the heart considers what is heard to acquire knowledge.

[18:15]  ³² tn Heb “the ear of the wise.” The term “ear” is a synecdoche of part (= ear) for the whole (= person): “wise person.”

[18:15]  ³³ sn This line features a mixed metaphor: The “ear” is pictured “seeking.” The “ear of the wise” actually means the wise person’s capacity to hear, and so the wise are seeking as they hear.

[20:12]  ³⁶ sn The first half of the verse refers to two basic senses that the Lord has given to people. C. H. Toy, however, thinks that they represent all the faculties (Proverbs [ICC], 388). But in the book of Proverbs seeing and hearing come to the fore. By usage “hearing” also means obeying (15:31; 25:12), and “seeing” also means perceiving and understanding (Isa 6:9-10).

[20:12]  ³⁷ sn The verse not only credits God with making these faculties of hearing and sight and giving them to people, but it also emphasizes their spiritual use in God’s service.

[22:17]  ⁴¹ sn A new collection of sayings begins here, forming the fourth section of the book of Proverbs. This collection is not like that of 1:1–9:18; here the introductory material is more personal than 1:1-7, and the style differs, showing great similarity to the Instruction of Amenemope in Egypt (especially the thirty precepts of the sages in 22:17–24:22). Verses 17-21 form the introduction, and then the sayings begin in v. 22. After the thirty sayings are given, there are further sayings in 24:23-34. There is much literature on this material: see W. K. Simpson, ed., Literature of Ancient Egypt; ANET 412-425; and A. Cody, “Notes on Proverbs 22:21 and 22:23b,” Bib 61 (1980): 418-26.

[22:17]  ⁴² sn To “incline the ear” means to “listen carefully” (cf. NCV); the expression is metonymical in that the ear is the instrument for hearing. It is like telling someone to lean over to hear better.

[22:17]  ⁴³ tn Heb “knowledge” (so KJV, NASB); in this context it refers to the knowledge that is spoken by the wise, hence “instruction.”

[23:9]  ⁴⁶ sn The mention of “the ears” emphasizes the concerted effort to get the person’s undivided attention. However, a fool rejects instruction and discipline.

[23:9]  ⁴⁷ sn Saying number nine indicates that wisdom is wasted on a fool. The literature of Egypt has no specific parallel to this one.

[28:9]  ⁵¹ sn The expression “turn away the ear from hearing” uses a metonymy to mean that this individual will not listen – it indicates a deliberate refusal to follow the instruction of the law.

[28:9]  ⁵² sn It is hard to imagine how someone who willfully refuses to obey the law of God would pray according to the will of God. Such a person is more apt to pray for some physical thing or make demands on God. (Of course a prayer of repentance would be an exception and would not be an abomination to the Lord.)

[28:9]  ⁵³ sn C. H. Toy says, “If a man, on his part, is deaf to instruction, then God, on his part, is deaf to prayer” (Proverbs [ICC], 499). And W. McKane observes that one who fails to attend to God’s law is a wicked person, even if he is a man of prayer (Proverbs [OTL], 623).

[21:13]  ⁵⁶ sn The imagery means “pay no attention to” the cry for help or “refuse to help,” so it is a metonymy of cause for the effect.

[21:13]  ⁵⁷ sn “Cry” here would be a metonymy of effect for the cause, the cause being the great needs of the poor.

[21:13]  ⁵⁸ sn The proverb is teaching that those who show mercy will receive mercy. It involves the principle of talionic justice – those who refuse the needs of others will themselves be refused when they need help (so Luke 16:19-31).

[25:12]  ⁶¹ sn This saying is another example of emblematic parallelism; the first half is the simile, and the second half makes the point from it: A wise rebuke that is properly received is of lasting value. The rebuke in the ear of an obedient student is like ornaments of fine jewelry.

[25:12]  ⁶² tn The “ear of the listener” refers to the obedient disciple, the one who complies with the reproof he hears. Cf. KJV, ASV, NAB “an obedient ear.”

[26:17]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “grabs the ears of a dog. The word “wild” has been supplied in the translation to make clear that these were not domesticated pets. CEV, to accomplish the same point, has “a mad dog,” but there is no indication of that in context.

[26:17]  ⁶⁷ tn The word מִתְעַבֵּר (mit’abber) means “to put oneself in a fury” or “become furious” (BDB 720 s.v.). The Latin version apparently assumed the verb was עָרַב (’arav), for it has the sense of “meddle” (so also NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). However, the MT reading could easily fit the verse, referring to anyone passing by who gets furious over a fight that is not his.