Proverbs 2:3

2:3 indeed, if ¹  you call out for ²  discernment ³  –

raise your voice ⁴  for understanding –

Proverbs 4:1

Admonition to Follow Righteousness and Avoid Wickedness ⁵ 

4:1 Listen, children, ⁶  to a father’s instruction, ⁷ 

and pay attention so that ⁸  you may gain ⁹  discernment.

Proverbs 4:7

4:7 Wisdom is supreme ¹⁰  – so ¹¹  acquire wisdom,

and whatever you acquire, ¹²  acquire understanding! ¹³ 

Proverbs 7:4

7:4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” ¹⁴ 

and call understanding a close relative,

Proverbs 8:14

8:14 Counsel and sound wisdom belong to me; ¹⁵ 

I possess understanding and might.

Proverbs 9:10

9:10 The beginning ¹⁶  of wisdom is to fear the Lord, ¹⁷ 

and acknowledging ¹⁸  the Holy One ¹⁹  is understanding.

Proverbs 23:23

23:23 Acquire ²⁰  truth and do not sell it –

wisdom, and discipline, and understanding.

Proverbs 30:2

30:2 Surely ²¹  I am more brutish ²²  than any other human being, ²³ 

and I do not have human understanding; ²⁴ 

[2:3]  ¹ tn Both particles retain their individual meanings, otherwise the verse would begin with a strong adversative and be a contrast to what has been said.

[2:3]  ² tn Heb “summon.”

[2:3]  ³ sn The noun recalls the second purpose of the book (1:2). It is also cognate to the last word of 2:2, forming a transition. The two objects of the prepositions in this verse are actually personifications, as if they could be summoned.

[2:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “give your voice”; the expression is idiomatic for raising or lifting the voice to make a sound that carries further (e.g., Jer 2:15). This deliberate expression indicates that something significant is being uttered. J. H. Greenstone says, “If it [understanding] does not come at your first call, raise your voice to a higher pitch, put forth greater efforts” (Proverbs, 17).

[4:1]  ⁵ sn The chapter includes an exhortation to acquire wisdom (1-4a), a list of the benefits of wisdom (4b-9), a call to pursue a righteous lifestyle (10-13), a warning against a wicked lifestyle (14-19), and an exhortation to righteousness (20-27).

[4:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “sons.”

[4:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “discipline.”

[4:1]  ⁸ tn The Qal infinitive construct with preposition ל (lamed) indicates the purpose/result of the preceding imperative.

[4:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “know” (so KJV, ASV).

[4:7]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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).

[7:4]  ¹³ sn The metaphor is meant to signify that the disciple will be closely related to and familiar with wisdom and understanding, as close as to a sibling. Wisdom will be personified in the next two chapters, and so referring to it as a sister in this chapter certainly prepares for that personification.

[8:14]  ¹⁷ tc In the second half of v. 14 instead of אֲנִי (’ani) the editors propose reading simply לִי (li) as the renderings in the LXX, Latin, and Syriac suggest. Then, in place of the לִי that comes in the same colon, read וְלִי (vÿli). While the MT is a difficult reading, it can be translated as it is. It would be difficult to know exactly what the ancient versions were reading, because their translations could have been derived from either text. They represent an effort to smooth out the text.

[9:10]  ²¹ sn The difference between תְּחִלַּת (tÿkhillat) here and רֵאשִׁית (re’shit) of 1:7, if there is any substantial difference, is that this term refers to the starting point of wisdom, and the earlier one indicates the primary place of wisdom (K&D 16:202).

[9:10]  ²² tn Heb “fear of the Lord.”

[9:10]  ²³ tn Heb “knowledge of the Holy One” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[9:10]  ²⁴ tn The word is in the plural in the Hebrew (literally “holy ones”; KJV “the holy”). It was translated “holy men” in Tg. Prov 9:10. But it probably was meant to signify the majestic nature of the Lord. As J. H. Greenstone says, he is “all-holy” (Proverbs, 94). This is an example of the plural of majesty, one of the honorific uses of the plural (see IBHS 122-23 §7.4.3b).

[23:23]  ²⁵ tn Heb “buy” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “Invest in truth.”

[30:2]  ²⁹ tn The particle כִּי (ki) functions in an asseverative sense, “surely; indeed; truly” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §449).

[30:2]  ³⁰ tn The noun בַּעַר (ba’ar) means “brutishness”; here it functions as a predicate adjective. It is followed by מֵאִישׁ (me’ish) expressing comparative degree: “more than a man” or “more than any man,” with “man” used in a generic sense. He is saying that he has fallen beneath the level of mankind. Cf. NRSV “I am too stupid to be human.”

[30:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “than man.” The verse is using hyperbole; this individual feels as if he has no intelligence at all, that he is more brutish than any other human. Of course this is not true, or he would not be able to speculate on the God of the universe at all.

[30:2]  ³² tn Heb “the understanding of a man,” with “man” used attributively here.