Proverbs 29:17

29:17 Discipline your child, and he will give you rest; ¹ 

he will bring you ²  happiness. ³ 

Proverbs 9:4

9:4 “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”

she says ⁴  to those ⁵  who lack understanding. ⁶ 

Proverbs 9:7

9:7 Whoever corrects ⁷  a mocker is asking for ⁸  insult; ⁹ 

whoever reproves a wicked person receives ¹⁰  abuse.

Proverbs 9:16

9:16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here,”

she says to those who lack understanding. ¹¹ 

[29:17]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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.

[9:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “lacking of heart she says to him.” The pronominal suffix is a resumptive pronoun, meaning, “she says to the lacking of heart.”

[9:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “him.”

[9:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “heart”; cf. NIV “to those who lack judgment.”

[9:7]  ⁷ tn The active participle יֹסֵר (yoser) describes one who tries to correct by means of instruction and discipline; it is paralleled by the Hiphil participle which refers to someone who rebukes or reproves another. Anyone trying this on these types of people would be inviting trouble.

[9:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “receives for himself.”

[9:7]  ⁹ tn The word means “dishonor” or “disgrace.” It is paralleled with מוּמוֹ (mumo), translated “abuse.” The latter term means “blemish,” although some would emend the text to read “reproach.” The MT is figurative but not impossible to interpret: Whoever tries to rebuke a wicked person will receive only insults and perhaps physical attack.

[9:7]  ¹⁰ tn The verb “receives” is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[9:16]  ¹⁰ tn This expression is almost identical to v. 4, with the exception of the addition of conjunctions in the second colon: “and the lacking of understanding and she says to him.” The parallel is deliberate, of course, showing the competing appeals for those passing by.