Proverbs 3:15

3:15 She is more precious than rubies,

and none of the things ¹  you desire ²  can compare ³  with her. ⁴ 

Proverbs 8:11

8:11 For wisdom is better than rubies,

and desirable things cannot be compared ⁵  to her.

Proverbs 20:15

20:15 There is gold, and an abundance of rubies,

but ⁶  words of knowledge ⁷  are like ⁸  a precious jewel.

[3:15]  ¹ tn Heb “all of your desires cannot compare with her.”

[3:15]  ² tn Heb “your desires.” The 2nd person masculine singular suffix on the noun probably functions as subjective genitive.

[3:15]  ³ tn The imperfect tense verb יָסַד (yasad, “to establish be like; to resemble”) has a potential nuance here: “can be compared with.”

[3:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “All of your desires do not compare with her.”

[8:11]  ⁵ tn The verb יִשְׁווּ (yishvu, from שָׁוָה, shavah) can be rendered “are not comparable” or in a potential nuance “cannot be compared” with her.

[20:15]  ⁶ tn The verse is usually taken as antithetical parallelism: There may be gold and rubies but the true gem is knowledge. However, C. H. Toy arranges it differently: “store of gold and wealth of corals and precious vessels – all are wise lips” (Proverbs [ICC], 388). But this uses the gems as metaphors for wise speech, and does not stress the contrast between wealth and wisdom.

[20:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “lips of knowledge.” The term “lips” is a metonymy for speaking, and “knowledge” could be either an attributive genitive or objective genitive: “knowledgeable lips.” Lips that impart knowledge are the true jewel to be sought.

[20:15]  ⁸ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.