Proverbs 3:4

3:4 Then you will find ¹  favor and good understanding, ² 

in the sight of God and people. ³ 

Proverbs 14:35

14:35 The king shows favor ⁴  to a wise ⁵  servant,

but his wrath falls ⁶  on one who acts shamefully.

Proverbs 14:1

14:1 Every wise woman ⁷  builds ⁸  her household, ⁹ 

but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

Proverbs 18:14-16

18:14 A person’s spirit ¹⁰  sustains him through sickness –

but who can bear ¹¹  a crushed spirit? ¹² 

18:15 The discerning person ¹³  acquires knowledge,

and the wise person ¹⁴  seeks ¹⁵  knowledge.

18:16 A person’s gift ¹⁶  makes room for him,

and leads him ¹⁷  before important people.

Luke 2:52

2:52 And Jesus increased ¹⁸  in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and with people.

Acts 7:10

7:10 and rescued him from all his troubles, and granted him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made ¹⁹  him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

[3:4]  ¹ tn The form וּמְצָא (umÿtsa’, “find”) is the imperative but it functions as a purpose/result statement. Following a string of imperatives (v. 3), the imperative with a prefixed vav introduces a volitive sequence expressing purpose or result (v. 4).

[3:4]  ² tn The noun שֵׂכֶל (sekhel, “understanding”) does not seem to parallel חֵן (khen, “favor”). The LXX attaches the first two words to v. 3 and renders v. 4: “and devise excellent things in the sight of the Lord and of men.” Tg. Prov 3:4 and Syriac Peshitta list all three words separately: “favor and good and understanding.” C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 59) suggests emending the MT’s שֵׂכֶל־טוֹב (sekhel-tov, “good understanding”) to שֵׁם־טוֹב (shem-tov, “a good name”). It is also possible to take the two words as a hendiadys: the favor of good understanding, meaning, a reputation for good understanding.

[3:4]  ³ tn Heb “man.”

[14:35]  ⁴ tn Heb “the favor of a king.” The noun “king” functions as a subjective genitive: “the king shows favor….”

[14:35]  ⁵ sn The wise servant is shown favor, while the shameful servant is shown anger. Two Hiphil participles make the contrast: מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil, “wise”) and מֵבִישׁ (mevish, “one who acts shamefully”). The wise servant is a delight and enjoys the favor of the king because he is skillful and clever. The shameful one botches his duties; his indiscretions and incapacity expose the master to criticism (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 470).

[14:35]  ⁶ tn Heb “is” (so KJV, ASV).

[14:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “wise ones of women.” The construct phrase חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים (khakhmot nashim) features a wholistic genitive: “wise women.” The plural functions in a distributive sense: “every wise woman.” The contrast is between wise and foolish women (e.g., Prov 7:10-23; 31:10-31).

[14:1]  ⁸ tn The perfect tense verb in the first colon functions in a gnomic sense, while the imperfect tense in the second colon is a habitual imperfect.

[14:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “house.” This term functions as a synecdoche of container (= house) for contents (= household, family).

[18:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the spirit of a man.” Because the verb of this clause is a masculine form, some have translated this line as “with spirit a man sustains,” but that is an unnecessary change.

[18:14]  ¹¹ sn This is a rhetorical question, asserting that very few can cope with depression.

[18:14]  ¹² sn The figure of a “crushed spirit” (ASV, NAB, NCV, NRSV “a broken spirit,” comparing depression to something smashed or crushed) suggests a broken will, a loss of vitality, despair, and emotional pain. In physical sickness one can fall back on the will to live; but in depression even the will to live is gone.

[18:15]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the ear of the wise.” The term “ear” is a synecdoche of part (= ear) for the whole (= person): “wise person.”

[18:15]  ¹⁵ 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.

[18:16]  ¹⁶ sn The Hebrew term translated “gift” is a more general term than “bribe” (שֹׁחַד, shokhad), used in 17:8, 23. But it also has danger (e.g., 15:27; 21:14), for by giving gifts one might learn how influential they are and use them for bribes. The proverb simply states that a gift can expedite matters.

[18:16]  ¹⁷ sn The two verbs here show a progression, helping to form the synthetic parallelism. The gift first “makes room” (יַרְחִיב, yarkhiv) for the person, that is, extending a place for him, and then “ushers him in” (יַנְחֵנּוּ, yakhenu) among the greats.

[2:52]  ¹⁸ tn Or “kept increasing.” The imperfect tense suggests something of a progressive force to the verb.

[7:10]  ¹⁹ tn Or “appointed.” See Gen 41:41-43.