Proverbs 4:1

Admonition to Follow Righteousness and Avoid Wickedness ¹ 

4:1 Listen, children, ²  to a father’s instruction, ³ 

and pay attention so that ⁴  you may gain ⁵  discernment.

Proverbs 27:27

27:27 And there will be enough goat’s milk for your food, ⁶ 

for the food of your household,

and for the sustenance ⁷  of your servant girls.

Proverbs 31:2

31:2 O ⁸  my son, O son of my womb,

O son ⁹  of my vows,

[4:1]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “sons.”

[4:1]  ³ tn Heb “discipline.”

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

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “know” (so KJV, ASV).

[27:27]  ⁶ sn This part of the proverb shows the proper interplay between human labor and divine provision. It teaches people to take care of what they have because it will not last forever.

[27:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “life”; KJV, NAB “maintenance”; NRSV “nourishment.”

[31:2]  ¹¹ tn The form מַה (mah), normally the interrogative “what?” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB) is best interpreted here as an exclamation. Tg. Prov 31:2 has “Woe!”

[31:2]  ¹² tn In all three occurrences in this verse the word “son” has the Aramaic spelling, ַַבּר (bar), rather than the Hebrew בֵּן (ben). The repetition of the word “son” shows the seriousness of the warning; and the expression “son of my womb” and “son of my vows” are endearing epithets to show the great investment she has made in his religious place in God’s program. For a view that “son of my womb” should be “my own son,” see F. Deist, “Proverbs 31:1, A Case of Constant Mistranslation,” JNSL 6 (1978): 1-3; cf. TEV “my own dear son.”