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 5:7

5:7 So now, children, ⁶  listen to me;

do not turn aside from the words I speak. ⁷ 

Proverbs 8:32-33

8:32 “So now, children, ⁸  listen to me;

blessed are those who keep my ways.

8:33 Listen to my instruction ⁹  so that you may be wise, ¹⁰ 

and do not neglect it.

Proverbs 8:1

The Appeal of Wisdom ¹¹ 

8:1 Does not wisdom call out?

Does not understanding raise her voice?

Colossians 4:14-15

4:14 Our dear friend Luke the physician and Demas greet you. 4:15 Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters ¹²  who are in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church that meets in her ¹³  house. ¹⁴ 

Galatians 4:19

4:19 My children – I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you! ¹⁵ 

Galatians 4:1

4:1 Now I mean that the heir, as long as he is a minor, ¹⁶  is no different from a slave, though he is the owner ¹⁷  of everything.

Galatians 2:1

Confirmation from the Jerusalem Apostles

2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem ¹⁸  again with Barnabas, taking Titus along too.

[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).

[5:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “sons.”

[5:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “the words of my mouth” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).

[8:32]  ⁸ tn Heb “sons.”

[8:33]  ⁹ tn Heb “discipline.”

[8:33]  ¹⁰ tn The construction uses two imperatives joined with the vav (ו); this is a volitive sequence in which result or consequence is being expressed.

[8:1]  ¹¹ sn In this chapter wisdom is personified. In 1:20-33 wisdom proclaims her value, and in 3:19-26 wisdom is the agent of creation. Such a personification has affinities with the wisdom literature of the ancient Near East, and may have drawn on some of that literature, albeit with appropriate safeguards (Claudia V. Camp, Wisdom and the Feminine in the Book of Proverbs, 23-70). Wisdom in Proverbs 8, however, is not a deity like Egypt’s Ma`at or the Assyrian-Babylonian Ishtar. It is simply presented as if it were a self-conscious divine being distinct but subordinate to God; but in reality it is the personification of the attribute of wisdom displayed by God (R. B. Y. Scott, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes [AB], 69-72; and R. Marcus, “On Biblical Hypostases of Wisdom,” HUCA 23 [1950-1951]: 157-71). Many have equated wisdom in this chapter with Jesus Christ. This connection works only in so far as Jesus reveals the nature of the Father, just as Proverbs presents wisdom as an attribute of God. Jesus’ claims included wisdom (Matt 12:42) and a unique knowledge of God (Matt 11:25-27). He even personified wisdom in a way that was similar to Proverbs (Matt 11:19). Paul saw the fulfillment of wisdom in Christ (Col 1:15-20; 2:3) and affirmed that Christ became our wisdom in the crucifixion (1 Cor 1:24, 30). So this personification in Proverbs provides a solid foundation for the similar revelation of wisdom in Christ. But because wisdom is a creation of God in Proverbs 8, it is unlikely that wisdom here is to be identified with Jesus Christ. The chapter unfolds in three cycles: After an introduction (1-3), wisdom makes an invitation (4, 5) and explains that she is noble, just, and true (6-9); she then makes another invitation (10) and explains that she is valuable (11-21); and finally, she tells how she preceded and delights in creation (22-31) before concluding with the third invitation (32-36).

[4:15]  ¹² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[4:15]  ¹³ tc If the name Nympha is accented with a circumflex on the ultima (Νυμφᾶν, Numfan), then it refers to a man; if it receives an acute accent on the penult (Νύμφαν), the reference is to a woman. Scribes that considered Nympha to be a man’s name had the corresponding masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ here (autou, “his”; so D [F G] Ψ Ï), while those who saw Nympha as a woman read the feminine αὐτῆς here (auth", “her”; B 0278 6 1739^[*^] 1881 sa). Several mss (א A C P 075 33 81 104 326 1175 2464 bo) have αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”), perhaps because of indecisiveness on the gender of Nympha, perhaps because they included ἀδελφούς (adelfou", here translated “brothers and sisters”) as part of the referent. (Perhaps because accents were not part of the original text, scribes were particularly confused here.) The harder reading is certainly αὐτῆς, and thus Nympha should be considered a woman.

[4:15]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the church in her house.” The meaning is that Paul sends greetings to the church that meets at Nympha’s house.

[4:19]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “My children, for whom I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you.” The relative clauses in English do not pick up the emotional force of Paul’s language here (note “tone of voice” in v. 20, indicating that he is passionately concerned for them); hence, the translation has been altered slightly to capture the connotative power of Paul’s plea.

[4:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “a small child.” The Greek term νήπιος (nhpios) refers to a young child, no longer a helpless infant but probably not more than three or four years old (L&N 9.43). The point in context, though, is that this child is too young to take any responsibility for the management of his assets.

[4:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “master” or “lord” (κύριος, kurios).

[2:1]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.