Proverbs 4:23

4:23 Guard your heart with all vigilance, ¹ 

for from it are the sources ²  of life.

Proverbs 22:15

22:15 Folly is bound up ³  in the heart of a child, ⁴ 

but the rod of discipline ⁵  will drive it far from him.

Proverbs 26:12

26:12 Do you see ⁶  a man wise in his own eyes? ⁷ 

There is more hope for a fool ⁸  than for him.

Proverbs 27:8

27:8 Like a bird that wanders ⁹  from its nest,

so is a person who wanders from his home. ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 29:20

29:20 Do you see someone ¹¹  who is hasty in his words? ¹² 

There is more hope for a fool than for him. ¹³ 

Proverbs 30:7

30:7 Two things ¹⁴  I ask from you; ¹⁵ 

do not refuse me before I die:

Proverbs 30:18

30:18 There are three things that are too wonderful for me, ¹⁶ 

four that I do not understand:

[4:23]  ¹ tn Heb “more than all guarding.” This idiom means “with all vigilance.” The construction uses the preposition מִן (min) to express “above; beyond,” the word “all” and the noun “prison; guard; act of guarding.” The latter is the use here (BDB 1038 s.v. מִשְׁמָר).

[4:23]  ² sn The word תּוֹצְאוֹת (tots’ot, from יָצָא, yatsa’) means “outgoings; extremities; sources.” It is used here for starting points, like a fountainhead, and so the translation “sources” works well.

[22:15]  ³ sn The passive participle is figurative (implied comparison with “binding”); it means that folly forms part of a child’s nature (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 238).

[22:15]  ⁴ tn The “heart of a child” (לֶב־נָעַר, lev-na’ar) refers here to the natural inclination of a child to foolishness. The younger child is meant in this context, but the word can include youth. R. N. Whybray suggests that this idea might be described as a doctrine of “original folly” (Proverbs [CBC], 125). Cf. TEV “Children just naturally do silly, careless things.”

[22:15]  ⁵ tn The word “rod” is a metonymy of adjunct; it represents physical chastening for direction or punishment, to suppress folly and develop potential. The genitive (“discipline”) may be taken as an attributive genitive (“a chastening rod”) or an objective genitive, (“a rod [= punishment] that brings about correction/discipline”).

[26:12]  ⁵ tn The verse simply uses a perfect tense. The meaning of the verse would be the same if this were interpreted as an affirmation rather than as an interrogative. The first line calls such a person to one’s attention.

[26:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “in his own eyes” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[26:12]  ⁷ sn Previous passages in the book of Proverbs all but deny the possibility of hope for the fool. So this proverb is saying there is absolutely no hope for the self-conceited person, and there might be a slight hope for the fool – he may yet figure out that he really is a fool.

[27:8]  ⁷ tn The form נוֹדֶדֶת (nodedet) is the Qal participle from נָדַד (nadad), “to wander; to stray; to flutter; to retreat; to depart”; cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT “strays.” It will be directly paralleled with the masculine participle in the second colon.

[27:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “place” (so KJV, ASV); most other English versions translate as “home.”

[29:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “a man,” but there is no indication in the immediate context that this should be limited only to males.

[29:20]  ¹⁰ sn The focus of this proverb is on someone who is hasty in his words. This is the person who does not stop to think, but acts on the spur of the moment. To speak before thinking is foolishness.

[29:20]  ¹¹ sn Rash speech cannot easily be remedied. The prospects for a fool are better (e.g., Prov 26:12).

[30:7]  ¹¹ sn Wisdom literature often groups things in twos and fours, or in other numerical arrangements (e.g., Amos 1:3–2:6; Job 5:19; Prov 6:16-19).

[30:7]  ¹² tn Assuming that the contents of vv. 7-9 are a prayer, several English versions have supplied a vocative phrase: “O Lord” (NIV); “O God” (NLT); others have supplied a similar phrase without the vocative “O”: NCV, CEV “Lord”; TEV “God.”

[30:18]  ¹³ tn The form נִפְלְאוּ (niflÿ’u) is the Niphal perfect from פָּלָא (pala’); the verb means “to be wonderful; to be extraordinary; to be surpassing”; cf. NIV “too amazing.” The things mentioned are things that the sage finds incomprehensible (e.g., Gen 18:14; Judg 13:18; Ps 139:6; and Isa 9:6[5]). The sage can only admire these wonders – he is at a loss to explain them.