Proverbs 4:4

4:4 he taught me, and he said to me:

“Let your heart lay hold of my words;

keep my commands so that ¹  you will live.

Proverbs 8:34

8:34 Blessed is the one ²  who listens to me,

watching ³  at my doors day by day,

waiting ⁴  beside my doorway. ⁵ 

Proverbs 24:29

24:29 Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me;

I will pay him back ⁶  according to what he has done.” ⁷ 

[4:4]  ¹ tn The imperative with the vav expresses volitional sequence after the preceding imperative: “keep and then you will live,” meaning “keep so that you may live.”

[8:34]  ² tn Heb “the man.”

[8:34]  ³ tn The form לִשְׁקֹד (lishqod) is the infinitive construct serving epexegetically in the sentence. It explains how the person will listen to wisdom.

[8:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “keeping” or “guarding.”

[8:34]  ⁵ tn Heb “at the posts of my doors” (so KJV, ASV).

[24:29]  ³ tn Heb “repay to the man.” The verb is שׁוּב (shuv), which in the Hiphil stem means “to restore; to repay; to return” (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT “I’ll get even”). The idea is that of repaying someone for what he did.

[24:29]  ⁴ sn Rather than give in to the spirit of vengeance, one should avoid retaliation (e.g., Prov 20:22; Matt 5:43-45; Rom 12:9). According to the Talmud, Hillel said, “Do not do to others what you would not have them do unto you” (b. Sanhedrin 31a).