Proverbs 4:5

4:5 Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding;

do not forget and do not turn aside from the words I speak. ¹ 

Proverbs 8:11

8:11 For wisdom is better than rubies,

and desirable things cannot be compared ²  to her.

Proverbs 16:16

16:16 How much better it is to acquire ³  wisdom than gold;

to acquire understanding is more desirable ⁴  than silver.

Proverbs 17:16

17:16 Of what ⁵  use is money in the hand of a fool, ⁶ 

since he has no intention ⁷  of acquiring wisdom? ⁸ 

Proverbs 18:4

18:4 The words of a person’s mouth are like ⁹  deep waters, ¹⁰ 

and ¹¹  the fountain of wisdom ¹²  is like ¹³  a flowing brook. ¹⁴ 

Proverbs 24:14

24:14 Likewise, know ¹⁵  that wisdom is sweet ¹⁶  to your soul;

if you find it, ¹⁷  you will have a future, ¹⁸ 

and your hope will not be cut off.

Proverbs 29:3

29:3 The man ¹⁹  who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, ²⁰ 

but whoever associates ²¹  with prostitutes wastes ²²  his wealth. ²³ 

[4:5]  ¹ tn Heb “from the words of my mouth” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); TEV, CEV “what I say.”

[8:11]  ² tn The verb יִשְׁווּ (yishvu, from שָׁוָה, shavah) can be rendered “are not comparable” or in a potential nuance “cannot be compared” with her.

[16:16]  ³ tn The form קְנֹה (qÿnoh) is an infinitive; the Greek version apparently took it as a participle, and the Latin as an imperative – both working with an unpointed קנה, the letter ה (he) being unexpected in the form if it is an infinitive construct (the parallel clause has קְנוֹת [qÿnot] for the infinitive, but the ancient versions also translate that as either a participle or an imperative).

[16:16]  ⁴ tn The form is a Niphal participle, masculine singular. If it is modifying “understanding” it should be a feminine form. If it is to be translated, it would have to be rendered “and to acquire understanding is to be chosen more than silver” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). Many commentaries consider it superfluous. NIV and NCV simply have “to choose understanding rather than silver!”

[17:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “why this?” The term זֶּה (zeh) is an enclitic use of the demonstrative pronoun for emphasis: “why ever” would this happen?

[17:16]  ⁵ sn The sense seems to be “What good is money” since what the fool needs cannot be bought? The verse is a rhetorical question stating that money would be wasted on a fool.

[17:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “there is no heart”; NASB “he has no (+ common TEV) sense”; NLT “has no heart for wisdom.”

[17:16]  ⁷ sn W. McKane envisions a situation where the fool comes to a sage with a fee in hand, supposing that he can acquire a career as a sage, and this gives rise to the biting comment here: Why does the fool have money in his hands? To buy wisdom when he has no brains? (Proverbs [OTL], 505).

[18:4]  ⁵ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[18:4]  ⁶ sn The metaphor “deep waters” indicates either that the words have an inexhaustible supply or that they are profound.

[18:4]  ⁷ tn There is debate about the nature of the parallelism between lines 4a and 4b. The major options are: (1) synonymous parallelism, (2) antithetical parallelism (e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV) or (3) formal parallelism. Normally a vav (ו) would begin an antithetical clause; the structure and the ideas suggest that the second colon continues the idea of the first half, but in a parallel way rather than as additional predicates. The metaphors used in the proverb elsewhere describe the wise.

[18:4]  ⁸ sn This is an implied comparison (hypocatastasis), the fountain of wisdom being the person who speaks. The Greek version has “fountain of life” instead of “wisdom,” probably influenced from 10:11.

[18:4]  ⁹ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[18:4]  ¹⁰ sn The point of this metaphor is that the wisdom is a continuous source of refreshing and beneficial ideas.

[24:14]  ⁶ tn D. W. Thomas argues for a meaning of “seek” in place of “know” (“Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” JTS 38 [1937]: 400-403).

[24:14]  ⁷ tn The phrase “is sweet” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.

[24:14]  ⁸ tn The term “it” is supplied in the translation.

[24:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “there will be an end.” The word is אַחֲרִית (’akhrit, “after-part, end”). BDB 31 s.v. b says in a passage like this it means “a future,” i.e., a happy close of life, sometimes suggesting the idea of posterity promised to the righteous, often parallel to “hope.”

[29:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “a man.” Here “man” is retained in the translation because the second colon mentions prostitutes.

[29:3]  ⁸ tn Or “causes his father to rejoice”; NAB “makes his father glad.”

[29:3]  ⁹ tn The active participle רֹעֶה (ro’eh) is from the second root רָעָה (ra’ah), meaning “to associate with.” The verb occurs only a few times, and mostly in the book of Proverbs. It is related to רֵעֶה (re’eh, “friend; companion; fellow”). To describe someone as a “companion” or “friend” of prostitutes is somewhat euphemistic; it surely means someone who is frequently engaging the services of prostitutes.

[29:3]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew verb יְאַבֶּד (yÿ’abbed) means “destroys”; it is the Piel imperfect of the verb that means “to perish.”

[29:3]  ¹¹ sn Wealth was seen as a sign of success and of God’s blessings, pretty much as it always has been. To be seen as honorable in the community meant one had acquired some substance and kept his reputation. It would be a disgrace to the family to have a son who squandered his money on prostitutes (e.g., Prov 5:10; 6:31).