Proverbs 4:5-7

4:5 Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding;

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

4:6 Do not forsake wisdom, ²  and she will protect you;

love her, and she will guard you.

4:7 Wisdom is supreme ³  – so ⁴  acquire wisdom,

and whatever you acquire, ⁵  acquire understanding! ⁶ 

Proverbs 7:4

7:4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” ⁷ 

and call understanding a close relative,

Proverbs 8:5

8:5 You who are naive, discern ⁸  wisdom!

And you fools, understand discernment! ⁹ 

Proverbs 16:16

16:16 How much better it is to acquire ¹⁰  wisdom than gold;

to acquire understanding is more desirable ¹¹  than silver.

Proverbs 17:16

17:16 Of what ¹²  use is money in the hand of a fool, ¹³ 

since he has no intention ¹⁴  of acquiring wisdom? ¹⁵ 

Deuteronomy 4:5-6

4:5 Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in ¹⁶  the land you are about to enter and possess. 4:6 So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding ¹⁷  to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, “Indeed, this great nation is a very wise ¹⁸  people.”

Deuteronomy 4:1

The Privileges of the Covenant

4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances ¹⁹  I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ²⁰  is giving you.

Deuteronomy 3:9-12

3:9 (the Sidonians ²¹  call Hermon Sirion ²²  and the Amorites call it Senir), ²³  3:10 all the cities of the plateau, all of Gilead and Bashan as far as Salecah ²⁴  and Edrei, ²⁵  cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 3:11 Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remaining Rephaites. (It is noteworthy ²⁶  that his sarcophagus ²⁷  was made of iron. ²⁸  Does it not, indeed, still remain in Rabbath ²⁹  of the Ammonites? It is thirteen and a half feet ³⁰  long and six feet ³¹  wide according to standard measure.) ³² 

Distribution of the Transjordanian Allotments

3:12 This is the land we brought under our control at that time: The territory extending from Aroer ³³  by the Wadi Arnon and half the Gilead hill country with its cities I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites. ³⁴ 

Deuteronomy 3:2

3:2 The Lord, however, said to me, “Don’t be afraid of him because I have already given him, his whole army, ³⁵  and his land to you. You will do to him exactly what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon.”

Deuteronomy 3:15-17

3:15 I gave Gilead to Machir. ³⁶  3:16 To the Reubenites and Gadites I allocated the territory extending from Gilead as far as Wadi Arnon (the exact middle of the wadi was a boundary) all the way to the Wadi Jabbok, the Ammonite border. 3:17 The Arabah and the Jordan River ³⁷  were also a border, from the sea of Chinnereth ³⁸  to the sea of the Arabah (that is, the Salt Sea), ³⁹  beneath the watershed ⁴⁰  of Pisgah ⁴¹  to the east.

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

[4:6]  ² tn Heb “her”; the 3rd person feminine singular referent is personified “wisdom,” which has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:7]  ³ tn The absolute and construct state of רֵאשִׁית (re’shit) are identical (BDB 912 s.v.). Some treat רֵאשִׁית חָכְמָה (re’shit khokhmah) as a genitive-construct phrase: “the beginning of wisdom” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV). Others take רֵאשִׁית as an absolute functioning as predicate and חָכְמָה as the subject: “wisdom is the first/chief thing” (cf. KJV, ASV). The context here suggests the predicate.

[4:7]  ⁴ tn The term “so” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style.

[4:7]  ⁵ tn The noun קִנְיָן (qinyan) means “thing got or acquired; acquisition” (BDB 889 s.v.). With the preposition that denotes price, it means “with (or at the price of) all that you have acquired.” The point is that no price is too high for wisdom – give everything for it (K&D 16:108).

[4:7]  ⁶ tc The verse is not in the LXX; some textual critics delete the verse as an impossible gloss that interrupts vv. 6 and 8 (e.g., C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 88).

[7:4]  ⁷ sn The metaphor is meant to signify that the disciple will be closely related to and familiar with wisdom and understanding, as close as to a sibling. Wisdom will be personified in the next two chapters, and so referring to it as a sister in this chapter certainly prepares for that personification.

[8:5]  ⁸ tn The imperative of בִּין (bin) means “to understand; to discern.” The call is for the simple to understand what wisdom is, not just to gain it.

[8:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “heart.” The noun לֵב (lev, “heart”) often functions metonymically for wisdom, understanding, discernment.

[16:16]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “there is no heart”; NASB “he has no (+ common TEV) sense”; NLT “has no heart for wisdom.”

[17:16]  ¹⁵ 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).

[4:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in the midst of” (so ASV).

[4:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “it is wisdom and understanding.”

[4:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “wise and understanding.”

[4:1]  ¹⁹ tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.

[4:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).

[3:9]  ²¹ sn Sidonians were Phoenician inhabitants of the city of Sidon (now in Lebanon), about 47 mi (75 km) north of Mount Carmel.

[3:9]  ²² sn Sirion. This name is attested in the Ugaritic texts as sryn. See UT 495.

[3:9]  ²³ sn Senir. Probably this was actually one of the peaks of Hermon and not the main mountain (Song of Songs 4:8; 1 Chr 5:23). It is mentioned in a royal inscription of Shalmaneser III of Assyria (saniru; see ANET 280).

[3:10]  ²⁴ sn Salecah. Today this is known as Salkhad, in Jordan, about 31 mi (50 km) east of the Jordan River in the Hauran Desert.

[3:10]  ²⁵ sn Edrei. See note on this term in 3:1.

[3:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Behold” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).

[3:11]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew term עֶרֶשׂ (’eres), traditionally translated “bed” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) is likely a basaltic (volcanic) stone sarcophagus of suitable size to contain the coffin of the giant Rephaite king. Its iron-like color and texture caused it to be described as an iron container. See A. Millard, “King Og’s Iron Bed: Fact or Fancy?” BR 6 (1990): 16-21, 44; cf. also NEB “his sarcophagus of basalt”; TEV, CEV “his coffin.”

[3:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “of iron-colored basalt.” See note on the word “sarcophagus” earlier in this verse.

[3:11]  ²⁹ sn Rabbath. This place name (usually occurring as Rabbah; 2 Sam 11:11; 12:27; Jer 49:3) refers to the ancient capital of the Ammonite kingdom, now the modern city of Amman, Jordan. The word means “great [one],” probably because of its political importance. The fact that the sarcophagus “still remain[ed]” there suggests this part of the verse is post-Mosaic, having been added as a matter of explanation for the existence of the artifact and also to verify the claim as to its size.

[3:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “nine cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 in (45 cm) for the standard cubit, this would be 13.5 ft (4.1 m) long.

[3:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “four cubits.” This would be 6 ft (1.8 m) wide.

[3:11]  ³² tn Heb “by the cubit of man.” This probably refers to the “short” or “regular” cubit of approximately 18 in (45 cm).

[3:12]  ³³ tn The words “the territory extending” are not in the Hebrew text; they are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:12]  ³⁴ sn Reubenites and Gadites. By the time of Moses’ address the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had already been granted permission to settle in the Transjordan, provided they helped the other tribes subdue the occupants of Canaan (cf. Num 32:28-42).

[3:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “people.”

[3:15]  ³⁶ sn Machir was the name of another descendant of Manasseh (cf. Num 32:41; 1 Chr 7:14-19). Eastern Manasseh was thus divided between the Jairites and the Machirites.

[3:17]  ³⁷ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in vv. 20, 25).

[3:17]  ³⁸ tn Heb “from Chinnereth.” The words “the sea of” have been supplied in the translation as a clarification.

[3:17]  ³⁹ sn The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea (cf. Gen 14:3; Josh 3:16).

[3:17]  ⁴⁰ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term אַשְׁדֹּת (’ashdot) is unclear. It is usually translated either “slopes” (ASV, NAB, NIV) or “watershed” (NEB).

[3:17]  ⁴¹ sn Pisgah. This appears to refer to a small range of mountains, the most prominent peak of which is Mount Nebo (Num 21:20; 23:14; Deut 3:27; cf. 34:1).