Proverbs 4:7

4:7 Wisdom is supreme ¹  – so ²  acquire wisdom,

and whatever you acquire, ³  acquire understanding! ⁴ 

Proverbs 7:26

7:26 for she has brought down ⁵  many fatally wounded,

and all those she has slain are many. ⁶ 

Proverbs 23:17

23:17 Do not let your heart envy ⁷  sinners,

but rather be zealous in fearing the Lord ⁸  all the time.

[4:7]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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).

[7:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “she has caused to fall.”

[7:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “numerous” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT) or “countless.”

[23:17]  ⁹ tn The verb in this line is אַל־יְקַנֵּא (’al-yÿqanne’), the Piel jussive negated. The verb means “to be jealous, to be zealous”; it describes passionate intensity for something. In English, if the object is illegitimate, it is called “envy”; if it is correct, it is called “zeal.” Here the warning is not to envy the sinners. The second colon could use the verb in the positive sense to mean “but rather let your passion burn for the fear of the Lord.”

[23:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord.” This expression features an objective genitive: “fearing the Lord.”