Proverbs 5:1

Admonition to Avoid Seduction to Evil ¹ 

5:1 My child, ²  be attentive to my wisdom,

pay close attention ³  to my understanding,

Proverbs 6:20-21

6:20 My child, guard the commands of your father

and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.

6:21 Bind them ⁴  on your heart continually;

fasten them around your neck.

Proverbs 7:1

Admonition to Avoid the Wiles of the Adulteress ⁵ 

7:1 My child, ⁶  keep my words

and treasure up my commands in your own keeping. ⁷ 

Psalms 78:1

Psalm 78 ⁸ 

A well-written song ⁹  by Asaph.

78:1 Pay attention, my people, to my instruction!

Listen to the words I speak! ¹⁰ 

Psalms 90:12

90:12 So teach us to consider our mortality, ¹¹ 

so that we might live wisely. ¹² 

Isaiah 55:3

55:3 Pay attention and come to me!

Listen, so you can live! ¹³ 

Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to ¹⁴  you,

just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. ¹⁵ 

Matthew 17:5

17:5 While he was still speaking, a ¹⁶  bright cloud ¹⁷  overshadowed ¹⁸  them, and a voice from the cloud said, ¹⁹  “This is my one dear Son, ²⁰  in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!” ²¹ 

[5:1]  ¹ sn In this chapter the sage/father exhorts discretion (1, 2) then explains how to avoid seduction (3-6); this is followed by a second exhortation to prevention (7, 8) and an explanation that obedience will avoid ruin and regret (9-14); finally, he warns against sharing love with strangers (15-17) but to find it at home (18-23). For an analysis of the chapter, see J. E. Goldingay, “Proverbs V and IX,” RB 84 (1977): 80-93.

[5:1]  ² tn The text again has “my son.” In this passage perhaps “son” would be the most fitting because of the warning against going to the adulterous woman. However, since the image of the adulterous woman probably represents all kinds of folly (through personification), and since even in this particular folly the temptation works both ways, the general address to either young men or women should be retained. The text was certainly not intended to convey that only women could seduce men.

[5:1]  ³ tn Heb “incline your ear” (so NAB, NRSV); NLT “listen carefully.”

[6:21]  ⁴ sn The figures used here are hypocatastases (implied comparisons). There may also be an allusion to Deut 6 where the people were told to bind the law on their foreheads and arms. The point here is that the disciple will never be without these instructions. See further, P. W. Skehan, Studies in Israelite Poetry and Wisdom (CBQMS), 1-8.

[7:1]  ⁵ sn The chapter begins with the important teaching of the father (1-5), then it focuses on the seduction: first of the victim (6-9), then the temptress (10-12), then the seduction (13-20), and the capitulation (21-23); the chapter concludes with the deadly results of consorting (24-27).

[7:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “my son.”

[7:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “within you” (so NASB, NIV); KJV, ASV, NRSV “with you.” BDB 860 s.v. צָפַן Qal.1 suggests that “within you” means “in your own keeping.”

[78:1]  ⁸ sn Psalm 78. The author of this lengthy didactic psalm rehearses Israel’s history. He praises God for his power, goodness and patience, but also reminds his audience that sin angers God and prompts his judgment. In the conclusion to the psalm the author elevates Jerusalem as God’s chosen city and David as his chosen king.

[78:1]  ⁹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 74.

[78:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Turn your ear to the words of my mouth.”

[90:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to number our days,” that is, to be aware of how few they really are.

[90:12]  ¹² tn Heb “and we will bring a heart of wisdom.” After the imperative of the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates purpose/result. The Hebrew term “heart” here refers to the center of one’s thoughts, volition, and moral character.

[55:3]  ¹³ tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.

[55:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”

[55:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”

[17:5]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “behold, a.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here or in the following clause because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[17:5]  ¹⁷ sn This cloud is the cloud of God’s presence and the voice is his as well.

[17:5]  ¹⁸ tn Or “surrounded.”

[17:5]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “behold, a voice from the cloud, saying.” This is an incomplete sentence in Greek which portrays intensity and emotion. The participle λέγουσα (legousa) was translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style.

[17:5]  ²⁰ tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).

[17:5]  ²¹ sn The expression listen to him comes from Deut 18:15 and makes two points: 1) Jesus is a prophet like Moses, a leader-prophet, and 2) they have much yet to learn from him.