Proverbs 5:2

5:2 in order to safeguard ¹  discretion, ² 

and that your lips may guard knowledge.

Proverbs 8:12

8:12 “I, wisdom, live with prudence, ³ 

and I find ⁴  knowledge and discretion.

Proverbs 15:22

15:22 Plans fail ⁵  when there is no counsel,

but with abundant advisers they are established. ⁶ 

Proverbs 21:30

21:30 There is no wisdom and there is no understanding,

and there is no counsel against ⁷  the Lord. ⁸ 

Proverbs 23:4

23:4 Do not wear yourself out to become rich;

be wise enough to restrain yourself. ⁹ 

[5:2]  ¹ tn Heb “keep, protect, guard.”

[5:2]  ² sn This “discretion” is the same word in 1:4; it is wise, prudential consideration, careful planning, or the ability to devise plans with a view to the best way to carry them out. If that ability is retained then temptations to digress will not interfere.

[8:12]  ³ tn The noun is “shrewdness,” i.e., the right use of knowledge in special cases (see also the discussion in 1:4); cf. NLT “good judgment.” The word in this sentence is an adverbial accusative of specification.

[8:12]  ⁴ tn This verb form is an imperfect, whereas the verb in the first colon was a perfect tense. The perfect should be classified as a gnomic perfect, and this form a habitual imperfect, because both verbs describe the nature of wisdom.

[15:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “go wrong” (so NRSV, NLT). The verb is the Hiphil infinitive absolute from פָּרַר, parar, which means “to break; to frustrate; to go wrong” (HALOT 975 s.v. I פרר 2). The plans are made ineffectual or are frustrated when there is insufficient counsel.

[15:22]  ⁶ sn The proverb says essentially the same thing as 11:14, but differently.

[21:30]  ⁷ tn The form לְנֶגֶד (lÿneged) means “against; over against; in opposition to.” The line indicates they cannot in reality be in opposition, for human wisdom is nothing in comparison to the wisdom of God (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 232).

[21:30]  ⁸ sn The verse uses a single sentence to state that all wisdom, understanding, and advice must be in conformity to the will of God to be successful. It states it negatively – these things cannot be in defiance of God (e.g., Job 5:12-13; Isa 40:13-14).

[23:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “from your understanding cease.” In the context this means that the person should have enough understanding to stop wearing himself out trying to be rich (cf. NRSV “be wise enough to desist”).