Proverbs 6:22

6:22 When you walk about, ¹  they ²  will guide you;

when you lie down, they will watch over you;

when you wake up, ³  they will talk ⁴  to you.

Proverbs 9:9

9:9 Give instruction ⁵  to a wise person, ⁶  and he will become wiser still;

teach ⁷  a righteous person and he will add to his ⁸  learning.

Proverbs 13:22

13:22 A benevolent ⁹  person leaves an inheritance ¹⁰  for his grandchildren, ¹¹ 

but the wealth of a sinner is stored up for the righteous. ¹² 

Proverbs 24:14

24:14 Likewise, know ¹³  that wisdom is sweet ¹⁴  to your soul;

if you find it, ¹⁵  you will have a future, ¹⁶ 

and your hope will not be cut off.

[6:22]  ¹ tn The verbal form is the Hitpael infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffixed subjective genitive to form a temporal clause. The term הָלַךְ (halakh) in this verbal stem means “to go about; to go to and fro.” The use of these terms in v. 22 also alludes to Deut 6:7.

[6:22]  ² tn Heb “it will guide you.” The verb is singular and the instruction is the subject.

[6:22]  ³ tn In both of the preceding cola an infinitive construct was used for the temporal clauses; now the construction uses a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. The verb would then be equivalent to an imperfect tense, but subordinated as a temporal clause here.

[6:22]  ⁴ sn The Hebrew verb means “talk” in the sense of “to muse; to complain; to meditate”; cf. TEV, NLT “advise you.” Instruction bound to the heart will speak to the disciple on awaking.

[9:9]  ⁵ tn The noun “instruction” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation.

[9:9]  ⁶ sn The parallelism shows what Proverbs will repeatedly stress, that the wise person is the righteous person.

[9:9]  ⁷ tn The Hiphil verb normally means “to cause to know, make known”; but here the context suggests “to teach” (so many English versions).

[9:9]  ⁸ tn The term “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for the sake of smoothness and clarity.

[13:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “good.”

[13:22]  ¹⁰ sn In ancient Israel the idea of leaving an inheritance was a sign of God’s blessing; blessings extended to the righteous and not the sinners.

[13:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the children of children.”

[13:22]  ¹² sn In the ultimate justice of God, the wealth of the wicked goes to the righteous after death (e.g., Ps 49:10, 17).

[24:14]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn The phrase “is sweet” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.

[24:14]  ¹⁵ tn The term “it” is supplied in the translation.

[24:14]  ¹⁶ 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.”