Proverbs 7:7

7:7 and I saw among the naive –

I discerned among the youths ¹  –

a young man ²  who lacked wisdom. ³ 

Genesis 39:9-10

39:9 There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do ⁴  such a great evil and sin against God?” 39:10 Even though she continued to speak ⁵  to Joseph day after day, he did not respond ⁶  to her invitation to have sex with her. ⁷ 

Genesis 41:39

41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning ⁸  as you are!

Ecclesiastes 7:25-26

True Righteousness and Wisdom are Virtually Nonexistent

7:25 I tried ⁹  to understand, examine, and comprehend ¹⁰ 

the role of ¹¹  wisdom in the scheme of things, ¹² 

and to understand the stupidity of wickedness ¹³  and the insanity of folly. ¹⁴ 

7:26 I discovered this: ¹⁵ 

More bitter than death is the kind of ¹⁶  woman ¹⁷  who is like a hunter’s snare; ¹⁸ 

her heart is like a hunter’s net and her hands are like prison chains.

The man who pleases God escapes her,

but the sinner is captured by her.

Jeremiah 5:8

5:8 They are like lusty, well-fed ¹⁹  stallions.

Each of them lusts after ²⁰  his neighbor’s wife.

Jeremiah 5:21

5:21 Tell them: ‘Hear this,

you foolish people who have no understanding,

who have eyes but do not discern,

who have ears but do not perceive: ²¹ 

Romans 1:22-24

1:22 Although they claimed ²²  to be wise, they became fools 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings ²³  or birds or four-footed animals ²⁴  or reptiles.

1:24 Therefore God gave them over ²⁵  in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor ²⁶  their bodies among themselves. ²⁷ 

[7:7]  ¹ tn Heb “sons.”

[7:7]  ² tn Heb “lad” or “youth.”

[7:7]  ³ tn Heb “heart.”

[39:9]  ⁴ tn The nuance of potential imperfect fits this context.

[39:10]  ⁵ tn The verse begins with the temporal indicator, followed by the infinitive construct with the preposition כְּ (kÿ). This clause could therefore be taken as temporal.

[39:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “listen to.”

[39:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “to lie beside her to be with her.” Here the expression “to lie beside” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[41:39]  ⁸ tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “I turned, I, even my heart.”

[7:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to seek.”

[7:25]  ¹¹ tn The phrase “the role of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[7:25]  ¹² tn The phrase חָכְמָה וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן (khokhmah vÿkheshbon, “wisdom and the scheme of things”) is a hendiadys (a figure of speech in which two nouns connote one idea): “wisdom in the scheme of things.” This is similar to the hendiadys עִצְּבוֹנֵךְ וְהֵרֹנֵךְ (’itsÿvonekh vÿheronekh, “pain and childbearing”) which connotes “pain in childbearing” (Gen 3:16).

[7:25]  ¹³ tn Or “the evil of folly” The genitive construct phrase רֶשַׁע כֶּסֶל (resha’ kesel) may be taken as a genitive of attribution (“the wickedness of folly”) or as a genitive of attribute (“the folly of wickedness”). The English versions treat it in various ways: “wickedness of folly” (KJV); “wrong of folly” (YLT); “evil of folly” (NASB); “stupidity of wickedness” (NIV); “wickedness, stupidity” (NJPS); “wickedness is folly [or foolish]” (ASV, NAB, NRSV, MLB, Moffatt), and “it is folly to be wicked” (NEB).

[7:25]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the folly of madness” The genitive construct phrase וְהַסִּכְלוּת הוֹלֵלוֹת (vÿhassikhlut holelot) may be taken as a genitive of attribution (“the stupidity of wickedness”) or a genitive of attribute (“the evil of folly”). The phrase is rendered variously: “foolishness and madness” (KJV); “foolishness of madness” (NASB); “madness of folly” (NIV); “madness and folly” (NJPS); “the foolishness which is madness” (NEB); and “foolishness [or folly] is madness” (ASV, NAB, NRSV, MLB, Moffatt).

[7:26]  ¹⁵ tn The word “this” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[7:26]  ¹⁶ tn The phrase “kind of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity (see the following note on the word “woman”).

[7:26]  ¹⁷ tn The article on הָאִשָּׁה (ha’ishah) functions in a particularizing sense (“the kind of woman”) rather than in a generic sense (i.e., “women”).

[7:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “is snares.” The plural form מְצוֹדִים (mÿtsodim, from the noun I מָצוֹד, matsod, “snare”) is used to connote either intensity, repeated or habitual action, or moral characteristic. For the function of the Hebrew plural, see IBHS 120-21 §7.4.2. The term II מָצוֹד “snare” is used in a concrete sense in reference to the hunter’s snare or net, but in a figurative sense of being ensnared by someone (Job 19:6; Prov 12:12; Eccl 7:26).

[5:8]  ¹⁹ tn The meanings of these two adjectives are uncertain. The translation of the first adjective is based on assuming that the word is a defectively written participle related to the noun “testicle” (a Hiphil participle מַאֲשִׁכִים [ma’ashikhim] from a verb related to אֶשֶׁךְ [’eshekh, “testicle”]; cf. Lev 21:20) and hence “having testicles” (cf. HALOT 1379 s.v. שָׁכָה) instead of the Masoretic form מַשְׁכִּים (mashkim) from a root שָׁכָה (shakhah), which is otherwise unattested in either verbal or nominal forms. The second adjective is best derived from a verb root meaning “to feed” (a Hophal participle מוּזָנִים [muzanim, the Kethib] from a root זוּן [zun; cf. BDB 266 s.v. זוּן] for which there is the cognate noun מָזוֹן [mazon; cf. 2 Chr 11:23]). This is more likely than the derivation from a root יָזַן ([yazan]reading מְיֻזָּנִים [mÿyuzzanim], a Pual participle with the Qere) which is otherwise unattested in verbal or nominal forms and whose meaning is dependent only on a supposed Arabic cognate (cf. HALOT 387 s.v. יָזַן).

[5:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “neighs after.”

[5:21]  ²¹ tn Heb “they have eyes but they do not see, they have ears but they do not hear.”

[1:22]  ²² tn The participle φάσκοντες (faskonte") is used concessively here.

[1:23]  ²³ tn Grk “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God in likeness of an image of corruptible man.” Here there is a wordplay on the Greek terms ἄφθαρτος (afqarto", “immortal, imperishable, incorruptible”) and φθαρτός (fqarto", “mortal, corruptible, subject to decay”).

[1:23]  ²⁴ sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 106:19-20.

[1:24]  ²⁵ sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 81:12.

[1:24]  ²⁶ tn The genitive articular infinitive τοῦ ἀτιμάζεσθαι (tou atimazesqai, “to dishonor”) has been taken as (1) an infinitive of purpose; (2) an infinitive of result; or (3) an epexegetical (i.e., explanatory) infinitive, expanding the previous clause.

[1:24]  ²⁷ tn Grk “among them.”