Proverbs 8:14

8:14 Counsel and sound wisdom belong to me; ¹ 

I possess understanding and might.

Proverbs 16:30

16:30 The one who winks his eyes ²  devises perverse things,

and ³  one who compresses his lips ⁴  brings about ⁵  evil.

Proverbs 19:20

19:20 Listen to advice ⁶  and receive discipline,

that ⁷  you may become wise ⁸  by the end of your life. ⁹ 

Proverbs 20:5

20:5 Counsel ¹⁰  in a person’s heart ¹¹  is like ¹²  deep water, ¹³ 

but an understanding person ¹⁴  draws it out.

Proverbs 21:30

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

and there is no counsel against ¹⁵  the Lord. ¹⁶ 

[8:14]  ¹ tc In the second half of v. 14 instead of אֲנִי (’ani) the editors propose reading simply לִי (li) as the renderings in the LXX, Latin, and Syriac suggest. Then, in place of the לִי that comes in the same colon, read וְלִי (vÿli). While the MT is a difficult reading, it can be translated as it is. It would be difficult to know exactly what the ancient versions were reading, because their translations could have been derived from either text. They represent an effort to smooth out the text.

[16:30]  ² sn The participle עֹצֶה (’otseh) describes one as shutting his eyes (cf. KJV, ASV). This could mean simply “closing the eyes,” or it could refer to “winking” (so many English versions). The proverb is saying that facial expressions often reveal if someone is plotting evil (e.g., 6:13-14).

[16:30]  ³ tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the synonymous parallelism.

[16:30]  ⁴ tn The participle קֹרֵץ (qorets) indicates that the person involved is pinching, compressing, or biting his lips (cf. NIV “purses his lips”).

[16:30]  ⁵ tn The verb is a Piel perfect; it means “complete, finish, bring to an end.” The two cola may form the whole process: The first line has “to devise” evil, and the second has “he completes” evil. BDB, however, classifies this use of the Piel as “to accomplish in thought” meaning “to determine” something (BDB 478 s.v. כָּלָה 1f). In that case the two lines would have synonymous ideas, i.e., using facial expressions to plan evil actions.

[19:20]  ³ sn The advice refers in all probability to the teachings of the sages that will make one wise.

[19:20]  ⁴ tn The proverb is one continuous thought, but the second half of the verse provides the purpose for the imperatives of the first half.

[19:20]  ⁵ tn The imperfect tense has the nuance of a final imperfect in a purpose clause, and so is translated “that you may become wise” (cf. NAB, NRSV).

[19:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “become wise in your latter end” (cf. KJV, ASV) which could obviously be misunderstood.

[20:5]  ⁴ sn The noun means “advice, counsel”; it can have the connotation of planning or making decisions. Those with understanding can sort out plans.

[20:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the heart of a man”; NRSV “in the human mind.”

[20:5]  ⁶ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[20:5]  ⁷ sn The motives or plans of a person are “difficult to fathom”; it takes someone with understanding to discover and surface them (the verb in the last colon continues the figure with the sense of bringing the plans to the surface and sorting them out).

[20:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “a man of understanding”; TEV “someone with insight”; NLT “the wise.”

[21:30]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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).