Proverbs 8:25-29

8:25 before the mountains were set in place –

before the hills – I was born,

8:26 before he made the earth and its fields, ¹ 

or the beginning ²  of the dust of the world.

8:27 When he established the heavens, I was there;

when he marked out the horizon ³  over the face of the deep,

8:28 when he established the clouds above,

when the fountains of the deep grew strong, ⁴ 

8:29 when he gave the sea his decree

that the waters should not pass over his command, ⁵ 

when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

[8:26]  ¹ tn Heb “open places.”

[8:26]  ² tn Here רֹאשׁ (ro’sh) means “beginning” with reference to time (BDB 911 s.v. 4.b).

[8:27]  ³ sn The infinitive construct בְּחוּקוֹ (bÿkhuqo, “to cut; to engrave; to mark”) and the noun חוּג (khug, “horizon; circle”) form a paronomasia in the line.

[8:28]  ⁴ tn To form a better parallel some commentators read this infinitive בַּעֲזוֹז (ba’azoz), “when [they] grew strong,” as a Piel causative, “when he made firm, fixed fast” (cf. NIV “fixed securely”; NLT “established”). But the following verse (“should not pass over”) implies the meaning “grew strong” here.

[8:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “his mouth.”