Proverbs 8:26

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

or the beginning ²  of the dust of the world.

Proverbs 8:31

8:31 rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, ³ 

and delighting ⁴  in its people. ⁵ 

[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).

[8:31]  ³ tn The two words are synonymous in general and so could be taken to express a superlative idea – the “whole world” (cf. NIV, NCV). But תֵּבֵל (tevel) also means the inhabited world, and so the construct may be interpreted as a partitive genitive.

[8:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “and my delights” [were] with/in.”

[8:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “the sons of man.”