Proverbs 8:30

8:30 then I was ¹  beside him as a master craftsman, ² 

and I was his delight ³  day by day,

rejoicing before him at all times,

Proverbs 8:34

8:34 Blessed is the one ⁴  who listens to me,

watching ⁵  at my doors day by day,

waiting ⁶  beside my doorway. ⁷ 

Proverbs 7:9

7:9 in the twilight, the evening, ⁸ 

in the dark of the night. ⁹ 

Proverbs 27:1

27:1 Do not boast ¹⁰  about tomorrow; ¹¹ 

for you do not know ¹²  what a day may bring forth.

[8:30]  ¹ tn The verb form is a preterite with vav consecutive, although it has not been apocopated. It provides the concluding statement for the temporal clauses as well as the parallel to v. 27.

[8:30]  ² tn Critical to the interpretation of this line is the meaning of אָמוֹן (’amon). Several suggestions have been made: “master craftsman” (cf. ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV), “nursing child” (cf. NCV), “foster father.” R. B. Y. Scott chooses “faithful” – a binding or living link (“Wisdom in Creation: The ‘Amon of Proverbs 8:30,” VT 10 [1960]: 213-23). The image of a child is consistent with the previous figure of being “given birth to” (vv. 24, 25). However, “craftsman” has the most support (LXX, Vulgate, Syriac, Tg. Prov 8:30, Song 7:1; Jer 52:15; also P. W. Skehan, “Structures in Poems on Wisdom: Proverbs 8 and Sirach 24,” CBQ 41 [1979]: 365-79).

[8:30]  ³ tn The word is a plural of intensification for “delight”; it describes wisdom as the object of delight. The LXX has the suffix; the Hebrew does not.

[8:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “the man.”

[8:34]  ⁵ tn The form לִשְׁקֹד (lishqod) is the infinitive construct serving epexegetically in the sentence. It explains how the person will listen to wisdom.

[8:34]  ⁶ tn Heb “keeping” or “guarding.”

[8:34]  ⁷ tn Heb “at the posts of my doors” (so KJV, ASV).

[7:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the evening of the day.”

[7:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the middle of the night, and dark”; KJV “in the black and dark night”; NRSV “at the time of night and darkness.”

[27:1]  ¹⁰ tn The form אַל־תִּתְהַלֵּל (’al-tithallel) is the Hitpael jussive negated; it is from the common verb “to praise,” and so in this setting means “to praise oneself” or “to boast.”

[27:1]  ¹¹ sn The word “tomorrow” is a metonymy of subject, meaning what will be done tomorrow, or in the future in general.

[27:1]  ¹² sn The expression “you do not know” balances the presumption of the first line, reminding the disciple of his ignorance and therefore his need for humility (e.g., Matt 6:34; Luke 12:20; Jas 4:13-16).