Proverbs 9:9-12
Context9:9 Give instruction 1 to a wise person, 2 and he will become wiser still;
teach 3 a righteous person and he will add to his 4 learning.
9:10 The beginning 5 of wisdom is to fear the Lord, 6
and acknowledging 7 the Holy One 8 is understanding.
9:11 For because 9 of me your days will be many,
and years will be added 10 to your life.
9:12 If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage, 11


[9:9] 1 tn The noun “instruction” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation.
[9:9] 2 sn The parallelism shows what Proverbs will repeatedly stress, that the wise person is the righteous person.
[9:9] 3 tn The Hiphil verb normally means “to cause to know, make known”; but here the context suggests “to teach” (so many English versions).
[9:9] 4 tn The term “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for the sake of smoothness and clarity.
[9:10] 5 sn The difference between תְּחִלַּת (tÿkhillat) here and רֵאשִׁית (re’shit) of 1:7, if there is any substantial difference, is that this term refers to the starting point of wisdom, and the earlier one indicates the primary place of wisdom (K&D 16:202).
[9:10] 6 tn Heb “fear of the
[9:10] 7 tn Heb “knowledge of the Holy One” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[9:10] 8 tn The word is in the plural in the Hebrew (literally “holy ones”; KJV “the holy”). It was translated “holy men” in Tg. Prov 9:10. But it probably was meant to signify the majestic nature of the
[9:11] 9 tn The preposition בּ (bet) here may have the causal sense (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 45, §247), although it could also be means (Williams, 44, §243).
[9:11] 10 tn The verb וְיוֹסִיפוּ (vÿyosifu) is the Hiphil imperfect, third masculine plural; but because there is no expressed subject the verb may be taken as a passive.
[9:12] 13 tn The text simply has the preposition לְ (lamed) with a suffix; but this will be the use of the preposition classified as “interest,” either for advantage or disadvantage (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 48-49, §271).
[9:12] 14 tn The perfect tense is here in a conditional clause because of the conjunction following the first colon of the verse that begins with “if.” The perfect tense then lays down the antithetical condition – “if you mock,” or “if you are a mocker.”
[9:12] 15 tn The use of the imperfect tense here could be the simple future tense (cf. NASB, NRSV “you…will bear it”), but the obligatory nuance is more appropriate – “you must bear it.” These words anticipate James’ warnings that the words we speak will haunt us through life (e.g., James 3:1-12).
[9:12] 16 tc The LXX has an addition: “Forsake folly, that you may reign forever; and seek discretion and direct understanding in knowledge.”