Romans 12:16

12:16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. ¹  Do not be conceited. ² 

Proverbs 3:5-7

3:5 Trust ³  in the Lord with all your heart, ⁴ 

and do not rely ⁵  on your own understanding. ⁶ 

3:6 Acknowledge ⁷  him in all your ways, ⁸ 

and he will make your paths straight. ⁹ 

3:7 Do not be wise in your own estimation; ¹⁰ 

fear the Lord and turn away from evil. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 26:12

26:12 Do you see ¹²  a man wise in his own eyes? ¹³ 

There is more hope for a fool ¹⁴  than for him.

Proverbs 26:16

26:16 The sluggard is wiser in his own estimation ¹⁵ 

than seven people who respond with good sense. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 5:21

5:21 Those who think they are wise are as good as dead, ¹⁷ 

those who think they possess understanding. ¹⁸ 

[12:16]  ¹ tn Or “but give yourselves to menial tasks.” The translation depends on whether one takes the adjective “lowly” as masculine or neuter.

[12:16]  ² tn Grk “Do not be wise in your thinking.”

[3:5]  ³ sn The word בְּטַח (bÿtakh, “trust”) is used in the OT in (1) literal physical sense: to physically lean upon something for support and (2) figurative sense: to rely upon someone or something for help or protection (BDB 105 s.v. I בְּטַח; HALOT 120 s.v. I בטח). The verb is often used with false securities, people trusting in things that prove to be worthless. But here the object of the secure trust is the Lord who is a reliable object of confidence.

[3:5]  ⁴ sn The “heart” functions as a metonymy of subject encompassing mind, emotions and will (BDB 524 s.v. לֵב 2).

[3:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “do not lean.” The verb שָׁעַן (sha’an, “to lean; to rely”) is used in (1) literal physical sense of leaning upon something for support and (2) figurative sense of relying upon someone or something for help or protection (BDB 1043 s.v.). Here it functions figuratively (hypocatastasis: implied comparison); relying on one’s own understanding is compared to leaning on something that is unreliable for support (e.g., Isa 10:20).

[3:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “your understanding.” The term בִּינָה (binah, “understanding”) is used elsewhere in this book of insight given by God from the instructions in Proverbs (Prov 2:3; 7:4; 8:14; 9:6, 10; 23:23). Here it refers to inherent human understanding that functions in relative ignorance unless supplemented by divine wisdom (Job 28:12-28; 39:26). The reflexive pronoun “own” is supplied in the translation to clarify this point. It is dangerous for a person to rely upon mere human wisdom (Prov 14:12; 16:25).

[3:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “know him.” The verb יָדַע (yadah, “to know”) includes mental awareness of who God is and the consequential submission to his lordship. To know him is to obey him. The sage is calling for a life of trust and obedience in which the disciple sees the Lord in every event and relies on him. To acknowledge the Lord in every event means trusting and obeying him for guidance in right conduct.

[3:6]  ⁸ tn The term דֶרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) is figurative (hypocatastasis: implied comparison) referring to a person’s course of life, actions and undertakings (Prov 2:8; 3:6, 23; 11:5; 20:24; 29:27; 31:3; BDB 203 s.v. 5; cf. TEV “in everything you do”; NCV, NLT “in all you do”). This is a call for total commitment in trust for obedience in all things.

[3:6]  ⁹ tn The verb יָשָׁר (yashar) means “to make smooth; to make straight” (BDB 444 s.v.). This phrase means “to make the way free from obstacles,” that is, to make it successful (e.g., Isa 40:3). The straight, even road is the right road; God will make the way smooth for the believer.

[3:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in your own eyes” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.”

[3:7]  ¹¹ sn The second colon clarifies the first. If one fears the Lord and turns away from evil, then he is depending on the Lord and not wise in his own eyes. There is a higher source of wisdom than human insight.

[26:12]  ¹² tn The verse simply uses a perfect tense. The meaning of the verse would be the same if this were interpreted as an affirmation rather than as an interrogative. The first line calls such a person to one’s attention.

[26:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “in his own eyes” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[26:12]  ¹⁴ sn Previous passages in the book of Proverbs all but deny the possibility of hope for the fool. So this proverb is saying there is absolutely no hope for the self-conceited person, and there might be a slight hope for the fool – he may yet figure out that he really is a fool.

[26:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in his eyes.” The lazy person thinks that he has life all figured out and has chosen the wise course of action – but he is simply lazy. J. H. Greenstone says, for example, “Much anti-intellectualism may be traced to such rationalization for laziness” (Proverbs, 269).

[26:16]  ¹⁶ tn The term means “taste; judgment.” The related verb means “to taste; to perceive,” that is, “to examine by tasting,” or examine by experiencing (e.g., Ps 34:9). Here the idea is expressed with the participle in construct, “those returners [of] good sense,” those who answer tastefully, with discretion. Cf. NIV “who (+ can NRSV) answer discreetly.”

[5:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Woe [to] the wise in their own eyes.” See the note at v. 8.

[5:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[who] before their faces are understanding.”