Romans 16:19

16:19 Your obedience is known to all and thus I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.

Psalms 19:7

19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect

and preserves one’s life. ¹ 

The rules set down by the Lord ²  are reliable ³ 

and impart wisdom to the inexperienced. ⁴ 

Psalms 119:130

119:130 Your instructions are a doorway through which light shines. ⁵ 

They give ⁶  insight to the untrained. ⁷ 

Proverbs 8:5

8:5 You who are naive, discern ⁸  wisdom!

And you fools, understand discernment! ⁹ 

Proverbs 14:15

14:15 A naive person ¹⁰  believes everything,

but the shrewd person discerns his steps. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 22:3

22:3 A shrewd person ¹²  sees danger ¹³  and hides himself,

but the naive keep right on going ¹⁴  and suffer for it. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 22:2

22:2 The rich and the poor meet together; ¹⁶ 

the Lord is the creator of them both. ¹⁷ 

Colossians 1:3

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ¹⁸  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

[19:7]  ¹ tn Heb “[it] restores life.” Elsewhere the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) when used with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”) as object, means to “rescue or preserve one’s life” (Job 33:30; Ps 35:17) or to “revive one’s strength” (emotionally or physically; cf. Ruth 4:15; Lam 1:11, 16, 19). Here the point seems to be that the law preserves the life of the one who studies it by making known God’s will. Those who know God’s will know how to please him and can avoid offending him. See v. 11a.

[19:7]  ² tn Traditionally, “the testimony of the Lord.” The noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to the demands of God’s covenant law.

[19:7]  ³ tn God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.

[19:7]  ⁴ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly.

[119:130]  ⁵ tn Heb “the doorway of your words gives light.” God’s “words” refer here to the instructions in his law (see vv. 9, 57).

[119:130]  ⁶ tn Heb “it [i.e., the doorway] gives.”

[119:130]  ⁷ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly. See Pss 19:7; 116:6.

[8:5]  ⁸ tn The imperative of בִּין (bin) means “to understand; to discern.” The call is for the simple to understand what wisdom is, not just to gain it.

[8:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “heart.” The noun לֵב (lev, “heart”) often functions metonymically for wisdom, understanding, discernment.

[14:15]  ¹⁰ sn The contrast is with the simpleton and the shrewd. The simpleton is the young person who is untrained morally or intellectually, and therefore gullible. The shrewd one is the prudent person, the one who has the ability to make critical discriminations.

[14:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his step”; cf. TEV “sensible people watch their step.”

[22:3]  ¹² sn The contrast is between the “shrewd” (prudent) person and the “simpleton.” The shrewd person knows where the dangers and pitfalls are in life and so can avoid them; the naive person is unwary, untrained, and gullible, unable to survive the dangers of the world and blundering into them.

[22:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “evil,” a term that is broad enough to include (1) “sin” as well as (2) any form of “danger” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT) or “trouble” (TEV, CEV). The second option is more likely what is meant here: The naive simpleton does not see the danger to be avoided and so suffers for it.

[22:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “go on”; the word “right” is supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning: The naive person, oblivious to impending danger, meets it head on (cf. TEV “will walk right into it”).

[22:3]  ¹⁵ tn The verb עָנַשׁ (’anash) means “to fine” specifically. In the Niphal stem it means “to be fined,” or more generally, “to be punished.” In this line the punishment is the consequence of blundering into trouble – they will pay for it.

[22:2]  ¹⁶ tn The form of the verb is the Niphal perfect of פָּגַשׁ (pagash); it means “to meet together [or, each other]” (cf. KJV, ASV). The point is that rich and poor live side by side in this life, but they are both part of God’s creation (cf. NAB, NASB “have a common bond”). Some commentators have taken this to mean that they should live together because they are part of God’s creation; but the verb form will not sustain that meaning.

[22:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “all.” The Lord is sovereign over both groups, that is, he has had the final say whether a person is rich or poor. People would do well to treat all people with respect, for God can as easily reduce the rich to poverty as raise up the poor to wealth.

[1:3]  ¹⁸ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).