² tn Heb “the ear of the wise.” The term “ear” is a synecdoche of part (= ear) for the whole (= person): “wise person.”

¹ tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹ sn Pharaoh’s speech invites evaluation. How wise did his plans prove to be?

² tn Heb “and in the heart of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom.”

⁴ tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

⁵ tn Heb “and be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

¹ tn Adding “that” in the translation clarifies Elihu’s indirect citation of the wise individuals’ words.

¹ sn The phrase “wise of heart” was used in Job 9:4 in a negative sense.

² sn The parallelism shows what Proverbs will repeatedly stress, that the wise person is the righteous person.

⁴ tn Or “a wise person listens to advice” (cf. NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

¹ tn Heb “wise ones of women.” The construct phrase חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים (khakhmot nashim) features a wholistic genitive: “wise women.” The plural functions in a distributive sense: “every wise woman.” The contrast is between wise and foolish women (e.g., Prov 7:10-23; 31:10-31).

⁴ sn The proverb is one full sentence; it affirms that a teachable person is among the wise.

³ sn Those who are wise say wise things. The proverb uses synthetic parallelism: The first line asserts that the wise heart ensures that what is said is wise, and the second line adds that such a person increases the reception of what is said.

⁴ tn Heb “become wise in your latter end” (cf. KJV, ASV) which could obviously be misunderstood.

⁵ tn Heb “a man of understanding”; TEV “someone with insight”; NLT “the wise.”

³ tn Heb “a man who understands [and] knows”; NRSV “an intelligent ruler”; NLT “wise and knowledgeable leaders.”

¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the wise in their own eyes.” See the note at v. 8.

² tn Heb “Who is the wise man that he may understand this?”

³ tn Heb “Instruction will not perish from priest, counsel from the wise, word from the prophet.”

² tn Or “Oppression drives a wise person crazy”; or “Extortion drives a wise person crazy.” The verb III הלל (“to be foolish”) denotes “to make foolish; to make a fool out of someone; to make into a madman” (Job 12:17; Isa 44:25); cf. HALOT 249 s.v. III הלל; BDB 239 s.v. II הלל. It has been handled variously: “makes a wise man mad” (KJV, NASB); “drives a wise man crazy” (NEB); “can make a fool of a wise man” (NAB); “makes the wise man foolish” (RSV, NRSV); and “turns a wise man into a fool” (NIV).