Proverbs 4:3

NETBible

When I was a son to my father, 1  a tender only child 2  before my mother,

NIV ©

When I was a boy in my father’s house, still tender, and an only child of my mother,

NASB ©

When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

NLT ©

For I, too, was once my father’s son, tenderly loved by my mother as an only child.

MSG ©

When I was a boy at my father's knee, the pride and joy of my mother,

BBE ©

For I was a son to my father, a gentle and an only one to my mother.

NRSV ©

When I was a son with my father, tender, and my mother’s favorite,

NKJV ©

When I was my father’s son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,

KJV
For I was my father's
<01>
son
<01121>_,
tender
<07390>
and only
<03173>
[beloved] in the sight
<06440>
of my mother
<0517>_.
NASB ©
When
<3588>
I was a son
<1121>
to my father
<1>
, Tender
<7390>
and the only
<3173>
son
<3173>
in the sight
<6440>
of my mother
<517>
,
LXXM
uiov
<5207> 
N-NSM
gar
<1063> 
PRT
egenomhn
<1096> 
V-AMI-1S
kagw {CONJ} patri
<3962> 
N-DSM
uphkoov
<5255> 
N-NSM
kai
<2532> 
CONJ
agapwmenov
<25> 
V-PPPNS
en
<1722> 
PREP
proswpw
<4383> 
N-DSN
mhtrov
<3384> 
N-GSF
NET [draft] ITL
When
<03588>
I was
<01961>
a son
<01121>
to my father
<01>
, a tender
<07390>
only child
<03173>
before
<06440>
my mother
<0517>
,
HEBREW
yma
<0517>
ynpl
<06440>
dyxyw
<03173>
Kr
<07390>
ybal
<01>
ytyyh
<01961>
Nb
<01121>
yk (4:3)
<03588>
NETBible

When I was a son to my father, 1  a tender only child 2  before my mother,

NET Notes

1 tn Or “a boy with my father.”

2 tc The LXX introduces the ideas of “obedient” and “beloved” for these two terms. This seems to be a free rendering, if not a translation of a different Hebrew textual tradition. The MT makes good sense and requires no emendation.

2 tn Heb “tender and only one.” The phrase רַךְ וְיָחִיד (rakh vÿyakhid, “tender and only one”) is a hendiadys meaning “tender only child.” The adjective רַךְ (rakh) means “tender; delicate” (BDB 940 s.v. רַךְ), and describes a lad who is young and undeveloped in character (e.g., 2 Sam 3:39). The adjective יָחִיד (yakhid) means “only one” (BDB 402 s.v. יָחִיד) and refers to a beloved and prized only child (e.g., Gen 22:2).