Amsal 1:15

1:15 My child, do not go down ¹  their way, ² 

withhold yourself ³  from their path; ⁴ 

Amsal 3:1

Exhortations to Seek Wisdom and Walk with the Lord ⁵ 

3:1 My child, ⁶  do not forget my teaching,

but let your heart keep ⁷  my commandments,

Amsal 3:21

3:21 My child, do not let them ⁸  escape from your sight;

safeguard sound wisdom and discretion. ⁹ 

Amsal 5:20

5:20 But why should you be captivated, ¹⁰  my son, by an adulteress,

and embrace the bosom of a different woman? ¹¹ 

Amsal 6:1

Admonitions and Warnings against Dangerous and Destructive Acts ¹² 

6:1 My child, ¹³  if you have made a pledge ¹⁴  for your neighbor,

and ¹⁵  have become a guarantor ¹⁶  for a stranger, ¹⁷ 

Amsal 19:27

19:27 If you stop listening to ¹⁸  instruction, my child,

you will stray ¹⁹  from the words of knowledge.

[1:15]  ¹ tn Heb “do not walk.”

[1:15]  ² tn Heb “in the way with them.”

[1:15]  ³ tn Heb “your foot.” The term “foot” (רֶגֶל, regel) is a synecdoche of part (= your foot) for the whole person (= yourself).

[1:15]  ⁴ sn The word “path” (נְתִיבָה, nÿtivah) like the word “way” (דֶּרֶךְ, derekh) is used as an idiom (developed from a hypocatastasis), meaning “conduct, course of life.”

[3:1]  ⁵ sn The chapter begins with an introductory exhortation (1-4), followed by an admonition to be faithful to the Lord (5-12). Wisdom is commended as the most valuable possession (13-18), essential to creation (19-20), and the way to a long and safe life (21-26). There then follows a warning to avoid unneighborliness (27-30) and emulating the wicked (31-35).

[3:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “my son” (likewise in vv. 11, 21).

[3:1]  ⁷ tn The verb יִצֹּר (yitsor) is a Qal jussive and the noun לִבֶּךָ (libbekha, “your heart”) functions as the subject: “let your heart keep my commandments.”

[3:21]  ⁸ tn The object of the verb “escape” is either (1) wisdom, knowledge, and understanding in vv. 13-20 or (2) “wisdom and discretion” in the second colon of this verse. Several English versions transpose the terms “wisdom and discretion” from the second colon into the first colon for the sake of clarity and smoothness (e.g., RSV, NRSV, NIV, TEV, CEV).
NIV takes the subject from the second colon and reverses the clauses to clarify that.

[3:21]  ⁹ tn Or: “purpose,” “power of devising.”

[5:20]  ¹⁰ tn In the interrogative clause the imperfect has a deliberative nuance.

[5:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “foreigner” (so ASV, NASB), but this does not mean that the woman is non-Israelite. This term describes a woman who is outside the moral boundaries of the covenant community – she is another man’s wife, but since she acts with moral abandonment she is called “foreign.”

[6:1]  ¹² sn The chapter advises release from foolish indebtedness (1-5), admonishes avoiding laziness (6-11), warns of the danger of poverty (9-11) and deviousness (12-15), lists conduct that the Lord hates (16-19), and warns about immorality (20-35).

[6:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “my son” (likewise in vv. 3, 20).

[6:1]  ¹⁴ sn It was fairly common for people to put up some kind of financial security for someone else, that is, to underwrite another’s debts. But the pledge in view here was foolish because the debtor was a neighbor who was not well known (זָר, zar), perhaps a misfit in the community. The one who pledged security for this one was simply gullible.

[6:1]  ¹⁵ tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[6:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “struck your hands”; NIV “have struck hands in pledge”; NASB “have given a pledge.” The guarantee of a pledge was signaled by a handshake (e.g., 11:15; 17:18; 22:26).

[6:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “stranger.” The term זוּר (zur, “stranger”) probably refers to a neighbor who was not well-known. Alternatively, it could describe a person who is living outside the norms of convention, a moral misfit in the community. In any case, this “stranger” is a high risk in any financial arrangement.

[19:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Stop listening…!” The infinitive construct לִשְׁמֹעַ (lishmoa’) functions as the direct object of the imperative: “stop heeding [or, listening to].” Of course in this proverb which shows the consequences of doing so, this is irony. The sage is instructing not to stop. The conditional protasis construction does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation.

[19:27]  ¹⁹ tn The second line has an infinitive construct לִשְׁגוֹת (lishgot), meaning “to stray; to go astray; to err.” It indicates the result of the instruction – stop listening, and as a result you will go astray. The LXX took it differently: “A son who ceases to attend to discipline is likely to stray from words of knowledge.” RSV sees the final clause as the purpose of the instructions to be avoided: “do not listen to instructions to err.”