Amsal 3:15

3:15 She is more precious than rubies,

and none of the things ¹  you desire ²  can compare ³  with her. ⁴ 

Amsal 3:18

3:18 She is like ⁵  a tree of life ⁶  to those who obtain her, ⁷ 

and everyone who grasps hold of her will be blessed. ⁸ 

Amsal 4:13

4:13 Hold on to instruction, ⁹  do not let it go;

protect it, ¹⁰  because it is your life.

Amsal 7:11

7:11 (She is loud and rebellious,

she ¹¹  does not remain ¹²  at home –

Amsal 10:22

10:22 The blessing ¹³  from the Lord ¹⁴  makes a person rich, ¹⁵ 

and he adds no sorrow ¹⁶  to ¹⁷  it.

Amsal 10:24

10:24 What the wicked fears ¹⁸  will come on him;

what the righteous desire ¹⁹  will be granted. ²⁰ 

Amsal 18:13

18:13 The one who gives an answer ²¹  before he listens ²²  –

that is his folly and his shame. ²³ 

Amsal 19:21

19:21 There are many plans ²⁴  in a person’s mind, ²⁵ 

but it ²⁶  is the counsel ²⁷  of the Lord which will stand.

Amsal 23:28

23:28 Indeed, she lies in wait like a robber, ²⁸ 

and increases the unfaithful ²⁹  among men. ³⁰ 

[3:15]  ¹ tn Heb “all of your desires cannot compare with her.”

[3:15]  ² tn Heb “your desires.” The 2nd person masculine singular suffix on the noun probably functions as subjective genitive.

[3:15]  ³ tn The imperfect tense verb יָסַד (yasad, “to establish be like; to resemble”) has a potential nuance here: “can be compared with.”

[3:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “All of your desires do not compare with her.”

[3:18]  ⁵ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[3:18]  ⁶ sn The metaphor compares wisdom to the symbol of vitality and fullness of life. This might be an allusion to Gen 3:22, suggesting that what was lost as a result of the Fall may be recovered through wisdom: long and beneficial life (R. Marcus, “The Tree of Life in Proverbs,” JBL 62 [1943]: 117-20).

[3:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “lay hold of her.”

[3:18]  ⁸ tn The singular participle מְאֻשָּׁר (mÿ’ushar, literally, “he will be blessed”) functions as a distributive singular for a plural subject (GKC 464 §145.l): “each and everyone will be blessed.” Not recognizing this point of syntax, the BHS editors unnecessarily suggest emending this singular form to the plural.

[4:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “discipline.”

[4:13]  ¹⁰ tn The form נִצְּרֶהָ (nitsÿreha, from נָצַר, natsar) has an anomalous doubled letter (see GKC 73 §20.h).

[7:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “her feet.” This is a synecdoche, a part for the whole; the point is that she never stays home, but is out and about all the time.

[7:11]  ¹² tn Heb “dwell” or “settle”; NAB “her feet cannot rest.”

[10:22]  ¹³ tn The term בְּרָכָּה (bÿrakhah, “blessing”) refers to a gift, enrichment or endowment from the Lord.

[10:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions here as a genitive of source.

[10:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “makes rich” (so NASB); NAB “brings wealth.” The direct object “a person” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the Hiphil verb; it is supplied in the translation.

[10:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “toil.” The noun עֶצֶב (’etsev) has a basic two-fold range of meanings: (1) “toil; labor” which produces pain and sorrow, and (2) “pain; sorrow” which is the result of toil and labor (BDB 780 s.v.). This is the word used of the curse of “toil” in man’s labor (Gen 3:17) and the “pain” in the woman’s child-bearing (Gen 3:16). God’s blessing is pure and untarnished – it does not bring physical pain or emotional sorrow.

[10:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “with.”

[10:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the dread of the wicked.” The noun רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) is a subjective genitive. The noun מְגוֹרַת (mÿgorat) refers to “the feared thing,” that is, what the wicked dread. The wicked are afraid of the consequences of their sinful actions; however, they cannot escape these consequences.

[10:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the desire of the righteous.” The noun צַדִּיק (tsadiq, “righteous”) is a subjective genitive.

[10:24]  ²⁰ tn Heb “it will give.” When used without an expressed subject, the verb יִתֵּן (yitten) has a passive nuance: “it will be granted.”

[18:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “returns a word”; KJV “He that answereth a matter.”

[18:13]  ²² sn Poor listening and premature answering indicate that the person has a low regard for what the other is saying, or that he is too absorbed in his own ideas. The Mishnah lists this as the second characteristic of the uncultured person (m. Avot 5:7).

[18:13]  ²³ tn Heb “it is folly to him and shame.” The verse uses formal parallelism, with the second colon simply completing the thought of the first.

[19:21]  ²⁴ sn The plans (from the Hebrew verb חָשַׁב [khashav], “to think; to reckon; to devise”) in the human heart are many. But only those which God approves will succeed.

[19:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in the heart of a man” (cf. NAB, NIV). Here “heart” is used for the seat of thoughts, plans, and reasoning, so the translation uses “mind.” In contemporary English “heart” is more often associated with the seat of emotion than with the seat of planning and reasoning.

[19:21]  ²⁶ tn Heb “but the counsel of the Lord, it will stand.” The construction draws attention to the “counsel of the Lord”; it is an independent nominative absolute, and the resumptive independent pronoun is the formal subject of the verb.

[19:21]  ²⁷ tn The antithetical parallelism pairs “counsel” with “plans.” “Counsel of the Lord” (עֲצַת יְהוָה, ’atsat yehvah) is literally “advice” or “counsel” with the connotation of “plan” in this context (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT “purpose”; NCV “plan”; TEV “the Lord’s will”).

[19:21]  sn The point of the proverb is that the human being with many plans is uncertain, but the Lord with a sure plan gives correct counsel.

[23:28]  ²⁸ tn The noun חֶתֶף (khetef) is defined by BDB 369 s.v. as “prey,” but this is the only occurrence of the word. The related verb BDB 368-69 s.v. חָתַף defines as “to seize; to snatch away” (with an Aramaic cognate meaning “to break in pieces” [Pa], and an Arabic word “death”). But the only occurrence of that word is in Job 9:12, where it is defined as “seizes.” So in this passage the noun could have either a passive sense (what is seized = prey), or an active sense (the one who seizes = a robber, bandit). The traditional rendering is “prey” (KJV); most modern English versions have the active sense (“robber” or similar; cf. NIV “like a bandit”). Since the prepositional phrase (the simile) is modifying the woman, the active sense works better in the translation.

[23:28]  ²⁹ tn The participle means “unfaithful [men]” (masculine plural); it could also be interpreted as “unfaithfulness” in the abstract sense. M. Dahood interprets it to mean “garments” (which would have to be repointed), saying that she collects garments in pledge for her service (M. Dahood, “To Pawn One’s Cloak,” Bib 42 [1961]: 359-66). But that is far-fetched; it might have happened on occasion, but as a common custom it is unlikely. Besides that, the text in the MT makes perfectly good sense without such a change.

[23:28]  sn Such a woman makes more people prove unfaithful to the law of God through her practice.

[23:28]  ³⁰ sn Verses 26-28 comprise the seventeenth saying; it warns the young person to follow the instructions about temptations because there are plenty of temptresses lurking about.