Amsal 6:32

6:32 A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom, ¹ 

whoever does it destroys his own life. ² 

Amsal 7:7

7:7 and I saw among the naive –

I discerned among the youths ³  –

a young man ⁴  who lacked wisdom. ⁵ 

Amsal 8:5

8:5 You who are naive, discern ⁶  wisdom!

And you fools, understand discernment! ⁷ 

Amsal 9:4

9:4 “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”

she says ⁸  to those ⁹  who lack understanding. ¹⁰ 

Amsal 9:16

9:16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here,”

she says to those who lack understanding. ¹¹ 

[6:32]  ¹ tn Heb “heart.” The term “heart” is used as a metonymy of association for discernment, wisdom, good sense. Cf. NAB “is a fool”; NIV “lacks judgment”; NCV, NRSV “has no sense.”

[6:32]  ² tn Heb “soul.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a metonymy of association for “life” (BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).

[7:7]  ³ tn Heb “sons.”

[7:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “lad” or “youth.”

[7:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “heart.”

[7:7]  sn This young man who lacked wisdom is one of the simpletons, lacking keen judgment, one void of common sense (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT) or understanding (cf. KJV, ASV). He is young, inexperienced, featherbrained (so D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 75).

[8:5]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “heart.” The noun לֵב (lev, “heart”) often functions metonymically for wisdom, understanding, discernment.

[9:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “lacking of heart she says to him.” The pronominal suffix is a resumptive pronoun, meaning, “she says to the lacking of heart.”

[9:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “him.”

[9:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “heart”; cf. NIV “to those who lack judgment.”

[9:16]  ¹¹ tn This expression is almost identical to v. 4, with the exception of the addition of conjunctions in the second colon: “and the lacking of understanding and she says to him.” The parallel is deliberate, of course, showing the competing appeals for those passing by.