Amsal 22:18

22:18 For it is pleasing if ¹  you keep these sayings ²  within you,

and ³  they are ready on your lips. ⁴ 

Amsal 24:14

24:14 Likewise, know ⁵  that wisdom is sweet ⁶  to your soul;

if you find it, ⁷  you will have a future, ⁸ 

and your hope will not be cut off.

[22:18]  ¹ tn Or “when” (so NIV).

[22:18]  ² tn Heb “keep them,” referring to the words of the wise expressed in these sayings. The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:18]  ³ tn The term “and” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation.

[22:18]  ⁴ sn If the teachings are preserved in the heart/mind of the disciple, then that individual will always be ready to speak what was retained.

[24:14]  ⁵ tn D. W. Thomas argues for a meaning of “seek” in place of “know” (“Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” JTS 38 [1937]: 400-403).

[24:14]  ⁶ tn The phrase “is sweet” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.

[24:14]  ⁷ tn The term “it” is supplied in the translation.

[24:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “there will be an end.” The word is אַחֲרִית (’akhrit, “after-part, end”). BDB 31 s.v. b says in a passage like this it means “a future,” i.e., a happy close of life, sometimes suggesting the idea of posterity promised to the righteous, often parallel to “hope.”