Amsal 3:21

3:21 My child, do not let them ¹  escape from your sight;

safeguard sound wisdom and discretion. ² 

Amsal 4:1

Admonition to Follow Righteousness and Avoid Wickedness ³ 

4:1 Listen, children, ⁴  to a father’s instruction, ⁵ 

and pay attention so that ⁶  you may gain ⁷  discernment.

Amsal 20:8

20:8 A king sitting on the throne to judge ⁸ 

separates out ⁹  all evil with his eyes. ¹⁰ 

Amsal 27:1

27:1 Do not boast ¹¹  about tomorrow; ¹² 

for you do not know ¹³  what a day may bring forth.

Amsal 28:22

28:22 The stingy person ¹⁴  hastens after riches

and does not know that poverty will overtake him. ¹⁵ 

[3:21]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Or: “purpose,” “power of devising.”

[4:1]  ³ sn The chapter includes an exhortation to acquire wisdom (1-4a), a list of the benefits of wisdom (4b-9), a call to pursue a righteous lifestyle (10-13), a warning against a wicked lifestyle (14-19), and an exhortation to righteousness (20-27).

[4:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “sons.”

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “discipline.”

[4:1]  ⁶ tn The Qal infinitive construct with preposition ל (lamed) indicates the purpose/result of the preceding imperative.

[4:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “know” (so KJV, ASV).

[20:8]  ⁸ tn The infinitive construct is דִּין; it indicates purpose, “to judge” (so NIV, NCV) even though it does not have the preposition with it.

[20:8]  ⁹ tn The second line uses the image of winnowing (cf. NIV, NRSV) to state that the king’s judgment removes evil from the realm. The verb form is מִזָרֶה (mÿzareh), the Piel participle. It has been translated “to sift; to winnow; to scatter” and “to separate” – i.e., separate out evil from the land. The text is saying that a just government roots out evil (cf. NAB “dispels all evil”), but few governments have been consistently just.

[20:8]  ¹⁰ sn The phrase with his eyes indicates that the king will closely examine or look into all the cases that come before him.

[27:1]  ¹¹ tn The form אַל־תִּתְהַלֵּל (’al-tithallel) is the Hitpael jussive negated; it is from the common verb “to praise,” and so in this setting means “to praise oneself” or “to boast.”

[27:1]  sn The verse rules out one’s overconfident sense of ability to control the future. No one can presume on the future.

[27:1]  ¹² sn The word “tomorrow” is a metonymy of subject, meaning what will be done tomorrow, or in the future in general.

[27:1]  ¹³ sn The expression “you do not know” balances the presumption of the first line, reminding the disciple of his ignorance and therefore his need for humility (e.g., Matt 6:34; Luke 12:20; Jas 4:13-16).

[28:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a man with an evil eye” (as opposed to the generous man who has a “good” eye). This individual is selfish, unkind, unsympathetic to others. He looks only to his own gain. Cf. NAB “The avaricious man”; NLT “A greedy person.”

[28:22]  ¹⁵ sn The one who is hasty to gain wealth is involved in sin in some way, for which he will be punished by poverty. The idea of “hastening” after riches suggests a dishonest approach to acquiring wealth.