Amsal 4:25

4:25 Let your eyes look directly ¹  in front of you

and let your gaze ²  look straight before you.

Amsal 8:25

8:25 before the mountains were set in place –

before the hills – I was born,

Amsal 14:11

14:11 The household ³  of the wicked will be destroyed,

but the tent ⁴  of the upright will flourish.

Amsal 15:22

15:22 Plans fail ⁵  when there is no counsel,

but with abundant advisers they are established. ⁶ 

Amsal 16:3

16:3 Commit ⁷  your works ⁸  to the Lord,

and your plans will be established. ⁹ 

Amsal 16:9

16:9 A person ¹⁰  plans his course, ¹¹ 

but the Lord directs ¹²  his steps. ¹³ 

Amsal 22:12

22:12 The eyes of the Lord ¹⁴  guard knowledge, ¹⁵ 

but he overthrows the words of the faithless person. ¹⁶ 

Amsal 24:3

24:3 By ¹⁷  wisdom a house is built, ¹⁸ 

and through understanding it is established;

[4:25]  ¹ tn The jussives in this verse are both Hiphil, the first from the verb “to gaze; to look intently [or, carefully],” (נָבַט, navat) and the second from the verb “to be smooth, straight” (יָשָׁר, yashar).

[4:25]  ² tn Heb “your eyelids.” The term “eyelids” is often a poetic synonym for “eye” (it is a metonymy of adjunct, something connected with the eye put for the eye that sees); it may intensify the idea as one might squint to gain a clearer look.

[14:11]  ³ tn Heb “house.” The term “house” is a metonymy of subject, referring to their contents: families and family life.

[14:11]  sn Personal integrity ensures domestic stability and prosperity, while lack of such integrity (= wickedness) will lead to the opposite.

[14:11]  ⁴ tn The term “tent” is a metonymy here referring to the contents of the tent: families.

[15:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “go wrong” (so NRSV, NLT). The verb is the Hiphil infinitive absolute from פָּרַר, parar, which means “to break; to frustrate; to go wrong” (HALOT 975 s.v. I פרר 2). The plans are made ineffectual or are frustrated when there is insufficient counsel.

[15:22]  ⁶ sn The proverb says essentially the same thing as 11:14, but differently.

[16:3]  ⁷ tc The MT reads גֹּל (gol, “commit”) from the root גָּלַל (galal, “to roll”). The LXX and Tg. Prov 16:3 have “reveal” as if the root were גָּלָה (galah, “to reveal”).

[16:3]  tn Heb “roll.” The verb גֹּל (“to commit”) is from the root גָּלַל (“to roll”). The figure of rolling (an implied comparison or hypocatastasis), as in rolling one’s burdens on the Lord, is found also in Pss 22:8 [9]; 37:5; and 55:22. It portrays complete dependence on the Lord. This would be accomplished with a spirit of humility and by means of diligent prayer, but the plan must also have God’s approval.

[16:3]  ⁸ tn The suffix on the plural noun would be a subjective genitive: “the works you are doing,” or here, “the works that you want to do.”

[16:3]  ⁹ tn The syntax of the second clause shows that there is subordination: The vav on וְיִכֹּנוּ (vÿyikonu) coming after the imperative of the first clause expresses that this clause is the purpose or result. People should commit their works in order that the Lord may establish them. J. H. Greenstone says, “True faith relieves much anxiety and smoothens many perplexities” (Proverbs, 172).

[16:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the heart of a man.” This stresses that it is within the heart that plans are made. Only those plans that are approved by God will succeed.

[16:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his way” (so KJV, NASB).

[16:9]  ¹² tn The verb כּוּן (kun, “to establish; to confirm”) with צַעַד (tsa’ad, “step”) means “to direct” (e.g., Ps 119:133; Jer 10:23). This contrasts what people plan and what actually happens – God determines the latter.

[16:9]  ¹³ sn “Steps” is an implied comparison, along with “way,” to indicate the events of the plan as they work out.

[22:12]  ¹⁴ sn The “eyes of the Lord” is an anthropomorphic expression; the omniscience of God is the intended meaning. When scripture uses the “eyes” of the Lord, it usually means evaluation, superintending, or safeguarding.

[22:12]  ¹⁵ tn There is a slight difficulty in that the abstract noun “knowledge” is used nowhere else in the book of Proverbs with the word “watch.” C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 418) wants to make a major change to read “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,” but there is no support for this and it reduces the line to a common idea. D. W. Thomas suggests changing the word “knowledge” to “lawsuit” based on an Arabic cognate (“A Note on דַּעַת in Proverbs 22:12,” JTS 14 [1963]: 93-94).

[22:12]  ¹⁶ tn The object of the verb is the “words of the traitor” (בֹגֵד דִּבְרֵי, divre voged); cf. NASB “the words of the treacherous man.” What treacherous people say is treachery. In this context “traitor, treacherous” refers to one who is “unfaithful” (cf. NIV).

[22:12]  sn The proverb affirms that God in safeguarding true knowledge will frustrate deception from faithless people – what they say will not have its intended effect.

[24:3]  ¹⁷ tn The preposition בְּ (bet, “by; through”) in these two lines indicates means.

[24:3]  ¹⁸ sn The twentieth saying, vv. 3-4, concerns the use of wisdom for domestic enterprises. In Prov 9:1 wisdom was personified as a woman who builds a house; but here the emphasis is primarily on the building – it is a sign of security and prosperity (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 442). One could still make a secondary application from this line for a household or “family” (cf. NCV, which sees this as a reference to the family).