Amsal 8:31

8:31 rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, ¹ 

and delighting ²  in its people. ³ 

Amsal 17:8

17:8 A bribe works like ⁴  a charm ⁵  for the one who offers it; ⁶ 

in whatever he does ⁷  he succeeds. ⁸ 

Amsal 21:20

21:20 There is desirable treasure and olive oil ⁹  in the dwelling of the wise,

but a foolish person ¹⁰  devours all he has. ¹¹ 

Amsal 22:4

22:4 The reward ¹²  for humility ¹³  and fearing the Lord ¹⁴ 

is riches and honor and life.

[8:31]  ¹ tn The two words are synonymous in general and so could be taken to express a superlative idea – the “whole world” (cf. NIV, NCV). But תֵּבֵל (tevel) also means the inhabited world, and so the construct may be interpreted as a partitive genitive.

[8:31]  ² tn Heb “and my delights” [were] with/in.”

[8:31]  ³ tn Heb “the sons of man.”

[17:8]  ⁴ tn The phrase “works like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[17:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “a stone of favors”; NAB, NRSV “a magic stone.” The term שֹׁחַד (shokhad, “bribe”) could be simply translated as “a gift”; but the second half of the verse says that the one who offers it is successful. At best it could be a gift that opens doors; at worst it is a bribe. The word שֹׁחַד is never used of a disinterested gift, so there is always something of the bribe in it (e.g., Ps 15:5; Isa 1:23). Here it is “a stone that brings favor,” the genitive being the effect or the result of the gift. In other words, it has magical properties and “works like a charm.”

[17:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the eyes of its owner.”

[17:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “in all that he turns”; NASB, NIV “wherever he turns.”

[17:8]  ⁸ sn As C. H. Toy points out, the sage is merely affirming a point without making a comment – those who use bribery meet with widespread success (Proverbs [ICC], 341). This does not amount to an endorsement of bribery.

[21:20]  ⁹ tn The mention of “olive oil” (שֶׁמֶן, shemen) is problematic in the line – how can a fool devour it? Several attempts have been made to alleviate the problem. The NIV interprets “treasure” as “choice food,” so that food and oil would make more sense being swallowed. C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 406) suggests dropping “oil” altogether based on the reading in the LXX, but the Greek is too general for any support: It has “precious treasure will rest on the mouth of the sage.” W. McKane wants to change “oil” to an Arabic word “expensive” to read “desirable and rare wealth” (Proverbs [OTL], 552), but this idea does not match the metaphor any better. The figure of “devouring” in the second line simply means the fool uses up whatever he has.

[21:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a fool of a man.”

[21:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he swallows it.” The imagery compares swallowing food with consuming one’s substance. The fool does not prepare for the future.

[22:4]  ¹² tn The Hebrew term עֵקֶב (’eqev, “reward”) is related to the term meaning “heel”; it refers to the consequences or the reward that follows (akin to the English expression “on the heels of”).

[22:4]  ¹³ tn “Humility” is used here in the religious sense of “piety”; it is appropriately joined with “the fear of the Lord.” Some commentators, however, make “the fear of the Lord” the first in the series of rewards for humility, but that arrangement is less likely here.

[22:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord.” This is an objective genitive; the Lord is the object of the fear.