Amsal 4:20-22

4:20 My child, pay attention to my words;

listen attentively ¹  to my sayings.

4:21 Do not let them depart ²  from your sight,

guard ³  them within your heart; ⁴ 

4:22 for they are life to those who find them

and healing to one’s entire body. ⁵ 

Amsal 3:21-22

3:21 My child, do not let them ⁶  escape from your sight;

safeguard sound wisdom and discretion. ⁷ 

3:22 So ⁸  they will give ⁹  life to you, ¹⁰ 

and grace to adorn ¹¹  your neck. ¹² 

[4:20]  ¹ tn Heb “incline your ear.” The verb הַט (hat) is the Hiphil imperative from נָטָה (natah, Hiphil: “to turn to; to incline”). The idiom “to incline the ear” gives the picture of “lean over and listen closely.”

[4:20]  sn Commentators note the use of the body in this section: ear (v. 20), eyes (v. 21), flesh (v. 22), heart (v. 23), lips (v. 24), eyes (v. 25), feet (v. 26), and hands and feet (v. 27). Each is a synecdoche of part representing the whole; the total accumulation signifies the complete person in the process.

[4:21]  ² tn The Hiphil form יַלִּיזוּ (yallizu) follows the Aramaic with gemination. The verb means “to turn aside; to depart” (intransitive Hiphil or inner causative).

[4:21]  ³ tn Or “keep” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV and many others).

[4:21]  ⁴ sn The words “eyes” and “heart” are metonymies of subject representing the faculties of each. Cf. CEV “think about it all.”

[4:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “to all of his flesh.”

[3:21]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Or: “purpose,” “power of devising.”

[3:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “and.” The vav probably denotes purpose/result.

[3:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “they will be.”

[3:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “your soul.” The noun נַפְשֶׁךָ (nafshekha, “your soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= inner soul) for the whole person (= you); see BDB 600 s.v. 4.a.2.

[3:22]  ¹¹ tn The phrase “to adorn” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[3:22]  ¹² tn Heb “grace for your neck.” See note on 1:9.