Amsal 7:1-3

Admonition to Avoid the Wiles of the Adulteress ¹ 

7:1 My child, ²  keep my words

and treasure up my commands in your own keeping. ³ 

7:2 Keep my commands ⁴  so that you may live, ⁵ 

and obey ⁶  my instruction as your most prized possession. ⁷ 

7:3 Bind them on your forearm; ⁸ 

write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁹ 

Amsal 22:18

22:18 For it is pleasing if ¹⁰  you keep these sayings ¹¹  within you,

and ¹²  they are ready on your lips. ¹³ 

Yesaya 55:8-9

55:8 “Indeed, ¹⁴  my plans ¹⁵  are not like ¹⁶  your plans,

and my deeds ¹⁷  are not like ¹⁸  your deeds,

55:9 for just as the sky ¹⁹  is higher than the earth,

so my deeds ²⁰  are superior to ²¹  your deeds

and my plans ²²  superior to your plans.

Yeremia 15:16

15:16 As your words came to me I drank them in, ²³ 

and they filled my heart with joy and happiness

because I belong to you. ²⁴ 

Roma 12:2

12:2 Do not be conformed ²⁵  to this present world, ²⁶  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve ²⁷  what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Kolose 3:16

3:16 Let the word of Christ ²⁸  dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace ²⁹  in your hearts to God.

[7:1]  ¹ sn The chapter begins with the important teaching of the father (1-5), then it focuses on the seduction: first of the victim (6-9), then the temptress (10-12), then the seduction (13-20), and the capitulation (21-23); the chapter concludes with the deadly results of consorting (24-27).

[7:1]  ² tn Heb “my son.”

[7:1]  ³ tn Heb “within you” (so NASB, NIV); KJV, ASV, NRSV “with you.” BDB 860 s.v. צָפַן Qal.1 suggests that “within you” means “in your own keeping.”

[7:2]  ⁴ tc Before v. 2 the LXX inserts: “My son, fear the Lord and you will be strong, and besides him, fear no other.” Although this addition has the precedent of 3:7 and 9 and harmonizes with 14:26, it does not fit here; the advice is to listen to the teacher.

[7:2]  ⁵ tn The construction of an imperative with the vav (ו) of sequence after another imperative denotes a logical sequence of purpose or result: “that you may live,” or “and you will live.”

[7:2]  ⁶ tn The term “obey” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied for the sake of clarity and smoothness. Some English versions, in light of the second line of v. 1, supply “guard” (e.g., NIV, NCV, NLT).

[7:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “the little man in your eye.” Traditionally this Hebrew idiom is translated into English as “the apple of your eye” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); a more contemporary rendering would be “as your most prized possession.” The word for “man” has the diminutive ending on it. It refers to the pupil, where the object focused on – a man – is reflected in miniature. The point is that the teaching must be the central focus of the disciple’s vision and attention.

[7:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “fingers” (so KJV and many other English versions). In light of Deut 6:8, “fingers” appears to be a metonymy for the lower part of the arm.

[7:3]  ⁹ sn This is an allusion to Deut 6:8. Binding the teachings on the fingers and writing them on the tablets here are implied comparisons for preserving the teaching in memory so that it can be recalled and used with ease.

[22:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “when” (so NIV).

[22:18]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn The term “and” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation.

[22:18]  ¹³ 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.

[55:8]  ¹⁴ tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV).

[55:8]  ¹⁵ tn Or “thoughts” (so many English versions).

[55:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “are not.” “Like” is interpretive, but v. 9 indicates that a comparison is in view.

[55:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “ways” (so many English versions).

[55:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “are not.” “Like” is interpretive, but v. 9 indicates that a comparison is in view.

[55:9]  ¹⁹ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[55:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “ways” (so many English versions).

[55:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “are higher than.”

[55:9]  ²² tn Or “thoughts” (so many English versions).

[15:16]  ²³ sn Heb “Your words were found and I ate them.” This along with Ezek 2:8–3:3 is a poetic picture of inspiration. The prophet accepted them, assimilated them, and made them such a part of himself that he spoke with complete assurance what he knew were God’s words.

[15:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Your name is called upon me.”

[15:16]  sn See Jer 14:9 where this idiom is applied to Israel as a whole and Jer 7:10 where it is applied to the temple. For discussion cf. notes on 7:10.

[12:2]  ²⁵ tn Although συσχηματίζεσθε (suschmatizesqe) could be either a passive or middle, the passive is more likely since it would otherwise have to be a direct middle (“conform yourselves”) and, as such, would be quite rare for NT Greek. It is very telling that being “conformed” to the present world is viewed as a passive notion, for it may suggest that it happens, in part, subconsciously. At the same time, the passive could well be a “permissive passive,” suggesting that there may be some consciousness of the conformity taking place. Most likely, it is a combination of both.

[12:2]  ²⁶ tn Grk “to this age.”

[12:2]  ²⁷ sn The verb translated test and approve (δοκιμάζω, dokimazw) carries the sense of “test with a positive outcome,” “test so as to approve.”

[3:16]  ²⁸ tc Since “the word of Christ” occurs nowhere else in the NT, two predictable variants arose: “word of God” and “word of the Lord.” Even though some of the witnesses for these variants are impressive (κυρίου [kuriou, “of the Lord”] in א* I 1175 pc bo; θεοῦ [qeou, “of God”] in A C* 33 104 323 945 al), the reading Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “of Christ”) is read by an excellent cross-section of witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א² B C² D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï lat sa). On both internal and external grounds, Χριστοῦ is strongly preferred.

[3:16]  ²⁹ tn Grk “with grace”; “all” is supplied as it is implicitly related to all the previous instructions in the verse.