Amsal 4:2

4:2 Because I give ¹  you good instruction, ² 

do not forsake my teaching.

Amsal 6:13

6:13 he winks with his eyes,

signals with his feet,

and points with his fingers; ³ 

Amsal 18:13

18:13 The one who gives an answer ⁴  before he listens ⁵  –

that is his folly and his shame. ⁶ 

Amsal 18:16

18:16 A person’s gift ⁷  makes room for him,

and leads him ⁸  before important people.

[4:2]  ¹ tn The perfect tense has the nuance of instantaneous perfect; the sage is now calling the disciples to listen. It could also be a perfect of resolve, indicating what he is determined to do.

[4:2]  ² tn The word לֶקַח (leqakh, “instruction”) can be subjective (instruction acquired) or objective (the thing being taught). The latter fits best here.

[6:13]  ³ sn The sinister sign language and gestures of the perverse individual seem to indicate any kind of look or gesture that is put on and therefore a form of deception if not a way of making insinuations. W. McKane suggests from the presence of חֹרֵשׁ (khoresh) in v. 14 that there may be some use of magic here (Proverbs [OTL], 325).

[18:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “returns a word”; KJV “He that answereth a matter.”

[18:13]  ⁵ sn Poor listening and premature answering indicate that the person has a low regard for what the other is saying, or that he is too absorbed in his own ideas. The Mishnah lists this as the second characteristic of the uncultured person (m. Avot 5:7).

[18:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “it is folly to him and shame.” The verse uses formal parallelism, with the second colon simply completing the thought of the first.

[18:16]  ⁷ sn The Hebrew term translated “gift” is a more general term than “bribe” (שֹׁחַד, shokhad), used in 17:8, 23. But it also has danger (e.g., 15:27; 21:14), for by giving gifts one might learn how influential they are and use them for bribes. The proverb simply states that a gift can expedite matters.

[18:16]  ⁸ sn The two verbs here show a progression, helping to form the synthetic parallelism. The gift first “makes room” (יַרְחִיב, yarkhiv) for the person, that is, extending a place for him, and then “ushers him in” (יַנְחֵנּוּ, yakhenu) among the greats.