Amsal 2:9

2:9 Then you will understand ¹  righteousness and justice

and equity – every ²  good ³  way. ⁴ 

Amsal 4:7

4:7 Wisdom is supreme ⁵  – so ⁶  acquire wisdom,

and whatever you acquire, ⁷  acquire understanding! ⁸ 

Amsal 6:31

6:31 Yet ⁹  if he is caught ¹⁰  he must repay ¹¹  seven times over,

he might even have to give ¹²  all the wealth of his house.

Amsal 7:23

7:23 till an arrow pierces his liver ¹³  –

like a bird hurrying into a trap,

and he does not know that it will cost him his life. ¹⁴ 

Amsal 14:14

14:14 The backslider ¹⁵  will be paid back ¹⁶  from his own ways,

but a good person will be rewarded ¹⁷  for his.

Amsal 30:6

30:6 Do not add to his words,

lest he reprove you, and prove you to be a liar. ¹⁸ 

Amsal 30:8

30:8 Remove falsehood and lies ¹⁹  far from me;

do not give me poverty or riches,

feed me with my allotted portion ²⁰  of bread, ²¹ 

Amsal 30:20

30:20 This is the way ²²  of an adulterous ²³  woman:

she eats and wipes her mouth ²⁴ 

and says, “I have not done wrong.” ²⁵ 

[2:9]  ¹ tn Heb “discern.” See preceding note on בִּין (bin) in 2:5.

[2:9]  ² tn The phrase “every good way” functions appositionally to the preceding triad of righteous attributes, further explaining and defining them.

[2:9]  ³ tn Heb “every way of good.” The term טוֹב (tov, “good”) functions as an attributive genitive: “good way.”

[2:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “track”; KJV, NIV, NRSV “path.” The noun מַעְגַּל (ma’gal) is used (1) literally of “wagon-wheel track; firm path” and (2) figuratively (as a metaphor) to describe the course of life (Pss 17:5; 23:3; 140:6; Prov 2:9, 15, 18; 4:11, 26; 5:6, 21; Isa 26:7; 59:8; see BDB 722-23 s.v. 2; KBL 2:609). It is related to the feminine noun עֲגָלָה (’agalah, “cart”) and the verb עָגַל (’agal) “to be round” (Qal) and “to roll” (Niphal). As a wagon-wheel cuts a deep track in a much traversed dirt road, so a person falls into routines and habits that reveal his moral character. In Proverbs the “paths” of the righteous are characterized by uprightness and integrity.

[4:7]  ⁵ tn The absolute and construct state of רֵאשִׁית (re’shit) are identical (BDB 912 s.v.). Some treat רֵאשִׁית חָכְמָה (re’shit khokhmah) as a genitive-construct phrase: “the beginning of wisdom” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV). Others take רֵאשִׁית as an absolute functioning as predicate and חָכְמָה as the subject: “wisdom is the first/chief thing” (cf. KJV, ASV). The context here suggests the predicate.

[4:7]  ⁶ tn The term “so” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style.

[4:7]  ⁷ tn The noun קִנְיָן (qinyan) means “thing got or acquired; acquisition” (BDB 889 s.v.). With the preposition that denotes price, it means “with (or at the price of) all that you have acquired.” The point is that no price is too high for wisdom – give everything for it (K&D 16:108).

[4:7]  ⁸ tc The verse is not in the LXX; some textual critics delete the verse as an impossible gloss that interrupts vv. 6 and 8 (e.g., C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 88).

[6:31]  ⁹ tn The term “yet” is supplied in the translation.

[6:31]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “is found out.” The perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to the imperfect nuances. Here it introduces either a conditional or a temporal clause before the imperfect.

[6:31]  ¹¹ tn The imperfect tense has an obligatory nuance. The verb in the Piel means “to repay; to make restitution; to recompense”; cf. NCV, TEV, CEV “must pay back.”

[6:31]  ¹² tn This final clause in the section is somewhat cryptic. The guilty thief must pay back sevenfold what he stole, even if it means he must use the substance of his whole house. The verb functions as an imperfect of possibility: “he might even give.”

[7:23]  ¹³ sn The figure of an arrow piercing the liver (an implied comparison) may refer to the pangs of a guilty conscience that the guilty must reap along with the spiritual and physical ruin that follows (see on these expressions H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament).

[7:23]  ¹⁴ tn The expression that it is “for/about/over his life” means that it could cost him his life (e.g., Num 16:38). Alternatively, the line could refer to moral corruption and social disgrace rather than physical death – but this would not rule out physical death too.

[14:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a turning away of heart.” The genitive לֵב (lev, “heart”) functions as an attributive adjective: “a backslidden heart.” The term סוּג (sug) means “to move away; to move backwards; to depart; to backslide” (BDB 690 s.v. I סוּג). This individual is the one who backslides, that is, who departs from the path of righteousness.

[14:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will be filled”; cf. KJV, ASV. The verb (“to be filled, to be satisfied”) here means “to be repaid,” that is, to partake in his own evil ways. His faithlessness will come back to haunt him.

[14:14]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase “will be rewarded” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[30:6]  ¹⁸ tn The form of the verb is a Niphal perfect tense with a vav consecutive from the root כָּזַב (kazav, “to lie”). In this stem it has the ideas of “been made deceptive,” or “shown to be false” or “proved to be a liar.” One who adds to or changes the word of the Lord will be seen as a liar.

[30:8]  ¹⁹ tn The two words might form a hendiadys: “falsehood and lies” being equivalent to “complete deception.” The word שָׁוְא means “false; empty; vain; to a false purpose.” The second word means “word of lying,” thus “a lying word.” Taken separately they might refer to false intentions and false words.

[30:8]  ²⁰ tn The word חֹק (khoq) means “statute”; it is also used of a definite assignment in labor (Exod 5:14; Prov 31:15), or of a set portion of food (Gen 47:22). Here it refers to food that is the proper proportion for the speaker.

[30:8]  ²¹ sn Agur requested an honest life (not deceitful) and a balanced life (not self-sufficient). The second request about his provision is clarified in v. 9.

[30:20]  ²² sn Equally amazing is the insensitivity of the adulterous woman to the sin. The use of the word “way” clearly connects this and the preceding material. Its presence here also supports the interpretation of the final clause in v. 19 as referring to sexual intimacy. While that is a wonder of God’s creation, so is the way that human nature has distorted it and ruined it.

[30:20]  ²³ sn The word clearly indicates that the woman is married and unchaste; but the text describes her as amoral as much as immoral – she sees nothing wrong with what she does.

[30:20]  ²⁴ sn The acts of “eating” and “wiping her mouth” are euphemistic; they employ an implied comparison between the physical act of eating and wiping one’s mouth afterward on the one hand with sexual activity on the other hand (e.g., Prov 9:17).

[30:20]  ²⁵ sn This is the amazing part of the observation. It is one thing to sin, for everyone sins, but to dismiss the act of adultery so easily, as if it were no more significant than a meal, is incredibly brazen.