Amsal 8:22

8:22 The Lord created ¹  me as the beginning ²  of his works, ³ 

before his deeds of long ago.

Amsal 10:2

10:2 Treasures gained by wickedness ⁴  do not profit,

but righteousness ⁵  delivers from mortal danger. ⁶ 

Amsal 14:6

14:6 The scorner ⁷  seeks wisdom but finds none, ⁸ 

but understanding is easy ⁹  for a discerning person.

Amsal 21:15

21:15 Doing ¹⁰  justice brings ¹¹  joy to the righteous

and terror ¹²  to those who do evil.

Amsal 22:2

22:2 The rich and the poor meet together; ¹³ 

the Lord is the creator of them both. ¹⁴ 

Amsal 26:8

26:8 Like tying a stone in a sling, ¹⁵ 

so is giving honor to a fool.

Amsal 27:13

27:13 Take a man’s ¹⁶  garment when he has given security for a stranger,

and when he gives surety for a stranger, ¹⁷  hold him in pledge. ¹⁸ 

[8:22]  ¹ tn There are two roots קָנָה (qanah) in Hebrew, one meaning “to possess,” and the other meaning “to create.” The earlier English versions did not know of the second root, but suspected in certain places that a meaning like that was necessary (e.g., Gen 4:1; 14:19; Deut 32:6). Ugaritic confirmed that it was indeed another root. The older versions have the translation “possess” because otherwise it sounds like God lacked wisdom and therefore created it at the beginning. They wanted to avoid saying that wisdom was not eternal. Arius liked the idea of Christ as the wisdom of God and so chose the translation “create.” Athanasius translated it, “constituted me as the head of creation.” The verb occurs twelve times in Proverbs with the meaning of “to acquire”; but the Greek and the Syriac versions have the meaning “create.” Although the idea is that wisdom existed before creation, the parallel ideas in these verses (“appointed,” “given birth”) argue for the translation of “create” or “establish” (R. N. Whybray, “Proverbs 8:22-31 and Its Supposed Prototypes,” VT 15 [1965]: 504-14; and W. A. Irwin, “Where Will Wisdom Be Found?” JBL 80 [1961]: 133-42).

[8:22]  ² tn Verbs of creation often involve double accusatives; here the double accusative involves the person (i.e., wisdom) and an abstract noun in construct (IBHS 174-75 §10.2.3c).

[8:22]  ³ tn Heb “his way” (so KJV, NASB). The word “way” is an idiom (implied comparison) for the actions of God.

[8:22]  sn The claim of wisdom in this passage is that she was foundational to all that God would do.

[10:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “treasures of wickedness” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “Ill-gotten gains”; TEV “Wealth that you get by dishonesty.”

[10:2]  ⁵ sn The term “righteousness” here means honesty (cf. TEV). Wealth has limited value even if gained honestly; but honesty delivers from mortal danger.

[10:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “death.” This could refer to literal death, but it is probably figurative here for mortal danger or ruin.

[14:6]  ⁷ sn The “scorner” (לֵץ, lets) is intellectually arrogant; he lacks any serious interest in knowledge or religion. He pursues wisdom in a superficial way so that he can appear wise. The acquisition of wisdom is conditioned by one’s attitude toward it (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 149).

[14:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “and there is not.”

[14:6]  ⁹ sn The Niphal of קָלַל (qalal) means “to appear light; to appear trifling; to appear easy.”

[21:15]  ¹⁰ tn The Qal infinitive construct עֲשׂוֹת (’asot) functions as the subject of the sentence.

[21:15]  ¹¹ tn The term “brings” is supplied in the translation; many English versions supply a simple copula (“is”).

[21:15]  ¹² sn The noun means “terror (NAB, NASB, NIV), destruction (KJV, ASV), ruin (cf. NCV).” Its related verb means “be shattered, dismayed.” The idea of “dismay” (NRSV) or “terror” would make the better choice to contrast with “joy” in the first line, but “ruin” is also possible. Whenever justice prevails, whether in the courts or simply in society, the people who practice iniquity may be shaken into reality by fear (cf. CEV “crooks are terrified”).

[22:2]  ¹³ tn The form of the verb is the Niphal perfect of פָּגַשׁ (pagash); it means “to meet together [or, each other]” (cf. KJV, ASV). The point is that rich and poor live side by side in this life, but they are both part of God’s creation (cf. NAB, NASB “have a common bond”). Some commentators have taken this to mean that they should live together because they are part of God’s creation; but the verb form will not sustain that meaning.

[22:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all.” The Lord is sovereign over both groups, that is, he has had the final say whether a person is rich or poor. People would do well to treat all people with respect, for God can as easily reduce the rich to poverty as raise up the poor to wealth.

[26:8]  ¹⁵ tn The translation “like tying a stone in a sling” seems to make the most sense, even though the word for “sling” occurs only here.

[26:8]  sn The point is that only someone who does not know how a sling works would do such a stupid thing (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 152). So to honor a fool would be absurd; it would be counterproductive, for he would still be a fool.

[27:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “his garment.”

[27:13]  ¹⁷ tn Or “for a strange (= adulterous) woman.” Cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NLT; NIV “a wayward woman.”

[27:13]  ¹⁸ tn This proverb is virtually identical to 20:16.