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Proverbs 1:8-9
New English Translation
Proverbs 1:8-9
New English Translation
8 Listen,[a] my child,[b] to the instruction[c] from[d] your father,
and do not forsake the teaching[e] from[f] your mother.
9 For they will be like[g] an elegant[h] garland[i] on[j] your head,
and like[k] pendants[l] around[m] your neck.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 1:8 tn The imperative שְׁמַע (shemaʿ, “Listen!”) forms an urgent exhortation which expects immediate compliance with parental instruction.
- Proverbs 1:8 tn Heb “my son.” It is likely that collections of proverbs grew up in the royal courts and were designed for the training of the youthful prince. But once the collection was included in the canon, the term “son” would be expanded to mean a disciple, for all the people were to learn wisdom when young. It would not be limited to sons alone but would include daughters—as the expression “the children of (בְּנֵי, bene) Israel” (including males and females) clearly shows. Several passages in the Mishnah and Talmud record instructions to teach daughters the Mosaic law so that they will be righteous and avoid sin as well. The translation “my child,” although not entirely satisfactory, will be used here.
- Proverbs 1:8 tn Heb “training” or “discipline.” See note on 1:2.
- Proverbs 1:8 tn Heb “of.” The noun אָבִיךָ (ʾavikha, “of your father”) may be classified as a genitive of source.
- Proverbs 1:8 tn Heb “instruction.” In Proverbs the noun תּוֹרָה (torah) often means “instruction” or “moral direction” rather than “law” (BDB 435 s.v. 1.a). It is related to יָרָה (yarah, “to point [or, show] the way” in the Hiphil (BDB 435). Instruction attempts to point a person in the right direction (e.g., Gen 46:28).
- Proverbs 1:8 tn Heb “of.” The noun אִמֶּךָ (ʾimmekha, “of your mother”) may be classified as a genitive of source.
- Proverbs 1:9 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
- Proverbs 1:9 tn Heb “a garland of grace.” The word חֵן (khen, “grace”) refers to qualities that make a person pleasant and agreeable, e.g., a gracious and charming person (BDB 336 s.v.). The metaphor compares the teachings that produce these qualities to an attractive wreath.
- Proverbs 1:9 tn The noun לִוְיַה (livyah, “wreath; garland”) refers to a headdress and appears only twice in the OT (Prov 1:9; 4:9; BDB 531 s.v.; HALOT 524 s.v.).
- Proverbs 1:9 tn Heb “for.”
- Proverbs 1:9 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
- Proverbs 1:9 tn Cf. KJV, ASV “chains”; NIV “a chain”; but this English term could suggest a prisoner’s chain to the modern reader rather than adornment.
- Proverbs 1:9 tn Heb “for.”
Proverbs 1:8-9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Proverbs 1:8-9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Warnings against Evil Companions
8 Hear, my child, your father’s instruction,
and do not reject your mother’s teaching,(A)
9 for they are a fair garland for your head
and pendants for your neck.(B)
Proverbs 6:20-23
New English Translation
Proverbs 6:20-23
New English Translation
20 My child,[a] guard the commands of your father
and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.
21 Bind them[b] on your heart[c] continually;
fasten them around your neck.
22 When you walk about,[d] they[e] will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up,[f] they will talk[g] to you.
23 For the commandments[h] are like[i] a lamp,[j]
instruction is like a light,
and rebukes of discipline are like[k] the road leading to life,[l]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:20 tn The text again has “my son.” In this passage perhaps “son” would be the most fitting because of the warning against the adulterous woman. However, since even in this particular folly the temptation works both ways, the general address to either young men or women is retained. Similar warnings would apply to daughters to be warned of smooth-talking, seductive men.
- Proverbs 6:21 sn The figures used here are hypocatastases (implied comparisons). There may also be an allusion to Deut 6 where the people were told to bind the law on their foreheads and arms. The point here is that the disciple will never be without these instructions. See further, P. W. Skehan, Studies in Israelite Poetry and Wisdom (CBQMS), 1-8.
- Proverbs 6:21 sn The Hebrew word לֵב (lev) “heart” includes the mind. Hebrew does not separate “heart knowledge” and “head knowledge.” While “heart” may convey a deep commitment, the “mind” is crucial to considering and adopting the instruction. To have the instruction “on your mind” is critical to the deliberate talking to oneself needed to conform to the instruction, to meditating on it and assimilating it into one’s world view.
- Proverbs 6:22 tn The verbal form is the Hitpael infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffixed subjective genitive to form a temporal clause. The term הָלַךְ (halakh) in this verbal stem means “to go about; to go to and fro.” The use of these terms in v. 22 also alludes to Deut 6:7.
- Proverbs 6:22 tn Heb “it will guide you.” The verb is singular and the instruction is the subject.
- Proverbs 6:22 tn Heb “Then you will wake up. It (the instruction) will talk to you.” In both of the preceding cola an infinitive construct was used for the temporal clauses. Now the construction uses a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. The verb verb “wake up” is consecutive to “lie down [to sleep].” But it is also the circumstance for the following verb “will talk,” so it is has been subordinated here as a temporal clause.
- Proverbs 6:22 sn The meaning of the verb שִׂיחַ (siakh) has been understood variously as meditating, considering, whispering, or talking (in praise or complaint); cf. TEV, NLT “advise you.” The picture here is that the person has been so dedicated to the instruction that it is the first thing that comes to mind upon waking. The words of instruction “bound on the mind/heart” in 6:21 become, in today’s terminology, the words of one’s self-talk.
- Proverbs 6:23 tn Heb “the commandment” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
- Proverbs 6:23 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
- Proverbs 6:23 sn The terms “lamp,” “light,” and “way” are all metaphors. The positive teachings and commandments will illumine or reveal to the disciple the way to life; the disciplinary correctives will provide guidance into fullness of life.
- Proverbs 6:23 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
- Proverbs 6:23 tn Heb “the way of life” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV, NLT “the way to life.” The noun “life” is a genitive following the construct “way.” It could be an attributive genitive modifying the kind of way/course of life that instruction provides, but it could also be objective in that the course of life followed would produce and lead to life.
Proverbs 6:20-23
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Proverbs 6:20-23
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
20 My child, keep your father’s commandment,
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(A)
21 Bind them upon your heart always;
tie them around your neck.(B)
22 When you walk, they[a] will lead you;
when you lie down, they[b] will watch over you;
and when you awake, they[c] will talk with you.(C)
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,(D)
Proverbs 10:1
New English Translation
Proverbs 10:1
New English Translation
The First Collection of Solomonic Proverbs[a]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Proverbs 10:1 sn Beginning with ch. 10 there is a difference in the form of the material contained in the book of Proverbs. No longer are there long admonitions, but the actual proverbs, short aphorisms dealing with right or wrong choices. Other than a few similar themes grouped together here and there, there is no arrangement to the material as a whole. It is a long collection of approximately 400 proverbs.
- Proverbs 10:1 tn Heb “son.”
- Proverbs 10:1 tn The imperfect tense describes progressive or habitual action, translated here with an English present tense. These fit the nature of proverbs which are general maxims, and not necessarily absolutes or universal truths. One may normally expect to find what the proverb notes, and one should live according to its instructions in the light of those expectations, but one should not be surprised if from time to time there is an exception. The fact that there may be an exception does not diminish the need to live by the sayings.
- Proverbs 10:1 tn Heb “son.”
- Proverbs 10:1 tn Heb “grief of his mother.” The noun “grief” is in construct, and “mother” is an objective genitive. The saying declares that the consequences of wisdom or folly affects the parents.
Proverbs 10:1
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Proverbs 10:1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Wise Sayings of Solomon
10 The proverbs of Solomon.
A wise child makes a glad father,
but a foolish child is a mother’s grief.(A)
Proverbs 11:29
New English Translation
Proverbs 11:29
New English Translation
29 The one who troubles[a] his family[b] will inherit nothing,[c]
and the fool[d] will be a servant to the wise person.[e]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 11:29 tn The verb עָכַר (ʿakhar, “to trouble”) refers to actions which make life difficult for one’s family (BDB 747 s.v.). He will be cut out of the family inheritance.
- Proverbs 11:29 tn Heb “his house.” The term בֵּית (bet, “house”) is a synecdoche of container (= house) for its contents (= family, household).
- Proverbs 11:29 tn Heb “the wind” (so KJV, NCV, NLT); NAB “empty air.” The word “wind” (רוּחַ, ruakh) refers to what cannot be grasped (Prov 27:16; Eccl 1:14, 17). The figure is a hypocatastasis, comparing wind to what he inherits—nothing he can put his hands on. Cf. CEV “won’t inherit a thing.”
- Proverbs 11:29 sn The “fool” here is the “troubler” of the first half. One who mismanages his affairs so badly so that there is nothing for the family may have to sell himself into slavery to the wise. The ideas of the two halves of the verse are complementary.
- Proverbs 11:29 tn Heb “the wise of mind.” The noun לֵב (lev, “mind, heart”) functions as a genitive of specification: “wise in the mind” or “wise-minded.” Cf. “wisehearted” NASB; “wise of heart” ESV, NKJV. The term לֵב represents the person in this case (a synecdoche of part for the whole) because it is the seat of thinking and wisdom; see BDB 525 s.v. 7.
Proverbs 11:29
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Proverbs 11:29
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
29 Those who trouble their households will inherit wind,
and the fool will be servant to the wise.
Proverbs 13:1
New English Translation
Proverbs 13:1
New English Translation
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 13:1 tc The MT reads “a wise son, discipline of a father.” Instead of מוּסָר (musar, “discipline”), G. R. Driver suggested reading this word as מְיֻסַּר (meyussar, “allows himself to be disciplined”); see his “Hebrew Notes on Prophets and Proverbs,” JTS 41 (1940): 174. A few Medieval Hebrew manuscripts, the LXX, and the Syriac read יִשְׁמַע (yishmaʿ) “a wise son listens to/obeys his father.” The translation, “accepts…discipline,” reflects the notion intended by either.
- Proverbs 13:1 sn The “scoffer” is the worst kind of fool. He has no respect for authority, reviles worship of God, and is unteachable because he thinks he knows it all. The change to a stronger word in the second colon—“rebuke” (גָּעַר, gaʿar)—shows that he does not respond to instruction on any level. Cf. NLT “a young mocker,” taking this to refer to the opposite of the “wise son” in the first colon.
- Proverbs 13:1 tn Heb “has not listened.” The perfect verb has been chosen to emphasize the past pattern of the scoffer.
Proverbs 13:1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Proverbs 13:1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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Footnotes
- 13.1 Cn: Heb A wise child the discipline of his father
Proverbs 15:5
New English Translation
Proverbs 15:5
New English Translation
5 A fool rejects his father’s discipline,
but whoever heeds reproof shows good sense.[a]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 15:5 tn Heb “is prudent” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NCV, NLT “is wise.” Anyone who accepts correction or rebuke will become prudent in life.
Proverbs 15:5
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Proverbs 15:5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
5 A fool despises a parent’s instruction,
but the one who heeds admonition is prudent.(A)
Proverbs 15:20
New English Translation
Proverbs 15:20
New English Translation
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 15:20 tn Heb “son.”
- Proverbs 15:20 tn Heb “a fool of a man,” a genitive of specification.
- Proverbs 15:20 sn The proverb is almost the same as 10:1, except that “despises” replaces “grief.” This adds the idea of the callousness of the one who inflicts grief on his mother (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 116).
Proverbs 15:20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Proverbs 15:20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
20 A wise child makes a glad father,
but the foolish despise their mothers.(A)
Proverbs 17:6
New English Translation
Proverbs 17:6
New English Translation
6 Grandchildren[a] are like[b] a crown[c] to the elderly,
and the glory[d] of children is their parents.[e]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 17:6 tn Heb “children of children [sons of sons].”
- Proverbs 17:6 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
- Proverbs 17:6 sn The metaphor signifies that grandchildren are like a crown, that is, they are the “crowning glory” of life. The proverb comes from a culture that places great importance on the family in society and that values its heritage.
- Proverbs 17:6 tn The noun תִּפְאָרָת (tifʾarat) means “beauty; glory” (BDB 802 s.v.). In this passage “glory” seems to be identified with “glorying; boasting”; so a rendering that children are proud of their parents would be in order. Thus, “glory of children” would be a subjective genitive, the glorying that children do.”
- Proverbs 17:6 tc The LXX has inserted: “To the faithful belongs the whole world of wealth, but to the unfaithful not an obulus.” It was apparently some popular sentiment at the time.tn Heb “their fathers.”
Proverbs 17:6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Proverbs 17:6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
6 Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,
and the glory of children is their parents.(A)
Proverbs 17:17
New English Translation
Proverbs 17:17
New English Translation
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 17:17 sn The verse uses synonymous parallelism, so “friend” and “relative” are equated. Others, however, will take the verse with antithetical parallelism: W. G. Plaut argues that friendship is a spiritual relationship whereas a brother’s ties are based on a blood relationship—often adversity is the only thing that brings brothers together (Proverbs, 189).
- Proverbs 17:17 tn Heb “a brother.”
- Proverbs 17:17 tn Heb “is born for adversity.” This is not referring to sibling rivalry but to the loyalty a brother shows during times of calamity. This is not to say that a brother only shows loyalty when there is trouble, nor that he always does in these times (e.g., 18:19, 24; 19:7; 27:10). The true friend is the same as a brotherly relation—in times of greatest need the loyal love is displayed.
Proverbs 17:17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Proverbs 17:17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
17 A friend loves at all times,
and kinsfolk are born to share adversity.(A)
Proverbs 17:21
New English Translation
Proverbs 17:21
New English Translation
21 Whoever brings a fool[a] into the world[b] does so[c] to his grief,
and the father of a fool has no joy.[d]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 17:21 sn Here the Hebrew terms כְּסִיל (kesil) and נָבָל (naval) are paired. The first one, which occurs about fifty times in the book, refers to a dullard, whether it be in spiritual, intellectual, or moral matters. The second word, rare in the book, primarily focuses on religious folly—it refers to the practical atheist, the one who lives as if there is no God.
- Proverbs 17:21 tn The form simply means “bears” or “gives birth to,” but since it is masculine it could be rendered “fathers” (cf. NASB “he who begets a fool”; NIV “To have a fool for a son”). The form for “fool” is masculine, but the proverb is not limited only to male children (cf. NCV “It is sad to have a foolish child”).
- Proverbs 17:21 tn The phrase “does so” is supplied for the sake of clarification.
- Proverbs 17:21 sn Parents of fools, who had hoped for children who would be a credit to the family, find only bitter disappointment (cf. TEV “nothing but sadness and sorrow”).
Proverbs 17:21
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Proverbs 17:21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
21 The one who fathers a fool gets trouble;
the parent of a fool has no joy.(A)
Proverbs 17:25
New English Translation
Proverbs 17:25
New English Translation
Read full chapter
Footnotes
- Proverbs 17:25 sn The Hebrew noun means “vexation, anger, grief.”
- Proverbs 17:25 tn Heb “to the one who bore him.” Because the participle is feminine singular in Hebrew, this has been translated as “the mother who bore him.”sn The proverb is similar to v. 21, 10:1, and 15:20.
Proverbs 17:25
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Proverbs 17:25
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
25 Foolish children are a grief to their father
and bitterness to her who bore them.(A)
Proverbs 18:19
New English Translation
Proverbs 18:19
New English Translation
19 A relative[a] offended[b] is harder to reach than[c] a strong city,
and disputes are like the barred gates[d] of a fortified citadel.[e]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 18:19 tn Heb “brother,” but this is not limited to actual siblings (cf. NRSV “an ally”; CEV, NLT “friend”).
- Proverbs 18:19 tn The Niphal participle from פָּשַׁע (pashaʿ) modifies “brother”: a brother transgressed, offended, sinned against.
- Proverbs 18:19 tc The LXX has a clear antithetical proverb here: “A brother helped is like a stronghold, but disputes are like bars of a citadel.” Accordingly, the editors of BHS propose מוֹשִׁיעַ (moshiaʿ) instead of נִפְשָׁע (nifshaʿ, so also the other versions and the RSV). But since both lines use the comparison with a citadel (fortified/barred), the antithesis is problematic. tn The phrase “is harder to reach” is supplied in the translation on the basis of the comparative מִן (min). It is difficult to get into a fortified city; it is more difficult to reach an offended brother.
- Proverbs 18:19 tn Heb “bars,” but this could be understood to mean “taverns,” so “barred gates” is employed in the translation.
- Proverbs 18:19 sn The proverb is talking about changing a friend or a relative into an enemy by abuse or strife—the bars go up, as it were. And the “walls” that are erected are not easily torn down.
Proverbs 18:19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Proverbs 18:19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
19 An ally offended is stronger than a city;[a]
such quarreling is like the bars of a castle.
Footnotes
- 18.19 Gk Syr Vg Tg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
New English Translation (NET)
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New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.