Proverbs 4:1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Proverbs 4:1
New English Translation
Admonition to Follow Righteousness and Avoid Wickedness[a]
4 Listen, children,[b] to a father’s instruction,[c]
and pay attention so that you may gain[d] discernment.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 4:1 sn The chapter includes an exhortation to acquire wisdom (1-4a), a list of the benefits of wisdom (4b-9), a call to pursue a righteous lifestyle (10-13), a warning against a wicked lifestyle (14-19), and an exhortation to righteousness (20-27).
- Proverbs 4:1 tn Heb “sons.” See note at 1:8.
- Proverbs 4:1 tn Or “warning.” See note at 1:2.
- Proverbs 4:1 tn Heb “in order to come to know.” As a stative verb, יָדַע (yadaʿ) can mean “to know” or “to come to know,” the latter essentially meaning “to learn.” The infinitive indicates the purpose of the earlier imperatives.
Proverbs 6:20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
20 My child, keep your father’s commandment,
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(A)
Proverbs 6:20
New English Translation
20 My child,[a] guard the commands of your father
and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.
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 19:13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
13 A stupid child is ruin to a father,
and a wife’s quarreling is a continual dripping of rain.(A)
Proverbs 19:13
New English Translation
13 A foolish child[a] is the ruin of his father,
and a contentious wife[b] is like[c] a constant dripping.[d]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 19:13 tn Heb “a foolish son” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, CEV); NRSV “a stupid child.”
- Proverbs 19:13 tn Heb “the contentions of a wife” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “the nagging of a wife.” The genitive could be interpreted (1) as genitive of source or subjective genitive—she is quarreling; or (2) it could be a genitive of specification, making the word “contentions” a modifier, as in the present translation.
- Proverbs 19:13 tn Heb “is a constant dripping.” The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. The metaphor pictures water dropping (perhaps rain through the roof, cf. NRSV, CEV) in a continuous flow: It is annoying and irritating (e.g., Prov 27:15-16).
- Proverbs 19:13 tc The LXX makes this moralistic statement for 13b: “vows paid out of hire of a harlot are not pure.” It is not based on the MT and attempts to reconstruct a text using this have been unsuccessful.
Proverbs 19:14
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
14 House and wealth are inherited from parents,
but a prudent wife is from the Lord.(A)
Proverbs 19:14
New English Translation
Footnotes
- Proverbs 19:14 tn Heb “inheritance of fathers” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).
- Proverbs 19:14 sn This statement describes a wife who has a skillful use of knowledge and discretion that proves to be successful. This contrasts with the preceding verse. The proverb is not concerned about unhappy marriages or bad wives (both of which exist); it simply affirms that when a marriage works out well one should credit it as a gift from God.
Proverbs 22:28
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
28 Do not remove the ancient landmark
that your ancestors set up.(A)
Proverbs 22:28
New English Translation
Footnotes
- Proverbs 22:28 sn Moving a boundary stone was (and still is) a major problem. The boundaries that were established by the forefathers were to be preserved, but no law would stop such violations if people lacked integrity (e.g., Deut 19:14; 27:17; 1 Kgs 21:16-19). Boundaries in Israel were sacred because God owned the land and he apportioned the property to the tribes. To extend one’s property illegally by moving a neighbor’s boundary marker was a violation of covenant and oath. Of course, disputes could arise when both sides claim their ancestors established a boundary.
- Proverbs 22:28 tn Heb “your fathers” (so NAB, NASB).sn The fourth saying deals with respect for property that belongs to other people (cf. Instruction of Amenemope, chap. 6, 7:12-13 [ANET 422]).
Proverbs 23:22-25
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
22 Listen to your father who begot you,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.(A)
23 Buy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.(B)
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.(C)
25 Let your father and mother be glad;
let her who bore you rejoice.
Proverbs 23:22-25
New English Translation
22 Listen to your father who gave you life,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Acquire[a] truth and do not sell it—
wisdom, and discipline, and understanding.
24 The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly;[b]
whoever fathers a wise child[c] will have joy in him.
25 May your father and your mother have joy;
may she who bore you rejoice.[d]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:23 tn Heb “buy” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “Invest in truth.”sn The sixteenth saying is an instruction to buy/acquire the kind of life that pleases God and brings joy to parents. “Getting truth” would mean getting training in the truth, and getting wisdom and understanding would mean developing the perception and practical knowledge of the truth.
- Proverbs 23:24 tc The Qere reading has the imperfect יָגִיל (yagil) with the cognate accusative גִּיל (gil) which intensifies the meaning and the specific future of this verb.
- Proverbs 23:24 tn The term “child” is supplied for the masculine singular adjective here.
- Proverbs 23:25 tn The form תָגֵל (tagel) is clearly a short form and therefore a jussive (“may she…rejoice”); if this second verb is a jussive, then the parallel יִשְׂמַח (yismakh) should be a jussive also (“may your father and your mother have joy”).
Proverbs 29:3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
3 A child who loves wisdom makes a parent glad,
but a companion of prostitutes destroys wealth.(A)
Proverbs 29:3
New English Translation
3 The man[a] who loves wisdom brings joy to his father,[b]
but whoever associates[c] with prostitutes wastes[d] his wealth.[e]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 29:3 tn Heb “a man.” Here “man” is retained in the translation because the second colon mentions prostitutes.
- Proverbs 29:3 tn Or “causes his father to rejoice”; NAB “makes his father glad.”
- Proverbs 29:3 tn The active participle רֹעֶה (roʿeh) is from the second root רָעָה (raʿah), meaning “to associate with.” The verb occurs only a few times, and mostly in the book of Proverbs. It is related to רֵעֶה (reʿeh, “friend; companion; fellow”). To describe someone as a “companion” or “friend” of prostitutes is somewhat euphemistic; it surely means someone who is frequently engaging the services of prostitutes.
- Proverbs 29:3 tn The Hebrew verb יְאַבֶּד (yeʾabbed) means “destroys”; it is the Piel imperfect of the verb that means “to perish.”
- Proverbs 29:3 sn Wealth was seen as a sign of success and of God’s blessings, pretty much as it always has been. To be seen as honorable in the community meant one had acquired some substance and kept his reputation. It would be a disgrace to the family to have a son who squandered his money on prostitutes (e.g., Prov 5:10; 6:31).
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