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The Father’s Wisdom

Children, listen to the instruction of a father,
    and be attentive in order to know insight.

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Admonition to Follow Righteousness and Avoid Wickedness[a]

Listen, children,[b] to a father’s instruction,[c]
and pay attention so that you may gain[d] discernment.

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Footnotes

  1. 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).
  2. Proverbs 4:1 tn Heb “sons.” See note at 1:8.
  3. Proverbs 4:1 tn Or “warning.” See note at 1:2.
  4. 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.

The crown of the elderly are grandchildren,[a]
    and the glory of children is their fathers.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:6 Literally “sons of sons”

Grandchildren[a] are like[b] a crown[c] to the elderly,
and the glory[d] of children is their parents.[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:6 tn Heb “children of children [sons of sons].”
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.”
  5. 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.”