Proverbs 3:14-16

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 3:14 tn Heb “her profit.” The third person feminine singular suffix on the noun is probably a genitive of source: “from her.”
2. Proverbs 3:14 tn Heb “profit.” The noun סַחַר (sakhar, “trading profit”) often refers to the financial profit of traveling merchants (Isa 23:3, 18; 45:14; HALOT 750 s.v.). The related participle describes a traveling “trader, dealer, wholesaler, merchant” (e.g., Gen 37:28; Prov 31:14; Isa 23:2; Ezek 27:36; HALOT 750 s.v. סחר qal.2). Here the noun is used figuratively to describe the moral benefit of wisdom.
3. Proverbs 3:14 tn The noun סַחַר (“profit”) is repeated in this line for emphasis. The two usages draw upon slightly different nuances, creating a polysemantic wordplay. The moral “benefit” of wisdom is more “profitable” than silver.
4. Proverbs 3:14 tn Heb “her yield.” The third person feminine singular suffix on the noun is probably a genitive of source: “from her.”
5. Proverbs 3:14 tn Heb “yield.” The noun תְּבוּאָה (t^evuʾah, “product; yield”) is normally used of crops and harvests (BDB 100 s.v. 1). Here it is figurative for the moral benefit of wisdom (BDB 100 s.v. 2.b).
6. Proverbs 3:14 tn The phrase “is better” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.
7. Proverbs 3:15 tn The imperfect verb from יָסַד (yasad, “to establish be like; to resemble”) has a modal nuance here: “can [not] compare with.”
8. Proverbs 3:15 tn Heb “All of your delights cannot compare with her.”
9. Proverbs 3:16 tn Heb “length of days” (so KJV, ASV).