translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: PRO

label: NET study note

text: The noun “wisdom” ( חָכְמָה , khokhmah ) could be nuanced “moral skill.” It refers to “skill” that produces something of value. It is used in reference to the skill of seamen ( Ps 107:27 ), abilities of weavers ( Exod 35:26 ), capabilities of administrators ( 1 Kgs 3:28 ), or skill of craftsmen ( Exod 31:6 ). In the realm of moral living, it refers to skill in living – one lives life with moral skill so that something of lasting value is produced from one’s life.


text: The word “righteousness” ( צֶדֶק , tsedeq ) describes conduct that conforms to a standard. Elsewhere it is used in a concrete sense to refer to commercial weights and measures that conform to a standard ( Deut 25:15 ). In the moral realm it refers to “righteous” conduct that conforms to God’s law.


text: The Hebrew noun translated “equity” comes from the root יָשָׁר ( yashar ) which has the basic idea of “upright, straight, right.” It refers to activity that is morally upright and straight, that is, on the proper moral path. Elsewhere it is used in a concrete sense to describe cows walking straight down a path without turning right or left ( 1 Sam 6:12 ). Wisdom literature often uses the motif of the straight path to describe a morally “straight” life.


text: Hebrew word order is emphatic here. Normal word order is: verb + subject + direct object. Here it is: direct object + subject + verb (“wisdom and instruction fools despise”).


text: The word “path” ( נְתִיבָה , nÿtivah ) like the word “way” ( דֶּרֶךְ , derekh ) is used as an idiom (developed from a hypocatastasis), meaning “conduct, course of life.”


text: They think that they are going to shed innocent blood, but in their blindness they do not realize that it is their own blood they shed. Their greed will lead to their destruction. This is an example of ironic poetic justice. They do not intend to destroy themselves; but this is what they accomplish.


text: The verb רָנַן ( ranan , “to cry out, give a ringing cry”) always expresses excitement, whether of joyful praise or lamentable sorrow (BDB 943 s.v.). Here it is an excited summons.


text: The word רְחֹבוֹת ( rÿkhovot , “plazas”) refers to the wide plazas or broad open spaces near the gate where all the people assembled. The personification of wisdom as a woman crying out in this place would be a vivid picture of the public appeal to all who pass by.


text: The phrase “in the city” further defines the area of the entrance just inside the gate complex, the business area. In an ancient Near Eastern city, business dealings and judicial proceedings would both take place in this area.


text: The term לֵצִים ( leysim , “scoffers; mockers”) comes from the root לִיץ ( lits , “to scorn; to mock; to speak indirectly” (BDB 539 s.v. לִיץ ). They are cynical and defiant freethinkers who ridicule the righteous and all for which they stand (e.g., Ps 1:1 ).


text: The term “fool” ( כְּסִיל , kÿsil ) refers to the morally insensitive dullard (BDB 493 s.v.).


text: The noun תּוֹכַחַת ( tokhakhat , “rebuke”) is used in all kinds of disputes including rebuking, arguing, reasoning, admonishing, and chiding. The term is broad enough to include here warning and rebuke. Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “reproof”; TEV “when I reprimand you”; CEV “correct you.”


text: This expression is a metonymy of adjunct; it is a gesture that goes with the appeal for some to approach.


text: Laughing at the consequences of the fool’s rejection of wisdom does convey hardness against the fool; it reveals the folly of rejecting wisdom (e.g., Ps 2:4 ). It vindicates wisdom and the appropriateness of the disaster (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 60).


text: The term “whirlwind” (NAB, NIV, NRSV; cf. TEV, NLT “storm”) refers to a devastating storm and is related to the verb שׁוֹא ( sho ’, “to crash into ruins”; see BDB 996 s.v. שׁוֹאָה ). Disaster will come swiftly and crush them like a devastating whirlwind.


text: The expression “eat the fruit of” is a figurative expression (hypocatastasis) that compares the consequences of sin to agricultural growth that culminates in produce. They will suffer the consequences of their sinful actions, that is, they will “reap” what they “sow.”


text: The words “way” ( דֶּרֶךְ , derekh ) and “counsel” ( מוֹעֵצָה , mo ’ etsah ) stand in strong contrast to the instruction of wisdom which gave counsel and rebuke to encourage a better way. They will bear the consequences of the course they follow and the advice they take (for that wrong advice, e.g., Ps 1:1 ).


text: The Hebrew verb “to kill” ( הָרַג , harag ) is the end of the naive who refuse to change. The word is broad enough to include murder, massacre, killing in battle, and execution. Here it is judicial execution by God, using their own foolish choices as the means to ruin.