Proverbs 7:1-5, annotated.

This translation is from the New Jerusalem Bible. Other translations are available here. Information about the original Hebrew meaning of what seem to be the key words is provided immediately below the scriptural text.  Collections of scriptures dealing with similar principles are hyperlinked at the end of this post.

 

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My child, keep my words, and treasure my precepts, ²keep my precepts and you will live, keep my teaching as the apple of your eye. ³Bind these to your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴Say to Wisdom, 'You are my sister!' Call Understanding your relation, ⁵to save yourself from the woman that belongs to another, from the stranger, with her seductive words.

***

 

child = בֵּן = bēn  Blue Letter Bible  son, grandson, child, member of a group; male child; young men; children (pl. - male and female); foster son; disciple; one related to a time, place, emotion, condition, status; term of kindliness or endearment; expression of intimate and gracious relation

 

keep = שָׁמַר = šāmar  Blue Letter Bible  keep, guard, observe, give heed; retain, treasure up (in memory); preserve; attend to

 

words = אֵמֶר = 'ēmer  Blue Letter Bible  utterance, speech, word, saying, promise; command, mandate; something said; appointed unto him; saying, speech, word 

 

treasure = צָפַן = tsaphan  Blue Letter Bible  hide, treasure, treasure or store up; to hoard or reserve; to protect; esteem; lay up; to guard or defend 

AND

אֵת = 'ēṯ  Blue Letter Bible   with, near, together with; from; among; nearness and vicinity; possession of a thing in the mind; in one's possession or keeping; in one's knowledge or memory; intercourse of different kinds with another

 

precepts = מִצְוָה = miṣvâ Blue Letter Bible  commandment; law, ordinance, precept

 

keep = שָׁמַר = šāmar  Blue Letter Bible  keep, guard, observe, give heed; retain, treasure up (in memory); preserve; attend to

 

precept = מִצְוָה = miṣvâ Blue Letter Bible  commandment; law, ordinance, precept

 

life = חָיָה = ḥāyâ  Blue Letter Bible to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, live forever, be quickened, be alive, be restored to life or health; to revive; refresh; restore to health; nourish up; recover; be whole; perfect; continue in life;preserve alive, let live; the original idea of this word is breathing; to continue safe and sound; to recover health, be healed; to vivify; to make alive; grant or restore life

 

teaching = תּוֹרָה = tôrâ  Blue Letter Bible  law; instruction, direction (human or divine); body of prophetic teaching; instruction in Messianic age; body of legal directives;  custom, manner; the Deuteronomic or Mosaic Law; precept; statute; doctrine

 

apple = אִישׁוֹן = 'îšôn  Blue Letter Bible   pupil of the eye; the middle; midst of

 

eyes = עַיִן = ʿayin  Blue Letter Bible  eye; before my eyes; set one eyes on; spring, fountain

 

bind = קָשַׁר = qāšar  Blue Letter Bible  to bind, tie, bind together, league together, conspire; confine; robust, vigorous

 

write =כָּתַב = kāṯaḇ Blue Letter Bible inscribe, engrave, write in, write on; to register, enroll, record; prescribe, direct in writing; describe, to decree

 

tablet = לוּחַ = lûaḥ Blue Letter Bible  tablets (of stone); boards (of wood); plate (of metal) 

 

heart= לֵב = lēḇ Blue Letter Bible inner man, mind, will, understanding; midst; soul; mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory; inclination, resolution, determination (of will); conscience; seat of appetites, emotions, passions, courage; feelings, the will and even the intellect; the centre of anything

 

***

 

We Receive Great Blessings If We Seriously Study God’s Ways and Put Them Into Practice 

 

We Must Make Real Effort/Sacrifice to receive all that God offers, But It Is Well Worth It   

 

We Should Strive to Live in God’s Presence  

 

 

 

Proverbs 8:12-21, annotated.

This translation is from the New Jerusalem Bible. Other translations are available here.  Information about the original Hebrew meaning of what seem to be the key words is provided immediately below the scriptural text.  Collections of scriptures dealing with similar principles are hyperlinked at the end of this post. 

***

'I, Wisdom, share house with Discretion, I am mistress of the art of thought.

¹³(Fear of Yahweh means hatred of evil.) I hate pride and arrogance, wicked behaviour and a lying mouth.

¹⁴To me belong good advice and prudence, I am perception: power is mine!

¹⁵By me monarchs rule and princes decree what is right;¹⁶by me rulers govern, so do nobles, the lawful authorities.

¹⁷I love those who love me; whoever searches eagerly for me finds me.

¹⁸With me are riches and honour, lasting wealth and saving justice.

¹⁹The fruit I give is better than gold, even the finest, the return I make is better than pure silver.

²⁰I walk in the way of uprightness in the path of justice, ²¹to endow my friends with my wealth and to fill their treasuries.

 

***

 

Discretion = עָרְמָה = ʿārmâ  Blue Letter Bible  shrewdness, craftiness, prudence; discretion; guile; subtilty; wiliness; wisdom; craftiness

 

 art of thought = דַּעַת = daʿaṯ  Blue Letter Bible   knowledge, perception, skill; discernment, understanding, wisdom; cunning; knowing; intelligence

AND

 מְזִמָּה = mᵊzimmâ  Blue Letter Bible   purpose, discretion; sagacity; thought; prudence; counsel; power of devising

 

evil = רַע = raʿ  Blue Letter Bible  bad, evil, disagreeable, malignant, unpleasant, giving pain, unhappiness, misery, displeasing; sad, unhappy; hurtful; unkind, vicious in disposition, wicked (ethically)

 

pride = גֵּאָה = gē'â  Blue Letter Bible  pride, arrogance 

 

arrogance = גָּאוֹן = gā'ôn Blue Letter Bible   pride; arrogance; pomp, swelling; exaltation, majesty, pride; excellence; ornament, glory, splendor; sublimity

 

wicked = רַע = raʿ  Blue Letter Bible  bad, evil, disagreeable, malignant, unpleasant, giving pain, unhappiness, misery, displeasing; sad, unhappy; hurtful; unkind, vicious in disposition, wicked (ethically)

 

behavior = דֶּרֶךְ = dereḵ  Blue Letter Bible  way, road, distance, journey, manner; path; mode; habit, way; course of life; mode of action

 

lying = תַּהְפֻּכוֹת = tahpuḵôṯ  Blue Letter Bible   perversity; deceit, fraud; foolishness

 

good = תּוּשִׁיָּה = tûšîyâ  Blue Letter Bible  wisdom, sound or efficient wisdom; counsel; sound knowledge; abiding success; to substantiate; support or (by implication) ability, i.e. (direct) help; lifting up, erecting

 

advice = עֵצָה = ʿēṣâ  Blue Letter Bible advice; plan; prudence, wisdom; sagacity, consultation

 

perception = בִּינָה = bînâ Blue Letter Bible  discernment; knowledge; insight; wisdom; intelligence; insight; skill

 

strength = גְּבוּרָה = gᵊḇûrâ  Blue Letter Bible   strength, might; valor, bravery; mighty deeds; force, mastery; power; fortitude; military virtue

 

rule = מָלַךְ = mālaḵ Blue Letter Bible  to be or become king or queen; to ascend the throne; causatively, to induct into royalty; to be king; to counsel, advise

 

right = צֶדֶק = tsedeq Blue Letter Bible rightness, righteousness; what is right or just or normal, rightness, justness (of weights and measures); righteousness, justice (in case or cause); righteousness (as vindicated), justification (in controversy), deliverance, victory, prosperity; rectitude; what ought to be

 

love = אָהַב = 'ahab  Blue Letter Bible  human love for another, includes family, and sexual; act of being a friend; have affection for (sexually or otherwise); desire, breathe after; delight; be verdant, germinate

 

love = אָהַב = 'ahab  Blue Letter Bible  human love for another, includes family, and sexual; act of being a friend; have affection for (sexually or otherwise); desire, breathe after; delight; be verdant, germinate

 

searches diligently = שָׁחַר = šāḥar Blue Letter Bible to seek; seek early or earnestly; look diligently for; be (up) early at any task (with the implication of earnestness); painstaking; turn oneself to 

 

find =מָצָא = matsa' Blue Letter Bible  attain to, secure, acquire, get (thing sought); to find (what is lost); to learn, devise; to be discovered, be detected; to be gained, be secured; attain, i.e. find or acquire; find out by thinking; to wish to find, seek

 

riches = עֹשֶׁר = ʿōšer  Blue Letter Bible wealth, riches

 

honor = כָּבוֹד = kāḇôḏ  Blue Letter Bible  glory, honour, glorious, abundance; weight, but only figuratively in a good sense; heaviness; splendor or copiousness; dignity of position; reputation, of character; majesty

lasting = עָתֵק = ʿāṯēq Blue Letter Bible  handed forward; advanced;  enduring, durable; valuable; eminent; surpassing; antique, i.e. valued; shining, handsome

 

wealth = הוֹן = hôn Blue Letter Bible  wealth, riches; high value; substance; lightness, easiness; ability to do anything

 

justice = צְדָקָה = ṣᵊḏāqâ  Blue Letter Bible righteousness; righteousness (as vindicated); righteousness (in government); justification, salvation; truthfulness; ethically right; rectitude; virtue; ethically right; things done justly; rightness, moderation

 

fruit = פְּרִי = pᵊrî  Blue Letter Bible fruit, fruit of the ground, of produce in general; the result of labor or endeavor; offspring, children, progeny

 

better = טוֹב = ṭôḇ  Blue Letter Bible  good, pleasant, agreeable; excellent; rich, valuable in estimation; appropriate, becoming; happy, prosperous, kind, benign; right (ethical); welfare, prosperity, happiness; good things (collective) good, benefit; moral good; blessing of good things

 

walk = הָלַךְ = halak  Blue Letter Bible  to go; proceed, move; enter; follow; go along; proceed; go with, have intercourse with; go after; pursue; live, manner of life; go on, go forward; traverse; march; flow, be poured out

 

path = אֹרַח = 'ōraḥ  Blue Letter Bible  way, path; road; way of living; a well-trodden road; by-, high-) way; course of living and acting; way of living; mode of living, or of character

 

uprightness = צְדָקָה = ṣᵊḏāqâ  Blue Letter Bible righteousness; righteousness (as vindicated); righteousness (in government); justification, salvation; truthfulness; ethically right; rectitude; virtue; ethically right; things done justly; rightness, moderation

 

path = נָתִיב = nāṯîḇ  Blue Letter Bible   trodden with the feet, path, pathway; path, pathway, traveler;  foot path, by way; course of life

 

justice = מִשְׁפָּט = mishpat. Blue Letter Bible judgment, justice, ordinance; act of deciding a case; process, procedure, litigation (before judges); right, rectitude; proper, fitting; that which is just, lawful

 

friends = אָהַב = 'ahab  Blue Letter Bible  human love for another, includes family, and sexual; act of being a friend; have affection for (sexually or otherwise); desire, breathe after; delight; be verdant, germinate

 

wealth = יֵשׁ = yēš  Blue Letter Bible  being; existence; substance; to stand out, or exist

 

fill = מָלָא = mālā' Blue Letter Bible  fulness, abundance; to be full; make full; fill a place; mutually fill; satisfied 

 

***

 

We Receive Great Blessings If We Seriously Study God’s Ways and Put Them Into Practice 

 

We Must Make Real Effort/Sacrifice to receive all that God offers, But It Is Well Worth It   

 

We Should Strive to Live in God’s Presence  

 

Proverbs 8:22-31, annotated.

This translation is from the New American Standard Bible. Other translations are available here. Information about the original Hebrew meaning of what seem to be the key words is provided immediately below the scriptural text.  

 

***

                                                                        

“The Lord created me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. ²³From eternity I was established, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.²⁴When there were no ocean depths, I was born, when there were no springs abounding with water. ²⁵ Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was born; ²⁶while He had not yet made the earth and the fields, nor the first dust of the world.

²⁷When He established the heavens, I was there; when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, ²⁸when He made firm the skies above, when the springs of the deep became fixed, ²⁹when He set a boundary for the sea so that the water would not violate His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth; ³⁰Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; and I was His delight daily, rejoicing always before Him, ³¹rejoicing in the world, His earth, and having my delight in the sons of mankind.

 

***

created = קָנָה = qānâ  Blue Letter Bible get, acquire, create, buy, possess; procure, especially by purchase (causatively, sell); by implication to own

 

established = נָסַךְ = nāsaḵ Blue Letter Bible to pour out, pour, to be poured out; offer; cast; to anoint (a king), be anointed; to set, install; make a libation 

 

beside = אֵצֶל = 'ēṣel  Blue Letter Bible  beside, by, near, nearness, joining, proximity; conjunction; contiguous to

 

master workman = אָמוֹן = 'āmôn Blue Letter Bible  artificer, architect; master workman, skilled workman; firm and sure in his workman-ship; son, foster son

 

delight = שַׁעֲשׁוּעִים = šaʿăšûʿîm Blue Letter Bible  delight, enjoyment, pleasure; object of delight

 

rejoicing = שָׂחַק = śāḥaq Blue Letter Bible  to laugh, play; sport; to jest; to play (including instrumental music, singing, dancing); make merry; smile upon; dance

Proverbs 8:32-36, annotated.

This translation is from the New American Standard Bible. Other translations are available here.  Information about the original Hebrew meaning of what seem to be the key words is provided immediately below the scriptural text.  Collections of scriptures dealing with similar principles are hyperlinked at the end of this post.

 

***

 

Now then, sons, listen to me, for blessed are those who keep my ways.
³³Listen to instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.
³⁴Blessed is the person who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts.
³⁵For one who finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord.
³⁶But one who sins against me injures himself; all those who hate me love death.”

 

***

 

listen = שָׁמַע = šāmaʿ  Blue Letter Bible   listen to, obey; perceive by ear; hear with attention or interest; give heed; consent, agree; yield to; be obedient; hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.); hear and answer

 

keep = שָׁמַר = šāmar  Blue Letter Bible  keep, guard, observe, give heed; retain, treasure up (in memory); preserve; attend to

 

listen = שָׁמַע = šāmaʿ  Blue Letter Bible   listen to, obey; perceive by ear; hear with attention or interest; give heed; consent, agree; yield to; be obedient; hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.); hear and answer

 

instruction = מוּסָר = muwcar  Blue Letter Bible  discipline, chastening, correction; reproof, warning or instruction; doctrine, instruction, rebuke; admonition; restraint

 

neglect = פָּרַע = pāra  Blue Letter Bible to let go, let loose, ignore, let alone; avoid, neglect; be loosened of restraint; overlook/reject counsel; unbridled;  lawless; cause to refrain; dismiss; refuse  

 

listens = שָׁמַע = šāmaʿ  Blue Letter Bible   listen to, obey; perceive by ear; hear with attention or interest; give heed; consent, agree; yield to; be obedient; hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.); hear and answer

 

daily = יוֹם = yôm  Blue Letter Bible  day, time, year; a working day, a day's journey; the heat of the day; day time, daily; perpetually; lifetime; daily duties, observances, etc. 

 

gates = דֶּלֶת = deleṯ  Blue Letter Bible  door, gate; something swinging; the valve of a door; lid

 

waiting = שָׁמַר = šāmar  Blue Letter Bible  keep, guard, observe, give heed; retain, treasure up (in memory); preserve; attend to

 

doorposts = מְזוּזָה = mᵊzûzâ Blue Letter Bible  doorpost, gatepost

 

watching = שָׁקַד = šāqaḏ  Blue Letter Bible   to wake, watch, awake, be alert; on the lookout, sleepless

 

finds  =מָצָא = matsa' Blue Letter Bible  attain to, secure, acquire,  get (thing sought); find (what is lost); learn, devise; discovered, detected; gained, secured; attain, i.e. find or acquire; find out by thinking; to wish to find, seek

 

***

 

We Receive Great Blessings If We Seriously Study God’s Ways and Put Them Into Practice 

 

We Must Make Real Effort/Sacrifice to receive all that God offers, But It Is Well Worth It   

 

We Should Strive to Live in God’s Presence