Proverbs 9:12

Footnotes

1. 29 The text simply has the preposition לְ (lamed) with a suffix; but this will be the use of the preposition classified as “interest,” either for advantage or disadvantage (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 48–49, §271).
2. 30 The perfect tense is here in a conditional clause because of the conjunction following the first colon of the verse that begins with “if.” The perfect tense then lays down the antithetical condition—“if you mock,” or “if you are a mocker.”
3. 31 The use of the imperfect tense here could be the simple future tense (cf. , “you … will bear it”), but the obligatory nuance is more appropriate—“you must bear it.” These words anticipate James’ warnings that the words we speak will haunt us through life (e.g., James 3:1–12).
4. 32 The has an addition: “Forsake folly, that you may reign forever; and seek discretion and direct understanding in knowledge.”