She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who hold her fast.
Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly.
She's the very Tree of Life to those who embrace her. Hold her tight--and be blessed!
She is a tree of life to all who take her in their hands, and happy is everyone who keeps her.
She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who retain her.
|NET © [draft] ITL|
|NET © Notes||
1 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.
2 sn The metaphor compares wisdom to the symbol of vitality and fullness of life. This might be an allusion to Gen 3:22, suggesting that what was lost as a result of the Fall may be recovered through wisdom: long and beneficial life (R. Marcus, “The Tree of Life in Proverbs,” JBL 62 : 117-20).
3 tn Heb “lay hold of her.”
4 tn The singular participle מְאֻשָּׁר (mÿ’ushar, literally, “he will be blessed”) functions as a distributive singular for a plural subject (GKC 464 §145.l): “each and everyone will be blessed.” Not recognizing this point of syntax, the BHS editors unnecessarily suggest emending this singular form to the plural.