and fructifying the earth. This watering proceeds from above (ורעפו); on the contrary, the endowing of the surface of the earth with great and small rivers is a fundamental fact in creation (נבקעו).
Verses 21-22
From this eminence, in which the work of creation presents wisdom, exhortations are now deduced, since the writer always expresses himself only with an ethical intention regarding the nature of wisdom: 21 My son, may they not depart from thine eyes - Preserve thoughtfulness and consideration, 22 And they will be life to thy soul And grace to thy neck.
If we make the synonyms of wisdom which are in 21b the subject per prolepsin to אל־ילזוּ (Hitzig and Zöckler), then Pro 3:19-20 and Pro 3:21-22 clash. The subjects are wisdom, understanding, knowledge, which belong to God, and shall from His become the possession of those who make them their aim. Regarding לוּז, obliquari, deflectere, see under Pro 2:15, cf. Pro 4:21; regarding תּשׁיּה (here defective after the Masora, as rightly in Vened. 1515, 1521, and Nissel, 1662), see at Pro 2:7; ילזוּ for תּלזנה, see at Pro 3:2. The lxx (cf. Heb 2:1) translate without distinctness of reference: υἱὲ μὴ παραῤῥυῂς (παραρυῇς), let it now flow past, i.e., let it not be unobserved, hold it always before thee; the Targ. with the Syr. render לא נזּל, ne vilescat, as if the words were אל־יזוּלוּ. In 22a the synallage generis is continued: ויהיוּ for ותהיינה. Regarding גּרגּרת, see at Pro 1:9. By wisdom the soul gains life, divinely true and blessed, and the external appearance of the man grace, which makes him pleasing and gains for him affection.
Verses 23-26
But more than this, wisdom makes its possessor in all situations of life confident in God: 23 Then shalt thou go thy way with confidence, And thy foot shall not stumble. 24 When thou liest down, thou are not afraid, But thou layest thyself down and hast sweet sleep. 25 Thou needest not be afraid of sudden alarm, Nor for the storm of the wicked when it breaketh forth. 26 For Jahve will be thy confidence And keep thy foot from the snare.
The לבטח (cf. our “bei guter Laune” = in good cheer), with ל of the condition, is of the same meaning as the conditional adverbial accusative בּטח, Pro 10:9; Pro 1:33. Pro 3:23 the lxx translate ὁ δὲ πούς σου οὐ μὴ προσκόψῃ,
