Proverbs 7:10-12

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 7:10 tn The particle וְהִנֵּה (v^ehinneh) introduces a dramatic sense of the immediate to the narrative; it has a deictic force, “and look!—there was a woman,” or “all of a sudden this woman….”
2. Proverbs 7:10 tn Heb “with the garment of a prostitute.” The noun שִׁית (shit, “garment”) is an adverbial accusative specifying the appearance of the woman. The words “she was” are supplied in the translation to make a complete English sentence.
3. Proverbs 7:10 tn Heb “kept secret of heart”; cf. ASV, NRSV “wily of heart.” The verbal form is the passive participle from נָצַר (natsar) in construct. C. H. Toy lists the suggestions of the commentators: false, malicious, secret, subtle, excited, hypocritical (Proverbs [ICC], 149). The LXX has “causes the hearts of the young men to fly away.” The verb means “to guard; to watch; to keep”; to be guarded of heart means to be wily, to have secret intent—she has locked up her plans and gives nothing away (e.g., Isaiah 48:6 as well). Interestingly enough, this contrasts with her attire which gives everything away.
4. Proverbs 7:11 tn Heb “her feet.” This is a synecdoche, a part for the whole; the point is that she never stays home, but is out and about all the time.
5. Proverbs 7:11 tn Heb “dwell” or “settle”; NAB “her feet cannot rest.”
6. Proverbs 7:12 tn The repetition of the noun פַּעַם (paʿam, “step, occasion”) is an idiom indicating different occasions. It could be rendered idiomatically in English as “now [here], now [there],” “once [here], then [there],” or “at one time…at another time” (BDB 822 s.v. פַּעַם 3.e).