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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Proverbs 4:8 - 4:8
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The meaning of the ἁπ. γεγρ. סִלְסֵל is determined by רוֹמֵם in the parallel clause; סָלַל signifies to raise, exalt, as a way or dam by heaping up; the Pilpel, here tropical: to value or estimate highly. Böttcher interprets well: hold it high in price, raise it (as a purchaser) always higher, make offer for it upon offer. The lxx (approved by Bertheau), περιχαράκωσον αὐτήν, circumvallate it, i.e., surround it with a wall (סֹלְלָה) - a strange and here unsuitable figure. Hold it high, says the author, and so it will reward
(Note: Löwenstein has rightly ותרומֲמך, vid., my preface to Baer's Genesis, p. vii.)
thee with a high place, and (with chiastic transposition of the performance and the consequence) she will honour
(Note: We read תכבֵּדְך, not תכבֶּרְךָ (Hahn) or תכבֵּדְךָ (Löwenstein); the tone lies on the penult., and the tone-syllable has the point Tsere, as in וְיַגֵּדְךָ, Deu 32:7; vid., Michlol 66b.)
thee if (ἐάν) thou lovingly embracest her. חִבֵּק is used of embracing in the pressure of tender love, as in Son 2:6; Son 8:3; the Piel is related to the Kal as amplexari to amplecti. Wisdom exalts her admirers, honours her lovers, and makes a man's appearance pleasant, causing him to be reverenced when he approaches. Regarding לִוְיַת־חֵן, vid., Pro 1:9. מִגֵּן, to deliver up (Gen 14:20), to give up (Hos 11:8), is connected in the free poetic manner with two accusatives, instead of with an accus. and dat. lxx has ὑπερασπίσῃ, but one does not defend himself (as with a shield) by a wreath or crown.