Proverbs 8:26-28 New English Translation
26 before he made the earth and its fields,[a]
or the top soil[b] of the world.
27 When he established the heavens, I was there;
when he marked out the horizon[c] over the face of the deep,
28 when he established the clouds above,
when he secured the fountains of the deep,[d]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 8:26 tn Heb “open places.”
- Proverbs 8:26 tn Heb “the head of the soil of the world.” The noun ראֹשׁ (roʾsh, “head”) can refer to the topmost of something or the first of something. The noun עָפָר (ʿafar, “dirt clods”) can refer to dust (“fine dry top soil”), loose earth, or soil (HALOT 862, s.v.).tc BHS proposes דֶשֶׁא (desheʾ, “grass”) instead of ראֹשׁ which assumes both the common confusion of ד (dalet) and ר (resh), as well as the reversal of the final two letters. This would mean “the vegetation of the world’s soil.”
- Proverbs 8:27 sn The infinitive construct בְּחוּקוֹ (bekhuqo, “to cut; to engrave; to mark”) and the noun חוּג (khug, “horizon; circle”) form a paronomasia in the line.
- Proverbs 8:28 tc The MT has the Qal infinitive בַּעֲזוֹז (baʿazoz), “when [they] grew strong” (cf. NASB “when [they] became fixed”). The LXX, supported by the Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate, implies the Piel infinitive plus pronominal suffix בְּעַזְּזוֹ (beʿazzezo) “when he made [them] strong.” The proposed reading suggests metathesis (switching positions) of the last two consonants. In addition the parallel to the infinitive beginning the verse supports the pronominal suffix and the meaning of the verb (cf. NIV “when he… fixed securely”; NLT “when he established”).
New English Translation (NET)
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