“The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom”: In 9.10 “The fear of the Lord” is described as “the beginning of wisdom” and in this verse it is equated with “instruction in wisdom”, which means to study or learn to be wise. Therefore, we may say, for example, “Respect for the Lord will teach you to be wise” or “If you honor the Lord, you will learn to have wisdom.”

“And humility goes before honor”: This line is identical to 18.12b. Its sense is that a person must first be humble before God before being given honor or placed in a position of honor. In relation to the previous line, the idea is that respect for the Lord requires humility, and this takes place before acquiring the wisdom that brings honor. For “honor” refer to 3.16.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .