“Riches and honor are with me”: Refer to 3.16 for “Riches and honor”. There is no verb in the Hebrew of this verse, but in line with the general context “with me” suggests these are things that Wisdom grants or gives to those who seek her. We may say, for example, “I have riches and honor” or “I give you riches and honor.” A fuller expression of the sense of this line is, for example, “I have power to make you rich people and to make people honor you.”
“Enduring wealth and prosperity”: While “wealth” renders a term commonly used in Proverbs, “enduring” translates a Hebrew word that occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament. The verb form of this word means to advance or move forward. Whybray suggests that it can be used figuratively in regard to space, time, value, and quality; and in light of the context, “enduring” is probably correct. Some versions say “lasting.”
“Prosperity”, which is literally “righteousness,” is even more of a problem. There are two main interpretations of the word in this context. Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible and others understand it to refer to success or good fortune. Here it is the fruits of “righteousness” rather than righteousness or justice itself. The reward for being righteous is “prosperity”, particularly in view of the parallelism of the two lines. “Prosperity” may be translated, for example, “make you win [be successful] in everything.”
The second view is that “righteousness” should be retained in the translation, as in King James Version and the Living Bible. McKane supports King James Version and argues “What wisdom gives essentially is a way of life which possesses ethical fitness and equity.” In this case “righteousness” may be translated by such terms as “rightness,” “fairness,” or “justice.” New Jerusalem Bible has “saving justice.”
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 .