Translation commentary on Proverbs 2:4

“If you seek it like silver”: “Seek” in this expression is to look for something just as people mine the earth to find silver. The Hebrew has “seek her,” in which “her” refers back to wisdom in verse 2. Contemporary English Version makes this quite clear with “Search for wisdom.” What is emphasized is the diligent effort that must be made to obtain wisdom. A good description of the effort spent in searching the earth for precious minerals is found in Job 28. “Silver” is generally known, although in some languages it is known through the use of a borrowed term.

“Search for it” is parallel in meaning to “seek it” in the first line.

“As for hidden treasures”: The word rendered “treasures” refers to something hidden, as it was the custom to bury valuables in the ground or in holes in the rocks. For examples of this practice see Job 3.21; Jer 41.8; Matt 13.44. As in the case of the other “if” clauses, it may be more natural to translate this verse as a command and to say, for example, “Look for it [wisdom] as hard as you would dig for silver in the ground or as you would search for a hidden treasure.”

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 .

complete verse (Proverbs 2:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 2:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “Search/look for wisdom like (a) thing of life.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “If you search for it as for silver,
    and if you search for it like for hidden wealth” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “like as-if you (sing.) are-looking for silver or hidden wealth.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Search-for-(it) like the way you (sing.) search-for silver or hidden wealth.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 2:4

2:4

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

4a if you seek it like silver

4b and search it out like hidden treasure,

Both lines contain parallel similes. The similes compare looking/searching for wisdom to looking for silver/treasure.

2:4a–b

seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure: The meaning of these parallel similes is that a person should search for wisdom as diligently as he would search for valuable things like silver or hidden treasure. Another way to translate these similes is to make the point of similarity explicit and to combine the parallel verbs seek and search. For example:

Look for it as hard as you would for silver or some hidden treasure. (Good News Translation)

2:4a

silver: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as silver probably refers to silver that has already been mined and refined. It may refer here to silver bars or things that are made from silver and used as a form of money. It is less likely to refer to silver coins. If possible, use a general term for silver. Another way to translate this word is to use a more general term. For example:

if you search for wisdom as if it were money (God’s Word)

2:4b

search it out like hidden treasure: The phrase hidden treasure refers to something that is very valuable, such as money or other riches. This phrase implies that people hid the treasure to keep it safe. They often hid it by burying it in the ground. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

hunt for it as if it were hidden treasure (God’s Word)
-or-
search for it as if you were digging to find valuable things that people have hidden

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