¹ The various interpretations go back to apocryphal, early Christian and Rabbinic literature and the ancient Bible translations. For a survey of ancient and modern views see commentaries and dictionaries and especially the scholarly articles listed in the following notes. Cf. also R.N. WHYBRAY, Wisdom in Proverbs (Studies in Biblical Theology 45; London 1965) 95-104; G. VON RAD, Wisdom in Israel (London 1972) 145-157; L.G. PERDUE, "Cosmology and the Social Order in the Wisdom Tradition", The Sage in Israel and the Ancient Near East, (eds. J.G. GAMMIE – L.G. PERDUE) (Winona Lake 1990) 457-478, esp. 463-468.

² Other interpretations take the root to mean "faithful" or "steady" and translate "confidant" (so NJPS) and the like. There have been as well several suggestions of emendations in the vocalizations. R.B.Y. SCOTT, "Wisdom in Creation: the )a4mo4n of Proverbs viii.30", VT 10 (1960) 213-214, suggests reading )o4men men meaning, supposedly "binding" or "uniting" and translating "then I was at his side like a living link", but this not only makes little sense but is based on an extremely rare word (Isa 25,1). The same may be said about P.A.H. DE BOER, "The Counsellor", VTS 3 (1955) 42-71, esp. 69-70, who suggests reading )immo4n, an invention of his, which he goes on to interpret as a diminutive "little mother" which means actually Queen Mother.

³ M. FOX, " )Amon Again", JBL 115 (1996) 699-702.

⁴ A. HURVITZ, "Toward a Precise Definition of the Term Nwm) in Proverbs 8:30" (in Hebrew), The Bible in the Light of Its Interpreters. Sarah Kamin Memorial Volume (ed. S. JAPHET) (Jerusalem 1994) 647-650.

⁵ C.L. ROGERS III, "The Meaning and Significance of the Hebrew Word Nwm) in Proverbs 8,30", ZAW 109 (1997) 208-220. A similar position had been proposed previously by M. DAHOOD, "Proverbs 8:22-31", CBQ 30 (1968) 513, 518-519.

⁶ H. CAZELLES, "Ah9iqar, Ummân and Amun, and Biblical Wisdom Texts", Solving Riddles and Untying Knots. Biblical, Epigraphic, and Semitic Studies in Honor of Jonas C. Greenfield (ed. Z. ZEVIT – S. GITIN – M. SOKOLOFF) (Winona Lake 1995) 45-57. See also J. GREENFIELD, "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom (Prov. 9:1) – a Mistranslation", JQR 76 (1985) 13-20.

⁷ Emendation to Mym ykbn, "sources of water" as in Job 38,16 and on the basis of Ugaritic mbk is inconsequential for our discussion.

⁸ For the word pair Cwx//Cr) see Job 5,10.18,17. lbt appears in Job 18,17 indicating perhaps a traditional triplet lbt//Cwx//Cr).

⁹ Cf. Job 38,8-11. The verb dsy usually means "lay foundations of a building" but it can also mean "establish" in the legal or administrative sense of "establish a regulation" (e.g. Hab 1,12 [?]; Ps 104,8; Esth 1,8; 1Chr 9,22), and this may be its primary or secondary connotation here. Cr) ydswm would then mean "the laws of nature", applying a mundane term to the cosmic realm. Cf. also Akkadian is$du in expressions such as is$id ma4tim kunnu "to establish the foundation of the land" meaning to organize the land in a political or an administrative sense. Cf. AHw 393 s.v. is$du 2c; CAD I/J 237b s.v. is$du 2b. Note also the Rabbinic use of dwsy to mean institutions, confirmation and reestablishment of customs; cf. M. JASTROW, A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (New York 1950) I 582a.

¹⁰ Note that in this verse hwnq and Kwks appear together as they do in Prov 8,22-23.

¹¹ Cf. Jer 51,29 [Cr)h, the earth]; Hab 3,10 [Myrh, mountains]: Ps 29,8 [rbdm¼rbdm #dq, the desert¼the desert of Qadesh]; 77,17 [Mym, water]; 90,2 [lbtw Cr), earth and dry land]; 96,9 [Cr)h lk, all the earth]; 97,4 [Cr)h, the earth]; 114,7 [Cr), land]; 1 Chr 16,30 [Cr)h lk, all the earth].

¹² Note Hos 12,9 Nw) yt)cm ytr#( "I have became wealthy, I have acquired Nw)" where Nw) means wealth and is synonymous with lyx, the word parallel to Kkrd in Prov 31,3. Both Nw) and lyx can mean either strength or wealth. This could also imply that ynnq in Prov 8,22 has a secondary meaning of "acquire".

¹³ See B. LANG, Wisdom and the Book of Proverbs. A Hebrew Goddess Redefined (New York 1986).

¹⁴ A. HURVITZ, "hrwt-y(w#(# in Ps 119 – the Origins of the Phrase and its Linguistic Background" (in Hebrew), Studies on Hebrew and Other Semitic Languages Presented to Professor Chaim Rabin on the Occasion of His Seventy-Fifth Birthday (ed. M. GOSHEN-GOTTSTEIN – S. MORAG – S. KOGUT (Jerusalem 1990) 105-109 sees Prov 8 as the inspiration for Ps 119’s unique use of My(w#(# to designate intellectual entertainment and delight.

¹⁵ M. ZER-KAVOD "Da‘at Miqra" (in Hebrew), Sefer Mishley (eds. M. ZER-KAVOD – Y. KEEL) (Jerusalem 1983) 50 n. 75, after surveying traditional Jewish exegesis on the verse says that "Nmw) and My(w#(# is a unit which has been separated and is parallel to the expression My(w#(# dly (Jer 31,19)". He does not cite, however, the conclusive evidence adduced here.

¹⁶ Cf. W.F. ALBRIGHT, "Some Canaanite-Phoenician Sources of Hebrew Wisdom", VTS 3 (1955) 1-15, esp. 7-8.

¹⁷ Cf. W.G. LAMBERT – A.R. MILLARD, Atra-/asi4s. The Babylonian Story of the Flood (Oxford 1969) 148-149 n. 16; CAD N II 282-283 s.v. nis$s$iku.