“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”: This is the same as the first line in 1.7, except that “wisdom” replaces “knowledge.” See comments on this line in 1.7.

“Knowledge of the Holy One is insight”: This line, like the first, affirms that “wisdom” or “knowledge” are not independent things but belong to God and are available to those who honor the Lord. “Holy One” in the Hebrew is literally “the holy ones,” a plural expression used in the Old Testament to refer to saintly persons, heavenly beings, or angels. For examples see Psa 34.9 (Hebrew verse 10); Job 5.1; 15.15; and Zech 14.5. Although some interpreters take the plural to refer to “holy men,” the parallelism requires it to refer to God. Accordingly Contemporary English Version translates as “Holy God.” “The Holy One” is used as a title for God and is sometimes expressed as “God who is sacred.” Since the reference is clearly to God, it is not always necessary to find a word for “Holy” that can be applied to God. It is possible, for example, to use a pronoun in the second line by saying “and knowing him gives a person insight.” For “insight” see 1.2. Two renderings of this line in Pacific languages are: “The Lord is sacred and completely righteous, and if someone wants to understand the meaning of things, they must know the Lord well,” and “God is wholly good and righteous; and if you want to get good understanding, you must first know him.”

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 .