Better a piece of dry bread and tranquility with it It would have been better for the Holy One, blessed be He, to destroy His Temple and His city, for He would enjoy tranquility from the sins of Israel.

than a house full of sacrifices of strife For they were sacrificing sacrifices of strife in his Temple.

An intelligent slave, etc. Because Nebuchadnezzar was wise enough to take three steps in honor of the Holy One, blessed be He, he achieved greatness and ruled over Israel, who performed disgraceful deeds, and he divided their inheritance before their eyes. Another explanation: A righteous proselyte is better than a wicked person who was home born, and in the future, he will share the spoils and the inheritance among the children of Israel, as it is said (Ezek. 47:23): “And it shall be, in whatever tribe the stranger will live, etc.”

A refining pot is for silver A vessel in which they refine silver and which is made from burnt ash on earthenware is called מצרף, a refining pot.

and a furnace is for gold A vessel in which gold is refined, a vessel in which gold is purified, like a broken pot, is called כור, a furnace.

A refining pot is for silver, and a furnace is for gold The refining pot is made to refine silver for its work, and so is the furnace to purify the gold, but [peoples’] hearts—the Holy One, blessed be He, purifies them and tests them and knows their thoughts.

An evildoer A wicked man.

hearkens to a language of violence and lies He accepts slander and false testimony.

lends an ear Heb. מזין like מאזין He who lies lends an ear to destructive speech.

the crown of the aged when they see their children’s children going on the good way.

and the glory of the children is their fathers When their fathers are righteous, it is glory for the children.

Proud words Heb. שפת יתר, words of pride.

surely not lying speech a generous one And surely, lying speech does not befit a generous one.

a precious stone When a person comes before the Holy One, blessed be He, and placates Him with words and returns to Him, it is as a precious stone and as pearls in His eyes.

wherever he turns, he prospers In whatever he asks of Him, He makes him prosper.

He who conceals transgression seeks love If one man sins against another, and the latter conceals it for him, does not remind him of his sin, and does not show him an angry face, he causes him to love him.

but he who harps on a matter Who bears a grudge and reminds him, “You did such and such a thing to me.” Immediately...

alienates the Lord Then he alienates the Lord of the world.

The humility caused by the rebuke of an understanding person Heb. תחת. The accent in the word תחת is above on the “tav,” unlike the rest of the Scriptures. Therefore, I say that it is a noun, like תחת and its explanation is as follows. The humility caused by a rebuke is recognizable in an understanding person more than one hundred blows that they strike the fool.

He who is only rebellious seeks evil One whose every word is rebelliousness and stubbornness constantly seeks evil.

May a bereaving bear encounter a person It is better for a person that a bereaving bear encounter him rather than one of the foolish heathens, who entice him to idolatry.

The beginning of strife is like letting out water Whoever commences a quarrel is like one who opens a hole in the stone walls of a water canal, and the water goes out through it, and the hole becomes progressively wider; so does the quarrel constantly escalate.

and before you are exposed Before your shame is exposed, abandon the quarrel.

Why is there a price in the fool’s hand to buy wisdom To learn the Torah.

when the heart is not here In his heart, he has no intention of fulfilling it, and he learns only to gain a reputation.

At all times, love a friend You should always love friends, i.e., to acquire people who love you.

for he is born a brother for adversity At the time of adversity, the friend will be born to you as a brother, to help you and to participate in your adversity.

A person without sense clasps hands [This refers to] surety of money. Another explanation: He clasps with the wicked to go in their ways, while he is already a guarantor for his friend. He already accepted surety for the Holy One, blessed be He, to keep His commandments.

He who delights in transgression to sin against his friend.

delights in quarrels To quarrel and strive.

he who speaks haughtily lit. he who raises his opening, speaks with haughtiness, as in (Micah 7:5) “guard the openings of your mouth.”

A happy heart enhances one’s brilliance Heb. גהה. When a person is satisfied with his lot, his countenance shines.

He will take a bribe from a wicked man’s bosom The Holy One, blessed be He, accepts words of humility and appeasement from the bosom of the wicked; i.e., in secret, between Him and them.

to pervert the roads of justice To overturn his verdict from evil to good.

Wisdom is directly in front of an understanding man The wisdom is directly in front of an understanding man.

but the eyes of a fool are at the end of the earth saying, “Wisdom is inaccessible to me [lit. The wisdom is not found before me] because it is far from me. How will I be able to learn the Order Nezikin, which consists of thirty chapters; Tractate Kelim, consisting of thirty chapters; Tractate Shabbath, consisting of twenty-four chapters?” But, for the wise man, it is an easy matter: “Today I learn two chapters and tomorrow two chapters.” And he says, “This is what those who preceded me from time immemorial did.”

A foolish son causes anger to his father [A foolish son] like Jeroboam causes anger to the Holy One, blessed be He.

and bitterness to her who bore him To the people of Israel, whom he caused to sin.

To punish also the righteous man is not good The Holy One, blessed be He, did not decide to obliterate the name of Israel from upon the earth, as it was not good in his sight to punish all of them.

to strike the generous who possess uprightness To strike the good people among them, who were generous and possessing uprightness, as it is said (I Kings 19:18): “And I will leave over in Israel seven thousand—all the knees that did not kneel to the Baal.”

the generous who possess uprightness Heb. נדיבים עלי ישר, an analogy of what is stated elsewhere (Isa. 32:8): “But the generous person plans generous deeds, and he, because of generous deeds, shall stand.” We find “a generous man because of generous deeds.”

keeps back his words He who has knowledge does not talk excessively.

he whose breath is dear (Whose words are dear; Salonica ed.) He who keeps back his words is a man of understanding.