Translation
The words of the wise are like a stick in the back,
Go to footnote numberand the collection of sayings is like a well-placed peg to hang things on, set in place by one
Go to footnote numbershepherd.
Paraphrase
The words of the wise are effective in motivating us to action, and this collection of sayings enables us to organize things in our mind and thus get a better picture of life as a whole; all this was established and set in place by the most knowledgeable teacher.
Footnotes
1: “a stick in the back”
This refers to the stick people used to goad or prod cattle in order to get them to do what the owner wanted the cattle to do. But the word “goad” is not heard very much in English any more so I chose a descriptive phrase which would convey the idea of a motivation to move forward.
2: “one”
The insight shared in this piece of writing came from the one and only teacher, on a human level, the most famous of all speakers at the assembly, Solomon.