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Proverbs 10:13
New Living Translation
Proverbs 10:13
New Living Translation
13 Wise words come from the lips of people with understanding,
but those lacking sense will be beaten with a rod.
Proverbs 10:13
New English Translation
Proverbs 10:13
New English Translation
13 Wisdom is found in the words[a] of the discerning person,[b]
but the one who lacks sense[c] will be disciplined.[d]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 10:13 tn Heb “on the lips” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause for the words spoken by the lips.
- Proverbs 10:13 tn Heb “the one who is discerning.” The term “discerning” describes someone who is critically perceptive and has understanding. He can be relied on to say things that are wise.
- Proverbs 10:13 tn Heb “the one lacking of mind.” The term לֵב (lev, “mind, heart”) is used as a metonymy of association for what one does with the mind (i.e., thinking), and so refers to discernment, wisdom, good sense.
- Proverbs 10:13 tn Heb “a rod is for the back of the one lacking heart.” The term שֵׁבֶט (shevet, “rod”) functions figuratively: synecdoche of specific (= rod of discipline) for general (= discipline in general). The term גֵּו (gev, “back”) is a synecdoche of part (= back) for the whole (= person as a whole). The back is emphasized because it was the object of physical corporeal discipline. This proverb is not limited in its application to physical corporeal punishment because the consequences of foolishness may come in many forms, physical corporeal discipline being only one form.
Proverbs 10:23
New Living Translation
Proverbs 10:23
New Living Translation
23 Doing wrong is fun for a fool,
but living wisely brings pleasure to the sensible.
Proverbs 10:23
New English Translation
Proverbs 10:23
New English Translation
23 Carrying out a wicked scheme[a] is enjoyable[b] to a fool,
and so is wisdom for the one who has discernment.[c]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 10:23 tn Heb “doing a plan.” The noun זִמָּה (zimmah, “plan”) is often used pejoratively of a scheme to do wickedness. It is used elsewhere for planning lewdness, murder, incest, adultery, idolatry, and licentiousness. Any planned gross impropriety gives the fool pleasure. The verb עָשָׂה (ʿasah, “to do”) here means “to carry out (a plan)” (BDB 794 s.v.).
- Proverbs 10:23 tn Heb “like sport” (so NASB, NRSV). The noun שְׂחוֹק (sekhoq, “sport”) is used elsewhere to refer to what is exhilarating and pleasurable (BDB 966 s.v.). As W. G. Plaut says, it is like child’s play (Proverbs, 132). For the fool evil brings such enjoyment; for the discerning wisdom does.
- Proverbs 10:23 tn Heb “a man of discernment.”
Proverbs 13:15
New Living Translation
Proverbs 13:15
New Living Translation
15 A person with good sense is respected;
a treacherous person is headed for destruction.[a]
Footnotes
- 13:15 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads the way of the treacherous is lasting.
Proverbs 13:15
New English Translation
Proverbs 13:15
New English Translation
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 13:15 tn Heb “good insight.” The expression שֵׂכֶל־טוֹב (sekhel tov) describes a person who has good sense, sound judgment, or wise opinions (BDB 968 s.v. שֵׂכֶל).
- Proverbs 13:15 tn Heb “gives”; NASB “produces.”
- Proverbs 13:15 tn Heb “way,” frequently for conduct, behavior, or lifestyle.
- Proverbs 13:15 tn The Hebrew has a nominal clause: “the way [conduct] of the treacherous [is] destruction.” The verb “ends [in]” is supplied for style and in keeping with the image of a pathway leading to a destination.
- Proverbs 13:15 tc The MT reads אֵיתָן (ʾetan, “enduring; permanent; perennial”; BDB 450 s.v. יתן 1), which gives a meaning not consistent with the teachings of Proverbs. Several scholars suggest that the text here needs revision. G. R. Driver suggested that לֹא (loʾ, “not”) was dropped before the word by haplography and so the meaning would have been not “enduring” but “passing away” (“Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs,” Bib 32 [1951]: 181). The LXX reads “the ways of the contemptuous [lead] to destruction” which, supported by the Syriac, may reflect an underlying text of אֵידָם (ʾedam) “their calamity” or just אֵיד (ʾed, “calamity, distress”; BDB 15 s.v.). The Targum reflects a text of תֹאבֵד (toʾved) “will perish, be destroyed.”
Proverbs 14:6
New Living Translation
Proverbs 14:6
New Living Translation
6 A mocker seeks wisdom and never finds it,
but knowledge comes easily to those with understanding.
Proverbs 14:6
New English Translation
Proverbs 14:6
New English Translation
6 The scorner[a] sought wisdom—there was none,[b]
but understanding was easy[c] for a discerning person.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 14:6 sn The “scorner” (לֵץ, lets) is intellectually arrogant; he lacks any serious interest in knowledge or religion. He pursues wisdom in a superficial way so that he can appear wise. The acquisition of wisdom is conditioned by one’s attitude toward it (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 149).
- Proverbs 14:6 sn It is not that wisdom was unavailable (as if in contradiction to Prov 8). Instead the proverb enters the point of view of the person characterized by derision and scoffing. From their perspective it wasn’t there. As observers we see that the scorner did not find wisdom because of a haughty attitude. Perhaps the proverb is given in a past time reference because it also pictures a person is done with seeking wisdom. They looked. It wasn’t there. They stopped looking.
- Proverbs 14:6 tn The verb קָלַל (qalal) is a stative verb meaning to “be small, insignificant, quick, easy.” Stative verbs seldom appear in the Niphal, as the verb does here. But in the Niphal they are often ingressive, “knowledge (be)came easy for the discerning.”
Proverbs 14:8
New Living Translation
Proverbs 14:8
New Living Translation
8 The prudent understand where they are going,
but fools deceive themselves.
Proverbs 14:8
New English Translation
Proverbs 14:8
New English Translation
8 The wisdom of the shrewd person[a] is to discern[b] his way,
but the folly of fools is deception.[c]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 14:8 tn Or “the prudent [person]” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).
- Proverbs 14:8 tn The Hiphil infinitive construct denotes purpose. Those who are shrewd will use it to give careful consideration to all their ways.
- Proverbs 14:8 tn The word means “deception,” but some suggest “self-deception” here (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 466; and D. W. Thomas, “Textual and Philological Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 286); cf. NLT “fools deceive themselves.” The parallelism would favor this, but there is little support for it. The word usually means “craft practiced on others.” If the line is saying the fool is deceitful, there is only a loose antithesis between the cola.
Proverbs 14:15
New Living Translation
Proverbs 14:15
New Living Translation
15 Only simpletons believe everything they’re told!
The prudent carefully consider their steps.
Proverbs 14:15
New English Translation
Proverbs 14:15
New English Translation
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 14:15 sn The contrast is with the simpleton and the shrewd. The simpleton is the young person who is untrained morally or intellectually, and therefore gullible. The shrewd one is the prudent person, the one who has the ability to make critical discriminations.
- Proverbs 14:15 tn Heb “his step”; cf. TEV “sensible people watch their step.”
Proverbs 14:33
New Living Translation
Proverbs 14:33
New Living Translation
33 Wisdom is enshrined in an understanding heart;
wisdom is not[a] found among fools.
Footnotes
- 14:33 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew lacks not.
Proverbs 14:33
New English Translation
Proverbs 14:33
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 14:33 tc The MT says “it [wisdom] is known,” but this runs counter to the rest of Proverbs’ teaching, making it sound sarcastic at best. The LXX and the Syriac negate the clause, saying it is “not known in the heart fools” (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV, NLT), which suggests the word לֹא (loʾ, “not”) has dropped out. The Targum supports reading אִוֶּלֶת (ʾivvelet) “folly is in the heart of fools.” Thomas connects the verb to the Arabic root wdʿ and translates it “in fools it is suppressed.” See D. W. Thomas, “The Root ידע in Hebrew,” JTS 35 (1934): 302-3.
- Proverbs 14:33 tn Heb “in the inner part”; ASV “in the inward part”; NRSV “in the heart of fools.”
Proverbs 15:14
New Living Translation
Proverbs 15:14
New Living Translation
14 A wise person is hungry for knowledge,
while the fool feeds on trash.
Proverbs 15:14
New English Translation
Proverbs 15:14
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 15:14 tn Or “heart.” The Hebrew term is לֵב (lev, “mind, heart”).
- Proverbs 15:14 tc The idea expressed in the second colon does not make a strong parallelism with the first with its emphasis on seeking knowledge. Its poetic image of feeding (a hypocatastasis) would signify the acquisition of folly—the fool has an appetite for it. D. W. Thomas suggests the change of one letter, ר (resh) to ד (dalet), to obtain a reading יִדְעֶה (yidʿeh); this he then connects to an Arabic root daʿa with the meaning “sought, demanded” to form what he thinks is a better parallel (“Textual and Philological Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 285). But even though the parallelism is not as precise as some would prefer, there is insufficient warrant for such a change.
Proverbs 15:21
New Living Translation
Proverbs 15:21
New Living Translation
21 Foolishness brings joy to those with no sense;
a sensible person stays on the right path.
Proverbs 15:21
New English Translation
Proverbs 15:21
New English Translation
21 Folly is a joy to one who lacks sense,[a]
but one who has understanding[b] follows an upright course.[c]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 15:21 tn Heb “lacking of mind.” The term לֵב (lev, “mind, heart”) refers by metonymy to thinking, and by extension to discernment, wisdom, good sense (cf. NIV “judgment”). The one who has not developed this ability to make proper choices finds great delight in folly.
- Proverbs 15:21 tn Heb “a man of understanding” (so KJV, NIV); NLT “a sensible person.”
- Proverbs 15:21 tn The Hebrew construction is יְיַשֶּׁר־לָכֶת (yeyasher lakhet, “makes straight [to] go”). This is a verbal hendiadys, in which the first verb, the Piel imperfect, becomes adverbial, and the second form, the infinitive construct of הָלַךְ, halakh, becomes the main verb: “goes straight ahead” (cf. NRSV).
Proverbs 16:16
New Living Translation
Proverbs 16:16
New Living Translation
16 How much better to get wisdom than gold,
and good judgment than silver!
Proverbs 16:16
New English Translation
Proverbs 16:16
New English Translation
16 How much better it is to acquire[a] wisdom than gold;
to acquire understanding is more desirable[b] than silver.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 16:16 tn The form קְנֹה (qenoh) is an infinitive; the Greek version apparently took it as a participle, and the Latin as an imperative—both working with an unpointed קנה, the letter ה (he) being unexpected in the form if it is an infinitive construct (the parallel clause has קְנוֹת [qenot] for the infinitive, but the ancient versions also translate that as either a participle or an imperative).
- Proverbs 16:16 tn The form is a Niphal participle, masculine singular. If it is modifying “understanding” it should be a feminine form. If it is to be translated, it would have to be rendered “and to acquire understanding is to be chosen more than silver” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). Many commentaries consider it superfluous. NIV and NCV simply have “to choose understanding rather than silver!”
Proverbs 16:21
New Living Translation
Proverbs 16:21
New Living Translation
21 The wise are known for their understanding,
and pleasant words are persuasive.
Proverbs 16:21
New English Translation
Proverbs 16:21
New English Translation
21 The one who is wise in heart[a] is called[b] discerning,
and kind speech[c] increases persuasiveness.[d]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 16:21 tn Heb “wise of heart” (so NRSV).
- Proverbs 16:21 tn Heb “to the wise of heart it will be called discerning.” This means that the wise of heart, those who make wise decisions (“heart” being the metonymy), will gain a reputation of being the discerning ones.
- Proverbs 16:21 tn Heb “sweetness of lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause, meaning what is said. It is a genitive of specification. The idea of “sweetness” must be gracious and friendly words. The teaching will be well-received because it is both delightful and persuasive (cf. NIV “pleasant words promote instruction”).
- Proverbs 16:21 tn Heb “teaching” or “receptivity”; KJV “learning”; NIV “instruction.”
Proverbs 17:10
New Living Translation
Proverbs 17:10
New Living Translation
10 A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding
than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool.
Proverbs 17:10
New English Translation
Proverbs 17:10
New English Translation
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 17:10 tn Heb “goes in deeper” (cf. NASB, NRSV). The verb נָחֵת (nakhet) “to go down; to descend” with the preposition ב (bet) means “to descend into; to make an impression on” someone.
- Proverbs 17:10 tn The form is the Hiphil infinitive of נָכָה (nakhah) with the comparative מִן, min. The word “fool” then would be an objective genitive—more than blows to/on a fool.
New Living Translation (NLT)
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New English Translation (NET)
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.