Proverbs 15:5

New English Translation

⁵A fool rejects his father’s discipline,
but whoever heeds reproof shows good sense.^[a]

Proverbs 15:5 tn Heb “is prudent” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NCV, NLT “is wise.” Anyone who accepts correction or rebuke will become prudent in life.

Proverbs 15:5

American Standard Version

⁵A fool despiseth his father’s ^[a]correction;
But he that regardeth reproof ^[b]getteth prudence.

¹⁴The discerning mind^[a] seeks knowledge,
but the mouth of fools feeds on folly.^[b]

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.

¹⁴The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge;
But the mouth of fools feedeth on folly.

New English Translation (NET)

American Standard Version (ASV)