PROV 13:19 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 10:1–22:16: This is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs

This section is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs. It has a very different structure from the longer poetic lectures of chapters 1–9. It consists mostly of individual couplets (two-line poems) that are each one verse in length. With the exception of the title (10:1a), paragraph breaks will not be indicated in the Notes or Display. You may of course choose to start each proverb as a separate paragraph in your translation.

In chapters 10–15, most of these one-verse couplets express a contrast between the two lines. One of the more common contrasts is between the righteous/wise and the wicked/foolish and the different consequences of their conduct.

In chapters 16:1–22:16, more topics are discussed. There is more emphasis on the role of the king and other leaders. In these chapters, there are few proverbs with contrasting lines. Some of the parallel lines are similar in meaning. More frequently, the second line adds to what the first line says or gives an example. Most of the verses have no obvious connection with the previous or following proverbs.UBS (page 214), Fox (page 509), McKane (page 413). Many scholars, including McKane, point out that there are some topical groupings as well as poetic connections. These include the repetition of certain words or sounds. This observation does not deny the individual nature of most of the proverbs in this Section.

Two of the types of proverbs in this section are not found in chapters 1–9. One type contains logical reasoning from the lesser to the greater. See 11:31 for a list of these proverbs. There are also several varieties of complex “better than” proverbs. The most common have a contrasting situation in each line (see 12:9). For other varieties, see 16:16, 19:1, and 21:9.

Many of the proverbs in this section refer to categories of people who share a common trait. For example, they refer to the righteous, the wise, the poor, and the lazy. In Hebrew, some verses use singular forms to refer to these groups of people. Other verses use plural forms. Still others use a combination of singular and plural. See the note on 10:30a–b for one example. For most of these verses, the Notes will not comment on the difference between singular and plural forms. Use a natural way in your language to refer to one or more people who are in the same category.

Many of the proverbs in this section express a general principle in abstract terms. They are not addressed specifically to the readers. For example, 10:2a–b says:

Ill-gotten treasures are of no value,

but righteousness delivers from death.

However, the author intended his readers to understand these proverbs as advice that they should follow. In some languages, authors or speakers give advice more directly, using pronouns such as you^(sing), you^(plur), we^(dual), or we^(incl). See the note on 10:2 for translation suggestions.

Some other headings for this section are:

Proverbs of Solomon (NIV)

The Wise Words of Solomon (NCV)

Here are many wise things that Solomon said

13:19

Notice that the following lines have no contrasting pairs:

^19aDesire fulfilled is sweet to the soul,

^19bbut turning from evil is detestable to fools.

There is no explicit connection between the two lines. However, it is implied from 13:25 as well as 10:3 and 10:24 that only righteous people truly experience the satisfaction of their desires. The implied contrast here may be as follows:

^19a Righteous people experience the pleasant feeling that results from their desire being fulfilled,

^19bbut fools will not experience this pleasure, because they refuse to turn from their evil ways.This implication is brought out by Waltke (pp. 568–569), Hubbard (p. 197), and Longman (p. 290). An alternative implication is suggested by Ross (p. 980): fools detest turning from evil in order to attain the sweetness that comes from the accomplishment of good desires. This implication is made explicit by the NLT. The first interpretation is preferable, because fools think they are indeed deriving pleasure from their evil ways. They don’t think that they would experience pleasure from righteous living.

13:19a

Desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul,

A righteous person who receives what he desires feels true pleasure,
When good people get what they want/desire, it makes them happy.

Desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul: In this context, the word sweet means “pleasant” or “agreeable.” The word soul represents the person himself. Another way to express this meaning is:

How good it is to get what you want! (GNT)

It is very pleasant when what you desire comes true

13:19b

but turning from evil is detestable to fools.

but foolish people hate to stop doing what is wrong, so they will not experience this pleasure/happiness.
As for fools, they will never be satisfied, because abandoning their wicked conduct is disgusting/nauseating to them.

but turning from evil is detestable to fools: The phrase that the BSB translates as is detestable to fools is literally “abomination of fools.” The phrase “abomination of…” usually describes what the LORD detests. Here it indicates that a fool is disgusted or repulsed by the thought of abandoning his evil conduct. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

but turning from evil is disgusting to fools (GW)

but fools hate to stop doing evil (NCV)

The Hebrew word translated here as fools is the same as the word that was used in 13:16b. See the note there. For the word detestable, see the note in 11:1a.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

לְ⁠נָ֑פֶשׁ

to,a_person

Here Solomon implies that self refers to the same person who has the desire mentioned earlier in the verse. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “to one’s self”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

וְ⁠תוֹעֲבַ֥ת & מֵ⁠רָֽע

and_[is],an_abomination_of & from,evil

See how you translated the abstract nouns abomination in [3:32](../03/32.md) and evil in [1:16](../01/16.md).

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

וְ⁠תוֹעֲבַ֥ת כְּ֝סִילִ֗ים

and_[is],an_abomination_of fools

Solomon is using the possessive form to describe an abomination that relates to stupid people. If your language would not use the possessive form for this, you could express this idea in another way. Alternate translation: [but what stupid people consider to be an abomination]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ס֣וּר מֵ⁠רָֽע

turn_away from,evil

See how you translated “turn away from evil” in [3:7](../03/07.md).

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.

OET interlinear PROV 13:19

Hebrew word order

Section 10:1–22:16: This is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs

13:19

13:19a

13:19b

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)