PROV 15:2 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

15:2

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

^2a The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,

^2bbut the mouth of the fool spouts folly.

The poetic synonyms “tongue” and “mouth” are figures of speech. They represent the words that are spoken by wise and foolish people.

15:2a

The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,

The words of a wise person are enjoyable/attractive to those who listen and learn.
A wise person shares his knowledge in a good way, so people are eager to learn more.
When a wise person says/shares what he knows to/with others, they are made happy.

The tongue of the wise commends knowledge: There is a textual issue here that involves the word commends:

The Masoretic Text (MT) has a word that is literally “makes good.” This text means that the wise person makes his knowledge pleasant or attractive to others when he shares it in speech. For example:
The wise person makes learning a joy (NLT96)
When wise people speak, they make knowledge attractive (GNT) (BSB, ESV, GW, KJV, NASB, NET, NIV, NJB, NLT, GNT)
To obtain better parallelism with “gushes” in 15:2b, some scholars propose that the original text had a word that is literally “drips.”The MT has the word teṭib “makes good.” According to Whybray (p. 125), this word is commonly changed to taṭṭip “drips.” Murphy (p. 110) says that this change is suggested by the BHS. Neither Whybray nor Murphy recommends this change. This proposed text means that the wise person shares his knowledge in measured/appropriate amounts. For example:
The tongue of the wise dispenses knowledge (NRSV) (CEV, NCV, NJPS, NRSV, REB)

It is recommended that you follow option (1), along with most versions and scholars.The MT is recommended by the UBS HOTTP (Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). The Masoretic Text makes good sense. Furthermore, the ancient versions do not follow a text with this proposed difference.

15:2b

but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.

But the many words of a fool make known nothing but his own stupidity.
But a fool keeps talking endlessly, and what he says is pure nonsense/foolishness.

but the mouth of the fool spouts folly: The verb that the BSB translates as spouts usually means to express a person’s thoughts, feelings, and attitudes. (See the note on 1:23b.)

But here there is a connotation that the fool expresses his foolishness in an unrestrained manner. Some ways to express this connotation are:

but the mouths of fools pour out a flood of stupidity (GW)

fools spout only foolishness (NLT96)

See fool 2 in the Glossary.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

לְשׁ֣וֹן חֲ֭כָמִים & וּ⁠פִ֥י כְ֝סִילִ֗ים

tongue_of wise & and_[the],mouth_of fools

The tongue of the wise ones and the mouth of stupid ones refer to what these types of people say in general, not to a specific tongue or mouth. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use more natural expressions. Alternate translation: “The tongues of wise ones … but the mouths of stupid ones”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

לְשׁ֣וֹן חֲ֭כָמִים

tongue_of wise

See how you translated this phrase in [12:18](../12/18.md).

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

תֵּיטִ֣יב דָּ֑עַת

you(ms)_will_do_well/be_happy knowledge

The phrase makes knowledge good refers to speaking knowledge in a way that makes knowledge pleasant or attractive to others. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “makes knowledge pleasing to others”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

דָּ֑עַת & אִוֶּֽלֶת

knowledge & folly

See how you translated the abstract nouns knowledge in [1:4](../01/04.md) and folly in [5:23](../05/23.md).

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

וּ⁠פִ֥י כְ֝סִילִ֗ים יַבִּ֥יעַ אִוֶּֽלֶת

and_[the],mouth_of fools pour_out folly

Here Solomon refers to stupid people always saying foolish things as if their mouths were places from which folly gushes forth like flowing water. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “but the mouths of stupid ones are always speaking folly”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

וּ⁠פִ֥י כְ֝סִילִ֗ים

and_[the],mouth_of fools

See how you translated the same use of the mouth of in [10:6](../10/06.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 15:2

Hebrew word order

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

15:2

15:2a

15:2b

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