Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB MSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV SLT Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Prov C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31
Prov 15 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33
OET (OET-LV) the_house_of proud_people he_tears_down YHWH and_he_will_establish the_territory_of a_widow.
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
Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:
25a The LORD tears down the house of the proud,
25bbut He protects the boundaries of the widow.
The LORD tears down the house of the proud,
Yahweh destroys the dwelling/home of a person who is arrogant,
Yahweh will see to it that an arrogant person’s house and property is destroyed,
The LORD tears down the house of the proud: The word that the BSB translates as the proud refers to a person who is arrogant and has a high opinion of himself. In this context, it is also someone who oppresses others. The word house refers here to a literal dwelling. But it also represents the other property that belongs to the arrogant person.
It is implied that the LORD uses other forces or people to “tear down” or destroy the proud person’s house. He doesn’t literally tear it down himself. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:
The LORD causes the house of an arrogant person to be destroyed.
but He protects the boundaries of the widow.
but he prevents anyone from moving a widow’s boundary stones/markers.
but he will protect a widow so that her property and other possessions remain unchanged.
but He protects: The verb that the BSB translates as protects means “establishes.” It indicates here that the LORD maintains the boundaries of the widow’s property or restores them to their proper position.
the boundaries of the widow: The phrase the boundaries of the widow refers to the boundary stones that mark the borders of the land belonging to a widow. The word boundaries represents not only the borders of the widow’s land but also her property/possessions in general. This double meaning is similar to the meaning of the parallel word “house” in 15:25a.
Some ways to translate the meaning of this line are:
Use general terms. For example:
but he will protect the widow’s property (NCV)
Use specific terms. If the concept of boundary stones or markers is meaningful in your language, it may be better to use this option. For example:
but maintains the widow’s boundary stones (REB)
but he restores the borders of the widow’s land to their proper place
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
יִסַּ֥ח
tears_down
Here Solomon refers to Yahweh destroying the house of the proud ones as if he were tearing it down. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “will ruin”
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun
בֵּ֣ית גֵּ֭אִים & גְּב֣וּל אַלְמָנָֽה
house_of proud & border widow's
Here, the house, the boundary, and the widow refer to houses, boundaries, and widows in general, not one particular house, boundary, or widow. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use more natural expressions. Alternate translation: “the houses of the proud ones … the boundaries of the widows”
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
בֵּ֣ית
house_of
Here, house refers to both the building someone lives in and the items within that house. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “the property of”
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
וְ֝יַצֵּ֗ב
and,he_will_establish
Here Solomon refers to Yahweh protecting or maintaining the boundary of the widow as if it were an object that he set up. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “but he will protect”
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
גְּב֣וּל
border
The word boundary refers to stones that were used to mark the borders of the land that a person owned. Here Solomon uses boundary to refer to all the land and possessions within the boundary of the land that the widow owns. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “the property of”
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
אַלְמָנָֽה
widow's
Solomon assumes that his readers will understand that the widow is helpless and poor because widows were some of the poorest people in ancient societies. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: “the helpless widow”
15:25 The proud think that they are self-sufficient. Widows in the ancient Near East were just the opposite—completely vulnerable and without means of support or protection.
OET (OET-LV) the_house_of proud_people he_tears_down YHWH and_he_will_establish the_territory_of a_widow.
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.