PROV 26:11 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 25:1–29:27: This is Hezekiah’s collection of Solomon’s proverbs

This section is the second collection of Solomon’s proverbs. These proverbs were organized and copied by men who served King Hezekiah. Most scholars divide this section into two groups. These groups differ in several ways.

The first group (chapters 25–27) has many more comparisons and admonitions. In Hebrew, most of these comparisons are metaphors in which one or more illustrations precede the topic. Some English versions change the order so that the topic precedes the illustration(s). You should follow the order that expresses the meaning naturally and effectively in your language.

In the first group, many proverbs are one verse long. As with the individual proverbs in the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs (Section 10:1–22:16), they are not related to the proverbs around them. Other proverbs in this group are two or more verses long. Still others are one-verse proverbs that are closely related in theme. Proverbs in all three categories will be marked as separate paragraphs.

The second group (chapters 28–29) has more contrastive proverbs. The proverbs in this group are each one verse long. They will not be marked as separate paragraphs.

Some other headings for this section are:

More Proverbs of Solomon (NIV)

Proverbs of Solomon Collected by Hezekiah (NET)

These are also wise things that Solomon said

26:11

This proverb compares a person who keeps doing foolish things (26:11b) to a dog that returns to eat what it has vomited (26:11a).

^11aAs a dog returns to its vomit,

^11bso a fool repeats his folly.

The similarity is that both repeat an action that is repulsive. Both fail to learn from their experience. A dog eats what its stomach has already rejected. A fool does the same foolish thing again, even though he suffered bad consequences the first time he did it.

26:11a

As a dog returns to its vomit,

¶ Just like a dog returns to its vomit and eats it again,
¶ Dogs vomit something, then they eat it again.

As a dog returns to its vomit: This clause means that a dog eats what it has vomited. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

Dogs return to eat their vomit (CEV)

A dog vomits something and then eats/licks it again.

26:11a–b

(combined/reordered)

¶ A fool that does the same bad/foolish thing again and again is like a dog that vomits. Then it returns and eats/licks what it has vomited.
¶ Fools that repeatedly do what is wrong and foolish are like dogs that always return to their vomit.

26:11b

so a fool repeats his folly.

so also a fool keeps repeating the same stupid things/actions.
Similarly, fools do something that is bad/foolish, then they do it again.

so a fool repeats his folly: Some other ways to translate this clause are:

just as fools repeat their foolishness (CEV)

Similarly, a fool does something bad/stupid and then does the same thing again.

fool…folly: See fool 2 and folly in the Glossary.

General Comment on 26:11a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to state the topic before the illustration. For example:

A fool doing some stupid thing a second time is like a dog going back to its vomit. (GNT)

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / infostructure

כְּ֭⁠כֶלֶב שָׁ֣ב עַל־קֵא֑⁠וֹ כְּ֝סִ֗יל שׁוֹנֶ֥ה בְ⁠אִוַּלְתּֽ⁠וֹ

like,a_dog returns on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in vomit_of,its_own fool repeats (in),foolishness_of,his

If it would be more natural in your language, you could change the order of these clauses. Alternate translation: “A stupid one who repeats his folly is like a dog that returns to its vomit”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

כְּ֭⁠כֶלֶב שָׁ֣ב עַל־קֵא֑⁠וֹ כְּ֝סִ֗יל שׁוֹנֶ֥ה בְ⁠אִוַּלְתּֽ⁠וֹ

like,a_dog returns on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in vomit_of,its_own fool repeats (in),foolishness_of,his

Here, a dog, its, a stupid one, and his refer to dogs and a type of person in general, not a specific dog or person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use more natural expressions. See how you translated a stupid one in [10:18](../10/18.md). Alternate translation: “Like any dog that returns to that dog’s vomit is any stupid person who repeats that person’s own folly”

Note 3 topic: translate-unknown

כְּ֭⁠כֶלֶב

like,a_dog

A dog is an animal that is considered to be unclean and disgusting by Jews and many cultures of the Ancient Near East. Therefore, comparing someone to a dog is insulting. If dogs are unfamiliar to your culture and you have a different animal that is considered unclean and disgusting or whose name is used as an insult, you could use the name of that animal instead.

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

שָׁ֣ב עַל־קֵא֑⁠וֹ

returns on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in vomit_of,its_own

Here Solomon implies that the dog returns to its vomit in order to eat it. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “that returns to eat its vomit”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

בְ⁠אִוַּלְתּֽ⁠וֹ

(in),foolishness_of,his

See how you translated the abstract noun folly in [5:23](../05/23.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 26:11