PROV 26:16 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

Paragraph 26:13–16

This paragraph is about a lazy person or “slacker” (BSB). The first three verses ridicule the lazy person and imply a progression in his laziness. First, he makes a ridiculous excuse for staying at home and not going to work (26:13). Second, he just stays in bed (26:14). Third, he is too lazy to even put food in his mouth (26:15). The conclusion or climax comes in 26:16. In spite of his laziness, he considers himself to be extremely wise.See Fox (page 798) and Waltke (page 355). Both of these scholars analyze this paragraph in a similar way. According to Fox, the first three proverbs ridicule the lazy person. Waltke considers the fourth proverb to be the climax of the paragraph. Fox notes that this last proverb is a “non-ironic observation.”

26:16

This proverb describes a lazy person’s opinion of himself. He thinks that he is wiser than any number of people who are able to reply intelligently to a question or comment.

^16aThe slacker is wiser in his own eyes

^16bthan seven men who answer discreetly.

26:16a

The slacker is wiser in his own eyes

A lazy person mistakenly thinks that he is wiser
Lazy people are wiser in their own opinion/viewpoint

The slacker is wiser in his own eyes: For the phrase wiser in his own eyes, see the note on “wise in his own eyes” in 26:12a.

26:16b

than seven men who answer discreetly.

than seven people/men who are able to give good/sensible advice.
than many people who speak/answer sensibly/intelligently.

than seven men who answer discreetly: The number seven in Scripture often represents a complete number. Here it probably indicates any number of people (several or many) who are capable of giving good/sound advice.Fox (page 798) says that “seven” is equivalent here to “several.” Longman (page 468) suggests “many.” UBS (page 565) defines it as “any number of.” According to Waltke (page 357), it “symbolizes the perfection of their answer.”

The word that the BSB translates as discreetly occurs elsewhere in Proverbs only in 11:22b. See the note there. It means here that the seven men use good sense or good judgment when they respond to a question, statement, or situation.

Some other ways to translate this line are:

than seven men who give good advice (NJPS)

than seven wise counselors (NLT)

than any number of people who can converse intelligently

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

עָצֵ֣ל בְּ⁠עֵינָ֑י⁠ו

sluggard in,his_own_of,eyes

See how you translated A lazy one and his in the previous verse.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

חָכָ֣ם & בְּ⁠עֵינָ֑י⁠ו

wiser & in,his_own_of,eyes

Here Solomon implies that A lazy one is not actually wise. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “erroneously considers himself wiser in his own eyes”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

בְּ⁠עֵינָ֑י⁠ו

in,his_own_of,eyes

See how you translated the same use of this phrase in [26:12](../26/12.md).

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj

מִ֝⁠שִּׁבְעָ֗ה

more,than_seven_[people]

Solomon is using the adjective seven as a noun to mean seven people. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this word with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: “seven people”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

מִ֝⁠שִּׁבְעָ֗ה

more,than_seven_[people]

Here, seven is used to refer to multiple people, not specifically seven people. In Hebrew, seven often symbolizes the idea of completion. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “numerous people”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

מְשִׁ֣יבֵי טָֽעַם

answer_of discreetly

Here Solomon refers to people speaking a reply with discretion to someone else as if they were returning discretion. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. See how you translated the similar use of “returns” in [24:26](../24/26.md). Alternate translation: “who speak a discreet reply”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

טָֽעַם

discreetly

See how you translated the abstract noun discretion in [1:4](../01/04.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.