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 9 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17
OET (OET-LV) And_not he_knows if/because_that the_shades are_there are_in_the_depths_of Shəʼōl her_invited_of_men.
OET (OET-RV) But he doesn’t realise that the dead are there,
⇔ ≈ or that her guests are in the depths of the grave.
This section summarizes the main themes of chapters 1–8. It contains parallel appeals by Wisdom (9:1–6) and Folly (9:13–18), both personified as women. Both Wisdom and Folly appeal to the same audience, inviting them to come and eat in their homes. Between these two appeals is a summary of two opposite ways to respond to Wisdom (9:7–12). In the center of this paragraph, 9:10 contains a restatement of the first line of 1:7. These key verses mark chapters 1 and 9 as the beginning and end of the first major division of the book.
Some other headings for this section are:
Invitations of Wisdom and of Folly (NIV)
Wisdom and Foolishness each give a feast
Being Wise or Foolish (NCV)
This paragraph contains an invitation from Woman Folly that is obviously parallel to Wisdom’s invitation in 9:1–6. Folly’s character and the location from which she gives her invitation are described in 9:13–15. Her invitation is found in 9:16–17. In 9:18, the author concludes the paragraph by describing the consequences of accepting Folly’s invitation.
When you translate this paragraph, pay careful attention to the wording that you used in 9:1–6 so that the parallels between Wisdom’s invitation and Folly’s invitation will be clear.
Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:
18aBut they do not know that the dead are there,
18b that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
There is an ellipsis in 9:18b. In some languages, it may be necessary to supply the missing words from 9:18a. For example:
18b they do not know that her guests are in the depths of the grave
But they do not know that the dead are there,
But these people do not know/realize that those who go to her house die.
But they do not know that the dead are there: In Hebrew, the phrase they do not know is literally “he does not know.” The pronoun “he” refers to any person who responded to Folly’s invitation in 9:16. Many versions translate this pronoun as “they.” Use whatever is more natural in your language.
the dead are there: The word that the BSB translates as the dead was translated as “the departed spirits” in 2:18a–b (see the note there). The word there means inside Folly’s house. If this is translated literally in some languages, it may lead to misunderstanding. People may think that the spirits of dead people have come back to haunt the woman’s house or that the spirits of people who died in the house are still there. What this clause actually means is that those who enter Folly’s house will certainly die. They can be considered dead. For example:
But these people don’t know that everyone who goes there dies (NCV)
(combined/reordered)
But they do not know that those who go to her will die and that some of them are already in the place of the dead.
But none who become the guests of Foolishness realize that it is as if they are already in the place of dead people.
that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
They do not understand that those who said yes to her invitation in the past are already buried in the world of the dead.
They do not realize that her former guests are already located in the place of the dead.
that her guests are in the depths of Sheol: The word that the BSB translates as her guests is literally “her called ones.” It refers to the people who accepted her invitation.UBS (page 212). As in 2:18a–b, Sheol is the world of the dead. The word depths does not imply that these guests are in the deepest parts in contrast to others in shallower locations. The whole world of the dead is viewed as being deep under the earth.
The meaning of this line is similar to 9:18a. It does not mean that her current guests are already in the world of the dead. What it means is that her guests will certainly end up in Sheol. This may be expressed in different ways:
that her guests end up deep in the grave (NCV)
that her former guests are now in the grave (NLT96)
In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel lines. For example:
None who listen to Stupidity understand that her guests are as good as dead. (CEV)
See also 9:18a–b (combined/reordered) in the Display.
This division consists of the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs (10:1–22:16), followed by several shorter sections.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun
וְֽלֹא־יָ֭דַע
and=not knowing
Here, he refers to any naive man to whom the stupid woman calls. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “But any naive man does not know”
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
רְפָאִ֣ים שָׁ֑ם
dead there
Here Solomon speaks of those men who died because they went to the stupid woman’s house as if their dead spirits were there. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “that the men who have gone to her house are now dead”
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
קְרֻאֶֽיהָ
her_invited_of,[men]
If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: “the ones whom she called”
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
קְרֻאֶֽיהָ
her_invited_of,[men]
This phrase refers to the men who went to the stupid woman’s house to commit adultery with her in response to her calling them. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “the men whom she called and they accepted her call” or “the men who went to her house after she called them”
9:18 Folly’s dinner guests end up in the depths of the grave, in contrast to the reward for Wisdom’s guests (see 9:6).
OET (OET-LV) And_not he_knows if/because_that the_shades are_there are_in_the_depths_of Shəʼōl her_invited_of_men.
OET (OET-RV) But he doesn’t realise that the dead are there,
⇔ ≈ or that her guests are in the depths of the grave.
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.