PROV 10:21 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) The lips of a godly person shepherd many people,
⇔ ^ but foolish people die from the lack of morals.

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Χείλη δικαίων ἐπίσταται ὑψηλὰ, οἱ δὲ ἄφρονες ἐν ἐνδείᾳ τελευτῶσιν.
(Ⱪeilaʸ dikaiōn epistatai hupsaʸla, hoi de afrones en endeia teleutōsin. )

BrTr The lips of the righteous know sublime truths: but the foolish die in want.

ULT The lips of the righteous one shepherd many,
⇔ but fools die by lack of heart.

UST What righteous people say benefits many people,
⇔ but foolish people die because they do not think wisely.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE The lips of the righteous feed many,
⇔ but the foolish die for lack of understanding.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET The teaching of the righteous feeds many,
⇔ but fools die for lack of wisdom.

LSV The lips of the righteous delight many,
And fools die for lack of heart.

FBV Advice from good people helps feed many others, but stupid people die because they have no sense.

T4T ⇔ What righteous people say [MTY] benefits many people,
⇔ but foolish people die because of the stupid things that they do.

LEB • Lips of righteousness feed many, but fools die for lack of sense .[fn]

10:? Literally “in the lack of heart, they die”

BBE The lips of the upright man give food to men, but the foolish come to death for need of sense.

Moff The words of good men will make many wise,
⇔ but a fool’s lack of sense is death to himself.

JPS The lips of the righteous feed many; but the foolish die for want of understanding.

ASV The lips of the righteous feed many;
⇔ But the foolish die for lack of understanding.

DRA The lips of the just teach many: but they that are ignorant, shall die in the want of understanding.

YLT The lips of the righteous delight many, And fools for lack of heart die.

Drby The lips of a righteous [man] feed many; but fools die for want of understanding.

RV The lips of the righteous feed many: but the foolish die for lack of understanding.

SLT The lips of the just one shall feed many: and fools in wanting heart, shall die.

Wbstr The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.

KJB-1769 The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.[fn]

10.21 of wisdom: Heb. of heart

KJB-1611 [fn]The lippes of the righteous feed many: but fooles die for want of wisedome.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above apart from footnotes)

10:21 Hebr. of heart.

Bshps The lippes of the ryghteous feede a whole multitude: but fooles shall dye in their owne follie.
(The lips of the righteous feed a whole multitude: but fools shall dye in their own folly.)

Gnva The lippes of the righteous doe feede many: but fooles shall die for want of wisedome.
(The lips of the righteous do feed many: but fools shall die for want of wisdom. )

Cvdl The lippes of the rightuous fede a whole multitude, but fooles shal dye in their owne foly.
(The lips of the righteous feed a whole multitude, but fools shall dye in their own foly.)

Wycl The lippis of a iust man techen ful manye men; but thei that ben vnlerned, schulen die in nedinesse of herte.
(The lips of a just man teach full many men; but they that been unlearned, should die in neediness of heart.)

Luth Des Gerechten Lippen weiden viele; aber die Narren werden in ihrer Torheit sterben.
(Des righteous_(ones) lips graze many; but the fool(n) become in of_their/her folly die.)

ClVg Labia justi erudiunt plurimos; qui autem indocti sunt in cordis egestate morientur.]
(lips just erudiunt many; who/which however indocti are in/into/on of_the_heart poverty they_will_die.] )

SOTN 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

10:21

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

^21a The lips of the righteous feed many,

^21bbut fools die for lack of judgment.

The parallelism is not exact. The verse contrasts the benefits of a righteous person’s words with the deadly result of being too foolish to respond to good advice.

10:21a

The lips of the righteous feed many,

The words/advice of a person who does what is right are/is helpful to many people,
Many people are helped by what a righteous person says.

The lips of the righteous feed many: The phrase The lips of the righteous has the same meaning as “the tongue of the righteous” in 10:20a. The verb feed is frequently used of shepherds who feed or care for their sheep. Here it is used figuratively to mean “benefit.” Another way to translate the meaning of this line is:

The words of a righteous person benefit many people.

10:21b

but fools die for lack of judgment.

but foolish people die because they lack common sense.
A stubborn fool is stupid/senseless, so he will die early.

but fools die for lack of judgment: In contrast to righteous people, whose words benefit others, fools are people who reject instruction. Because of this lack of good sense, they will die. It is implied that they will die prematurely. Another way to translate this line is:

but stubborn fools die because they have no sense (GW)

See fool 1 and lacks judgment in the Glossary for more information on these words.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

שִׂפְתֵ֣י

lips_of

Here, lips refers to what people say by moving their lips. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “The sayings of”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

צַ֭דִּיק

law-abiding/just

See how you translated this phrase in [10:16](../10/16.md).

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

יִרְע֣וּ

feed

Here Solomon speaks of what righteous people say benefitting people as if their words were guiding the hearers the way that a shepherd guides sheep. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “guide”

Note 4 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

בַּ⁠חֲסַר־לֵ֥ב יָמֽוּתוּ

by,lack_of sense die

Here, by indicates that what follows is the reason why fools die. Use the most natural way in your language to indicate a reason. Alternate translation: “die as a result of lacking heart”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

לֵ֥ב

sense

See how you translated the same use of heart in [6:32](../06/32.md).

Parallel PROV 10:21

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

10:21

10:21a

10:21b