PROV 11:29 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.)

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 Ὁ μὴ συμπεριφερόμενος τῷ ἑαυτοῦ οἴκῳ, κληρονομήσει ἄνεμον, δουλεύσει δὲ ἄφρων φρονίμῳ.
(Ho maʸ sumperiferomenos tōi heautou oikōi, klaʸronomaʸsei anemon, douleusei de afrōn fronimōi. )

BrTr He that deals not graciously with his own house shall inherit the wind; and the fool shall be servant to the wise man.

ULT One troubling his house will inherit wind,
⇔ and a fool will be a slave to the wise of heart.

UST People who trouble their families will not inherit anything,
⇔ and people who act foolishly will serve people who think wisely.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind.
⇔ The foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET The one who troubles his family will inherit nothing,
⇔ and the fool will be a servant to the wise person.

LSV Whoever is troubling his own house inherits wind,
And the fool [is] a servant to the wise of heart.

FBV If you cause trouble in your family, you'll inherit nothing but air. Stupid people end up as servants to those who think wisely.

T4T ⇔ Those who bring troubles to their families will inherit nothing [MET] from them,
⇔ and those who do foolish things like that will some day become the servants of wise people.

LEB • He who brings trouble to his household, he will inherit wind,[fn] and a fool will serve the wise of heart.

11:? Or “breath, spirit”

BBE The troubler of his house will have the wind for his heritage, and the foolish will be servant to the wise-hearted.

Moff He who stints his household ends with empty hands--
⇔ a fool like that becomes a wise man’s slave.

JPS He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind; and the foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.

ASV He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind;
⇔ And the foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.

DRA He that troubleth his own house, shall inherit the winds: and the fool shall serve the wise.

YLT Whoso is troubling his own house inheriteth wind, And a servant [is] the fool to the wise of heart.

Drby He that troubleth his own house shall inherit wind; and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.

RV He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.

SLT He troubling his house shall inherit wind: and the foolish is servant to the wise of heart.

Wbstr He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.

KJB-1769 He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.

KJB-1611 He that troubleth his owne house, shall inherite the winde: and the foole shall be seruant to the wise of heart.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps Who so maketh disquietnesse in his owne house, he shal haue winde for his heritage: and the foole shalbe seruaunt to the wise.
(Whoso/Whoever maketh/makes disquietness in his own house, he shall have wind for his heritage: and the fool shall be servant to the wise.)

Gnva He that troubleth his owne house, shall inherite the winde, and the foole shalbe seruant to the wise in heart.
(He that troubleth his own house, shall inherit the wind, and the fool shall be servant to the wise in heart. )

Cvdl Who so maketh disquyetnesse in his owne house, he shal haue wynde for his heretage, and the foole shal be seruaunt to the wyse.
(Whoso/Whoever maketh/makes disquyetness in his own house, he shall have wind for his heritage, and the fool shall be servant to the wise.)

Wycl He that disturblith his hows, schal haue wyndis in possessioun; and he that is a fool, schal serue a wijs man.
(He that disturbeth/disturbs his house, shall have winds in possession; and he that is a fool, shall serve a wise man.)

Luth Wer sein eigen Haus betrübt, der wird Wind zu Erbteil haben; und ein Narr muß ein Knecht des Weisen sein.
(Who be own house saddened, the/of_the becomes wind to/for inheritance have; and a fool(n) must a servant/farmhand the ways/manners be.)

ClVg Qui conturbat domum suam possidebit ventos, et qui stultus est serviet sapienti.[fn]
(Who disturbs house/home his_own will_possess with_the_winds, and who/which stupid/foolish it_is will_serve sapienti. )

11.29 Qui stultus est. Impius vivit pio; ille damnatur, iste accipit bravium, pro quo certabat.

11.29 Who stupid/foolish it_is. Impius lives pio; he/that_one damnatur, this receives bravium, for where certabat.

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

11:29

Notice the parallelism in this verse:

^29a He who brings trouble on his house will inherit the wind,

^29band the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

The one who “brings trouble on his house” in 11:29a is the same person as “the fool” in 11:29b. But being “servant to the wise” in 11:29b is an additional consequence to inheriting “only wind” in 11:29a.

11:29a

He who brings trouble on his house will inherit the wind,

A person who brings/causes harm/disaster to his family will own nothing but wind in the end.
If people cause their households to undergo trouble/hardship, their inheritable property will be reduced to nothing.

He who brings trouble on his house will inherit the wind: In Hebrew, this line is literally “one who troubles his house will inherit wind.”

brings trouble: The verb that the BSB translates as brings trouble means to cause others to experience trouble, ruin, hardship, or harm.BDB (#5916), TWOT (#1621), NIDOTTE (H6579), Waltke (p. 512).

his house: Most scholars agree that the word house here refers here to an entire household, including the servants and household possessions.See Waltke (p. 512). Whybray (p. 188) thinks it refers only to his personal property, and Fox (p. 544) mentions “the familial holdings,” but Murphy, Longman, Toy and others focus on the person’s “household,” which normally includes family members and servants.

will inherit the wind: This phrase is a figurative expression. It means “will inherit nothing.”

There are two main ways to interpret the whole line:

The one who causes his household to experience hardship or harm is the father. As a result of his poor management, he reduces the value of his family’s inheritance to nothing. With this interpretation, the word inherit is figurative. It does not involve anyone’s death.Scholars who support the view that the father is the one who harms the household and that “inherit” is figurative include Toy, Whybray, Murphy, Waltke, Delitzsch, and Cook. Toy (p. 237) says that this person brings distress on his household through his stinginess, lack of ability, or negligence, and “will find his resources reduced to nothing.” For example:
Whoever misgoverns a house inherits the wind (NJB) (NAB, NCV, NJB, GNT)
The one who causes his household to experience hardship or harm is the son. As a result of his foolish or shameful actions, he will be disinherited. When the father dies, he will literally inherit nothing.Scholars who support the view of a literal inheritance include Longman, Fox, and Garrett. Longman (p. 265) suggests that either the son will be disinherited or else the family’s wealth will be ruined to the point where there is nothing left for the foolish son to inherit. See the notes on 17:2. That verse speaks of a “disgraceful” son. It implies that the son is disinherited. For example:
One who brings trouble on his family inherits the wind (REB) (BSB, CEV, ESV, GW, NASB, NET, NIV, NJPS, NLT, NRSV)To many speakers of English, the wording of the NASB (“his own house”) would normally imply the father (the homeowner) rather than the son. The same is true of other wordings, such as “his own household” (ESV). These versions have been listed here anyway, in the assumption that they are trying to indicate the literal form of the Hebrew word.

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with a majority of scholars. In the culture of that time, the father was normally in charge of a household, including the servants and property. It would be unusual to speak of a son troubling “his household.” Some other ways to translate this line are:

Whoever brings trouble to his family will be left with nothing but the wind. (NCV)

Those who bring trouble on their families will have nothing at the end. (GNT)

If you use the word inherit, be sure that it does not imply that someone died.

11:29a–b

(combined/reordered)

The foolish person who causes hardship to his family will eventually have no property/possessions. He will then have to become a servant/slave to someone who has more wisdom.

11:29b

and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

A fool like that will become a servant/slave to someone who is wise.
As a consequence, those fools will have to work as slaves for a wise person.

the fool will be servant to the wise of heart: The probable context of this line is that the foolish father wasted the family’s resources. In order to pay his debts, he will be forced to work as a servant or slave to his wiser creditors.

For fool, see fool 1 in the Glossary.

General Comment on 11:29a–b

Many English versions, including the BSB, NRSV, and GNT, translate the second line of this proverb as if it were unrelated to the first line. But all the commentaries used in preparing these Notes identify “the fool” of 11:29b with the one who “brings trouble on his house” in 11:29a.Scholars who make this identification include Waltke, Delitzsch, Toy, Whybray, Murphy, and the NET. No commentaries used in preparing these Notes supported the interpretation that “the fool” of 11:29b is a different person from the subject of 11:29a. This would also fit the pattern of Hebrew parallelism. Some ways to make this connection clear are:

Use a demonstrative pronoun such as “this” or “that” to describe the fool. For example:
Whoever ruins his household will own nothing but wind in the end. That fool will become a slave to a person who is wise.
Reorder the parallel parts so that the subjects of both lines occur together. For example:
Foolish people who cause hardship to their families and servants will lose everything they own and become slaves of a wise person.