PROV 15:7 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=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
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 σοφῶν δέδεται αἰσθήσει, καρδίαι δὲ ἀφρόνων οὐκ ἀσφαλεῖς.
(Ⱪeilaʸ sofōn dedetai aisthaʸsei, kardiai de afronōn ouk asfaleis. )

BrTr The lips of the wise are bound by discretion: but the hearts of the foolish are not safe.

ULT The lips of the wise scatter knowledge,
⇔ but the heart of the stupid is not so.

UST What wise people say informs others of what they should know,
⇔ but what foolish people think does not do that.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE The lips of the wise spread knowledge;
⇔ not so with the heart of fools.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET The lips of the wise spread knowledge,
⇔ but not so the heart of fools.

LSV The lips of the wise scatter knowledge,
And the heart of fools [is] not right.

FBV Wise people share their knowledge, but stupid people don't think like that.

T4T ⇔ What wise people teach [MTY] causes others to know much more,
⇔ but foolish people cannot teach others what is useful.

LEB • The lips of the wise will spread knowledge, but the heart[fn] of fools, not so.

15:? Or “mind”

BBE The lips of the wise keep knowledge, but the heart of the foolish man is not right.

Moff Wise men’s discourse diffuses knowledge,
⇔ but a fool’s mind will never master it.
¶ 

JPS The lips of the wise disperse knowledge; but the heart of the foolish is not stedfast.

ASV The lips of the wise disperse knowledge;
⇔ But the heart of the foolish doeth not so.

DRA The lips of the wise shall disperse knowledge: the heart of fools shall be unlike.

YLT The lips of the wise scatter knowledge, And the heart of fools [is] not right.

Drby The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but not so the heart of the foolish.

RV The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.
(The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doth/does not so. )

SLT The lips of the wise will disperse knowledge: and the heart of the foolish not so.

Wbstr The lips of the wise diffuse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.

KJB-1769 The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.
(The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doth/does not so. )

KJB-1611 The lippes of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish, doeth not so.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps The lippes of the wise do sowe knowledge: but the heart of the foolishe do not so.
(The lips of the wise do sow knowledge: but the heart of the foolish do not so.)

Gnva The lippes of the wise doe spread abroade knowledge: but ye heart of the foolish doth not so.
(The lips of the wise do spread abroad knowledge: but ye/you_all heart of the foolish doth/does not so. )

Cvdl A wyse mouth poureth out knowlege, but ye herte of the foolish doth not so.
(A wise mouth poureth/pours out knowledge, but ye/you_all heart of the foolish doth/does not so.)

Wycl The lippis of wise men schulen sowe abrood kunnyng; the herte of foolis schal be vnlijc.
(The lips of wise men should sow abroad cunning; the heart of fools shall be unlijc.)

Luth Der Weisen Mund streuet guten Rat; aber der Narren Herz ist nicht also.
(The ways/manners mouth scatters/spreads good Rat; but the/of_the fool(n) heart is not also.)

ClVg Labia sapientium disseminabunt scientiam; cor stultorum dissimile erit.[fn]
(lips wise disseminabunt knowledge; heart of_fools dissimile will_be. )

15.7 Cor stultorum dissimile. Vel dissimile sibi ipsi, variis cogitationibus, et nunquam idem manet. Contra quod de Anna dicitur: Vultusque ejus non sunt amplius in diversa mutati.

15.7 Heart of_fools dissimile. Or dissimile to_himself themselves, various thoughts, and never/certainly_not the_same remains. Contra that from/about Anna it_is_said: Vultusque his not/no are more in/into/on different changesi.

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

15:7

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

^7a The lips of the wise spread knowledge;

^7bbut not so the hearts of fools.

The BSB puts the phrase “not so” at the beginning of 15:7b, forming a chiasm. In Hebrew, “not so” is at the end of the line. If a chiasm is not natural in your language, this line could be reordered as follows:

^7bthe heart of fools does not do so

Use whatever order is natural in your language.

15:7a–b

The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but not so the hearts of fools: The parallelism here is unusual, since lips do not usually form a pair with hearts. The contrast is also hard to understand, since lips (words) spread knowledge, but hearts do not “spread” anything. One explanation is that the Hebrews viewed the heart as the source of knowledge. They viewed the lips as the means to express that knowledge.

The implied information in 15:7a is that wise people spread knowledge that comes from their hearts. The parallel in 15:7b implies that fools have no knowledge in their hearts, so they cannot spread it. Some versions make explicit some the implied information in 15:7b. For example:

^7aWise people use their words to spread knowledge, ^7bbut there is no knowledge in the thoughts of fools. (NCV)

Consider how much implied information needs to be made explicit in your language to make the parallel contrast clear.

For more information on the significance of parts of the body, see the General Comment on 6:12–14 at the end of 6:14b.

15:7a

The lips of the wise spread knowledge,

When a wise person speaks, the many people who hear it/him gain knowledge,
A wise person shares the useful things that he knows with many others.
A wise person gives much good/useful advice.

The lips of the wise: The lips of the wise is a figure of speech. It has the same meaning as “The tongue of the wise” in 15:2. It represents either the words that wise people speak or the wise people who speak the words.

spread knowledge: When wise people speak, they spread (literally “scatter”) knowledge. This means that they make known to many people what they know.

knowledge: This word occurs throughout Proverbs as a parallel pair with “wisdom.” So it is strongly implied that this is useful or beneficial knowledge or advice. Here is one way to make this implied meaning explicit:

Only the wise can give good advice. (NLT96)

You will need to decide whether it is helpful to make this information explicit in your language.

15:7b

but not so the hearts of fools.

but there is no knowledge in the minds of fools.
But fools know nothing worthwhile to share/teach.
Fools cannot do so. (NLT96)

but not so the hearts of fools: Another way to translate this line is:

the heart of a fool has none to give (NLT)

See fool 2 in the Glossary.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

שִׂפְתֵ֣י חֲ֭כָמִים

lips_of wise

See how you translated this phrase in [14:3](../14/03.md).

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

יְזָ֣רוּ דָ֑עַת

spread knowledge

Here Solomon refers to teaching other people knowledge as if knowledge were the seeds that a farmer scatters to plant in a field. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “teach others knowledge”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

דָ֑עַת

knowledge

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

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

וְ⁠לֵ֖ב כְּסִילִ֣ים

and_[the],heart_of fools

See how you translated the heart of stupid ones in [12:23](../12/23.md).

Parallel PROV 15:7

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

15:7

15:7a–b

15:7a

15:7b