PROV 17:21 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) It’s sad for the parents of a child who makes bad choices,
⇔ ≈ and the father of a fool won’t be a happy person.

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 καρδία δὲ ἄφρονος ὀδύνη τῷ κεκτημένῳ αὐτήν· οὐκ εὐφραίνεται πατὴρ ἐφʼ υἱῷ ἀπαιδεύτῳ, υἱὸς δὲ φρόνιμος εὐφραίνει μητέρα αὐτοῦ.
(kardia de afronos odunaʸ tōi kektaʸmenōi autaʸn; ouk eufrainetai pataʸr efʼ huiōi apaideutōi, huios de fronimos eufrainei maʸtera autou. )

BrTr and the heart of a fool is grief to its possessor. A father rejoices not over an uninstructed son; but a wise son gladdens his mother.

ULT One who begets a stupid one, it is for grief for him,
⇔ and the father of a worthless one will not rejoice.

UST Foolish people grieve their parents.
⇔ Indeed, worthless people will cause their parents to be very sad.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE He who becomes the father of a fool grieves.
⇔ The father of a fool has no joy.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Whoever brings a fool into the world does so to his grief,
⇔ and the father of a fool has no joy.

LSV Whoever is begetting a fool has affliction for it,
Indeed, the father of a fool does not rejoice.

FBV A stupid son brings grief to his father; the father of a child who does stupid things has no joy.

T4T ⇔ Children who are foolish soon cause their parents to be very sad;
⇔ their parents will not be joyful at all.

LEB • He who begets a fool, there is trouble for him; the father of a fool will not rejoice.

BBE He who has an unwise son gets sorrow for himself, and the father of a foolish son has no joy.

Moff A fool is born to be a sorrow to his father;
⇔ there is no joy for the father of an idiot.

JPS He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow; and the father of a churl hath no joy.

ASV He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow;
⇔ And the father of a fool hath no joy.

DRA A fool is born to his own disgrace: and even his father shall not rejoice in a fool.

YLT Whoso is begetting a fool hath affliction for it, Yea, the father of a fool rejoiceth not.

Drby He that begetteth a fool [doeth it] to his sorrow, and the father of a vile [man] hath no joy.

RV He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy.
(He that begetteth a fool doth/does it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath/has no joy. )

SLT The foolish one was born for sorrow to himself, and the father of the foolish one shall not rejoice.

Wbstr He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy.

KJB-1769 He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy.
(He that begetteth a fool doth/does it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath/has no joy. )

KJB-1611 He that begetteth a foole, doth it to his sorrow: and the father of a foole hath no ioy.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))

Bshps He that begetteth a foole, begetteth his sorowe: and the father of a foole can haue no ioy.
(He that begetteth a fool, begetteth his sorrow: and the father of a fool can have no joy.)

Gnva He that begetteth a foole, getteth himselfe sorow, and the father of a foole can haue no ioy.
(He that begetteth a fool, getteth himself sorrow, and the father of a fool can have no joy. )

Cvdl An vnwyse body bryngeth himselfe in to sorowe, and ye father of a foole can haue no ioye.
(An unwise body bringeth/brings himself in to sorrow, and ye/you_all father of a fool can have no joy.)

Wycl A fool is borun in his schenschipe; but nether the fadir schal be glad in a fool.
(A fool is born in his harm/trouble; but neither the father shall be glad in a fool.)

Luth Wer einen Narren zeuget, der hat Grämen, und eines Narren Vater hat keine Freude.
(Who a fool(n) witness/testify, the/of_the has grief, and one/a fool(n) father has no joy/pleasure/delight.)

ClVg Natus est stultus in ignominiam suam; sed nec pater in fatuo lætabitur.
(Natus it_is stupid/foolish in/into/on disgrace his_own; but but_not father in/into/on fatuo he_will_rejoice. )

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

17:21

The parallel parts express the same meaning from different perspectives. In Hebrew, they form a chiasm. The parts in 17:21b occur in the opposite order from the parallel parts in 17:21a.

^21a One begets a fool to his own grief;

^21b does not rejoice the father of a fool.

If a chiasm is not natural in your language, you may need to change the order of the parallel parts. For example, the NCV changes the order of the parts in 17:21a. It has:

^21a It is sad to have a foolish child

The NJB changes the order of the parts in 17:21b. It has:

^21b the father of a fool knows no joy

17:21a

A man fathers a fool to his own grief;

The person who sires/fathers a stupid son/child will have sorrow.
Children who do foolish things cause their parents to be sad.

A man fathers a fool to his own grief: In Hebrew, the phrase fathers a fool is literally “one who begets a fool.” Some English versions express the meaning in a similar way. For example:

He who sires a fool (ESV)

He who fathers a stupid child (NJB)

The author of Proverbs focused on the relationship between a father and his son, because that was appropriate in his cultural context. The verse does not imply that the mother of a fool felt no grief. It also does not imply that foolish daughters caused their parents no grief.

In some languages, it may be more appropriate to use gender-neutral terms such as parent(s) and child/children. For example:

Stupid offspring bring sorrow to parents (REB)

The parent of a fool has grief (GW)

Use natural terms in your language to express these relationships.

17:21a–b

(combined/reordered)

There is nothing but sadness and sorrow for parents whose children do foolish things. (GNT)

17:21b

the father of a fool has no joy.

He will not be happy.
If your^(sing/plur) child is a fool, you will feel no happiness.

the father of a fool has no joy: Another way to translate this line is:

and the father of a godless fool has no joy (GW)

General Comment on 17:21a–b

The words that the BSB translates as “a fool” in 17:21a and 17:21b are different words in Hebrew.

The word in 17:21a refers to a person who does what is stupid and wrong because he is mentally lazy. See fool 2 in the Glossary.

The word in 17:21b refers to a person who acts in a way that is rude or shameless. See fool 3 in the Glossary.

Some English versions use different terms in each line. For example:

stupid…boorish (REB)

a stupid child…a fool (NJB)

Other versions use the same term in both lines. In this context, both terms refer to the same person.

In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder and/or combine the parallel parts. For example:

It’s never pleasant to be the parent of a fool and have nothing but pain. (CEV)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

יֹלֵ֣ד כְּ֭סִיל לְ⁠ת֣וּגָה ל֑⁠וֹ וְ⁠לֹֽא־יִ֝שְׂמַ֗ח אֲבִ֣י נָבָֽל

begets fool to,grief to=him/it and=not has_~_joy father_of fool

These two clauses mean basically the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could connect the phrases with a word other than and that shows that the second phrase is repeating the first one, not saying something additional. Alternate translation: “One who begets a stupid one, it is for grief for him; indeed, the father of a worthless one will not rejoice”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

יֹלֵ֣ד כְּ֭סִיל & ל֑⁠וֹ & אֲבִ֣י נָבָֽל

begets fool & to=him/it & father_of fool

One who begets, a stupid one, him, the father, and a worthless one refer to types of people in general, not specific people. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a more natural expression. See how you translated a stupid one in [10:18](../10/18.md) and a worthless one in [17:7](../17/07.md). Alternate translation: “Any person who begets any stupid person … for that person … any father of any worthless one”

Note 3 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

לְ⁠ת֣וּגָה

to,grief

Here, it is for indicates that what follows is the result of begetting a stupid one. Use the most natural way in your language to indicate result. Alternate translation: “results in grief”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns