PROV 23:9 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) Don’t bother speaking to a foolish person
⇔ because they’ll despise the wise things that you say.

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 Εἰς ὦτα ἄφρονος μηδὲν λέγε, μήποτε μυκτηρίσῃ τοὺς συνετοὺς λόγους σου.
(Eis ōta afronos maʸden lege, maʸpote muktaʸrisaʸ tous sunetous logous sou. )

BrTr Say nothing in the ears of a fool, lest at any time he sneer at thy wise words.

ULT Do not speak in the ears of a stupid one,
⇔ for he will show contempt for the insight of your words.

UST Do not try to talk to foolish people
⇔ because they will only despise the insightful things that you say.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE ⇔ Don’t speak in the ears of a fool,
⇔ for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Do not speak in the ears of a fool,
⇔ for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

LSV Do not speak in the ears of a fool,
For he treads on the wisdom of your words.

FBV Don't talk to stupid people because they'll ridicule your wise words.

T4T ◄Do not waste time by/It is useless► talking to foolish people;
⇔ they will only despise the wise things that you say.

LEB • In the ears of a fool do not speak, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

BBE Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words.

Moff Never talk to a fool,
⇔ for he will despise your words of wisdom;

JPS Speak not in the ears of a fool; for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

ASV Speak not in the hearing of a fool;
⇔ For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

DRA Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.

YLT In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words.

Drby Speak not in the ears of a foolish [man], for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

RV Speak not in the hearing of a fool; for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
(Speak not in the hearing of a fool; for he will despise the wisdom of thy/your words. )

SLT In the ears of the foolish thou shalt not speak, for he will despise for the understanding of thy words.

Wbstr Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

KJB-1769 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
(Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy/your words. )

KJB-1611 Speake not in the eares of a foole: for hee will despise the wisedome of thy words.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps Tell nothing into the eares of a foole: for he wyll despise the wysdome of thy wordes.
(Tell nothing into the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy/your words.)

Gnva Speake not in the eares of a foole: for hee will despise the wisdome of thy wordes.
(Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy/your words. )

Cvdl Tel nothinge in to ye eares of a foole, for he wyl despyse the wy?dome of thy wordes.
(Tel nothing in to ye/you_all ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy/your words.)

Wycl Speke thou not in the eeris of vnwise men; for thei schulen dispise the teching of thi speche.
(Speak thou/you not in the ears of unwise men; for they should despise the teaching of thy/your speech.)

Luth Rede nicht vor des Narren Ohren; denn er verachtet die Klugheit deiner Rede.
(speech not before/in_front_of the fool(n) ears; because/than he despised the wisdom your(s) speech.)

ClVg In auribus insipientium ne loquaris, qui despicient doctrinam eloquii tui.[fn]
(In in_the_ears insipientium not speak, who/which despicient teaching eloquii yours(sg). )

23.9 In auribus. Nolite sanctum dare canibus, neque mittas margaritas ante porcos. Sicut admonuit, ne hæreticorum doctrinis auscultares: ita nunc, ne amore vanæ gloriæ seductus immundis hominibus passim arcana veritatis ingeras.

23.9 In goldbus. Don't holy dare dogs, nor mittas margaritas before pigs. Like admonuit, not of_heretics doctrines auscultares: so/thus now, not with_love vanæ of_glory seductus unclean to_humans passim secrets to_the_truths ingeras.

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 22:17–24:22: Here are thirty sayings of wise people

This section follows the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs (10:1–22:16). It differs in significant ways from this preceding section:These differences were summarized from a number of commentaries, including UBS (page 472), Waltke (2004, page 22), and Hubbard (page 351).

The preceding section has mostly two-line proverbs that are one verse in length. This section has proverbs of a different form. They are sayings that range from one to seven verses. Most of the sayings are two or three verses in length. Each saying will be marked as a separate paragraph in the Notes.
Many of the proverbs in the preceding section express a general principle. They are not addressed specifically to the readers. Most of the sayings here contain direct commands. They advise the reader or listener either to follow wise behavior or avoid foolish behavior. Most of the sayings also give a reason or motive for following the command.
As in chapters 1–9, the author addresses his reader or listener as a father who advises his son. He uses second person commands and pronouns (you^(sing)). See the note on 23:15 for a list of verses where the words “my son” occur.

Some other headings for this section are:

Thirty Wise Sayings (CEV)

Words of the Wise (ESV)

Thirty Sayings of the Wise (NIV11)

Verse 22:20 mentions “thirty sayings,” but the Hebrew text itself does not number the sayings. Some versions that use the word “thirty” in the section heading also give a number as a separate heading for each saying. The GNT and CEV start numbering the sayings at 22:22. They have a total of thirty-one paragraphs. In these versions, the first paragraph (22:17–21) serves as an introduction to the thirty sayings (22:22–24:22).Scholars who identify 22:17–21 as the first saying include Hubbard (page 352), Fox (page 707), and Waltke (2004, page 22). Scholars who identify these verses as an introduction to the sayings that follow include Whybray (page 325) and Murphy (page 170). See also the NET footnote (b) on 22:16. Whether these introductory verses form the first saying or simply introduce the following sayings, all scholars agree that they function as an introduction to the whole section. Other versions, such as the NIV, NCV, and NLT, divide the paragraphs in the same way but do not have separate headings for each section. You may use either option in your translation.The NIV11 gives a number as a separate heading for each saying. But it counts the first paragraph as the first saying, and has a total of thirty paragraphs. Other versions have more or fewer paragraphs. For example, the ESV and NRSV have fifteen paragraphs. The NJB has thirty-four. Still other versions, such as the RSV, NET, and NJPS, do not group the verses into sayings or paragraphs.

For the convenience of those who decide to identify the number of each saying in their translation, the Notes will put the number in the paragraph headings, using the same numbering system as the GNT or CEV. These numbers will not be used in the Display.

23:9

The first line of this proverb gives a command. The second line gives the reason for the command.

^9aDo not speak to a fool,

^9bfor he will despise the wisdom of your words.

The overall meaning is that it is useless to give wise advice to a fool, because he will reject it.

23:9a

Do not speak to a fool,

¶ Do not speak^(sing) to a fool in order to advise/instruct him,
¶ It is useless for you to tell a foolish person what he should do.

Do not speak to a fool: In Hebrew, this command is literally “Do not speak in the ears of a fool.” To “speak in someone’s ears” is a Hebrew idiom. It means “to speak to someone directly so that they will hear you.” It does not mean “to speak in someone’s hearing.”Quite a few versions translate the Hebrew idiom fairly literally as “in the hearing of a fool.” In English, this phrase incorrectly implies that the speaker should not allow a fool to overhear what he says to someone else. However, none of the commentaries referred to in these Notes support that idea. Commentaries that specifically said that this command indicated direct address, advice, or teaching include UBS, Waltke, Fox, Delitzsch, Kidner, Cohen, Ross, Murphy, Whybray, and Toy.

The second line (23:9b) implies that trying to advise a fool will be useless. In some languages, it may be helpful to make this explicit in the first line. For example:

Do not waste words on a fool (NJB)

Another way to translate this command is:

Do not speak to a fool in order to advise/teach him

fool: In Hebrew, this word for fool refers to someone who does what is stupid and wrong because he is mentally lazy and self-satisfied. He does not understand the need to change his own foolish behavior and does not want to think about the consequences. See fool 2 in the Glossary.

23:9a–b

(combined/reordered)

¶ Do not try to instruct/advise a fool with your^(sing) wise words. He will consider them to have no value.

23:9b

for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

because he will ignore/reject your^(sing) sensible/wise words.
He will not value the wisdom that he could get from your good advice.

for he will despise the wisdom of your words: This clause means that the fool will reject the wise advice that the young man gives him. It implies that the fool will understand what the advice means, but he will not value it or follow it.

despise: In Hebrew, this word means to despise, reject, or consider to be worthless. See how you translated the same word in 13:13. The context there is similar.

wisdom: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates here as wisdom refers in this context to words that are wise, sensible, or full of insight. See wise dealing in the Glossary.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

who will not appreciate the shrewdness of your remarks (NJB)

they will only ignore your wise words (NCV)

for he will despise the good sense of your words (ESV)

General Comment on 23:9a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the ideas in these two lines. For example:

Don’t try to talk sense to a fool; he can’t appreciate it. (GNT)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

[23:9](../23/09.md) is Saying 9 of the 30 “words of the wise ones.”

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

בְּ⁠אָזְנֵ֣י & אַל־תְּדַבֵּ֑ר

in_[the],ears_of & not speak

The phrase speak in the ears refers to speaking directly to someone so that the person can clearly hear with his ears what is being said. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “Do not speak directly to”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

כְ֭סִיל & יָ֝ב֗וּז

fool & despise

See how you translated the same use of a stupid one and he in [10:18](../10/18.md).

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

לְ⁠שֵׂ֣כֶל

(to)_the,insight_of

See how you translated the abstract noun insight in [1:3](../01/03.md).

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

מִלֶּֽי⁠ךָ

your(pl)_words_of,of