PROV 25:27 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=minor/spelling Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) It isn’t good to eat too much honey,
⇔ and nor is trying to make yourself look good.

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 Ἐσθίειν μέλι πολὺ οὐ καλὸν, τιμᾷν δὲ χρὴ λόγους ἐνδόξους.
(Esthiein meli polu ou kalon, timan de ⱪraʸ logous endoxous. )

BrTr It is not good to eat much honey; but it is right to honour venerable sayings.

ULT To eat much honey is not good,
⇔ also the searching out of their honor, honor.

UST As it is not good to eat too much honey;
⇔ so it is not honorable to try to make people honor you.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE It is not good to eat much honey,
⇔ nor is it honourable to seek one’s own honour.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET It is not good to eat too much honey,
⇔ nor is it honorable for people to seek their own glory.

LSV The eating of much honey is not good,
Nor a searching out of one’s own honor—honor.

FBV It's not good to eat too much honey, or to want too much praise.[fn]

25:27 The second part of this verse is uncertain.

T4T ⇔ It is not good to eat too much honey,
⇔ and trying to get people to praise you is also not good.

LEB • To eat much honey is not good, nor is seeking one’s honor[fn] honorable.

25:? Hebrew “their honor”

BBE It is not good to take much honey: so he who is not looking for honour will be honoured.

Moff It is bad to indulge overmuch in honey;
⇔ so be sparing of your compliments.

JPS It is not good to eat much honey; so for men to search out their own glory is not glory.

ASV It is not good to eat much honey;
⇔ So for men to search out their own glory is grievous.

DRA As it is not good for a man to eat much honey, so he that is a searcher of majesty, shall be overwhelmed by glory.

YLT The eating of much honey is not good, Nor a searching out of one's own honour — honour.

Drby It is not good to eat much honey; and to search into weighty matters is [itself] a weight.

RV It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search out their own glory is not glory.

SLT To eat much honey is not good: and to seek out their honor, not honor.

Wbstr It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.

KJB-1769 It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.

KJB-1611 It is not good to eat much hony: so for men to search their owne glory, is not glory.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps As it is not good to eate to muche honye, so curiously to searche the glory of heauenly thinges, is not commendable.
(As it is not good to eat to much honeye, so curiously to search the glory of heavenly things, is not commendable.)

Gnva It is not good to eate much hony: so to search their owne glory is not glory.
(It is not good to eat much honey: so to search their own glory is not glory. )

Cvdl Like as it is not good to eate to moch hony, euen so he that wyll search out hye thynges, it shal be to heuy for him.
(Like as it is not good to eat to much honey, even so he that will search out high things, it shall be to heavy for him.)

Wycl As it is not good to hym that etith myche hony; so he that is a serchere of maieste, schal be put doun fro glorie.
(As it is not good to him that eateth/eats much honey; so he that is a serchere of mayest/maye, shall be put down from glory.)

Luth Wer zu viel Honig isset, das ist nicht gut; und wer schwere Dinge forschet, dem wird‘s zu schwer.
(Who to/for many honey eating, the is not good; and who heavy/difficult things research(v), to_him it_will to/for difficult/heavy.)

ClVg Sicut qui mel multum comedit non est ei bonum, sic qui scrutator est majestatis opprimetur a gloria.[fn]
(Like who/which honey a_lot he_ate not/no it_is to_him good, so who/which scrutator it_is majesty opprimetur from glory. )

25.27 Sicut qui mel. Dulcedo enim mellis, etc., usque ad unde sequitur:

25.27 Like who/which honey. Dulcedo because honey, etc., until to from_where/who follows:

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 25:1–29:27: This is Hezekiah’s collection of Solomon’s proverbs

This section is the second collection of Solomon’s proverbs. These proverbs were organized and copied by men who served King Hezekiah. Most scholars divide this section into two groups. These groups differ in several ways.

The first group (chapters 25–27) has many more comparisons and admonitions. In Hebrew, most of these comparisons are metaphors in which one or more illustrations precede the topic. Some English versions change the order so that the topic precedes the illustration(s). You should follow the order that expresses the meaning naturally and effectively in your language.

In the first group, many proverbs are one verse long. As with the individual proverbs in the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs (Section 10:1–22:16), they are not related to the proverbs around them. Other proverbs in this group are two or more verses long. Still others are one-verse proverbs that are closely related in theme. Proverbs in all three categories will be marked as separate paragraphs.

The second group (chapters 28–29) has more contrastive proverbs. The proverbs in this group are each one verse long. They will not be marked as separate paragraphs.

Some other headings for this section are:

More Proverbs of Solomon (NIV)

Proverbs of Solomon Collected by Hezekiah (NET)

These are also wise things that Solomon said

25:27

This proverb teaches that when a person has an excessive desire for something that is enjoyable, the consequences are not good.

^27aIt is not good to eat too much honey

^27bor to search out one’s own glory.

25:27a

It is not good to eat too much honey

¶ If a person eats too much honey, the result is not good.
¶ It is bad if you^(sing) eat too much honey.

It is not good to eat too much honey: This clause is a deliberate understatement. It means that it is bad, undesirable, or harmful to eat too much honey. This proverb is similar to 25:16. (See the notes there.) In that verse, the consequence (vomiting) is stated explicitly. Some other ways to translate this line are:

Eating too much honey is not good (GW)

Too much honey is bad for you (GNT)

25:27b

or to search out one’s own glory.

It is also not good when a person’s desire to be praised/honored is too strong/great.
It is also bad if you^(sing) always want people to praise/honor you.

or to search out one’s own glory: The Hebrew text (MT) is literally “and the searching of their honor/glory [is] honor/glory.” All scholars agree that the meaning of this text is not clear. Most also agree that the LXX (“it is proper to honor notable words”) is also unsatisfactory, because it does not fit with the parallel line. Scholars have proposed many modifications of the Hebrew text. See UBS (page 554), Waltke (pages 307–308 and 336–337), and Ross (page 1086) for discussion of some of the many options. Most versions, including the BSB, follow an interpretation that is similar to the NIV and GNT. This line probably refers to a person who tries hard to get other people to honor him and show him respect. In order to fulfill this desire, he may brag about himself (see 27:2). He may also act like he is important in order to increase his own honor (see 25:6). When a person acts like this, it is not good. It may result in disgrace rather than honor (see 25:7).

Some other ways to translate this line are:

and it’s not good to seek honors for yourself (NLT)

and so is trying to win too much praise (GNT)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / litotes

לֹא־ט֑וֹב

not good

See how you translated the same use of not good in [16:29](../16/29.md).

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

וְ⁠חֵ֖קֶר כְּבֹדָ֣⁠ם כָּבֽוֹד

and,the_searching_of their_own_honor_of,of glory

Solomon is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a clause would need in order to be complete. You could supply these words from the previous clause if it would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: “and the searching out of their honor is not honor”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / simile

וְ⁠חֵ֖קֶר

and,the_searching_of

In this verse, Solomon compares eating much honey tosearching out one’s own honor. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly: Alternate translation: “and similarly, the searching out of”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

וְ⁠חֵ֖קֶר כְּבֹדָ֣⁠ם

and,the_searching_of their_own_honor_of,of

Here Solomon speaks of someone trying to get other people to honor him as if honor were an object that a person could search for. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “and trying to make other people honor you”

Parallel PROV 25:27

Section 25:1–29:27: This is Hezekiah’s collection of Solomon’s proverbs

25:27

25:27a

25:27b