PROV 9:13 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=small word differences 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 Γυνὴ ἄφρων καὶ θρασεῖα ἐνδεὴς ψωμοῦ γίνεται, ἣ οὐκ ἐπίσταται αἰσχύνην.
(Gunaʸ afrōn kai thraseia endeaʸs psōmou ginetai, haʸ ouk epistatai aisⱪunaʸn. )

ULT The woman of stupidity is loud,
⇔ naive, and she does not know anything.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE ⇔ The foolish woman is loud,
⇔ undisciplined, and knows nothing.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET The woman called Folly is brash,
⇔ she is naive and does not know anything.

LSV A foolish woman [is] noisy,
Simple, and has not known what.

FBV Stupidity is like a loud, ignorant woman who doesn't know anything.

T4T ⇔ Foolish women talk loudly;
⇔ they are ignorant and are never ashamed of the wrong things that they do.

LEB • A woman of foolishness is loud, simple, and does not know it .[fn]

9:? Literally “what”

BBE The foolish woman is full of noise; she has no sense at all.

Moff Folly is loud and alluring,
⇔ she knows no sense of shame,

JPS The woman Folly is riotous; she is thoughtless, and knoweth nothing.

ASV ⇔ The foolish woman is clamorous;
⇔ She is simple, and knoweth nothing.

DRA A foolish woman and clamorous, and full of allurements, and knowing nothing at all,

YLT A foolish woman [is] noisy, Simple, and hath not known what.

Drby The foolish woman is clamorous; she is stupid, and knoweth nothing.

RV The foolish woman is clamorous; she is simple, and knoweth nothing.
(The foolish woman is clamorous; she is simple, and knoweth/knows nothing. )

SLT A woman of folly being noisy, simple, and she knew not anything.

Wbstr A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.

KJB-1769 ¶ A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.
(¶ A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth/knows nothing. )

KJB-1611 ¶ A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, & knoweth nothing.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps A foolishe retchlesse woman full of wordes, and suche a one as hath no knowledge,
(A foolish retchlesse woman full of words, and such a one as hath/has no knowledge,)

Gnva A foolish woman is troublesome: she is ignorant, and knoweth nothing.
(A foolish woman is troublesome: she is ignorant, and knoweth/knows nothing. )

Cvdl A foolish restlesse woman, full of wordes, and soch one as hath no knowlege,
(A foolish restlesse woman, full of words, and such one as hath/has no knowledge,)

Wycl A fonned womman, and ful of cry, and ful of vnleueful lustis, and that kan no thing outirli,
(A foolish woman, and full of cry, and full of unleueful lustis, and that can no thing outirli,)

Luth Es ist aber ein töricht, wild Weib, voll Schwätzens und weiß nichts;
(It is but a foolish, wild woman, full/whole Schwätzens and white nothing;)

ClVg [Mulier stulta et clamosa, plenaque illecebris, et nihil omnino sciens,[fn]
([Woman stupid and clamosa, fullque he/that_onecebris, and nothing completely knowing, )

9.13 Mulier stulta. Superius commendavit sapientiam per divinitatem et humanitatem, nunc per contrarium illam eamdem commendabiliorem ostendit, ubi mulier stulta, etc., quæ est ei contraria, sedet, etc. Mulier, etc. Mulier hic hæresis est, etc., usque ad hæc in supercilio mentis attollitur.

9.13 Woman stupid. Above commendavit wisdom through divinity and humanity, now through opposite/reverse her the_same commendabiliorem he_showed, where woman stupid, etc., which it_is to_him opposites, is_sitting, etc. Woman, etc. Woman this/here heiris it_is, etc., until to these_things in/into/on supercilio of_the_mind attollitur.

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 9:1–18: Wisdom and Folly each urge people to follow them

This section summarizes the main themes of chapters 1–8. It contains parallel appeals by Wisdom (9:1–6) and Folly (9:13–18), both personified as women. Both Wisdom and Folly appeal to the same audience, inviting them to come and eat in their homes. Between these two appeals is a summary of two opposite ways to respond to Wisdom (9:7–12). In the center of this paragraph, 9:10 contains a restatement of the first line of 1:7. These key verses mark chapters 1 and 9 as the beginning and end of the first major division of the book.

Some other headings for this section are:

Invitations of Wisdom and of Folly (NIV)

Wisdom and Foolishness each give a feast

Being Wise or Foolish (NCV)

Paragraph 9:13–18

This paragraph contains an invitation from Woman Folly that is obviously parallel to Wisdom’s invitation in 9:1–6. Folly’s character and the location from which she gives her invitation are described in 9:13–15. Her invitation is found in 9:16–17. In 9:18, the author concludes the paragraph by describing the consequences of accepting Folly’s invitation.

When you translate this paragraph, pay careful attention to the wording that you used in 9:1–6 so that the parallels between Wisdom’s invitation and Folly’s invitation will be clear.

9:13

Most English versions divide this verse into two lines, but it actually contains three phrases that describe personified Folly. Each phrase will be treated separately in the notes.

9:13a

The woman named Folly is loud;

¶ As for the woman called/named Foolishness, she talks loudly.
¶ Foolishness is like a woman who is rowdy/boisterous.

The woman named Folly is loud: In Hebrew, the word Folly is a feminine form of the word that was translated as “fool” in 1:22b. Folly is the foolishness or stupidity of a fool who is mentally lazy and complacent. See fool 2 in the Glossary.

The woman named Folly: The Hebrew phrase that the BSB translates as The woman named Folly is literally “a woman of foolishness/folly.” Scholars interpret this phrase in two ways:

It refers to Foolishness personified as a woman. For example:
The Lady Stupidity… (REB) (BSB, NIV, NET, REB, ESV, NCV, NLT, CEV, GNT)
It refers to a woman who is foolish. For example:
A silly woman… (NJB) (NRSV, NJB, NJPS)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with a majority of versions and scholars. You may want to go back to 9:1a and 1:20a to see how you translated the personification of Wisdom, so you can translate the personification of Foolishness in a similar way. A number of modern versions have expressed the personification by means of a simile. For example:

Foolishness is like a loud woman. (NCV)

Parallel structure is one way to show the personification of Wisdom and Foolishness. Your language may have a different way to indicate that Foolishness is the counterpart of Wisdom, who was introduced in 9:1. See the first meaning line in the Display for 9:13a for an introductory phrase that may accomplish this purpose in some languages.

loud: For the word loud, see the note on 7:11a. This word describes a person who is “noisy” (RSV), rowdy or boisterous.Several versions seem to focus on a different sense: “flighty” (REB); “acts on impulse” (NJB), “reckless” (CEV), “brash” (NET). BDB (#1993) does give “restless” as a possible meaning of the root, but NIDOTTE (H2159) says that “loud” is the sense here, and most versions have chosen that sense.

9:13b

she is naive

She is also naive
She knows nothing,

she is naive: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as naive occurs only once in the OT. It appears to be related to the word that the BSB translates as “simple” in 1:4a. But scholars do not agree on the form or meaning of the word. There are several ways to interpret it:

The word means “ignorant.” For example:
she is ignorant (NRSV)
she does not have wisdom or knowledge (NCV) (NRSV, NLT, GNT, NCV)
The word means “naive” or “gullible,” perhaps in the sense of being willing to try all kinds of sinful activities. For example:
she is naive (NET) (BSB, NET, NASB, GW)
The word means “seductive.” For example:
she is seductive (ESV) (ESV, RSV)
The word means “undisciplined.” For example:
she is undisciplined (NIV) (NIV)

It is recommended that you follow either interpretation (1) or (2).Of the ancient versions, the LXX has “impudent,” the Syriac has “seductive,” and the Vulgate has “full of wiles.” The interpretation of “ignorant” is supported by Murphy, Scott, and UBS; “naive” is supported by Fox and Cook; “seductive” is supported by Toy, McKane, and Garrett. In addition to these interpretations, the REB and NJB have “a fool/foolish,” and the CEV has “senseless.” No commentary used in preparing these notes supported the meaning “undisciplined.” All scholars acknowledge this as a very difficult and unclear verse. Being ignorant and being immature or naive are closely related.

9:13c

and knows nothing.

and ignorant.
and she does not even realize it.

and knows nothing: There is a textual difference here:The Hebrew word mah “what” is not commonly used in this way. The Hebrew word for “shame” on which the LXX is based is kǝlimmah. This word would require two more consonants in Hebrew. In addition to this textual issue, the verb yadaʿ “to know” sometimes has the sense “to care for/about.” This sense was probably followed by the REB, which has: “cares for nothing.”

The Hebrew text is literally “knows not what.” This is equivalent to the English phrase “does not know anything.” For example:
knows nothing (NJB) (BSB, NJB, NIV, NRSV, NJPS, NASB, GW, NLT)
The Greek text (LXX) is literally “knows not shame.” For example:
shameless (GNT) (RSV, GNT)

It is recommended that you follow option (1). It is supported by most English versions and scholars.“Knows nothing” is supported by UBS, NET, Fox, Cook, and Delitzsch, as well as the HOTTP. “Knows not shame” is supported by Scott and doubtfully by Toy. “Cares about nothing” is supported by Whybray and Garrett. However, Whybray (page 148) points out that the reason some scholars emend “what” to “shame” is the belief that mah cannot have the meaning “anything.” He cites Genesis 39:8 and 2 Samuel 18:29 as two examples of it meaning exactly that with the same verb “to know” in the negative.

General Comment on 9:13b–c

If you choose interpretation (1) in 9:13b, be sure that you translate 9:13b and 9:13c in a way that is not redundant. For example:

she is ignorant and knows nothing (NRSV)