PROV 9:4 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=none 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 Ὅς ἐστιν ἄφρων, ἐκκλινάτω πρὸς μέ· καὶ τοῖς ἐνδεέσι φρενῶν εἶπεν,
(Hos estin afrōn, ekklinatō pros me; kai tois endeʼesi frenōn eipen, )

BrTr Whoso is foolish, let him turn aside to me: and to them that want understanding she says,

ULT “Whoever is naive, let him turn aside here,”
⇔ she says to him lacking of heart.

UST ⇔ She tells those who are not wise,
⇔ “Come into my house, all you naive people!

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
⇔ As for him who is void of understanding, she says to him,

WMBB (Same as above)

NET “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”
⇔ she says to those who lack understanding.

LSV “Who [is] simple? Let him turn aside here.” Whoever lacks heart: she has said to him,

FBV “Everybody who needs to learn, come and see me!” To people who don't have any sense she says,

T4T “You people who need to understand more, come in!”
⇔ And to those who are ignorant, it is as though she calls out,

LEB • “Whoever is simple, let him turn here.” As for the one who lacks sense ,[fn] she says to him,

9:? Literally “heart”

BBE Whoever is simple, let him come in here; and to him who has no sense, she says:

Moff “Let all who are heedless turn in here!”
⇔ She calls to him who is devoid of sense,

JPS 'Whoso is thoughtless, let him turn in hither'; as for him that lacketh understanding, she saith to him:

ASV Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither:
⇔ As for him that is void of understanding, she saith to him,

DRA Whosoever is a little one, let him come to me. And to the unwise she said:

YLT 'Who [is] simple? let him turn aside hither.' Whoso lacketh heart: she hath said to him,

Drby Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. To him that is void of understanding, she saith,

RV Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that is void of understanding, she saith to him,
(Whoso/Whoever is simple, let him turn in hither/here: as for him that is void of understanding, she saith/says to him, )

SLT Who the simple, he shall turn aside here: he wanting heart, she said to him,

Wbstr Whoever is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

KJB-1769 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
(Whoso/Whoever is simple, let him turn in hither/here: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith/says to him, )

KJB-1611 Who so is simple, let him turne in hither: as for him that wanteth vnderstanding, she sayth to him:
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps Who so is without knowledge, let him come hither: And to the vnwise she said,
(Whoso/Whoever is without knowledge, let him come hither/here: And to the unwise she said,)

Gnva Who so is simple, let him come hither, and to him that is destitute of wisedome, she sayth,
(Whoso/Whoever is simple, let him come hither/here, and to him that is destitute of wisdom, she saith/says, )

Cvdl Who so is ignoraut, let him come hither. And to the vn wise she sayde:
(Whoso/Whoever is ignorant, let him come hither/here. And to the un wise she said:)

Wycl If ony man is litil; come he to me. And wisdom spak to vnwise men,
(If any man is little; come he to me. And wisdom spake to unwise men,)

Luth Wer albern ist, der mache sich hieher! Und zum Narren sprach sie:
(Who foolish is, the/of_the make itself/yourself/themselves here! And for_the fool(n) spoke they/she/them:)

ClVg Si quis est parvulus, veniat ad me. Et insipientibus locuta est:
(When/But_if who/any it_is little_one, let_him_come to me. And to_the_foolish spoken it_is: )

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 9:1–6

This paragraph describes the preparations that Wisdom makes for a banquet (9:1–3) and the invitations that she sends out to the guests (9:4–6).

9:4a–5a

The NIV11 has been used as the source line, because it follows the recommended interpretation. There are two ways to interpret the structure and punctuation of these lines. Line 9:3b has been quoted again to show the context.

The maids address their invitations to two parallel groups: “all who are simple” (9:4a) and “those who have no sense” (9:4b). For example:
^3band she calls from the highest point of the city,
^4a“Let all who are simple come to my house!”
^4bTo those who have no sense she says,
^5a“Come, eat my food… (NIV11) (ESV, GW, NAB, NASB, NIV11, NJB, NLT, NRSV, REB, GNT)
The maids address their invitations to one group: “those who lack judgment” (9:4b). For example:
^3band she calls from the highest point of the city.
^4a“Let all who are simple come in here!”
^4bshe says to those who lack judgment.
^5a“Come, eat my food… (NIV) (BSB, NCV, NET, NIV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most versions. This interpretation uses the normal structure for parallel lines.

However, notice that there is little practical difference between the two invitations. With the NIV11, two separate groups are addressed. These groups are parallel to each other. With the NIV, only one group is addressed, but that group is described with the same parallel terms.

In Hebrew, singular forms are used in 9:4a and 9:4b. Plural commands are used in 9:5a and 9:5b. Some English versions use singular forms in both verses. Others use plural forms. Use forms in your language that are natural for situations in which a person addresses a group of people.

See the General Comment on 9:4a–b at the end of the note on 9:4b and the General Comment on 9:4a–5b at the end of the note on 9:5a–b for ways to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts in these lines.

9:4a

“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

“This is what Wisdom says: You^(plur) people who are inexperienced/naive, come to my feast.
“You who are easily deceived, come to Wisdom’s house.

(NIV11) Let all who are simple come to my house!: The word simple refers to people who are naive or inexperienced. See simple in the Glossary. In some languages, it may be more natural to use the pronoun “you,” because this is an invitation. For example:

You that are simple, turn in here! (NRSV)

These words are actually spoken by the servant girls, so in some languages, it may be necessary to make explicit that this is Wisdom’s invitation. For example:

“This is what Wisdom says: Come to my house, you who are inexperienced!”

(NIV11) come to my house: In Hebrew, this phrase is more literally “turn in here” (BSB) or “come in here” (NIV). However, the servants are not near the house when they give the invitation, so in many languages, it may be clearer to translate this phrase in a way that is similar to the NIV11. For example:

“You who are inexperienced, come to Wisdom’s house/feast!”

9:4b

she says to him who lacks judgment.

She says to you^(plur) who lack common sense:
You who do not have good judgment,

(NIV11) to those who have no sense she says: For the phrase have no sense, see lacks judgment in the Glossary. As described previously in the note on 9:4a–9:5a, this clause should be understood as a quote formula that introduces a parallel invitation. The content of this invitation is found in 9:5a. In some languages, it may be clearer to leave the quote introduction implied and just give the contents of the quote. For example:

You who do not have good judgment

General Comment on 9:4a–b

Because of the parallelism, the two quote introductions should be understood as a single invitation to people who are both inexperienced and without sense. In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts to make this clear. For example:

“This is what Wisdom says: Come to my house, all you who are naive and lack sense.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / infostructure

מִי־פֶ֭תִי יָסֻ֣ר הֵ֑נָּה חֲסַר־לֵ֝֗ב אָ֣מְרָה לּֽ⁠וֹ

who? simple turn_in they(f) lacks_of sense says for=him/it

If it would be helpful in your language, you could reverse the order of these clauses. Alternate translation: “She says to him lacking of heart, ‘Whoever is naive, let him turn aside here,’”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

יָסֻ֣ר הֵ֑נָּה

turn_in they(f)

Here, Wisdom implies that the naive person should turn aside and come to her house. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “let him leave his path and come to my house”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations

יָסֻ֣ר & לּֽ⁠וֹ

turn_in & for=him/it

Although him is masculine, here it refers to any naive person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “let that person turn aside … to that person”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

חֲסַר־לֵ֝֗ב

lacks_of sense