Proverbs 14:16-18

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 14:16 tn Heb “fears.” Since the holy name (Yahweh, translated “the Lord”) is not used, it probably does not here mean fear of the Lord, but of the consequences of actions.
2. Proverbs 14:16 tn The Hitpael of עָבַר (ʿavar, “to pass over”) means “to pass over the bounds of propriety; to act insolently” (BDB 720 s.v.; cf. ASV “beareth himself insolently”).
3. Proverbs 14:16 tn The verb בָּטַח here denotes self-assurance or overconfidence. Fools are not cautious and do not fear the consequences of their actions.
4. Proverbs 14:17 sn The proverb discusses two character traits that are distasteful to others—the quick tempered person (“short of anger” or impatient) and the crafty person (“man of devices”). C. H. Toy thinks that the proverb is antithetical and renders it “but a wise man endures” (Proverbs [ICC], 292). In other words, the quick-tempered person acts foolishly and loses people’s respect, but the wise man does not.
5. Proverbs 14:17 tn Heb “a man of devices.”
6. Proverbs 14:17 tn The verb שָׂנֵא (saneʾ) is stative and as a Niphal is ingressive (“become hated”); its imperfect form should be future rather than present. tc The LXX reads “endures” (from נָשָׂא, nasaʾ) rather than “is hated” (from שָׂנֵא, saneʾ). This change seems to have arisen on the assumption that a contrast was needed. It has: “a man of thought endures.” Other versions take מְזִמּוֹת (m^ezimmot) in a good sense, but antithetical parallelism is unwarranted here.
7. Proverbs 14:18 tc G. R. Driver proposed reading the verb as “are adorned” from a supposed verb חָלָה (khalah) derived from the noun חֲלִי (khali, “ornament”) (“Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs,” Bib 32 [1951]: 181). A similar reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).tn Or “have taken possession of.” The verb נָחֲלוּ (nakhalu) is a Qal perfect form of נָחַל (nakhal) “to inherit, to take possession, to maintain as a possession.” The tense of the translation depends on whether the verb is stative or dynamic. Morphologically it is ambiguous. Based on its lexical meaning, it appears to be a dynamic verb, though it does not occur enough times in the Qal to be certain based on its usage. (All other perfect forms are past and all its imperfect forms could be future. However, Ps 82:8 and Prov 3:35; 11:29; 28:10 could be cases of the present and these all use the imperfect, as dynamic verbs can for present tense.) As a dynamic verb, its perfect form should be understood as past time or perfective. As such the antithetic parallelism of the verse contrasts the verb tenses as well as the subjects and results. The naive have gotten folly and continue in it (unless they change). But the prudent are in a process of putting on knowledge in which they will be crowned with it. If the root is stative it could be understood as present, “The naive inherit folly.”
8. Proverbs 14:18 tn Or “prudent” (KJV, NASB, NIV); NRSV, TEV “clever.”
9. Proverbs 14:18 tn The meaning of יַכְתִּרוּ (yaktiru, Hiphil imperfect of כָּתַר, katar) is elusive. The noun from the same root, כֶּתֶר (keter), refers to a headdress, e.g. a turban or crown in Esther 1:11. The verbal root relates to surrounding. So the picture of wrapping on a turban, or “crowning” oneself, may be correct. However it may mean “to encompass knowledge,” i.e., possess it (parallel to the verb “inherit”).