This saying observes that following a steady occupation provides the necessities of life.

“He who tills the land will have plenty of bread”: In English “tills” means to prepare land for raising crops by plowing or cultivating. The Hebrew word is more general and means to serve or work. However, since the reference in this context is to land and having bread, many interpreters take it to mean “plow,” “cultivate,” or “work the land.” “Will have plenty of bread” is literally “will be satisfied with bread.” “Bread” is as in verse 9 and may refer more generally to food. In some languages this line may need to be translated, for example, “The person who hoes his garden will have plenty to eat.” If readers are likely to take this to mean that hoeing without planting will produce a crop, it may be necessary to say, for example, “If you hoe and plant your garden, you will have enough to eat.” Since cultivating crops is often the work of women and children only, it may be necessary to use a general word such as “work”; for example, “People who work in their gardens will have plenty to eat.”

“But he who follows worthless pursuits has no sense”: “Follows worthless pursuits” means to give time and energy to things or undertakings that are useless. “Has no sense” renders the same expression as in 11.12, where Revised Standard Version has “lacks sense.” See there for comments. The second line does not contrast with the first by saying, for example, that this person will lack food but characterizes the person as being foolish. Contemporary English Version calls these people “daydreamers.” Scott has an idiomatic rendering that serves well in English, “But the stupid spends his time chasing rainbows.” “Chasing rainbows” means to be busy in unrewarding activities. A more straightforward translation of the line is “but a person who wastes time doing work that doesn’t produce anything is stupid.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .