“A man of understanding sets his face toward wisdom”: The Hebrew of this line is literally “In the face [presence] of the man of understanding is wisdom.” The sense is probably “Wisdom is always present with the wise,” that is, “The wise person always keeps his eyes on wisdom.” See Good News Translation.

“But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth”: This line contrasts with the first. Here the fool has no aim or focus, and his attention is always far off. “The eyes of the fool” refers to the foolish person’s attention or observation. “The ends of the earth” or “far away places” is where the fool’s mind is. It suggests that such a person has a wandering mind, lacking in the discipline of thought required of the wise. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy renders this saying “Wisdom is the goal of the intelligent, but the fool has no fixed goal.”

We may also say, for example, “If you are wise, you will keep your mind on wisdom, but if you are a fool, your thoughts will wander everywhere.”

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 .