21:20

The two lines of this proverb contrast in meaning, but the contrast is not exact.

20a
Precious treasures and oil are in the dwelling of the wise,

20b but a foolish man consumes them.

The explicit contrast is that a wise person has valuable things stored in his house. But a foolish person wastefully uses what he has.

The implied contrast is that a wise person is careful and frugal with his possessions. So he is able to accumulate wealth. A foolish person is wasteful, not frugal. So he has nothing to store in his house.

21:20a

Precious treasures and oil are in the dwelling of the wise: In Hebrew, this clause is literally “desirable treasure and oil (are) in the house of a wise (person).” There is a textual issue here with the phrase “desirable treasure and oil”:

(1) The Masoretic Text has “desirable treasure and oil.” For example:

Precious treasure and oil (English Standard Version)

(2) The LXX has “desirable treasure remains.” For example:

Precious treasure remains (New Revised Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1), along with most versions and scholars.

Precious treasures: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “desirable treasure.” The word “desirable” is a form of the Hebrew verb that means “to desire, delight in.” In this context, it means “costly” or “valuable.” The word “treasure” “refers to both a storeroom and its contents.”

oil: As in 21:17b, oil may refer to literal olive oil, which was valued in cooking as well as in cosmetics/perfume. It may also be used as a figure of speech (metonymy) to represent any valuable items.

Some other ways to translate this whole clause are:

There is desirable treasure and olive oil in the dwelling of the wise (NET Bible)
-or-
The wise have wealth and luxury (New Living Translation (2004))

21:20b

but a foolish man consumes them: The phrase consumes them can be used literally or figuratively. It can refer literally to gulping down food or drink. It can also refer figuratively to wasting food or money, or to losing or destroying property or other possessions. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

but fools waste everything they have (New Century Version)
-or-
but fools spend whatever they get (New Living Translation (2004))

For foolish man, see fool 2 in the Glossary.

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