15:14

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

14a
A discerning heart seeks knowledge,

14b but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.

In this verse, “heart” and “mouth” are figures of speech in which a part of the body represents the entire person. The proverb contrasts the desire of a sensible person to gain more knowledge with the desire of a fool to fill himself with foolishness.

15:14a

A discerning heart seeks knowledge: This line means that a discerning person wants to increase his knowledge. He searches for ways to learn more. Another way to translate this is:

Anyone with good sense is eager to learn more(Contemporary English Version)

It is possible to translate this with an expression for seeks that has to do with hunger. This fits well with the parallel expression “feeds on” in 15:14b. For example:

A wise person is hungry for truth (New Living Translation (1996))

discerning: This word refers to someone who is perceptive, intelligent, or sensible. This word last occurred in 14:33a.

15:14b

but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as feeds on is used elsewhere of animals eating grass in a field. The author may have chosen this word to create a mental picture of a fool who “grazes” like a sheep on foolishness. Here it means that a fool wants to fill his mind with foolishness. Some versions express this meaning directly. For example:

but fools just want more foolishness (New Century Version)

In some languages, it may be possible to use figurative language (as in the New Living Translation (1996) example in 15:14a). For example:

while the fool feeds on trash (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
but fools are hungry for foolishness (Contemporary English Version)

Another way this has been translated is:

stupid people are satisfied with ignorance (Good News Translation)

However, in such a translation, the word “satisfied” may imply “no longer hungry.”

For the words fool and folly, see fool 2 and folly in the Glossary.

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