17:24

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

24a
Wisdom is the focus of the discerning,

24b but the eyes of a fool wander to the ends of the earth.

17:24a

Wisdom is the focus of the discerning: In Hebrew, this clause is literally “In the face/presence of the man of understanding ⌊is⌋ wisdom.” This clause probably means that a discerning person focuses his attention on doing what is wise.

In some languages, there may be figures of speech that are related to a person’s face or eyes that express this meaning. Some examples in English are:

Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
A man of understanding sets his face toward wisdom (Revised Standard Version)

In other languages, it will be clearer to express the meaning in other ways. For example:

An intelligent person aims at wise action (Good News Translation)
-or-
A sensible person is careful to concentrate on what wise people do.

For discerning, see discerning (Hebrew: mebin) in the Glossary.

17:24b

but the eyes of a fool wander to the ends of the earth: In Hebrew, this clause is literally “but the eyes of a fool ⌊are⌋ at the end of the earth.” This clause means that a fool thinks about one thing after another. He does not concentrate on anything that is useful or would make him wise. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

but the eyes of a fool are looking around all over the world (God’s Word)

but the mind of a fool wanders everywhere (New Century Version)

For fool, see fool 2 in the Glossary.

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