17:7

Notice the parallelism:

7a Eloquent words are unfit for a fool;

7b how much worse are lying lips to a ruler!

This is another example of logical reasoning from the lesser to the greater. (See 11:31 for a list of other examples in Proverbs.) The reasoning is: The situation in 17:7a is inappropriate. The situation in 17:7b is even more inappropriate.

17:7a

Eloquent words are unfit for a fool: In Hebrew, the word Eloquent is literally “excessive.” There are two ways to interpret the word in this context:

(1) This word refers to excellent, fine-sounding speech. For example:

Fine talk is out of place in a boor (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Eloquent words are not fitting for a fool (New Living Translation (2004))

(2) This refers to arrogant speech. For example:

Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool (New International Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most versions and scholars. Fools are frequently described as arrogant in Proverbs, so arrogant speech would normally be fitting for a fool. By contrast, people do not expect a fool to speak eloquently, so eloquent speech would seem inappropriate for a fool.

are unfit: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as are unfit means “unsuitable,” “inappropriate,” or “out of character.”

for a fool: The Hebrew word nabal, which the Berean Standard Bible translates here as fool, describes a person who is morally foolish. In addition, this kind of fool does not believe in God. He acts in a disgraceful way and has no proper sense of shame.

That may be why the Revised English Bible translates this word as “boor” (see the quote above). In English, this word refers to someone with vulgar behavior. Another way to translate this word is:

godless fool (God’s Word)

17:7b

how much worse are lying lips to a ruler: It is inappropriate for a godless fool to use fine-sounding words. So it is even more inappropriate for a ruler to tell lies. The word translated here as ruler refers to someone with high social status, probably someone with a high rank in the government. Some other ways to translate this line are:

but it’s even worse for a ruler to tell lies (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Lies are even less appropriate for a leader

For more information on ruler, see the note on 8:16b.

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