18:3
This verse describes the results of wickedness. When a person does something wicked, other people treat him in three closely related ways. Notice the parallelism:
3a With a wicked man comes contempt as well,
3b and shame is accompanied by disgrace.
According to this parallel structure, wickedness causes one thing (“contempt”), and shame causes something else (“disgrace”). However, contempt, shame, and disgrace are close synonyms. They overlap in meaning. So the overall meaning of the verse is that all three are similar results of wickedness.
18:3a–b
With a wicked man comes contempt as well, and shame is accompanied by disgrace: There is a textual issue here:
(1) A change in one vowel in the MT results in: “wickedness.” For example:
When wickedness comes (New International Version)
Contemporary English Version, English Standard Version, God’s Word, New American Bible, New Century Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004), New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation
(2) The MT has “a wicked [person].” The LXX and Vulgate are similar. For example:
When a wicked person arrives (NET Bible)
Berean Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures
It is recommended that you follow option (1). The abstract noun “wickedness” forms a better parallel with contempt, shame, and disgrace. However, both textual options describe the results of wicked deeds, which are of course done by a wicked person, so there is little practical difference in meaning.
The terms a wicked man, contempt, shame, and disgrace are personified here. They are described as people who can come or arrive somewhere. The meaning of these lines is that when someone does a wicked deed, contempt is the result. When someone experiences shame, disgrace is the result.
Some other ways to translate this personification are:
Doing wrong leads to contempt, and insults will be added to the humiliation.
-or-
If ⌊a person⌋ does something wicked, ⌊other people⌋ will despise ⌊him⌋ . ⌊They⌋ will stop respecting ⌊him⌋ and will rebuke/insult ⌊him⌋ ⌊instead⌋ .
contempt…shame…disgrace: These three terms all refer to attitudes or actions that a wicked person experiences from other people. When a person does something wicked, other people feel contempt for him. Along with this shame or loss of respect, the wicked person experiences disgrace or insult.
contempt: This word refers to the scorn that other people feel for a wicked person. It indicates that other people despise wickedness. They consider a wicked person to be worthless.
shame: This word refers to the wicked person’s humiliation or loss of good reputation. It means that other people stop respecting him.
disgrace: This word refers here to the words that others direct against wicked people. These words may include rebuke, strong disapproval, or insult.
General Comment on 18:3a–b
Some languages may use fewer than three terms to translate the ideas of “contempt,” “shame,” and “disgrace.” In some languages, it may also be more natural to combine and/or reorder the two parallel lines. See 18:3a–b (combined/reordered) in the Display for two ways to do this.
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