20:14

This verse refers to cultures where bargaining is the normal way to buy and sell. It describes the bargaining process from the buyer’s point of view. There is a contrast between what the buyer says when he is bargaining (20:14a) and what he says after he has made the purchase (20:14b).

14a “Worthless, worthless!” says the buyer;

14b but on the way out, he gloats.

20:14a

“Worthless, worthless!” says the buyer: In Hebrew, the buyer’s words are literally “Bad, bad,” as in the Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures. These words may refer either to the low value of the item the buyer wants or to the unacceptably high asking price. The buyer’s purpose in saying this is to persuade the seller to lower the price. You should use an expression in your language that buyers normally use in this situation. Some other ways that English versions translate this line are:

‘A bad bargain!’ says the buyer to the seller (Revised English Bible)
-or-
The buyer haggles over the price, saying, “It’s worthless,” (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
The customer always complains that the price is too high (Good News Translation)

20:14b

but on the way out, he gloats: After the buyer has purchased the item and left the seller, he boasts. In Hebrew, what the buyer boasts about is not explicit. Some English versions supply the words “about his purchase” (as in the New International Version). It is also possible that the buyer boasts about his skill in bargaining.

gloats: In Hebrew, the form of the verb that is used here usually indicates reflexive action (“praises himself”). In this context, it may indicate either that the buyer congratulates himself or that he speaks highly about himself to others.

Some other ways to translate 20:14b are:

but he goes off congratulating himself (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
but then he goes off and brags about the bargain he got (Good News Translation)

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