23:24
Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:
24a
The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice,
24b
and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.
The underlined parts refer to the father of a person who is both righteous and wise. No distinction is intended between the parallel phrases “will greatly rejoice” and “will delight in him.” Both these phrases imply that the father experiences much happiness and satisfaction as a result of his son’s righteous and wise behavior.
23:24a–b
a righteous man…a wise son: In Hebrew, the words man and son do not occur here. The parallel words righteous and wise can refer to an adult or a child of either sex. The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the words man and son, because the phrase “my son” occurs five times in this section. Here it refers to someone who is old enough to be described as righteous and wise. In many cultures, such a person would be a young or mature adult.
23:24a
The father of a righteous man: Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
The father of a righteous person (NET Bible)
-or-
The father of a child who consistently does what is right
will greatly rejoice: In Hebrew this phrase has strong emphasis. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
has great joy (New International Version)
-or-
will be extremely happy
23:24b
he who fathers a wise son: In Hebrew, this clause is more literally “he who begets a wise son,” as in the New Revised Standard Version. The word “begets” here is a slightly different form of the verb “he begot” that was used in 23:22a. See the note there. Some other ways to translate this clause are:
he who fathers a wise child (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Someone who has a wise son (God’s Word)
will delight in him: In some languages, it may not be appropriate to use a phrase such as will delight in to describe a father’s reaction to the righteous and wise character of his son. Another way to translate this line is:
You can take pride in a wise child. (Good News Translation)
General Comment on 23:24a–b
In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel lines. For example:
If a son/person is wise and does what is right, it will cause his father to be truly happy.
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