“A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil”: “A wise man” means a wise or sensible person. “Is cautious” renders a verb meaning to fear or stand in awe of; here to be “cautious” is to be “careful,” “alert,” “on guard.” In this context “turns away from evil” is to be taken as avoiding trouble or misfortune.

“But a fool throws off restraint and is careless”: “A fool” contrasts with “a wise man”. Instead of being cautious or on guard, this person “throws off restraint”, which renders a verb form that may mean to “be arrogant or excited,” that is, to “lose control.” Good News Translation has “act too quickly.” Some understand the word rendered “careless” by Revised Standard Version as meaning “overconfident.”

Good News Translation is a good translation model for this verse. We may also say, for example, “A wise person does things carefully and avoids getting into trouble, but a fool is careless and rushes into things.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .