“A wise son makes a glad father”: See 10.1a, which is identical. This does not mean that a “wise son” becomes a “glad father”, but rather that a son who is wise causes his own father to be happy. “A wise son” is a person who loves wisdom and practices it. There is no intention here to exclude daughters and mothers; note Good News Translation “Wise children.” Contemporary English Version has “Children with good sense make their parents happy.”

“But a foolish man despises his mother”: “A foolish man” is literally “a fool of a man” and refers to fools in general. New Revised Standard Version has “the foolish.” We may also say here “foolish children” or “foolish sons.” For “despises” see 1.7. “His mother” refers to the woman who gave birth to him, but like “father” in the first line, this may be understood to refer to parents in general.

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 .