This saying holds that it is better to encounter a ferocious bear than a fool in his foolishness. The comparison of a fool to a fierce bear is probably considered as humor, based as it is on overstatement.

“Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs”: The “Let” statement may need to be expressed as a “better . . . than” statement, as in Good News Translation. “Robbed of her cubs” is literally “bereaved,” with the loss of the cubs or young bears understood. Experience shows that mother bears in this condition are terribly dangerous. In areas where bears are not known, another animal of similar fierceness may be used. If there is nothing equivalent, we may speak, for example, of “a fierce animal that has lost its young.”

“Rather than a fool in his folly”: In the first line the person encounters the bear’s ferocious anger and in the second he or she encounters the fool’s intellectual and moral stupidity. For “fool” and “folly” see 12.23 and 13.16.

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 .