“It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury”: This line is similar to 17.7a. “It is not fitting” means it is “wrong,” “unsuitable,” “not right.” “To live” is supplied by Revised Standard Version. “Luxury”, literally “delight,” refers to delicate or comfortable surroundings. Some interpreters understand the Hebrew word to mean “leadership” or “control” and so New English Bible/Revised English Bible translate “A fool at the helm is out of place.” This rendering provides an excellent parallel with the second line but is rejected by most translations. In some languages “live in luxury” may be translated, for example, “to live like a rich man” or “to enjoy the big house of the rich.”

“Much less for a slave to rule over princes”: “Much less” translates the same expression used at the opening of the second line of verse 7, where the sense is “how much more. . ..” Here the expression marks the thought expressed as more deplorable or worse than the first. “Slave” translates the same word as used in 17.2. See there for comments. “Princes”, as in 8.16, are not to be thought of as the sons of kings but rather as leaders or rulers. See Good News Translation “noblemen.” We may translate this saying, for example, “It is not right for fools to enjoy a luxurious life. It is even worse for slaves to rule over leaders.”

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 .