The two lines of this verse are further comments on the theme of verse 8.

“The devising of folly is sin”: The Hebrew word rendered “devising” is from the same root as “intrigue” in the idiom “master of intrigue” in the previous line. It means “scheme” or “plan,” and is almost always used with something bad as its object. For “folly” see 5.23. Instead of “folly” the Septuagint and some other ancient translations have “fools”; this may reflect a different Hebrew text, or it may be a translational restructuring. A number of English versions follow this approach; for example, “the scheme of a fool” (Scott), “the intrigues of the foolish” (Revised English Bible), and “any scheme a fool thinks up” (Good News Translation).

In Hebrew there is no verb in this line. It is a definition, and the word “is” has been added to give it this form in English. Most versions follow Revised Standard Version in taking the first word in Hebrew, “scheme” or “plan,” as the subject, which means that the term “sin” or “sinful” defines it. So New International Version has “The schemes of folly are sin” and Good News Translation “Any scheme a fool thinks up is sinful.” It is also possible, however, to take “sin” as the subject: “Sin is the scheme of a fool” (Scott) or “Now sin is folly’s scheme” (Moffatt). In translating the definition “is sin”, it may be necessary in some languages to use words that refer to action; one example of this is “The plans of a fool are to do only things that are no good.”

“And the scoffer is an abomination to men”: For “the scoffer” see 1.22 and 9.7. “An abomination”, as in 3.32, is something offensive, something that people hate or detest. The Hebrew rendered “men” is a collective noun meaning “people” rather than just males. It may be more natural in some languages to make “people” the subject of the sentence, as in Good News Translation “People hate a person who has nothing but scorn for others” and New International Version “and men detest a mocker.”

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 .