16:16

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

16a How much better to acquire wisdom than gold !

16b
To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.

This “better than” proverb has a different structure than proverbs such as 12:9. See the note there. Such proverbs have a contrast between a bad/undesirable situation and a good/desirable situation in each line. Here in 16:16, the first parallel part in each line is better than the second parallel part in each line. Another proverb of this type is 16:32.

The overall meaning is that it is better to gain wisdom and understanding than to obtain gold and silver. It does not imply that it is bad to obtain gold and silver.

16:16a–b

How much better: This phrase is an exclamation that emphasizes the value of gaining wisdom. In languages that do not use this kind of exclamation, another way to express the emphasis is:

It is better—much better— (Good News Translation)
-or-
It is far better

to acquire wisdom…To gain understanding: The verbs that the Berean Standard Bible translates as acquire and gain come from the same word in Hebrew. It means “to get or choose.” The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as understanding refers to the ability to comprehend and interpret ideas and to draw conclusions. Other words that express the meaning accurately include “perception” and “insight.”

gold…silver: gold and silver often function together as a pair to indicate wealth.

General Comment on 16:16a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder and/or combine the parallel parts of this verse. For example:

It is much better to gain wisdom and understanding than to accumulate gold and silver.
-or-
It is better to become wise and intelligent than to become rich.

© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

17:15

The first line of this verse refers to two kinds of unjust judges. The second line describes the LORD’s attitude toward them. The NET Bible has been used as the source line for 17:15a, because it follows the recommended interpretation.

15a Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—

15b both are detestable to the Lord.

He detests a judge who acquits a person who is guilty of a crime. He has the same attitude toward a judge who convicts an innocent person.

17:15a

(NET Bible) The one who acquits the guilty and the one who condemns the innocent: There are two ways to interpret this line:

(1) It refers to two kinds of unjust judges. For example:

One who justifies the wicked and one who condemns the righteous

(2) It refers to the actions of two kinds of unjust judges. For example:

Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent— (New International Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with a slight majority of versions and most scholars.

(NET Bible) The one who acquits the guilty: This phrase refers here to a judge who gives a legal verdict in a court case. He declares that a guilty person is innocent of the charge against him.

(NET Bible) the guilty: In Hebrew, this word is literally “the wicked,” as in the Revised Standard Version. In this context, it refers to a person who has committed a crime.

(NET Bible) and the one who condemns the innocent: This phrase refers here to a judge who convicts an innocent person of a crime that he did not commit. The judge declares that this person is guilty. By doing so, the judge condemns him to be punished.

(NET Bible) the innocent: In Hebrew, this word is literally “the righteous,” as in the Berean Standard Bible. In this context, it refers to a person who did not commit the crime with which he was charged.

Another way to translate 17:15a is:

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous (English Standard Version)

17:15b

both are detestable to the LORD: In the context of interpretation (1) in 17:15a, the word both refers to both kinds of unjust judges. However, this interpretation also implies that the LORD detests their unjust actions. So you may want to add a footnote with this implied information. A suggested footnote is:

This verse implies that the LORD detests the actions of unjust judges as well as the judges themselves.

For the phrase that Berean Standard Bible translates as are detestable to the LORD, see the note on 11:1a. The same phrase last occurred in 16:5a.

General Comment on 17:15a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the two lines. For example:

The Lord despises those who acquit the guilty and condemn the innocent. (New Living Translation (1996))

See also 17:15a–b (combined/reordered) in the Display.

© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

18:19

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

19a
An offended brother is harder to win than a fortified city,

19b and disputes are like the bars of a castle.

The overall meaning is that it is difficult to restore a close relationship that has been broken as a result of a quarrel. The hard feelings that result from a quarrel are like the high walls and barred gates that prevent people from entering a city.

18:19a

An offended brother is harder to win than a fortified city: There is a textual issue in this clause:

(1) The Masoretic Text has: “A brother offended…” This text compares an offended brother to a strong city that no one can enter.

This comparison and the comparison in 18:19b both have undesirable meanings. So English versions connect the two verse parts with the word “and.” For example:

19a A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, 19b and quarrelling… (English Standard Version)

(2) The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum have: “A brother helped…” This text compares a brother that has been helped to a strong city that offers protection.

This comparison has a desirable meaning. The comparison in 18:19b has an undesirable meaning. So English versions connect the two verse parts with the word “but.” For example:

19a A brother helped is like a strong city,

19b
but quarreling is like the bars of a castle. (Revised Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1), along with most versions and scholars.

This clause is a metaphor. It compares a brother that has been offended or sinned against to a city with high, strong walls. The Hebrew text is literally “A brother offended ⌊more⌋ than a strong city.” Some ways that an offended brother is similar to a strong city are:

(a) Their defenses cannot be broken down.

(b) They are isolated from others.

(c) It is difficult to approach them.

When you translate this metaphor, you will need to make one or more of the similarities explicit, as the Berean Standard Bible and other versions have done. For example:

A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
An offended brother is more ⌊resistant⌋ than a strong city (God’s Word)

brother: In this context, the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as brother may also refer to other close relationships. For example:

friend (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
relative (NET Bible)

It is implied that the offended brother or friend was involved in the “disputes” mentioned in 18:19b.

18:19b

and disputes are like the bars of a castle: This is a simile. It compares disputes or quarrels to strong iron bars or bolts. These bars fasten the gates of a strongly fortified place, such as a castle or fortress. Some ways that they are similar are:

(a) Both quarrels and bars create barriers between people.

(b) These barriers are difficult to break down or break through.

Some ways to translate this simile are:

• Leave the similarity implied. For example:

such strife is like the bars of a fortress (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
-or-
and quarreling is like the locked bolt on the gate of a castle

• Make the similarity explicit. For example:

Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars. (New Living Translation (2004))

General Comment on 18:19a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine the parallel lines. For example:

Making up with a friend you have offended is harder than breaking through a city wall. (Contemporary English Version)

© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

19:27

The second line of this verse gives the result of the first line.

27a If you cease to hear instruction, my son,

you will stray from the words of knowledge.

In the Hebrew, 19:27a is a warning that implies an “if” statement. The Berean Standard Bible and the NET Bible makes the “if” statement explicit. For example:

27a
If you stop listening to instruction, my child, (NET Bible)

27b you will stray from the words of knowledge. (NET Bible)

In the Hebrew text, this verse is literally:

27a Cease, my son, to listen to instruction,

27b
to stray from words of knowledge.

It seems to be a command that the son stop listening to instruction in order to stray from words of knowledge. This is not a reasonable command. So most scholars think that the author is using irony. He is saying the opposite of what he intends the son to understand.

However, this kind of irony is not used elsewhere in Proverbs. It is also difficult to understand this kind of irony correctly, because nothing else in the context implies it.

Scholars agree that the purpose of this verse is to emphasize to the son the serious consequences of not listening to instruction. Some ways to express this meaning are:

• Use an “if” statement, as the Berean Standard Bible has done.

• Use a command that means to not stop listening. For example:

27a Don’t stop listening to correction, my child, 27b or you will forget what you have already learned. (New Century Version)

• Use irony or sarcasm. For example:

So, my son, you want to ignore all the useful things that you have learned, do you? Go ahead, then, block your ears! Be sure that you do not listen to wise advice!

19:27a

hear instruction: For the word instruction, see discipline in the Glossary. Here it refers to wise moral teaching.

19:27b

you will stray from the words of knowledge: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as words of knowledge is parallel to “instruction.” It also refers to teaching from a wise teacher. The whole clause implies that this is wisdom or knowledge that the son previously learned. To stray from this knowledge as a result of no longer listening to instruction implies that:

• The son will no longer think about what he has learned, so he will forget it. For example:

you will forget what you already know (Contemporary English Version)

• The son will neglect wise conduct in his life and actions and will wander off the path of right behavior. For example:

you will soon neglect what you already know (Good News Translation)
-or-
you will turn your back on knowledge (New Living Translation (2004))

See the note on 5:23b, where the same Hebrew verb is used.

© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

20:30

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

30a
Lashes and wounds scour evil,

30b and beatings cleanse the inmost parts.

In Hebrew, there is no verb in 20:30b. The verb “cleanse” has been supplied by the Berean Standard Bible. It is implied by the parallelism that lashes and wounds scour evil ⌊from the inmost being⌋ . It is also implied that beatings cleanse the inmost parts ⌊of evil⌋ .

The overall meaning is that physical punishment has a beneficial, cleansing effect on a person’s character.

20:30a

Lashes and wounds: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “wounds of a bruise.” This kind of construction indicates that one of the words describes and intensifies the meaning of the other. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

Blows that wound (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
A severe beating (Contemporary English Version)

scour evil: Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

purges the mind of evil (Revised English Bible)
-or-
will get rid of evil (New Century Version)

20:30b

and beatings cleanse the inmost parts: Some other ways to translate this clause are:

and whippings can change an evil heart (New Century Version)
-or-
Such beatings cleanse the innermost being. (God’s Word)
-or-
such discipline purifies the heart (New Living Translation (2004))

The word “such” in the last two examples (God’s Word and New Living Translation (2004)) clarifies that the two lines give one overall meaning. They do not refer to two kinds of punishment.

General Comment on 20:30a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine the two parallel lines. For example:

A severe beating can knock all of the evil out of you! (Contemporary English Version)

© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

23:5

This verse gives a reason for the parallel warnings in 23:4. The overall reason is that riches can quickly disappear. Both lines contain figures of speech. In Hebrew, they both use terms that are associated with a bird that flies.

5a When you glance at wealth, it disappears,

5b for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

23:5a

When you glance at wealth, it disappears: In Hebrew, this line is literally “Do your eyes fly to/on it and it does not exist.” The first part is a rhetorical question that is probably equivalent to an “if” clause. It is followed by a consequence in the last part.

When you glance at wealth: In Hebrew this clause contains at least two other figures of speech. The phrase “your eyes” represents the action of looking or glancing (metonymy). This phrase is also part of a metaphor in Hebrew: “your eyes fly to/on it.” It compares the young man’s eyes to a bird that flies swiftly to wealth (23:5a). Some ways to translate these figures of speech are:

• Keep the figurative ideas of flying or landing. For example:

When your eyes light upon it (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
While your glance flits to it (New American Bible)

• Translate the idea of looking or glancing without using a figure of speech. For example:

Before you can look around (Revised English Bible)

• Use a different figure of speech in your language. Some versions have used common English idioms. For example:

In the blink of an eye (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
in a flash (Good News Translation)

it disappears: When his eyes fly there or land there, the wealth disappears. More literally, “it ceases to exist” or “it is there no longer” (New Jerusalem Bible). This clause is a figure of speech (hyperbole). It means that wealth can very quickly disappear or be used up. Another way to translate this clause using a hyperbole is:

wealth disappears (New Living Translation (2004))

When you translate 23:5a, remember that the author used figures of speech to make a vivid picture in the minds of his readers. Try to use expressions in your language that will help your readers understand and remember the meaning of the proverb.

General Comment on 23:5a

In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder and/or combine the clauses in this part of the verse. For example:

Your money flies away before you know it (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Wealth can vanish in the wink of an eye (New Century Version)

23:5b

for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky: This clause uses a complex figure of speech to explain how riches can disappear so quickly. In some languages, it will be necessary to make explicit that both parts of the clause make a comparison. For example:

as if it had grown wings and flown away like an eagle (Good News Translation)

makes wings: In Hebrew, this phrase is an emphatic form of the verb “make.” It may emphasize that riches certainly make wings for themselves or that they make them suddenly. For example:

For wealth certainly makes itself wings (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
for suddenly it sprouts wings (English Standard Version)

Some versions do not make this verb explicitly emphatic. In some languages, it may already be implied from the context. For example:

It can seem to grow wings and fly away like an eagle. (New Century Version)

eagle: In Hebrew, this word can also refer to a vulture. In this context, most English versions translate it as eagle. In languages where eagles or vultures are not known, you may use a more general word, such as “bird.”

to the sky: Notice that the Good News Translation and the New Century Version (both quoted above) leave the phrase to the sky implied. The Berean Standard Bible translates it explicitly. Use whichever option expresses the meaning most effectively and naturally in your language.

General Comment on 23:5b

Both parts of 23:5b help to explain the surprising statement in 23:4b that the riches “disappear.” The second part of 23:5b also helps to explain the metaphor of wealth that grows wings for itself.

In the Berean Standard Bible, this double explanation is introduced by the word “for.” In some languages, it may be natural to introduce an explanation with an explicit word, as in the Berean Standard Bible. For example:

for they surely make wings for themselves, and fly off into the sky like an eagle! (NET Bible)

In other languages, it may be more natural to introduce an explanation without using an explicit word. For example:

It can seem to grow wings and fly away like an eagle. (New Century Version)
-or-
It will surely grow wings like an eagle, like a bird in the sky. (Revised English Bible)

You should introduce this explanation in a way that is both natural and emphatic in your language.

© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

24:2

This verse tells the parallel reasons to obey the commands in 24:1. Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

2a for their hearts devise violence,

2b and their lips declare trouble.

The reasons progress from the inward plans of wicked people to their discussion of those plans.

24:2a–b

their hearts…their lips: These parallel phrases are figures of speech (synecdoche). They represent the wicked people themselves.

violence…declare trouble: In this context, both these terms refer to evil deeds that harm other people. Some versions translate the second term as “mischief.” In English, this word often refers to the minor, naughty things that children do. But the Hebrew terms here refer to more serious acts of evil.

24:2a

for their hearts devise violence: This line means “they plan to treat others in a way that is harmful, cruel, or oppressive.” Some other ways to translate this line are:

for violence is all they think of (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Their minds are always planning violence (New Century Version)

The word violence also occurs in 21:7.

24:2b

and their lips declare trouble: This line means that they discuss ways that they can cause trouble, harm, or misery to other people. Some other ways to translate this line are:

and they always talk about causing trouble

General Comment on 24:2a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder one or more of the parallel parts. For example:

All they think about and talk about is violence and cruelty. (Contemporary English Version)

© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.