complete verse (Ecclesiastes 10:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ecclesiastes 10:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “A wise person is honored for what he is saying, but the mouth/words of a fool destroys him.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The words of the wise man bring him favor,
    but the words of a fool destroy him.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “What a wise man are-saying can-provide/give him goodness, but what the foolish man are-saying can- destroy him.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Wise people say what is sensible, and because of that, people honor them;
    but foolish people are destroyed by what they say.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ecclesiastes 10:12

Like so many Old Testament proverbs, verse 12 gives instruction by showing the wide gap between wise and foolish behavior.

The words of a wise man’s mouth renders the Hebrew literally (so also New American Bible and Jerusalem Bible). It is more common to say “what a wise person says” or “the words of a wise person.”

Win … favor is Revised Standard Version‘s rendering of the noun that describes the wise person’s speech as “gracious.” In 9.11 this same term described the “favor” a person obtained. Here the sense is probably similar, hence Good News Translation “brings him honor.” We may also say “When a wise person speaks, people respect him.” Others think the term “gracious” means that the words bring about harmonious relationships, presumably between the speaker and those addressed.

But marks this next clause as contrasting the wise person with the fool. The translator should use a contrastive conjunction or any other device marking contrast. In some languages the lack of a conjunction may serve this purpose. The lips of a fool is much like the previous clause, in that the body part represents an action. Here the lips are figurative for what a person says; hence Good News Translation “his own words.” New English Bible changes lips to “tongue,” perhaps because in English it is quite common to use “tongue” as a figure for speech.

Consume him: in modern English the verb consume can have the meaning that this is a person’s main passion, interest, or occupation. Here, however, the sense is that the fool is destroyed by his foolish speaking. The fool’s lips actually “eat him up” (compare 4.5).

Part of the delight of this Hebrew proverb is the very effective use of language. The first clause is more or less a straightforward statement: the “words of the mouth of the wise” are “gracious.” But in the second part of the verse “words” is lacking, and we have a much more graphic picture of the person’s lips actually swallowing him! The translator can try translating literally to see if the meaning (and humor) can be conveyed in this way. If not, we may be able to retain a wordplay on “mouth” in the first and second line: “The words from the mouth of the wise are pleasing, but the mouth of the fool eats him up,” or even “The mouth of the wise man brings him respect; the mouth of the fool eats him up.” If the figures “mouth” and “lips” do not convey the sense in translation, then we will be forced to render the sense less figuratively:

• The effect of a wise man’s words is pleasing, but a fool destroys himself by what he says.

• What a wise man says brings him respect. What a foolish man says brings about his destruction.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Ecclesiates. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ecclesiastes 10:12

10:12a The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,

Words spoken by the wise bring them favor, (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
Wise people speak pleasant words.

10:12b but the lips of a fool consume him.

but the words of a fool are self-destructive. (NET Bible)
-or-
But a fool’s own words can hurt the fool badly. (EASY2015)

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Commentaire sur la traduction de l'Ecclésiaste 10.12

Même si le mot sage n’est pas prononcé en Ecc 10.11, il est clair que l’unité 10.10-11 concerne l’importance de la sagesse. Dans cette nouvelle mini-section, Qohéleth met en contraste les propos du sage et ceux de l’insensé. Les paroles et le comportement de ce dernier l’identifient comme quelqu’un de stupide. Le sage n’est mentionné qu’au début de cette section, tandis que les insensés sont mentionnés plusieurs fois sous plusieurs formes. En effet, on note les racines suivantes renvoyant aux personnes stupides : כְּסִיל kesîl, l’insensé (Ecc 10.12, Ecc 10.15), סָכָל sâkâl, « le stupide », (Ecc 10.13, Ecc 10.14), הוֹלֵלוּת hôléloût, « démence » (Ecc 10.13). Comme on peut le constater, ces mots sont composés de sons fricatifs (s, h) et du son latéral, l. Voir aussi Ecc 7.6. Notons aussi que les mot כְּסִיל kesîl et סָכָל sâkâl inversent les consonnes et que le mot כְּסִיל kesîl (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible : insensé) forme une inclusion autour de ce passage.

Comme certains dictons offerts par Qohéleth, celui-ci est bref et beau. Les vers présentent un parallélisme antithétique, litt. :
[les] paroles de [la] bouche d’[un] sage [sont] grâce
וְ we [les] lèvres d’[un] insensé le dévorent

Une question importante est comment rendre le terme חֵן ḥén, « grâce ». Celui-ci n’a pas le sens théologique du mot « grâce » dans le NT, mais parle d’apaisement et de paix. Plusieurs versions (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie) suggèrent que ces propos plaisent aux gens, mais il semble qu’il s’agit d’une description de ces paroles. Ainsi, la traduction de la Nouvelle Bible Segond (« Les paroles de la bouche du sage sont pleines de grâce ») semble plus proche du sens de texte.

Comme beaucoup de proverbes, celui-ci évoque deux parties importantes du corps, la bouche, et les lèvres. Dans les deux cas, ces mots renvoient à la parole. Les traducteurs devraient décider s’ils veulent garder ce langage figuré ou utiliser un langage plus littéral. On pourrait parler, par exemple, des « paroles du sage » et des « paroles de l’homme stupide ».

Dans la deuxième partie du dicton, la conjonction וְ we est omise dans certaines versions, mais dans la Traduction œcuménique de la Bible elle est bien rendue par mais qui introduit le contraste entre le sage et l’insensé.

En principe le deuxième vers exprime une idée antithétique. Ainsi sage du premier vers s’oppose à insensé dans le deuxième. Mais le parallélisme n’est pas parfait. Face au mot חֵן ḥén, « grâce », on s’attendrait à un mot comme « horreur » (ex : les propos de l’insensé sont une horreur), mais la remarque est tout autre, litt. « les lèvres de l’insensé le dévorent ». Le verbe בלע blʿ veut dire « engloutir » comme en Ex 7.12 où le bâton d’Aaron a englouti les bâtons des magiciens d’Égypte. Ce langage figuré veut dire que les paroles de l’insensé causent sa perte (Nouvelle Bible Segond, La Bible du Semeur). Encore une fois les traducteurs devraient décider s’ils veulent maintenir le langage figuré ou utiliser un langage plus courant.

Source: Zogbo, Lynell. L’Ecclésiaste – Manuel de traduction – Commentaire linguistique et exégétique de la Bible. Alliance biblique universelle, 2021.