Translation commentary on Proverbs 10:8

“The wise of heart will heed commandments”: “The wise of heart” is the opposite of the person in 6.32 who “lacks heart,” that is, someone who lacks good sense. Here the reference is to a person who is sensible or displays good sense in his thoughts and actions. In some languages such a person is called a person with “good thinking” or “a good head.” “Heed” translates a verb whose meaning in this context is to receive, accept, or pay attention to. Contemporary English Version says “listen and obey.” “Commandments” renders a word used in 2.1; 3.1; and 4.4, where it indicates the content of instruction or teaching given by the teacher of wisdom. In this verse it seems to be used more generally to refer to good instruction, advice, or counsel.

For many languages Good News Translation offers a good model for this line. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate in a general sense the source of this advice, that is, “accept good advice that people give you.”

“But a prating fool will come to ruin”: “A prating fool” is literally “a fool of lips,” an expression whose meaning seems to be a person who speaks foolishly or a foolish talker. Moffatt says “a silly chatterer.” Some languages have idioms for such people, such as “water mouth.” For “fool” refer to 1.7. The parallelism and contrast between the “wise of heart” and the “prating fool” is clear enough. However, the relationship between “heed commandments” and “come to ruin” is less obvious. The thought in the second line is apparently that instead of listening to good advice the foolish person talks and thus brings about his own ruin. Contemporary English Version renders “come to ruin” as “will bring you to ruin.” We may also say, for example, “will lose everything,” “will end up with nothing,” or “is headed for trouble.” We may translate the entire verse, for example, “If a person is wise, he will listen to good advice; if he is a foolish talker, he will ruin himself.”

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 .

complete verse (Proverbs 10:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 10:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “(The) understanding person listens to laws/commandments,
    but the fool who just talks/shouts a lot will be lost/destroyed.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “People who have insight
    listen to instruction,
    but fools who keep on talking
    are headed for destruction.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “A wise man obeys the commands. A man who speaks foolishness will-be-destroyed.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The thinking/reflective-one, he hears and obeys commands, but the foolish-one whose words are many, he destroys his own self (lit. body).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Wise people heed good instruction/advice,
    but people who talk foolishly will ruin themselves.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 10:8

10:8

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

8a
A wise heart will receive commandments,

8b but foolish lips will come to ruin.

The parallelism is not exact. The parallel lines imply that people who are wise do not come to ruin. They also imply that the fool does not pay attention to advice.

10:8a

A wise heart will receive commandments: The phrase A wise heart is a figure of speech. It refers to a wise person.

wise:

will receive commandments: This phrase means that a wise person does not only listen to commands or instruction. He also obeys them. Some other ways to translate this line are:

The wise are glad to be instructed (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
The wise do what they are told (New Century Version)
-or-
If you have good sense, you will listen and obey (Contemporary English Version)

The verse also implies that the commands/advice which the wise person accepts are good. The Good News Translation makes this explicit:

Sensible people accept good advice (Good News Translation)

You may or may not need to make this explicit in your language.

10:8b

but foolish lips will come to ruin: The phrase foolish lips is literally “a fool of lips.” This is a figure of speech. It represents “a person who speaks foolishly” or “a foolish talker.” It is implied that this person talks a lot.

foolish: In Hebrew, this word for foolish refers to someone who is a moral fool. It does not refer to someone who is uneducated or who lacks intelligence. A moral fool is someone who is unable or unwilling to do what is right or to avoid what is wrong. This kind of fool does stupid and wrong things because of his evil character.

will come to ruin: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as will come to ruin literally means “is thrown down.” Some English versions have used a similar literal expression. For example:

babbling fools fall flat on their faces (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
the one who talks foolishly will be thrown down headfirst (God’s Word)

But in most languages, it may be clearer to use the figurative meaning. For example:

a talkative fool will be ruined (New Century Version)

This verse does not specify the kind of ruin or trouble that the fool will experience. Nor does it make explicit who ruins the fool. If you need to specify the person who causes the fool’s downfall, it is probably the fool himself. For example:

If you always talk like a fool, you will destroy/ruin your own life.

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