vanity

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “vanity,” “emptiness,” “breath,” or similar in English is translated in Mandarin Chinese as xūkōng (虚空) or “hollow,” “empty.” This is a term that is loaned from Buddhist terminology where it is used for Akasha (Sanskrit: आकाश). (Source: Zetzsche)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 11:29

This saying is made up of two lines that describe the fate of those who cause trouble with their family.

“He who troubles his household will inherit the wind”: One interpretation of this line is that “his household” refers to the person’s family, and in particular to the father who will divide his property at his death. “Inherit the wind” is to say that such a person inherits nothing or is the heir to nothing. The thought is well expressed by Good News Translation. We may also say, for example, “If you create trouble in your family, you will inherit nothing from them.” If the idea of inheritance is not clear, it may be necessary to say, for example, “If you are a troublemaker in your family, at the death of someone you will receive nothing.”

“And the fool will be servant to the wise”: If “the fool” here is the family troublemaker, we may take it that he, because he ends up with nothing, is forced to become a servant, that is, to find employment with someone who is wise. For “fool” refer to 1.7. The word for “servant” may be taken here to mean “slave.” “The wise” is literally “wise heart.”

Another interpretation of the verse, preferred by Whybray, is that “household”, literally “house,” refers to personal property. This person fails to manage his affairs competently and as a result he “inherits the wind”, which Whybray takes to mean that he has squandered his wealth and is reduced to poverty. Consequently he must become the “servant” or slave of a wise creditor because he cannot pay his debts.

Most modern translations favor the first view.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 11:29

11:29

Notice the parallelism in this verse:

29a
He who brings trouble on his house will inherit the wind,

29b and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

The one who “brings trouble on his house” in 11:29a is the same person as “the fool” in 11:29b. But being “servant to the wise” in 11:29b is an additional consequence to inheriting “only wind” in 11:29a.

11:29a

He who brings trouble on his house will inherit the wind: In Hebrew, this line is literally “one who troubles his house will inherit wind.”

brings trouble: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as brings trouble means to cause others to experience trouble, ruin, hardship, or harm.

his house: Most scholars agree that the word house here refers here to an entire household, including the servants and household possessions.

will inherit the wind: This phrase is a figurative expression. It means “will inherit nothing.”

There are two main ways to interpret the whole line:

(1) The one who causes his household to experience hardship or harm is the father. As a result of his poor management, he reduces the value of his family’s inheritance to nothing. With this interpretation, the word inherit is figurative. It does not involve anyone’s death. For example:

Whoever misgoverns a house inherits the wind (New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) The one who causes his household to experience hardship or harm is the son. As a result of his foolish or shameful actions, he will be disinherited. When the father dies, he will literally inherit nothing. For example:

One who brings trouble on his family inherits the wind (Revised English Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with a majority of scholars. In the culture of that time, the father was normally in charge of a household, including the servants and property. It would be unusual to speak of a son troubling “his household.” Some other ways to translate this line are:

Whoever brings trouble to his family will be left with nothing but the wind. (New Century Version)
-or-
Those who bring trouble on their families will have nothing at the end. (Good News Translation)

If you use the word inherit, be sure that it does not imply that someone died.

11:29b

the fool will be servant to the wise of heart: The probable context of this line is that the foolish father wasted the family’s resources. In order to pay his debts, he will be forced to work as a servant or slave to his wiser creditors.

For fool, see fool 1 in the Glossary.

General Comment on 11:29a–b

Many English versions, including the Berean Standard Bible, New Revised Standard Version, and Good News Translation, translate the second line of this proverb as if it were unrelated to the first line. But all the commentaries used in preparing these Notes identify “the fool” of 11:29b with the one who “brings trouble on his house” in 11:29a. This would also fit the pattern of Hebrew parallelism. Some ways to make this connection clear are:

• Use a demonstrative pronoun such as “this” or “that” to describe the fool. For example:

Whoever ruins his household will own nothing but wind ⌊in the end⌋ . That fool will become a slave to a person who is wise.

• Reorder the parallel parts so that the subjects of both lines occur together. For example:

Foolish people who cause hardship to their families and servants will lose everything they own and become slaves of a wise person.

See also 11:29a–b (combined/reordered) in the Display.

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