fear (of God)

The Hebrew and Greek that are translated as “fear (of God)” (or: “honor,” “worship,” or “respect”) is translated as “to have respect/reverence for” (Southern Subanen, Western Highland Purepecha, Navajo (Dinė), Javanese, Tboli), “to make great before oneself” (Ngäbere), “fear-devotion” (Kannada — currently used as a description of the life of piety), “those-with-whom he-is-holy” (those who fear God) (Western Apache) (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel), “revere God” (Lalana Chinantec), “worship God” (Palantla Chinantec) (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “obey” (Chichewa) (source: Ernst Wendland), “having/showing respect (for God)” (Makonde) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext), or with a term that communicates awe (rather than fear of an evil source) (Chol) (source: Robert Bascom).

Bullard / Hatton (2008, p. 8) say the following about this concept: “As the writer of Proverbs states in 1:7, ‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.’ (…) ‘The fear of the Lord,’ that is, human fear of God, is an exceptionally difficult concept to express, at least in English. Other languages may have more appropriate terms. The idea probably is rooted in the most ancient days when people were indeed afraid of any deity. But in Israel the concept of fearing God was transformed by God’s revelation into a much fuller idea. Basically, as used in the Bible, the fear of God refers to the proper attitude of reverence and awe before the Holy One. To fear God is to recognize one’s own place as a mere mortal before the Creator, one’s place as a sinner before the Judge, one’s place as a child before the Father, one’s place as the recipient of God’s love. It thus involves submission, repentance, trust, and grateful love toward the One who is fearsome in holiness, in justice, in power that both protects and punishes, and in love. Using the word “fear” is sometimes as good as we can do, but often we will alternate that word with terms like ‘reverence’ or ‘awe.’”

See also fear of the LORD (Isa 11:2) and complete verse (Genesis 22:12) et al.

Translation commentary on Proverbs 14:16

“A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil”: “A wise man” means a wise or sensible person. “Is cautious” renders a verb meaning to fear or stand in awe of; here to be “cautious” is to be “careful,” “alert,” “on guard.” In this context “turns away from evil” is to be taken as avoiding trouble or misfortune.

“But a fool throws off restraint and is careless”: “A fool” contrasts with “a wise man”. Instead of being cautious or on guard, this person “throws off restraint”, which renders a verb form that may mean to “be arrogant or excited,” that is, to “lose control.” Good News Translation has “act too quickly.” Some understand the word rendered “careless” by Revised Standard Version as meaning “overconfident.”

Good News Translation is a good translation model for this verse. We may also say, for example, “A wise person does things carefully and avoids getting into trouble, but a fool is careless and rushes into things.”

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 14:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 14:16:

  • Kupsabiny: “A wise person is cautious and guards self from sin,
    and/but a stupid person desires things he cannot manage.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “A person who has wisdom fears the Lord,
    and stays far away from evil.
    The fool, however, is in a hurry,
    and does all his work in haste
    and without thinking.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “A wise man takes-care of himself and stays-away from trouble, but a fool man does not take-care but- rather acts-harshly/quickly.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The wise is careful/circumspect and he stays-far-from his doing evil, but the foolish is careless/reckless, he does not know how to be-careful/circumspect.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Wise people are careful and avoid doing things that will give them trouble;
    foolish people are careless and act too quickly/without thinking.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 14:16

14:16

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

16a
A wise man fears and turns from evil,

16b but a fool is careless and reckless.

14:16a

A wise man fears: In Hebrew, this clause is literally “a wise ⌊person⌋ ⌊is⌋ fearing.” In Proverbs, the verb “to fear” (see the note on 10:27a) usually occurs with the object “the LORD.” Here there is no object. There are two ways to interpret this clause:

(1) A wise man is cautious. He is aware that a person’s actions may have bad consequences, so he is afraid of acting rashly. For example:

One who is wise is cautious (Revised English Bible)

(2) A wise man fears the LORD. For example:

A wise man fears the Lord (New International Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most versions and scholars. Two reasons are:

(a) This interpretation forms a good parallel with 14:16b.

(b) If the author had intended this clause to mean “fears the LORD,” he probably would have made the object explicit. That is what he did elsewhere in Proverbs.

and turns from evil: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as evil can refer either to moral evil or to trouble/misfortune. (See the note on 12:20a.) In this context, either meaning is appropriate, since a person who avoids moral evil will also avoid the trouble that accompanies it. Some ways to express the second meaning are:

Wise people are careful and stay out of trouble (New Century Version)
-or-
Sensible people are careful to stay out of trouble (Good News Translation)

14:16b

but a fool is careless: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as careless is literally “passing beyond bounds.” It usually means to become very angry or excited or to lose control. Since anger does not fit the context very well, most versions focus on being reckless or out of control.

fool:

and reckless: In this context, the word reckless means to be self-assured or overconfident. A person who is overconfident tends to act too quickly or to be reckless. But the main meaning in this context is probably self-confidence.

Two ways to express the meaning of this line are:

but a fool is careless and overconfident (God’s Word)
-or-
fools plunge ahead with great confidence (New Living Translation (1996))

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