“A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor”: “Servant” in the context of a royal proverb most likely refers to an official in the palace or a minister of the king. “Who deals wisely” means one who administers or carries out his duties skillfully, capably, competently. “Favor” renders a word first used in 8.35 and means “goodwill,” “pleasure,” “acceptance.” Note that Good News Translation has restructured the whole line: “Kings are pleased with competent officials.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “The capable servant earns the king’s favor.”
“But his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully”: “His wrath” refers to the king’s anger or fury. “Falls on” is literally “will be on.” Some translate this as “punish.” “One who acts shamefully” is literally “one who causes shame.” This person contrasts with the competent servant or official in line 1 and so refers to the incompetent official who administers badly or, as New English Bible/Revised English Bible say, “those who fail him [the king].”
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 .
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:
35a A king delights ina wise servant,
35b but his anger falls onthe shameful.
Some versions arrange this verse in the form of a chiasm, so that the parts in 14:35a occur in the opposite order from the parallel parts in 14:35b. For example:
35a A king delights ina wise servant,
35b but a shameful servantarouses his fury. (New International Version)
-or- 35a A servant who deals wiselyhas the king’s favor,
35b but his wrath falls onone who acts shamefully. (New Revised Standard Version)
There is no chiasm here in Hebrew, and versions such as the Berean Standard Bible translate this verse without one. Use whatever order is appropriate in your language for a proverb such as this.
14:35a
A king delights in: Here are some other ways to translate the Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as delights in :
Kings are pleased with (Good News Translation)
-or-
A king shows favour to (New Jerusalem Bible)
See the note on “delight” in 11:1b .
a wise servant: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as wise refers to someone who is sensible, prudent, or competent in carrying out his master’s orders. The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as servant refers to an administrator or official who serves the king. Another way to translate this phrase is:
competent officials (Good News Translation)
14:35b
but his anger falls on the shameful: The servant who is incompetent and thus fails to carry out his duties satisfactorily will cause the king to be shamed. As a result, he will bring upon himself the king’s fierce anger. See the note on 11:4a–b, where the Berean Standard Bible translates this same term as “wrath.”
When a king’s anger is directed against someone, it usually implies that he will punish that person. In some languages, it may be helpful to make this implied meaning explicit. For example:
but they punish those who fail them (Good News Translation)
the shameful: The word translated here as shameful may mean that:
(a) The servant acts in a shameful way.
(b) He causes shame to his master.
Probably both meanings are intended. See the note on 10:5b, where the Berean Standard Bible translates this same word as “disgraceful.”
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