קְֽנֹה־חָכְמָ֗ה מַה־טּ֥וֹב מֵחָר֑וּץ וּקְנ֥וֹת בִּ֝ינָ֗ה נִבְחָ֥ר מִכָּֽסֶף׃
16How much better to get wisdom than gold!
To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
In the Tzeltal translation for the dialectal variant of Highland Tzeltal (Biblia Tzeltal yu’un Oxchuc soc Tenejapa, 2001) the translation team used three different words to translate the Hebrew term that is translated as “wisdom” in English. One of them is p’ijil jol or “word wisdom” which is also used for “understanding,” good sense,” “intelligent,” or “insight.”
For the complete story and more background, please see wisdom (Proverbs).
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “wisdom” in English is rendered in various ways:
In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a hand gesture referring to God to indicate a human quality to communicate that wisdom does not originate from man but is linked to and connected with the fear of God (source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group):
“Wisdom” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )
See also wisdom (Proverbs) and knowledge.
In the Tzeltal translation for the dialectal variant of Highland Tzeltal (Biblia Tzeltal yu’un Oxchuc soc Tenejapa, 2001) the translation team used three different words to translate the Hebrew term that is translated as “wisdom” or “wise” in English. For the verses referenced here, it uses p’ijil-o’tanil or “heart wisdom.”
For the complete story and more background, please see wisdom (Proverbs).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 16:16:
“To get wisdom is better than gold”: The Revised Standard Version footnote shows that it follows the text of the ancient versions rather than the Hebrew, which has “how much better” in place of “is better”. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives the Hebrew a “C” rating and recommends “How much better it is to get wisdom than fine gold.” This is followed by Revised English Bible “How much better than gold it is to get wisdom.” Good News Translation also follows Hebrew Old Testament Text Project by emphasizing “better”, that is, “—much better—.” It may be necessary to adjust this line in translation to say, for example, “It is much better to become wise than to become rich” or “It is better to learn to be wise than to learn to be rich.”
“To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver”: This line is parallel to the first line. “Understanding” renders the same word rendered “insight” in 1.2 and refers to intelligence or knowledge. Some translators treat “chosen” as a description of silver, that is, “choice silver” or “pure silver.” However, this term matches “better than” in the first line, and the Hebrew has something equivalent to “choicer than silver,” that is, “preferable to silver.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports this interpretation with a “B” rating. Alternatively we may render this line, for example, “and it is better to choose knowledge than silver.”
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 .
16:16
Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:
16a How much better to acquire wisdom than gold !
16b
To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.
This “better than” proverb has a different structure than proverbs such as 12:9. See the note there. Such proverbs have a contrast between a bad/undesirable situation and a good/desirable situation in each line. Here in 16:16, the first parallel part in each line is better than the second parallel part in each line. Another proverb of this type is 16:32.
The overall meaning is that it is better to gain wisdom and understanding than to obtain gold and silver. It does not imply that it is bad to obtain gold and silver.
16:16a–b
How much better: This phrase is an exclamation that emphasizes the value of gaining wisdom. In languages that do not use this kind of exclamation, another way to express the emphasis is:
It is better—much better— (Good News Translation)
-or-
It is far better
to acquire wisdom…To gain understanding: The verbs that the Berean Standard Bible translates as acquire and gain come from the same word in Hebrew. It means “to get or choose.” The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as understanding refers to the ability to comprehend and interpret ideas and to draw conclusions. Other words that express the meaning accurately include “perception” and “insight.”
gold…silver: gold and silver often function together as a pair to indicate wealth.
General Comment on 16:16a–b
In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder and/or combine the parallel parts of this verse. For example:
It is much better to gain wisdom and understanding than to accumulate gold and silver.
-or-
It is better to become wise and intelligent than to become rich.
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