wisdom ("heart wisdom")

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).

knowledge ("word wisdom")

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 c’op or “word wisdom” which is also used for “knowledge.”

For the complete story and more background, please see wisdom (Proverbs).

complete verse (Proverbs 18:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 18:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “A thoughtful person finds wisdom,
    and the one who listens gets experience/knowledge.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Wise people are always desiring
    to acquire knowledge,
    and are searching for it.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “A wise man and has understanding tries very hard that his wisdom will-increase more.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The wise-person, he is prepared-to and desires to learn.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Intelligent people are always wanting to learn more;
    wise people are not content with what they already know.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 18:15

“An intelligent mind acquires knowledge” is literally “the heart of him who has understanding gets knowledge.” Here, as in many of these sayings, “heart” represents the mind. This line is identical to 15.14a except that “seeks” is here replaced by “acquires”.

“And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge”: This line is essentially the same as the first. “Ear”, which replaces “heart,” is the organ by which instruction and knowledge are received in such verses as 2.2; 4.20; 5.1, 13. “Seeks knowledge” is the same as in 15.14a. Note how Good News Translation has reduced these similar lines to one short sentence.

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 18:15

18:15

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

15a
The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge,

15b and the ear of the wise seeks it out.

In Hebrew, verse 18:15a is identical to 15:14a, except that 15:14a has the verb “seeks” instead of “acquires.” (See the note there.) Verse 18:15b is literally “the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” All three lines express the same truth: A discerning/wise person keeps wanting to gain more knowledge.

18:15a–b

The heart…the ear: In Hebrew, the heart refers primarily to the mind and intellect, though it also includes the emotions. See the note on 10:20b.

In this verse, heart and ear are figures of speech. In these figures of speech, a part of the body represents the entire person. A discerning or wise person uses his abilities to think and to hear in his search for more knowledge.

discerning: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as discerning refers to someone who is perceptive, intelligent or sensible. Such a person has the ability to understand ideas and is able to distinguish right from wrong.

acquires…seeks: In Hebrew, the form of these two verbs indicates continual or ongoing action.

wise: The word wise refers here to a person who is skilled in doing what is right.

Some ways to translate 18:15a–b are:

15a Intelligent people are always ready to learn. 15b Their ears are open for knowledge. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
15a The mind of a person with understanding gets knowledge; 15b the wise person listens to learn more. (New Century Version)

General Comment on 18:15a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural and effective to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts. For example:

Intelligent people are always eager and ready to learn. (Good News Translation)

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