Translation commentary on Proverbs 9:13

“A foolish woman is noisy”: “A foolish woman” is taken by some as a title and name; for example, New English Bible/Revised English Bible “The Lady Stupidity,” Traduction Œcuménique de la Bible “Lady Foolishness,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Mrs. Foolishness.” Whether we treat this as a title and name or simply as a name, the word rendered “foolish” or “stupid” is personified as a woman who is the counterpart to the personified wisdom in verses 1-6. You may find it necessary to shift to a simile, as in Good News Translation: “Stupidity is like a loud, ignorant, shameless woman.” The word rendered “noisy” was translated “loud” in 7.11 to describe the adulterous woman.

“She is wanton and knows no shame”: The Revised Standard Version footnote on “wanton” shows that it has changed an uncertain Hebrew word to one that agrees with some of the ancient versions. This word, like the one rendered “foolish”, occurs only here. Interpreters derive the word from two different roots, so that some translations have “simple” or “ignorant,” while others say “persuasive” or “seductive.” Revised Standard Version “wanton”, which follows the latter, refers to an immoral or shameless person. Note that Good News Translation prefers “ignorant.” The Good News Translation rendering is recommended to translators.

“Knows no shame” is literally “does not know what.” Revised Standard Version “shame” is based on the Septuagint. However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rates the Hebrew text as “B” and recommends “she understands nothing whatsoever.” We may also say, for example, “she is a complete fool” or “she is totally ignorant.”

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 9:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 9:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “Foolishness only makes noise and is not stable/disciplined and does not know anything.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Folly is like a woman who has a loud voice,
    doesn’t know anything,
    and has no modesty.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Foolishness is like a woman who is noisy, without knowledge, and knows nothing.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Foolishness, it-can-be-compared to a woman who is a noise-maker, knows nothing and has no shame.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 9:13

Paragraph 9:13–18

This paragraph contains an invitation from Woman Folly that is obviously parallel to Wisdom’s invitation in 9:1–6. Folly’s character and the location from which she gives her invitation are described in 9:13–15. Her invitation is found in 9:16–17. In 9:18, the author concludes the paragraph by describing the consequences of accepting Folly’s invitation.

When you translate this paragraph, pay careful attention to the wording that you used in 9:1–6 so that the parallels between Wisdom’s invitation and Folly’s invitation will be clear.

9:13

Most English versions divide this verse into two lines, but it actually contains three phrases that describe personified Folly. Each phrase will be treated separately in the notes.

9:13a

The woman named Folly is loud: In Hebrew, the word Folly is a feminine form of the word that was translated as “fool” in 1:22b. Folly is the foolishness or stupidity of a fool who is mentally lazy and complacent.

The woman named Folly: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as The woman named Folly is literally “a woman of foolishness/folly.” Scholars interpret this phrase in two ways:

(1) It refers to Foolishness personified as a woman. For example:

The Lady Stupidity… (Revised English Bible)

(2) It refers to a woman who is foolish. For example:

A silly woman… (New Jerusalem Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with a majority of versions and scholars. You may want to go back to 9:1a and 1:20a to see how you translated the personification of Wisdom, so you can translate the personification of Foolishness in a similar way. A number of modern versions have expressed the personification by means of a simile. For example:

Foolishness is like a loud woman. (New Century Version)

Parallel structure is one way to show the personification of Wisdom and Foolishness. Your language may have a different way to indicate that Foolishness is the counterpart of Wisdom, who was introduced in 9:1. See the first meaning line in the Display for 9:13a for an introductory phrase that may accomplish this purpose in some languages.

loud: For the word loud, see the note on 7:11a. This word describes a person who is “noisy” (Revised Standard Version), rowdy or boisterous.

9:13b

she is naive: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as naive occurs only once in the OT. It appears to be related to the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “simple” in 1:4a. But scholars do not agree on the form or meaning of the word. There are several ways to interpret it:

(1) The word means “ignorant.” For example:

she is ignorant (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
she does not have wisdom or knowledge (New Century Version)

(2) The word means “naive ” or “gullible,” perhaps in the sense of being willing to try all kinds of sinful activities. For example:

she is naive (NET Bible)

(3) The word means “seductive.” For example:

she is seductive (English Standard Version)

(4) The word means “undisciplined.” For example:

she is undisciplined (New International Version)

It is recommended that you follow either interpretation (1) or (2). Being ignorant and being immature or naive are closely related.

9:13c

and knows nothing: There is a textual difference here:

(1) The Hebrew text is literally “knows not what.” This is equivalent to the English phrase “does not know anything.” For example:

knows nothing (New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) The Greek text (LXX) is literally “knows not shame.” For example:

shameless (Good News Translation)

It is recommended that you follow option (1). It is supported by most English versions and scholars.

General Comment on 9:13b–c

If you choose interpretation (1) in 9:13b, be sure that you translate 9:13b and 9:13c in a way that is not redundant. For example:

she is ignorant and knows nothing (New Revised Standard Version)

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