Proverbs 14:2

14:2 The one who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, ¹ 

but the one who is perverted in his ways ²  despises him.

Proverbs 14:16

14:16 A wise person is cautious ³  and turns from evil,

but a fool throws off restraint ⁴  and is overconfident. ⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “fear of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions as an objective genitive.

² tn Heb “crooked of ways”; NRSV “devious in conduct.” This construct phrase features a genitive of specification: “crooked in reference to his ways.” The term “ways” is an idiom for moral conduct. The evidence that people fear the Lord is uprightness; the evidence of those who despise him is the devious ways.

³ tn Heb “fears.” Since the holy name (Yahweh, translated “the Lord”) is not used, it probably does not here mean fear of the Lord, but of the consequences of actions.

⁴ tn The Hitpael of עָבַר (’avar, “to pass over”) means “to pass over the bounds of propriety; to act insolently” (BDB 720 s.v.; cf. ASV “beareth himself insolently”).

⁵ tn The verb בָּטַח here denotes self-assurance or overconfidence. Fools are not cautious and do not fear the consequences of their actions.