Proverbs 15:20-23

15:20 A wise child ¹  brings joy to his father,

but a foolish person ²  despises ³  his mother.

15:21 Folly is a joy to one who lacks sense, ⁴ 

but one who has understanding ⁵  follows an upright course. ⁶ 

15:22 Plans fail ⁷  when there is no counsel,

but with abundant advisers they are established. ⁸ 

15:23 A person has joy ⁹  in giving an appropriate answer, ¹⁰ 

and a word at the right time ¹¹  – how good it is!

[15:20]  ¹ tn Heb “son.”

[15:20]  ² tn Heb “a fool of a man,” a genitive of specification.

[15:20]  ³ sn The proverb is almost the same as 10:1, except that “despises” replaces “grief.” This adds the idea of the callousness of the one who inflicts grief on his mother (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 116).

[15:21]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text reads לַחֲסַר־לֵב (lakhasar-lev, “to one who lacks heart”). The Hebrew term “heart” represents the mind, the place where proper decisions are made (cf. NIV “judgment”). The one who has not developed this ability to make proper choices finds great delight in folly.

[15:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man of understanding” (so KJV, NIV); NLT “a sensible person.”

[15:21]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew construction is יְיַשֶּׁר־לָכֶת (yÿyasher-lakhet, “makes straight [to] go”). This is a verbal hendiadys, in which the first verb, the Piel imperfect, becomes adverbial, and the second form, the infinitive construct of הָלַךְ, halakh, becomes the main verb: “goes straight ahead” (cf. NRSV).

[15:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “go wrong” (so NRSV, NLT). The verb is the Hiphil infinitive absolute from פָּרַר, parar, which means “to break; to frustrate; to go wrong” (HALOT 975 s.v. I פרר 2). The plans are made ineffectual or are frustrated when there is insufficient counsel.

[15:22]  ⁸ sn The proverb says essentially the same thing as 11:14, but differently.

[15:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “joy to the man” or “the man has joy.”

[15:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the answer of his mouth” (so ASV); NASB “in an apt answer.” The term “mouth” is a metonymy of cause for what he says. But because the parallelism is loosely synonymous, the answer given here must be equal to the good word spoken in season. So it is an answer that is proper or fitting.

[15:23]  ¹² tn Heb “in its season.” To say the right thing at the right time is useful; to say the right thing at the wrong time is counterproductive.