Proverbs 17:25--18:2

17:25 A foolish child is a grief ¹  to his father,

and bitterness to the mother who bore him. ² 

17:26 It is terrible ³  to punish ⁴  a righteous person,

and to flog ⁵  honorable men is wrong. ⁶ 

17:27 The truly wise person ⁷  restrains ⁸  his words,

and the one who stays calm ⁹  is discerning.

17:28 Even a fool who remains silent is considered ¹⁰  wise,

and the one who holds his tongue is deemed discerning. ¹¹ 

18:1 One who has isolated himself ¹²  seeks his own desires; ¹³ 

he rejects ¹⁴  all sound judgment.

18:2 A fool takes no pleasure ¹⁵  in understanding

but only in disclosing ¹⁶  what is on his mind. ¹⁷ 

[17:25]  ¹ sn The Hebrew noun means “vexation, anger, grief.”

[17:25]  ² tn Heb “to the one who bore him.” Because the participle is feminine singular in Hebrew, this has been translated as “the mother who bore him.”

[17:26]  ³ tn Heb “not good.” This is an example of tapeinosis – an understatement that implies the worst-case scenario: “it is terrible.”

[17:26]  ⁴ tn The verb עָנַשׁ, here a Qal infinitive construct, properly means “to fine” (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT) but is taken here to mean “to punish” in general. The infinitive functions as the subject of the clause.

[17:26]  ⁵ tn The form is the Hiphil infinitive construct from נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike; to smite”). It may well refer to public beatings, so “flog” is used in the translation, since “strike” could refer to an individual’s action and “beat” could be taken to refer to competition.

[17:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “[is] against uprightness.” The expression may be rendered “contrary to what is right.”

[17:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “the one knowing knowledge.” The cognate accusative underscores the meaning of the participle – this is a truly knowledgeable person.

[17:27]  ⁶ sn The participle חוֹשֵׂךְ (khosekh) means “withholds; restrains; refrains; spares; holds in check,” etc. One who has knowledge speaks carefully.

[17:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “cool of spirit.” This genitive of specification describes one who is “calm” (so NCV, TEV, CEV) or “even-tempered” (so NIV, NLT); he is composed.

[17:28]  ⁷ tn The imperfect tense here denotes possibility: One who holds his tongue [may be considered] discerning.

[17:28]  ⁸ tn The Niphal participle is used in the declarative/estimative sense with stative verbs: “to be discerning” (Qal) becomes “to be declared discerning” (Niphal). The proverb is teaching that silence is one evidence of wisdom, and that even a fool can thereby appear wise. D. Kidner says that a fool who takes this advice is no longer a complete fool (Proverbs [TOTC], 127). He does not, of course, become wise – he just hides his folly.

[18:1]  ⁹ tn The Niphal participle functions substantively and has a reflexive nuance: “one who has separated himself” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). He is not merely anti-social; he is a problem for society since he will defy sound judgment. The Mishnah uses the verse to teach the necessity of being part of a community because people have social responsibilities and need each other (m. Avot 2:4).

[18:1]  ¹⁰ tc The MT has “seeks [his own] desire[s].” The translation in the LXX represents a Hebrew Vorlage of לְתֹאֲנָה (lÿto’anah) instead of לְתַאֲוָה (lÿta’avah); this could be translated “seeks his own occasion,” that is, “his own pretext” (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 354; cf. NAB). The MT makes sense as it stands and the emendation is not really necessary.

[18:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “breaks out”; NRSV “showing contempt for”; NLT “snarling at.” This individual breaks out in contention against sound judgment. He is in opposition to society (e.g., Prov 17:14; 20:3).

[18:2]  ¹¹ sn This expression forms an understatement (tapeinosis); the opposite is the point – he detests understanding or discernment.

[18:2]  ¹² tn The Hitpael infinitive construct בְּהִתְגַּלּוֹת (bÿhitgalot) functions nominally as the object of the preposition. The term means “reveal, uncover, betray.” So the fool takes pleasure “in uncovering” his heart.

[18:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “his heart.” This is a metonymy meaning “what is on his mind” (cf. NAB “displaying what he thinks”; NRSV “expressing personal opinion”). This kind of person is in love with his own ideas and enjoys spewing them out (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 515). It is the kind of person who would ask a question, not to learn, but to show everyone how clever he is (cf. TEV).