Amsal 14:15-18

14:15 A naive person ¹  believes everything,

but the shrewd person discerns his steps. ² 

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

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

14:17 A person who has a quick temper ⁶  does foolish things,

and a person with crafty schemes ⁷  is hated. ⁸ 

14:18 The naive inherit ⁹  folly,

but the shrewd ¹⁰  are crowned ¹¹  with knowledge.

[14:15]  ¹ sn The contrast is with the simpleton and the shrewd. The simpleton is the young person who is untrained morally or intellectually, and therefore gullible. The shrewd one is the prudent person, the one who has the ability to make critical discriminations.

[14:15]  ² tn Heb “his step”; cf. TEV “sensible people watch their step.”

[14:16]  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.

[14:16]  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”).

[14:16]  ⁵ tn The verb בָּטַח here denotes self-assurance or overconfidence. Fools are not cautious and do not fear the consequences of their actions.

[14:17]  ⁶ sn The proverb discusses two character traits that are distasteful to others – the quick tempered person (“short of anger” or impatient) and the crafty person (“man of devices”). C. H. Toy thinks that the proverb is antithetical and renders it “but a wise man endures” (Proverbs [ICC], 292). In other words, the quick-tempered person acts foolishly and loses people’s respect, but the wise man does not.

[14:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “a man of devices.”

[14:17]  ⁸ tc The LXX reads “endures” (from נָשָׂא, nasa’) rather than “is hated” (from שָׂנֵא, sane’). This change seems to have arisen on the assumption that a contrast was needed. It has: “a man of thought endures.” Other versions take מְזִמּוֹת (mÿzimmot) in a good sense; but antithetical parallelism is unwarranted here.

[14:18]  ⁹ tc G. R. Driver, however, proposed reading the verb as “are adorned” from הלה (“Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs,” Bib 32 [1951]: 181). A similar reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[14:18]  sn The proverb anticipates what the simple will receive, assuming they remain simpletons.

[14:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “prudent” (KJV, NASB, NIV); NRSV, TEV “clever.”

[14:18]  ¹¹ tn The meaning of יַכְתִּרוּ (yakhtiru, Hiphil imperfect of כָּתַר, katar) is elusive. It may not mean “to be crowned” or “to crown themselves,” but “to encircle” or “to embrace.” BDB 509 s.v. כָּתַר Hiph suggests “to throw out crowns” (throw out knowledge as a crown) or “to encompass knowledge,” i.e., possess it (parallel to inherit).