14:8 The wisdom of the shrewd person 1 is to discern 2 his way,
but the folly of fools is deception. 3
16:9 A person 4 plans his course, 5
but the Lord directs 6 his steps. 7
1 tn Or “the prudent [person]” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).
2 tn The Hiphil infinitive construct denotes purpose. Those who are shrewd will use it to give careful consideration to all their ways.
3 tn The word means “deception,” but some suggest “self-deception” here (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 466; and D. W. Thomas, “Textual and Philological Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 286); cf. NLT “fools deceive themselves.” The parallelism would favor this, but there is little support for it. The word usually means “craft practiced on others.” If the line is saying the fool is deceitful, there is only a loose antithesis between the cola.
4 tn Heb “the heart of a man.” This stresses that it is within the heart that plans are made. Only those plans that are approved by God will succeed.
5 tn Heb “his way” (so KJV, NASB).
6 tn The verb כּוּן (kun, “to establish; to confirm”) with צַעַד (tsa’ad, “step”) means “to direct” (e.g., Ps 119:133; Jer 10:23). This contrasts what people plan and what actually happens – God determines the latter.
7 sn “Steps” is an implied comparison, along with “way,” to indicate the events of the plan as they work out.