14:15 A naive person 1 believes everything,
but the shrewd person discerns his steps. 2
29:25 The fear of people 3 becomes 4 a snare, 5
but whoever trusts in the Lord will be set on high. 6
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.
2 tn Heb “his step”; cf. TEV “sensible people watch their step.”
3 tn Heb “the fear of man.” This uses an objective genitive to describe a situation where fearing what people might do or think controls one’s life. There is no indication in the immediate context that this should be limited only to males, so the translation uses the more generic “people” here.
4 tn Heb “gives [or yields, or produces]”; NIV “will prove to be.”
5 sn “Snare” is an implied comparison; fearing people is like being in a trap – there is no freedom of movement or sense of security.
6 sn The image of being set on high comes from the military experience of finding a defensible position, a place of safety and security, such as a high wall or a mountain. Trusting in the