Amsal 14:15-21

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.

14:19 Those who are evil will bow ¹²  before those who are good,

and the wicked will bow ¹³  at the gates ¹⁴  of the righteous.

14:20 A poor person is disliked ¹⁵  even by his neighbors,

but those who love the rich are many.

14:21 The one who despises his neighbor sins,

but whoever is kind to the needy is blessed.

[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).

[14:19]  ¹² tn Many versions nuance the perfect tense verb שָׁחַח (shakhakh) as a characteristic perfect. But the proverb suggests that the reality lies in the future. So the verb is best classified as a prophetic perfect (cf. NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT): Ultimately the wicked will acknowledge and serve the righteous – a point the prophets make.

[14:19]  ¹³ tn The phrase “will bow” does not appear in this line but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[14:19]  ¹⁴ sn J. H. Greenstone suggests that this means that they are begging for favors (Proverbs, 154).

[14:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “hated.” The verse is just a statement of fact. The verbs “love” and “hate” must be seen in their connotations: The poor are rejected, avoided, shunned – that is, hated; but the rich are sought after, favored, embraced – that is, loved.