13:16
Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:
16a
Every prudent man acts with knowledge,
16b but a fool displays his folly.
13:16a
Every prudent man acts with knowledge: There are two ways to interpret the connection of the word Every :
(1) The natural meaning of the Hebrew text is that Every modifies “prudent man.” For example:
Anyone of discretion acts by the light of knowledge (New Jerusalem Bible)
(2) The Syriac and Vulgate translations understand that Every modifies what a prudent man does. For example:
The clever do all things intelligently (New Revised Standard Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most versions and scholars.
Every prudent man: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as prudent man refers to someone who is shrewd, sensible, clever, or prudent. A person who is prudent is able to make clever plans to achieve his goals.
acts with knowledge: This phrase indicates that a sensible person acts only when he knows the relevant facts of a situation. In other words, he considers the circumstances before he acts.
Another way to translate 13:16a is:
Sensible people all think before they act
13:16b
but a fool: In Hebrew, this word for fool refers to someone who does what is stupid and wrong because he is mentally lazy and self-satisfied.
displays his folly: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as displays is literally “spreads out.” In this context, it is used figuratively. It may describe the action of the fool as if he were a seller in the marketplace. A seller publicly “spreads out” or “exposes” the things that he is selling. Similarly, the fool openly displays his own foolishness by the things that he says or does.
Some other ways to translate 13:16b are:
but fools show how foolish they are (New Century Version)
-or-
but fools display their foolishness ⌊by what they say and do⌋
© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.