20:18

This parable applies to anyone who makes a plan. But the parallelism indicates that it is directed particularly to kings or others who are responsible for planning a war.

In this proverb, the parallel parts are similar in meaning. The first line gives a general principle: Good advice is needed for plans to be successful. The second line applies this principle to the specific example of waging war.

18a
Plans are established by seeking advice ;

18b if you wage war, obtain guidance. (New International Version (2011))

The New International Version (2011) has been used as the source line for 20:18a, because it follows the recommended interpretation.

In Hebrew, the parallel parts occur in the opposite order in 20:18b. For example:

by wise guidance wage war (English Standard Version)

Use whatever order expresses the meaning more effectively in your language.

20:18a–b

(New International Version (2011)) advice…guidance: These parallel terms are close synonyms. Both refer here to wise advice or counsel that helps a person to make an effective plan or strategy. In this context, both terms probably refer to advice from a group of trusted advisers. For more information on the first word, see advice in the Glossary. See how you translated the second word at 1:5b and 11:14a.

20:18a

(New International Version (2011)) Plans are established by seeking advice: There are two ways to interpret this clause:

(1) This clause is a statement, as in the Hebrew. It describes plans that are made by getting advice. It says that these plans will be successful. For example:

Plans laid in council will succeed (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)

(2) This clause is a command. It tells a person to make plans by getting advice. It does not indicate whether these plans will be successful. For example:

Prepare plans by consultation (New American Standard Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most scholars. The Hebrew verb that the New International Version (2011) translates as are established rarely means simply “make.” In the context of plans, it implies that the plans will be achieved or fulfilled. In 16:3b, the Berean Standard Bible translated an almost identical phrase as “your plans will succeed.” Some other ways to translate 20:18a are:

Plans made after advice succeed (New American Bible)
-or-
Plans succeed through good counsel (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
If there is good advice, plans will be fulfilled.

20:18b

(New International Version (2011)) so if you wage war, obtain guidance: In Hebrew, this clause is more literally “and/so by guidance wage war.” This specific command is a conclusion based on the principle that successful plans require good advice. In some languages, it may be more natural to introduce this conclusion with a word like so (as in the New International Version (2011)) or “therefore.” For example:

so with wise guidance wage your war (New American Bible)
-or-
so make war with guidance (NET Bible)

Another way to translate this clause is to use a negative command. For example:

don’t go to war without wise advice (New Living Translation (2004))

© 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.