pig

The word chazir is used for domestic and wild pigs. The domesticated pig was known in Egypt around 2500 B.C. and was probably domesticated in Canaan about that time too. Domestication of wild pigs seems to have coincided everywhere with the development of agriculture. Wild pigs were probably penned in large enclosures and fed scraps, thus keeping them away from planted fields. Later on, when full domestication had taken place, it was more usual for pigs to be herded rather than kept in pens. Pigs eat almost anything and herding did away with the necessity to feed them. It soon was noticed that the rooting activity of the pigs rid areas of tree roots and shrubs and promoted the growth of grass for grazing. So early swineherds herded the pigs into areas where future grazing was wanted, away from planted fields. Jews who kept pigs may not have done so with the idea of eating their meat, which was unclean, but to promote grazing grass and to sell the pigs to neighboring tribes.

Wild pigs, in the form of the European Boar Sus scrofus, were once abundant in Israel, especially in the Jordan Valley. Even now since neither Jews nor Moslems eat the meat of wild pigs, and thus do not hunt them, they can still be found in the Jordan Valley and in many other areas where there is both water and thick undergrowth.

The Greek words choiros and hueios mean “pig” or “pig meat”. The word hus means a female pig or sow.

The domesticated pigs of biblical times looked much more like wild pigs than the modern breeds of pig. They would have been brown or gray in color and fairly hairy. The young pigs probably had horizontal stripes.

Of all animals the pig was considered the most unclean.

In languages that differentiate between wild and domestic pigs, in Psalms 80:13 the word for a wild pig should be used. In 2 Peter 2:22, although the Greek specifies a female pig, the gender of the pig is not really important in the proverb. Many translations have simply “pig”.

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 11:22

This saying states that indiscretion is inappropriate for a beautiful woman and compares this unsuitableness to a valuable object being used as an adornment on an unclean animal. The form of the Hebrew saying deserves our attention. It says literally “Ring of gold in snout of pig, woman of beauty but lacking taste.”

In each line there is a repetition of sounds, both consonants and vowels. This has the effect of binding the two halves of each line as well as uniting the two lines into a single unit. Each line consists of two noun phrases. There is a pair of associated items (gold ring and beautiful woman) and a pair of contrasting items (pig’s snout and beautiful woman). Furthermore, the comparison in the Hebrew verse is without any special marker. Revised Standard Version has added “Like” to create a simile.

“Like a gold ring in a swine’s snout”: “Gold rings” were worn as jewelry in women’s noses, not in the snouts of pigs. See Gen 24.47; Isa 3.21; Ezek 16.12. “Swine” is a more general term than “pig,” which is used in all modern English versions. The emotive factor was important in ancient Israel since the pig was considered unclean. In areas where metal rings are placed in the snouts of pigs to control them or to prevent them from rooting, it may be necessary to make clear that the gold ring is to make the pig beautiful. In areas where pigs are unknown a suitable domestic animal may be substituted.

“A beautiful woman without discretion”: In the second line the word rendered “without” is a verb meaning to turn away from or depart. However, that word is nowhere else used in this kind of context. Because it is followed by “discretion”, it is better to interpret as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. “Discretion” is literally “taste,” meaning good taste, but in the context is better taken as good sense or good judgment.

If a language cannot express comparison in the same brief way as the Hebrew, it will be necessary to make some adjustments. For example, in some languages it will be clearer to reverse the order of the two lines so that the item of comparison, the beautiful woman who lacks good sense, is stated before the thing with which she is humorously compared. We may also say, for example,

  • A beautiful woman who is stupid is a gold ring in a pig’s snout.
  • A silly beautiful woman is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout.
  • Beauty is wasted on a foolish woman like a gold ring is wasted on a pig’s snout.
  • A gold ring adorns a pig’s snout like stupidity adorns a beautiful woman.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

complete verse (Proverbs 11:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 11:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “A woman may be beautiful alright,
    but if she is foolish, it is nothing/worthless/in vain.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “A beautiful woman who is careless,
    is like a diamond ring in a pig’s snout.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The beauty of a woman who is not wise is just like a gold ring in a snout of a pig.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The beautiful woman who is not careful/circumspect, she/it can-be-compared to a gold ring in the snout of a pig.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “It is unsuitable/not proper/disgusting for a beautiful woman not to know what is right to do,
    like it is unsuitable/disgusting for a pig to have a gold ring in its snout/nose.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 11:22

11:22

The two parallel lines in this verse form a simile.

22a Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout

22b is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

The topic of the simile is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion. She is compared to a gold ring in a pig’s snout. The similarity is that both situations are incongruous or inappropriate. In both situations, beauty is out of place.

11:22a

Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout: In some areas, people insert a metal ring in the end of a pig’s snout to keep it from rooting (pushing its nose into things). To use an expensive gold ring for such a purpose would not be appropriate.

11:22b

a beautiful woman who lacks discretion: In this context, the word discretion refers to good sense or good judgment, especially in regard to moral issues. Some other ways to translate this line are:

a beautiful woman without good sense (Revised English Bible)
-or-
A beautiful woman who acts foolishly (Contemporary English Version)

General Comment on 11:22a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of the two lines. For example:

Beauty in a woman without good judgment is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout. (Good News Translation)

It may also be helpful to make the similarity between the two parts of the comparison explicit. For example:

Beauty in woman who is not prudent/sensible is ⌊as incongruous⌋ as a gold ring in a swine’s snout.
-or-
⌊It is inappropriate⌋ for a beautiful woman to lack discretion. It is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout.

See also 11:22a–b (combined/reordered) in the Display.

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