Translation commentary on Proverbs 1:22

Verses 22-33 contain Wisdom’s message to the people. In many languages it will be necessary to add “She says:. . .” or “This is what she says:. . .” at this point.

Verses 22-27 are addressed to the people mentioned in verse 22 using “you [plural].” However, verses 28-32 switch to “they.” Some modern translations keep the “you” form throughout. See Good News Translation.

“How long?” is not a question about time; rather it opens a rhetorical question meaning “All the time you are being foolish. It is time to stop” or “You have been foolish for too long. Stop being foolish.”

“Simple ones” renders the same word as used in verse 4; however, here it refers not just to immature and inexperienced people but rather to those who, as Toy says, “love ignorance, and deliberately refuse to listen to instruction in right living.” Many versions use terms equivalent to “silly,” “stupid,” or “foolish.” In verse 7 fools are described as despising wisdom. Such people are contrasted often to the wise who listen to advice. Foolish people not only reject the highest wisdom, they literally “love” foolishness.

In some languages such persons are described by bad body parts such as “black livers,” “gourd heads,” or “rotten heart people.”

In the second line Revised Standard Version and many other versions supply “How long?” to introduce the parallel question. The Hebrew does not repeat the question form. “Scoffers” renders a term used in Psa 1.1 and Isa 29.20 that refers to people who openly scorn or ridicule God and religion. The term is used often in Proverbs for a person who expresses contempt for wisdom. In some languages “scoffers” is expressed figuratively as “people who shake their finger at” or “. . . wag their head at.” “Delight in” in the second line matches “love” in the first line.

“Fools hate knowledge”: “Fools” renders a noun whose verb form is found only in Jer 10.8, where it means “to be foolish.” Toy says the noun refers to a person who is “insensible to moral truth and acts without regard to it.” “Hate” is used here in the same way as in Micah 3.2. It is in contrast with “love” and “delight in” in the first two lines. “Knowledge” is the same word as used in verse 7. To “hate knowledge” is to “reject” or “refuse” it.

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 1:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 1:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “(It) goes around there saying that, ‘I am saying, you people you are still young/immature, for how long will you continue to stay/live like children? And what about you who mocks/insults, for how long will you mock? And for you fools, too, for how long will you oppose words of wisdom?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “O [you] who lack wisdom!
    How long will you keep on living without wisdom?
    How long will you enjoy insulting others?
    How long will you continue to be enemies of wisdom?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘You (plur.) who have no wisdom, how long will- you (plur.) -remain like that?
    You (plur.) who mock, how long will- you (plur.) not -delight in mockery?
    You (plur.) who are fools, how long will- you (plur.) not -like/desire wisdom?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘You who know nothing, how-long- still -will-it-be-before (lit. when yet) the-time-of- your -wanting to become-thinking/reflective? Why don’t you stop mocking/belittling and laughing-at wisdom?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 1:22

Paragraph 1:22–27

1:22

This verse contains three parallel lines. Wisdom rebukes three similar kinds of people for three similar kinds of unwise behavior.

22a
How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways ?

22b
How long will scoffers delight in their scorn

22c and fools hate knowledge ?

1:22a–c

How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?: These are rhetorical questions. Wisdom asks these questions to denounce or rebuke simple ones, scoffers, and fools. She urges them to stop their behavior. Some other ways to translate a rebuke of this nature are:

• Use a different question. For example:

Why do you simple ones continue to love your simple ways?

• Use a statement. For example:

You simple people must stop loving your simple ways.

In the Hebrew text, the first line uses the pronoun “you(plur).” The next two lines use “they” (they delight in, they hate). Because of this change of reference, there are different interpretations as to whom Wisdom is addressing:

(1) Wisdom is addressing “simple ones, scoffers, and fools.” For example:

How long will you gullible people love being so gullible? How long will you mockers find joy in your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge? (God’s Word)

(2) Wisdom is addressing only “simple ones” directly, though she comments about the other two classes of people. For example:

How long will you simpletons love naiveté? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? (NET Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with a majority of scholars. In 1:23 Wisdom again uses the pronoun “you” to refer to the ones she rebuked. It seems unlikely that Wisdom would appeal only to the simple, and not to scoffers and the fools.

All scholars agree that three classes of people are mentioned in this verse. However, these classes overlap. For example:

You fools, how long will you be foolish? How long will you make fun of wisdom and hate knowledge? (New Century Version)

1:22a

How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways?: For the meaning of simple ones, see the note on 1:4a. However, the context in 1:22 indicates that these inexperienced youths have already rejected the advice given to them and have become total fools. That is probably the reason that the Good News Translation translated this word as “inexperienced” in 1:4a, but as “foolish” in this verse. The New Century Version is similar with “fools.” One way to express both meanings in this question is:

You foolish people, why do you want to remain naive?

1:22b

scoffers: In Hebrew, this word refers to people who scoff at or make fun of someone or something. A “scoffer,” also called a “mocker,” is arrogant as well as scornful. But the focus of this word is on the disdainful way that a scoffer treats other people. It is not mainly on the scoffer’s feeling of pride.

The Hebrew text does not specify what these people scoff at or mock. If it is necessary to make explicit what they mock, some options are:

making fun of knowledge (Good News Translation)
-or-
make fun of wisdom (New Century Version)
-or-
mock ⌊good advice⌋
-or-
scoff at ⌊other people⌋

1:22c

fools: In Hebrew, this word for “fool” (kǝsil) refers to someone who is a moral fool, not someone who is uneducated or who lacks intelligence. He does what is stupid and wrong because he is mentally lazy and is satisfied with himself. He does not understand the need to change his own foolish behavior and does not want to think about the consequences. Other ways to translate this word are:

⌊complacent⌋ fool
-or-
⌊stupid⌋ fool

hate knowledge: The verb translated by the Berean Standard Bible as hate means to strongly dislike or loathe. It also includes the idea of rejecting the thing that is hated. Another way to translate the phrase hate knowledge is:

refuse to learn

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