wisdom ("heart wisdom")

In the Tzeltal translation for the dialectal variant of Highland Tzeltal (Biblia Tzeltal yu’un Oxchuc soc Tenejapa, 2001) the translation team used three different words to translate the Hebrew term that is translated as “wisdom” or “wise” in English. For the verses referenced here, it uses p’ijil-o’tanil or “heart wisdom.”

For the complete story and more background, please see wisdom (Proverbs).

knowledge ("word wisdom")

In the Tzeltal translation for the dialectal variant of Highland Tzeltal (Biblia Tzeltal yu’un Oxchuc soc Tenejapa, 2001) the translation team used three different words to translate the Hebrew term that is translated as “wisdom” in English. One of them is p’ijil c’op or “word wisdom” which is also used for “knowledge.”

For the complete story and more background, please see wisdom (Proverbs).

Translation commentary on Proverbs 15:2

“The tongue of the wise dispenses knowledge”: The Hebrew of this line, as the Revised Standard Version footnote shows, has “makes knowledge good” in place of “dispenses knowledge”. However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rates the text as “A” and interprets the line as “The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge.” “The tongue of the wise” refers to the speech or teaching given by the wise, as in Good News Translation. Good News Translation follows the recommendation of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project with “make knowledge attractive.” We may also translate this line, for example, “The speech of the wise ones makes knowledge lovely,” “Knowledge is made beautiful in the words of wise people,” or “When a wise man talks, everybody is glad and wants to know more.”

“But the mouths of fools pour out folly”: “The mouths of fools” contrasts with “The tongue of the wise” and again refers to what fools say. “Fools” are described in 1.7 and 1.22 as people who hate wisdom and instruction. “Pour out” renders a verb meaning to flow or bubble up in reference to water. In relation to speech it is used figuratively to mean “burst out with speech.” See Good News Translation “spout nonsense.” One translation renders this line as “but when a fool talks, he just throws empty words around.”

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 15:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 15:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “A wise person says words that promote understanding,
    but the foolish, stupid words flow from his mouth.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “From the mouth of the wise
    come words of wisdom,
    but from the mouths of fools
    come only foolish words.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “What a wise man speaks can-give wisdom, but what a foolish man speaks are all foolishness.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The words of a wise-person, they make-happy one-who-learns, but the words of a foolish-person, they (lit. it) are-of- no -account.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “When wise people speak , it causes those who hear what they say to want to know more;
    foolish people continually say what is foolish.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 15:2

15:2

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

2a
The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,

2b but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.

The poetic synonyms “tongue” and “mouth” are figures of speech. They represent the words that are spoken by wise and foolish people.

15:2a

The tongue of the wise commends knowledge: There is a textual issue here that involves the word commends :

(1) The Masoretic Text (MT) has a word that is literally “makes good.” This text means that the wise person makes his knowledge pleasant or attractive to others when he shares it in speech. For example:

The wise person makes learning a joy (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
When wise people speak, they make knowledge attractive (Good News Translation)

(2) To obtain better parallelism with “gushes” in 15:2b, some scholars propose that the original text had a word that is literally “drips.” This proposed text means that the wise person shares his knowledge ⌊in measured/appropriate amounts⌋ . For example:

The tongue of the wise dispenses knowledge (New Revised Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1), along with most versions and scholars. The Masoretic Text makes good sense. Furthermore, the ancient versions do not follow a text with this proposed difference.

15:2b

but the mouth of the fool spouts folly: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as spouts usually means to express a person’s thoughts, feelings, and attitudes. (See the note on 1:23b.)

But here there is a connotation that the fool expresses his foolishness in an unrestrained manner. Some ways to express this connotation are:

but the mouths of fools pour out a flood of stupidity (God’s Word)
-or-
fools spout only foolishness (New Living Translation (1996))

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