scoundrel

The Hebrew that is translated as “scoundrel” or “worthless person” or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as “troublemaker” and Kutu as “very evil person.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 16:27

Verses 27-30 form a group of sayings in that they are warnings to troublemakers.

“A worthless man plots evil”: For “worthless” see 6.12. “Plots” is literally “digs up” and could be related to the metaphor “digging a pit” to trap others. We may say, for example, “Worthless people plan how to harm others” or “Worthless people make schemes to cause trouble for others.” It is also possible to take evil as the goal of the verb “digs up”; so Revised English Bible says “A scoundrel rakes up evil gossip,” and New Living Translation “Scoundrels hunt for scandal.” “Evil” here, as in 11.27, means “trouble,” “misfortune,” or “disaster.”

“And his speech is like a scorching fire”: This line is literally “and on his lips like burning fire.” The sense of the line seems to be that even his speech destroys like a hot fire. “Fire” is a common figure in the Old Testament for destruction. Contemporary English Version has “Even their words burn like a flaming fire.” See Good News Translation also.

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 16:27)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 16:27:

  • Kupsabiny: “Worthless is a word that a wicked person plans/speaks,
    his words are like fire that scorches people.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The wicked are only trying to harm others,
    their words are like burning torches.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “A wicked man plans evil, and what he speaks can-harm as-if-like a fire that can-burn.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “People who are of no use, what they think-and-think-about is cause/occasion-of-problems. Along-with their speech, it is destructive like burning/flaming fire.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Worthless people plan ways to cause trouble for others,
    and even what they say injures people like a hot fire does.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 16:27

16:27

The first line of this proverb indicates that a scoundrel makes plans to harm other people. The second line draws attention to the harmful words that he speaks. It compares them to a very hot fire that destroys what it burns.

27a A worthless man digs up evil,

27b and his speech is like a scorching fire.

The parallelism implies that there is a close connection between his plans and his destructive words. It probably implies that he specifically plans to use destructive words in his efforts to cause harm and trouble to others.

16:27a

A worthless man digs up evil: In Hebrew, this line is more literally “A scoundrel digs evil.” There are two main ways to interpret the meaning of this line:

(1) The word “digs” means “plots ” or “plans.” A scoundrel exerts effort to design a plan to harm other people. For example:

Worthless people plan trouble (Contemporary English Version)

(2) The word “digs” means “digs up.” A scoundrel exerts effort to find information that will harm other people. For example:

A worthless man digs up evil (New American Standard Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most versions and scholars.

A worthless man: The Hebrew phrase (“person of worthlessness”) that the Berean Standard Bible translates as worthless man refers to a person who is both wicked and produces no good. (See the note on 6:12a.) Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

A wicked scoundrel (NET Bible)
-or-
A worthless person (New Jerusalem Bible)

digs up evil: In this context, the word evil means “harm,” “misfortune,” or “trouble.”

Some other ways to translate this line are:

Useless people make evil plans (New Century Version)
-or-
Evil people look for ways to harm others (Good News Translation)

16:27b

and his speech is like a scorching fire: This line is a simile that compares the scoundrel’s words to the destructive effects of a scorching fire. The verse does not specifically define the scoundrel’s speech. It may refer to insults, malicious gossip, slander, or any words that destroy another person’s reputation or the harmony of a group of people.

In some languages, it may be necessary to use a word or phrase that refers specifically to one kind of harmful speech. For example, the NET Bible refers specifically to slander. It has:

and his slander is like a scorching fire

If possible, use a word or phrase that can refer to more than one kind of destructive speech. For example:

and their words are like a burning fire (New Century Version)
-or-
Even their words burn like a flaming fire. (Contemporary English Version)

© 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.