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1 The wisdom of the woman buildeth her house,

And folly teareth it down with its own hands.

Were it חכמות נשׁים , after Judges 5:29, cf. Isaiah 19:11, then the meaning would be: the wise among women, each of them buildeth her house. But why then not just אשּׁה חכמה , as 2 Samuel 14:2, cf. Exodus 35:25? The Syr., Targum, and Jerome write sapiens mulier . And if the whole class must be spoken of, why again immediately the individualizing in בּנתה ? The lxx obliterates that by its ᾠκοδόμησαν . And does not אוּלת [folly] in the contrasted proverb (1b) lead us to conclude on a similar abstract in 1a? The translators conceal this, for they translate אולת personally. Thus also the Venet. and Luther; אוּלת is, says Kimchi, an adj. like עוּרת , caeca . But the linguistic usage does not point אויל with אוילי to any אוּל . It is true that a fem. of אויל does not occur; there is, however, also no place in which אולת may certainly present itself as such. Thus also חכמות must be an abstr.; we have shown at Proverbs 1:20 how חכמות , as neut. plur., might have an abstr. meaning. But since it is not to be perceived why the poet should express himself so singularly, the punctuation חכמות is to be understood as proceeding from a false supposition, and is to be read חכמות , as at Proverbs 9:1 (especially since this passage rests on the one before us). Fleischer says: “to build the house is figuratively equivalent to, to regulate well the affairs of a house, and to keep them in a good condition; the contrary, to tear down the house, is the same contrast as the Arab. 'amârat âlbyt and kharab albyt . Thus e.g., in Burckhardt's Sprüchw. 217, harrt ṣabrt bythâ 'amârat , a good woman ( ein braves Weib ) has patience (with her husband), and thereby she builds up her house (at the same time an example of the use of the preterite in like general sentences for individualizing); also No. 430 of the same work: 'amârat âlbyt wla kharâbt , it is becoming to build the house, not to destroy it; cf. in the Thousand and One Nights, where a woman who had compelled her husband to separate from her says: âna âlty 'amalt hadhâ barwḥy wâkhrnt byty bnfsy . Burckhardt there makes the remark: 'amârat âlbyt denotes the family placed in good circumstances - father, mother, and children all living together happily and peacefully.” This conditional relation of the wife to the house expresses itself in her being named as house-wife (cf. Hausehre [= honour of a house] used by Luther, Psalms 68:13), to which the Talmudic דּביתי (= uxor mea ) answers; the wife is noted for this, and hence is called עיקר הבית , the root and foundation of the house; vid., Buxtorf's Lex. col. 301. In truth, the oneness of the house is more dependent on the mother than on the father. A wise mother can, if her husband be dead or neglectful of his duty, always keep the house together; but if the house-wife has neither understanding nor good-will for her calling, then the best will of the house-father cannot hinder the dissolution of the house, prudence and patience only conceal and mitigate the process of dissolution - folly, viz., of the house-wife, always becomes more and more, according to the degree in which this is a caricature of her calling, the ruin of the house.

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2 He walketh in his uprightness who feareth Jahve,

And perverse in his ways is he that despiseth Him.

That which syntactically lies nearest is also that which is intended; the ideas standing in the first place are the predicates. Wherein it shows itself, and whereby it is recognised, that a man fears God, or stands in a relation to Him of indifference instead of one of fear and reverence, shall be declared: the former walketh in his uprightness, i.e., so far as the consciousness of duty which animates him prescribes; the latter in his conduct follows no higher rule than his own lust, which drives him sometimes hither and sometimes thither. הולך בּישׁרו .rehtih (cf. ישׁר הולך , Micah 2:7) is of kindred meaning with הולך בּתמּו , Proverbs 28:6 ( הולך בּתּום , Proverbs 10:9), and הולך נכחו , Isaiah 57:2. The connection of נלוז דּרכיו follows the scheme of 2 Kings 18:37, and not 2 Samuel 15:32, Ewald, §288c. If the second word, which particularizes the idea of the first, has the reflexive suff. as here, then the accusative connection, or, as Proverbs 2:15, the prepositional, is more usual than the genitive. Regarding לוּז , flectere, inclinare (a word common to the author of chap. 1-9), vid., at Proverbs 2:15. With בּוזהוּ , cf. 1 Samuel 2:30; the suffix without doubt refers to God, for בוזהו is the word that stands in parallel contrast to ' ירא ה .

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3 In the mouth of the fool is a switch of pride;

But the lips of the wise preserve them.

The noun חטר (Aram. חוּטרא , Arab. khiṭr ), which besides here occurs only at Isaiah 11:1, meaning properly a brandishing (from חטר = Arab. khatr , to brandish, to move up and down or hither and thither, whence âlkhṭtâr , the brandisher, poet. the spear), concretely, the young elastic twig, the switch, i.e., the slender flexible shoot. Luther translates, “fools speak tyrannically,” which is the briefer rendering of his earlier translation, “in the mouth of the fool is the sceptre of pride;” but although the Targum uses חוטרא of the king's sceptre and also of the prince's staff, yet here for this the usual Hebr. שׁבט were to be expected. In view of Isaiah 11:1, the nearest idea is, that pride which has its roots in the heart of the fool, grows up to his mouth. But yet it is not thus explained why the representation of this proceeding from within stops with חטר cf. Proverbs 11:30). The βακτηρία ὕβρεως (lxx, and similarly the other Greek versions) is either meant as the rod of correction of his own pride (as e.g., Abulwalîd, and, among the moderns, Bertheau and Zöckler) or as chastisement for others (Syr., Targum: the staff of reviling). Hitzig is in favour of the former idea, and thinks himself warranted in translating: a rod for his back; but while גּוה is found for גּאוה , we do not (cf. under Job 41:7: a pride are the, etc.) find גאוה for גוה , the body, or גּו , the back. But in general it is to be assumed, that if the poet had meant חטר as the means of correction, he would have written גּאותו . Rightly Fleischer: “The tongue is often compared to a staff, a sword, etc., in so far as their effects are ascribed to it; we have here the figure which in Revelation 1:16 passes over into plastic reality.” Self-exaltation (R. גא , to strive to be above) to the delusion of greatness is characteristic of the fool, the אויל [godless], not the כּסיל [stupid, dull] - Hitzig altogether confounds these two conceptions. With such self-exaltation, in which the mind, morally if not pathologically diseased, says, like Nineveh and Babylon in the prophets, I am alone, and there is no one with me, there is always united the scourge of pride and of disgrace; and the meaning of 3b may now be that the lips of the wise protect those who are exposed to this injury (Ewald), or that they protect the wise themselves against such assaults (thus most interpreters). But this reference of the eos to others lies much more remote than at Proverbs 12:6; and that the protection of the wise against injury inflicted on them by words is due to their own lips is unsatisfactory, as in this case, instead of Bewahrung [ custodia ], we would rather expect Vertheidigung [ defensio ], Dämpfung [damping, extinguishing], Niederduckung [stooping down, accommodating oneself to circumstances]. But also it cannot be meant that the lips of the wise preserve them from the pride of fools, for the thought that the mouth preserves the wise from the sins of the mouth is without meaning and truth (cf. the contrary, Proverbs 13:3). Therefore Arama interprets the verb as jussive: the lips = words of the wise mayest thou keep i.e., take to heart. And the Venet. translates: χείλη δὲ σοφῶν φυλάξεις αὐτά , which perhaps means: the lips of the wise mayest thou consider, and that not as a prayer, which is foreign to the gnome, but as an address to the hearer, which e.g., Proverbs 20:19 shows to be admissible. but although in a certain degree of similar contents, yet 3a and 3b clash. Therefore it appears to us more probable that the subject of 3b is the חכמה contained in חכמים ; in Proverbs 6:22 wisdom is also the subject to תשׁמר עליך without its being named. Thus: while hurtful pride grows up to the throat of the fool, that, viz., wisdom, keeps the lips of the wise, so that no word of self-reflection, especially none that can wound a neighbour, escapes from them. The form תּשׁמוּרם is much more peculiar than ישׁפּוּטוּ , Exodus 18:26, and תעבוּרי , Ruth 2:8, for the latter are obscured forms of ישׁפּטוּ and תעברי , while on the contrary the former arises from תּשׁמרם .

(Note: Vid., regarding these forms with ǒ instead of the simple Sheva, Kimchi, Michlol 20ab. He also remarks that these three forms with û are all Milra; this is the case also in a remarkable manner with ישׁפּוּטוּ , vid., Michlol 21b; Livjath Chen ii. 9; and particularly Heidenheim, in his edition of the Pentateuch entitled Meôr Enajim, under Exodus 18:26.)

If, according to the usual interpretation, we make שׂפתי the subject, then the construction follows the rule, Gesen. §146, 2. The lxx transfers it into Greek: χείλη δὲ σοφῶν φυλάσσει αὐτούς . The probable conjecture, that תשׁמורם is an error in transcription for תּשׁמרוּם = תּשׁמרנה אתם (this is found also in Luzzatto's Gramm. §776; and Hitzig adduces as other examples of such transpositions of the ו Jeremiah 2:25; Jeremiah 17:23; Job 26:12, and Joshua 2:4, ותצפנו for ותצפון ), we do not acknowledge, because it makes the lips the subject with an exclusiveness the justification of which is doubtful to us.

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The switch and the preserving, Proverbs 14:3, may have given occasion to the collector, amid the store of proverbs before him, now to present the agricultural figure:

Without oxen the crib is empty;

But rich increase is by the strength of the plough-ox.

This is a commendation of the breeding of cattle, but standing here certainly not merely as useful knowledge, but as an admonition to the treatment in a careful, gentle manner, and with thankful recompense of the ox (Proverbs 12:10), which God has subjected to man to help him in his labour, and more generally, in so far as one seeks to gain an object, to the considerate adoption of the right means for gaining it. אלפים (from אלף , to cling to) are the cattle giving themselves willingly to the service of men (poet. equivalent to בּקרים ). שׁור ( תּור , Arab. thwr ), Ved. sthûras , is the Aryan-Semitic name of the plough-ox. The noun אבוּס (= אבוּס like אטוּן , אמוּן ) denotes the fodder-trough, from אבס , to feed, and thus perhaps as to its root-meaning related to φάτνη ( πάτνη ), and may thus also designate the receptacle for grain where the corn for the provender or feeding of the cattle is preserved - מאבוּס , Jeremiah 50:26, at least has this wider signification of the granary; but there exists no reason to depart here from the nearest signification of the word: if a husbandman is not thoughtful about the care and support of the cattle by which he is assisted in his labour, then the crib is empty - he has nothing to heap up; he needs not only fodder, but has also nothing. בּר (in pause בּר ), clean (synon. נקי , cf. at Proverbs 11:26), corresponds with our baar [bare] = bloss [ nudus ]. Its derivation is obscure. The בּ , 4b, is that of the mediating cause: by the strength of the plough-ox there is a fulness of grain gathered into the barn ( תּבוּאות , from בּוא , to gather in, anything gathered in). רב־ is the inverted בּר . Striking if also accidental is the frequency of the א and ב in Proverbs 14:4. This is continued in Proverbs 14:5, where the collector gives two proverbs, the first of which commences with a word beginning with א , and the second with one beginning with ב :

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Striking if also accidental is the frequency of the א and ב in Proverbs 14:4. This is continued in Proverbs 14:5, where the collector gives two proverbs, the first of which commences with a word beginning with א , and the second with one beginning with ב :

5 A faithful witness does not speak untruth;

But a lying witness breathes out falsehoods.

The right vocalization and sequence of the accents is בּקּשׁ לץ חכמה ( ק with Tsere and the servile Mahpach, חכמה with Munach, because the following Athnach -word has not two syllables before the tone). As in 5a עד אמוּנים , so in 5b עד שׁקר is the subject. Different is the relation of subject and predicate in the second line of the parallel proverbs, Proverbs 14:25, Proverbs 19:5. With 5a cf. ציר אמוּנים , Proverbs 13:17; and regarding יפיח (one who breathes out), vid., at Proverbs 6:19; Proverbs 12:17.

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6 In vain the scorner seeketh wisdom;

But to the man of understanding knowledge is easy.

The general sentence is concrete, composed in the common historical form. Regarding ואין , necquidquam , vid., at Proverbs 13:4. The participle נקל is here neut. for נקלּה , something which makes itself easy or light. The frivolous man, to whom truth is not a matter of conscience, and who recognises no authority, not even the Supreme, never reaches to truth notwithstanding all his searching, it remains veiled to him and far remote; but to the man of understanding, who knows that the fear of God and not estrangement from God leads to truth, knowledge is an easy matter - he enters on the right way to this end, he brings the right receptivity, brings to bear on it the clear eye, and there is fulfilled to him the saying, “To him that hath it is given.”

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Three proverbs regarding fools:

7 Go from the presence of a foolish man,

And surely thou hast not known lips of knowledge;

i.e., surely hast not brought into experience that he possesses lips which express experimental knowledge, or: surely thou must confess on reflection that no prudent word has come forth from his mouth. If 7b were intended to assign a motive, then the expression would be כּי בל־תּדע or וּבל־תּדע (Isaiah 44:9), according to which Aquila and Theodotion translate, καὶ οὐ μὴ γνῷς . נגד is the sphere of vision, and מנּגד denotes either away from the sphere of vision, as e.g., Isaiah 1:16, or, inasmuch as מן is used as in מעל , מתּחת , and the like: at a certain distance from the sphere of vision, but so that one keeps the object in sight, Genesis 21:16. נגד ל denotes, as the inverted expression Deuteronomy 28:66 shows, over against any one, so that he has the object visibly before him, and מנּגד ל , Judges 20:34, from the neighbourhood of a place where one has it in view. So also here: go away from the vis-à-vis ( vis = visûs ) of the foolish man, if thou hast to do with such an one; whence, 7b, follows what he who has gone away must on looking back say to himself. בל (with the pret. as e.g., Isaiah 33:23) expresses a negative with emphasis. Nolde and others, also Fleischer, interpret 7b relatively: et in quo non cognoveris labia scientiae . If וּבל־ידע were the expression used, then it would be explained after Proverbs 9:13, for the idea of the foolish man is extended: and of such an one as absolutely knows not how to speak anything prudent. But in וּבל־ידעתּ the relative clause intended must be indicated by the added בּו : and of such an one in whom... Besides, in this case וּלא ( vid., Psalms 35:15) would have been nearer than וּבל . The lxx has modified this proverb, and yet has brought out nothing that is correct; not only the Syr., but also Hitzig follows it, when he translates, “The foolish man hath everything before him, but lips of knowledge are a receptacle of knowledge” ( וּכלי דּעת ). It racks one's brains to find out the meaning of the first part here, and, as Böttcher rightly says, who can be satisfied with the “lips of knowledge” as the “receptacle of knowledge”?

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8 The wisdom of the prudent is to observe his way,

And the folly of fools is deceit.

The nearest idea is that of self-deceit, according to which the lxx, Syr., and Jerome render the word error (“ Irrsal ”). But מרמה is nowhere else used of self-deception, and moreover is not the suitable word for such an idea, since the conception of the dolus malus is constantly associated with it. Thus the contrast will be this: the wisdom of the prudent shows itself in this, that he considers his conduct ( הבין as Proverbs 7:7, cf. Psalms 5:2), i.e., regulates it carefully, examining and considering (Proverbs 13:16) it according to right and duty; and that on the contrary the folly of fools shows itself in this, that they aim at the malevolent deception of their neighbour, and try all kinds of secret ways for the gaining of this end. The former is wisdom, because from the good only good comes; the latter is folly or madness, because deception, however long it may sneak in darkness, yet at last comes to light, and recoils in its destructive effects upon him from whom it proceeds.

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