wisdom

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is translated as “wisdom” in English is rendered in Amganad Ifugao and Tabasco Chontal as “(big) mind,” in Bulu and Yamba as “heart-thinking,” in Tae’ as “cleverness of heart” (source for this and all above: Reiling / Swellengrebel), in Palauan as “bright spirit (innermost)” (source: Bratcher / Hatton), in Ixcatlán Mazatec as “with your best/biggest thinking” (source: Robert Bascom), in Noongar as dwangka-boola, lit. “ear much” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018 — see also remember), and in Dobel, it is translated with the idiom “their ear holes are long-lasting” (in Acts 6:3) (source: Jock Hughes).

See also wisdom (Proverbs).

wisdom ("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. For the verses referenced here, it uses p’ijil c’op or “word wisdom.”

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

Translation commentary on Proverbs 18:4

“The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters”: There is no verb in either line of this saying. Interpreters vary greatly in their understanding of it. Line 1 appears to be closely related to the idea expressed in 20.5, where what a person thinks with his mind (expressed in Hebrew as “heart”) is compared with “deep waters”. This thought is supported by 16.23. It is not entirely clear if “deep waters” is to be taken here as “profound thoughts” or “obscure thoughts” that a person expresses in his or her “words”. Whybray understands this image to mean that a person’s character is like “deep water” in that it is not easily observed.

“The fountain of wisdom is a gushing stream”: Revised Standard Version takes the subject of this verbless clause to be “the fountain of wisdom” that is compared with a flowing, running or “gushing stream” (of water). The expression “fountain of wisdom” is used here for the first time in Proverbs. It is similar to “fountain of life” used in 10.11. It is a figure of speech that may be expressed, for example, “They are like a fountain that gives wisdom” or “. . . a source flowing with wisdom.”

Translators may follow the pattern of Revised Standard Version or that of Good News Translation. In the case of Good News Translation, the translators have supplied the verb “can be” in order to avoid saying whether “The words of a man’s mouth” in line 1 are “words of wise people” or “any words spoken by a person.” Good News Translation has then adjusted the metaphor “fountain of wisdom” to “a source of wisdom” and used the link words “can be” to show that this describes “The words of a man’s mouth”. “Deep waters” from line 1 and “gushing stream” are then made to serve as similes for wisdom. Another model that translators may use is that of Contemporary English Version: “Words of wisdom are a stream that flows from a deep fountain.”

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 .