PROVERBS: KING JAMES TRANSLATION -- PART 1

Although some people swear by the KJV, some of the wording has not stood up to the test of time since 1611 when it was first published, As a random test of this statement, I was reading a mystery story by Emma Latham called Ashes to Ashes, in which each chapter title came right out of the book of Proverbs, as written in the KJV. This was quite appropriate to the subject of the mystery, which involved the potential sale of a parochial school, since in a sense Proverbs served as a sort of primer for Jewish boys.

Here are the first half of those phrases from Proverbs with comments regarding the King James translation. The second half of chapter titles will be discussed in a subsequent post.

Proverbs 1:21 – The Chief Place of Concourse

Hulst discusses the translation “concourse” as coming from the root verb hama(h), meaning 'to make a noise.' “The word probably indicates the busiest places in town, and thus the translation can be 'where the busiest (streets) begin'...Others render 'above the bustle', but this is an unlikely translation in view of the first word bro's 'at the beginning', or 'at the head', or 'on the top'. In place of the Hebr homiyyot, the LXX [Greek Septuagint] read homot 'walls'. The RSV has accepted this change and rendered 'on the top of the walls'.”

Thus, we have a number of potential problems here caused by a rare word of unknown derivation in conjunction with the textual issue as to whether the Hebrew or Greek text is the most reliable. In addition, the modern definition of “concourse” is a large space in front of or inside a building, such as an airport concourse.

Proverbs 5:14 – In the Midst of the Congregation

This is where the author has been disgraced in some way. If any of us were asked where this might be located, I am sure the answer would be, “At a church service.” However, Walls sets us straight by explaining that “the phrase...is viewed as a corporate designation for Israel as the people of God, and the fact that the sin was committed in the midst of such a people would constitute an aggravation of it (cf. Heb. 12:15).”

Proverbs 8:14 – Counsel is Mine

Since the verse goes on to add “sound wisdom” and “insight” to God's attributes, this phrase stands as a good translation unlikely to be as misunderstood as the use of “counselor” in Proverbs 11:14, discussed below.

Proverbs 8:33 – Hear Instruction, and Be Wise

The whole verse concludes with “and do not neglect it” according to NRSV. This seems like such a simple verse that one wonders how there could possibly be any problems with its translation. However, it turns out that the original Hebrew is not that easy to decipher. Waltke notes that several letters in the original may have dropped out accidentally and need to be restored; Scott translates it as “Give heed to instruction and reject not wisdom,” leaving out “be wise” altogether; and the Jerusalem Bible somehow feels the need to rearrange the order of the poetic lines so that v. 33 is sandwiched between the first and second lines of v. 34 in order to make sense out of the whole. Fortunately, the general idea of the verse is conveyed in all of these variations.

Proverbs 10:26 – Vinegar to the Teeth

This is an example of emblematic parallelism in which a figurative expression such as above is compared to a literal situation, in this case to show what the author feels about a lazy employee, in other words “an irritant.” However, some people may not see what is wrong with vinegar at all – what about vinegar and oil dressing? The answer lies in the lack of dental care during those days. Thus, it probably refers to the great pain caused when an acidic substance such as vinegar hits a broken or diseased tooth. This is explained in the Syriac version of Proverbs.

Proverbs 11:14; 24:6 (cf. 15:22) – A Multitude of Counselors

The only possibly confusing thing regarding this translation is that “counselor” immediately conjures up images of a school counselor, a marriage counselor, or a lawyer. And it is actually in that last sense that my mystery story uses it. However, in each of the three verses cited above, this phrase occurs in one line of a two-line proverb and can be seen to be parallel to those who give guidance in general. Thus, most readers would probably not be misled by this translation.

Waltke explains: “Counselors (yoles) is a technical term from a root that means “to determine,' plan,' or 'advise.' Any competent person, male or female...could act as a counselor in a specific case (cf. 12:20). In a multitude (berob) denotes the many whose arguments and counterarguments guarantee that their agreed-upon plan will not miscarry but succeed in spite of danger...The proverb counters the danger of caucus-dominated political practices.” Thus, he notes, “Significantly, Proverbs always represents counselors as in a group (11:14; 15:22; 24:6).”

Proverbs 11:25 – The Liberal Soul

In view of the current preoccupation with political differences, it is no doubt best to entirely avoid the use of the word “liberal” here. In addition to that problem, Whybray employs the more appropriate and usual translation of “generous man” and points out that the phrase in Hebrew literally denotes the 'person of blessing.' “This phrase could equally mean 'a person who has received divine favor'.”

Proverbs 14:2; 28:6 – Perverse in His Ways

This property of those who despise the LORD has alternatively been rendered as “devious in conduct” (NRSV, NIV), “a degenerate life” (The Message); “sin” (Living Bible), “paths are crooked” (JB), and “immoral man” (AB). Probably the best translations are those which do not appear to point to sexual perversions only.

And the safest approach is to note that both the verses in Proverbs in which this word appears are in the form of antithetic parallelism. In other words, “perverse in his ways” is the opposite of “walking uprightly” and “walking in integrity.”

Proverbs 15:1 – Grievous Words

Walls translates it in the singular as “a harsh word” and explains that the adjective in the Hebrew suggests one that hurts others. By contrast, the word “grievous” in today's parlance tends to indicate sadness instead because of the verb “grieve.”

Proverb 15:17 – A Stalled Ox

The King James Version of this whole verse reads, “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.” This is probably an incomprehensible statement to most people, conjuring up the vision of an ox who has wandered out on the road and stops there, snarling up traffic until someone kills him and drags him home to eat.

Scott notes that although a great number of Old Testament proverbs have entered into the popular parlance, others such as this one, “might have done so had the terms in which they are put been less strange to our ears.” Thus, the pretty much incomprehensible KJV starts to make sense only when we realize that a “stalled”ox is one which was purposely left in his stall to fatten up for food, rather than one slaughtered after spending its life working in the field. It is a “fattened ox” which was fit for a royal banquet.

“The NIV renders the only other occurrence of the verb 'abus [fattened'], which is used in connection with the fowl on Solomon's table, by 'choice' (1 K. 4:23).” (Waltke)

Conclusion

Note that most, but not all, of the above translation difficulties stem simply from the way the English language has changed over the more than 400 years since the KJV was published.