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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Proverbs 14:7 - 14:7
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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 כִּי בַל־תֵּדַע or וּבַל־תֵּדַע (Isa 44:9), according to which Aquila and Theodotion translate, καὶ οὐ μὴ γνῷς. נֶגֶד is the sphere of vision, and מִנֶּגֶד denotes either away from the sphere of vision, as e.g., Isa 1:16, or, inasmuch as מִן is used as in מֵעַל, מִתַּחַת, and the like: at a certain distance from the sphere of vision, but so that one keeps the object in sight, Gen 21:16. נֶגֶד לְ denotes, as the inverted expression Deu 28:66 shows, over against any one, so that he has the object visibly before him, and מִנֶּגֶד לְ, Jdg 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., Isa 33:23) expresses a negative with emphasis. Nolde and others, also Fleischer, interpret 7b relatively: et in quo non cognoveris labia scientiae. If וּבַל־יָדַע were the expression used, then it would be explained after Pro 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 וּבַל־יָדַעְתָּ the relative clause intended must be indicated by the added בּוֹ: and of such an one in whom... Besides, in this case וְּלֹא (vid., Psa 35:15) would have been nearer than וּבַל. 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” (וּכְלִי דַּעַת). 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”?