Proverbs 23:7
Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 11:08 pm
I was intrigued by the different translations proposed for Proverb 23:7
כִּ֤י׀ כְּמֹו־שָׁעַ֥ר בְּנַפְשֹׁ֗ו כֶּ֫ן־ה֥וּא אֱכֹ֣ל וּ֭שְׁתֵה יֹ֣אמַר לָ֑ךְ וְ֝לִבֹּ֗ו בַּל־עִמָּֽךְ׃
I have some fondness for some of the older translations that render it something like, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” It sound profound but it doesn’t fit the context at all.
Many of the translations seem wildly different. Some of the differences are obviously due to different interpretations of an unpointed text such as the Septuagint reading
ὃν τρόπον γὰρ εἴ τις καταπίοι τρίχα, οὕτως ἐσθίει καὶ πίνει.
Like when someone swallows a hair, thus he eats and drinks
The translator obviously read שׁער as שֵׂעָר. It looks like he understood נֶפֶשׁ to mean throat and interpreted it as the reason he gags and vomits. I think his translation is internally consistent but it seems to me that it is a stretch. I believe the Peshitta has a similar rendering.
Leeser translated this
For as though there were a division in his soul, so doth he act: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
He obviously took שָׁעַר to mean division. I’m not sure where he got the word “act.”
The New JPS translation fits the context and makes perfect sense.
He is like one keeping accounts; “Eat and drink,” he says to you, But he does not really mean it.
I’m a bit unsure of the translation suggested by a footnote in the NIV translation
For as he puts on a feast within himself, so he is.
I understand that this interpretation comes from an apparent correspondence with an Ugaritic word which can be translated “to arrange, or to serve food.” I don’t quite understand how this fits into the context but I found שָׁעַר defined as “distribute” in Marcus Jastrow’s dictionary of Targumim. Is there any reason to believe that this is a viable translation?
Sincerely,
Michael Abernathy
כִּ֤י׀ כְּמֹו־שָׁעַ֥ר בְּנַפְשֹׁ֗ו כֶּ֫ן־ה֥וּא אֱכֹ֣ל וּ֭שְׁתֵה יֹ֣אמַר לָ֑ךְ וְ֝לִבֹּ֗ו בַּל־עִמָּֽךְ׃
I have some fondness for some of the older translations that render it something like, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” It sound profound but it doesn’t fit the context at all.
Many of the translations seem wildly different. Some of the differences are obviously due to different interpretations of an unpointed text such as the Septuagint reading
ὃν τρόπον γὰρ εἴ τις καταπίοι τρίχα, οὕτως ἐσθίει καὶ πίνει.
Like when someone swallows a hair, thus he eats and drinks
The translator obviously read שׁער as שֵׂעָר. It looks like he understood נֶפֶשׁ to mean throat and interpreted it as the reason he gags and vomits. I think his translation is internally consistent but it seems to me that it is a stretch. I believe the Peshitta has a similar rendering.
Leeser translated this
For as though there were a division in his soul, so doth he act: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
He obviously took שָׁעַר to mean division. I’m not sure where he got the word “act.”
The New JPS translation fits the context and makes perfect sense.
He is like one keeping accounts; “Eat and drink,” he says to you, But he does not really mean it.
I’m a bit unsure of the translation suggested by a footnote in the NIV translation
For as he puts on a feast within himself, so he is.
I understand that this interpretation comes from an apparent correspondence with an Ugaritic word which can be translated “to arrange, or to serve food.” I don’t quite understand how this fits into the context but I found שָׁעַר defined as “distribute” in Marcus Jastrow’s dictionary of Targumim. Is there any reason to believe that this is a viable translation?
Sincerely,
Michael Abernathy