Proverbs 17
The full text of Proverbs 17 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 Better is a dry morsel with quietness
than a house full of feasting with strife.
2 A servant who acts wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully
and will share the inheritance among brothers.
3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and the LORD tests hearts.
4 An evildoer listens to wicked lips;
a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.
5 Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker;
he who rejoices at calamity will not go unpunished.
6 Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,
and the glory of children is their fathers.
7 Eloquent speech is not fitting for a fool;
how much less are lying lips to a noble!
8 A bribe is a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it;
wherever he turns he prospers.
9 Whoever covers an offense seeks love,
but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.
10 A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding
than a hundred blows into a fool.
11 An evil man seeks only rebellion;
a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
12 Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs
rather than a fool in his folly.
13 If anyone returns evil for good,
evil will not depart from his house.
14 The start of strife is like releasing water;
abandon the quarrel before it breaks out.
15 He who acquits the guilty and he who condemns the innocent
are both an abomination to the LORD.
16 Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom
when he has no sense?
17 A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
18 One who lacks sense gives a pledge
and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.
19 Whoever loves transgression loves strife;
whoever makes his door high seeks destruction.
20 A man of crooked heart does not discover good,
and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.
21 He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow,
and the father of a fool has no joy.
22 A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
23 The wicked accepts a bribe in secret
to pervert the ways of justice.
24 The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,
but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
25 A foolish son is a grief to his father
and bitterness to her who bore him.
26 To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good,
nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
27 Whoever restrains his words has knowledge,
and one who is cool in spirit is a man of understanding.
28 Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
Translation notes (7)
- Proverbs 17:2a Hebrew law and custom reserved inheritance for sons, so a servant sharing the estate among brothers was a striking reversal of social order; compare Abram's expectation that his servant Eliezer would be his heir in Genesis 15:2-3. The participle maskil, 'acting wisely', denotes prudent competence, the quality that here overturns the privilege of birth.
- Proverbs 17:6a The second line is a verbless clause, tif'eret banim 'avotam, literally 'the glory of children their fathers', and Hebrew word order permits either noun as subject. The rendering here takes the fathers as the children's glory, completing a reciprocal pattern with the first line: the old boast in their descendants, and the young in their ancestry.
- Proverbs 17:8a Hebrew 'even-chen, literally 'stone of favor', denotes a charm or amulet believed to bring success, hence 'magic stone'. The proverb reports the briber's own perception — the bribe seems to work like magic in his eyes — without endorsing the practice, which Proverbs 17:23 condemns.
- Proverbs 17:12a The Hebrew dov shakkul, 'a bereaved bear', evokes the Syrian brown bear, which inhabited the hill country of Israel into modern times; a bear robbed of her cubs is a proverbial figure of lethal fury also in 2 Samuel 17:8 and Hosea 13:8. The saying judges the kesil, 'fool', caught in his ivvelet, 'folly', the more dangerous encounter.
- Proverbs 17:18a The Hebrew idiom toqea' kaf, literally 'strikes the palm', describes the handclasp by which a person formally bound himself as guarantor for another's debt, much as a signature seals a contract today. Proverbs repeatedly warns against this practice (6:1; 11:15; 22:26), since the guarantor risked his own property, and in extreme cases his freedom, if the debtor defaulted.
- Proverbs 17:19a The Hebrew magbiah pitcho, literally 'raises his opening', most naturally refers to building a lofty doorway as a display of pride, an act of arrogance that invites ruin. Because petach, 'opening', can also denote the mouth, some interpreters take the phrase as boastful speech; the architectural sense is retained here.
- Proverbs 17:26a The verb 'anash, 'to impose a fine', is a technical legal term for exacting a monetary penalty, as in Deuteronomy 22:19, where a slanderer is fined a hundred shekels, and Amos 2:8, which mentions 'the wine of those who have been fined'. The proverb thus condemns judicial corruption in both its financial and physical forms: unjust fines and the flogging of the innocent.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own modern English translation, worked directly from the original Hebrew and honest to the earliest manuscripts. It was completed in 2026 — the most modern English Bible translation — and is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter, including all of Proverbs, is free to read here on the web.
Continue: Proverbs 18 → · All of Proverbs · About the TBV · Read Proverbs 17 in the KJV
Get the app: iOS · Android · Trinity Plus