Amsal 17:16

17:16 Of what ¹  use is money in the hand of a fool, ² 

since he has no intention ³  of acquiring wisdom? ⁴ 

Amsal 23:1

23:1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

consider carefully ⁵  what ⁶  is before you,

[17:16]  ¹ tn Heb “why this?” The term זֶּה (zeh) is an enclitic use of the demonstrative pronoun for emphasis: “why ever” would this happen?

[17:16]  ² sn The sense seems to be “What good is money” since what the fool needs cannot be bought? The verse is a rhetorical question stating that money would be wasted on a fool.

[17:16]  ³ tn Heb “there is no heart”; NASB “he has no (+ common TEV) sense”; NLT “has no heart for wisdom.”

[17:16]  ⁴ sn W. McKane envisions a situation where the fool comes to a sage with a fee in hand, supposing that he can acquire a career as a sage, and this gives rise to the biting comment here: Why does the fool have money in his hands? To buy wisdom when he has no brains? (Proverbs [OTL], 505).

[23:1]  ⁵ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense of instruction with the infinitive absolute to emphasize the careful discernment required on such occasions. Cf. NIV “note well”; NLT “pay attention.”

[23:1]  ⁶ tn Or “who,” referring to the ruler (so ASV, NAB, TEV).