Proverbs 11:22

Like a gold ring ¹  in a pig’s snout ²  is ³  a beautiful woman who rejects ⁴  discretion. ⁵ 

Pr 7:10; Pr 9:13; Pr 31:30; Eze 16:15-22; Na 3:4-6; 1Pe 3:3,4; 2Pe 2:22

¹ tn Heb “a ring of gold.” The noun זָהָב (zahav, “gold”) is a genitive of material; the ring is made out of gold.

² tn Heb “in a snout of a swine.” A beautiful ornament and a pig are as incongruous as a beautiful woman who has no taste or ethical judgment.

³ tn The verb “is” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

⁴ tn Heb “turns away [from].”

⁵ tn Heb “taste.” The term can refer to physical taste (Exod 16:31), intellectual discretion (1 Sam 25:33), or ethical judgment (Ps 119:66). Here it probably means that she has no moral sensibility, no propriety, no good taste – she is unchaste. Her beauty will be put to wrong uses.