Proverbs 13:15

Keen insight ¹  wins ²  favor, but the conduct ³  of the unfaithful is harsh. ⁴ 

Good understanding wins favour, but the way of the unfaithful is hard.

Good understanding produces favor, But the way of the treacherous is hard.

A person with good sense is respected; a treacherous person walks a rocky road.

Sound thinking makes for gracious living, but liars walk a rough road.

Wise behaviour gets approval, but the way of the false is their destruction.

Good sense wins favor, but the way of the faithless is their ruin.

Good understanding gains favor, But the way of the unfaithful is hard.

Keen insight ¹  wins ²  favor, but the conduct ³  of the unfaithful is harsh. ⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “good insight.” The expression שֵׂכֶל־טוֹב (sekhel-tov) describes a person who has good sense, sound judgment, or wise opinions (BDB 968 s.v. שֵׂכֶל).

² tn Heb “gives”; NASB “produces.”

³ tn Heb “way,” frequently for conduct, behavior, or lifestyle.

⁴ tc The MT reads אֵיתָן (’etan, “enduring; permanent; perennial”; BDB 450 s.v. יתן 1). Several scholars suggest that the text here is corrupt and the reading should be “harsh; hard; firm; rugged” (BDB 450 s.v. 2). G. R. Driver suggested that לֹא (lo’, “not”) was dropped before the word by haplography and so the meaning would have been not “enduring” but “passing away” (“Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs,” Bib 32 [1951]: 181). The LXX, Syriac, and Tg. Prov 13:15 reflect a Hebrew Vorlage of תֹאבֵד (to’ved) “are destroyed.” The BHS editors suggest emending the text to אֵידָם (’edam) “their calamity” from אֵיד (’ed, “calamity, distress”; BDB 15 s.v.): “the way of the faithless [leads to] their calamity.” The idea of “harsh” or “hard” could also be drawn from a meaning of the word in the MT meaning “firm,” that is, enduring.