Proverbs 11:16

A generous woman ¹  gains honor, and ruthless men ²  seize wealth. ³ 

A kind-hearted woman gains respect, but ruthless men gain only wealth.

A gracious woman attains honor, And ruthless men attain riches.

Beautiful women obtain wealth, and violent men get rich.

A woman of gentle grace gets respect, but men of rough violence grab for loot.

A woman who is full of grace is honoured, but a woman hating righteousness is a seat of shame: those hating work will undergo loss, but the strong keep their wealth.

A gracious woman gets honor, but she who hates virtue is covered with shame. The timid become destitute, but the aggressive gain riches.

A gracious woman retains honor, But ruthless men retain riches.

A generous woman ¹  gains honor, and ruthless men ²  seize wealth. ³ 

¹ tn Heb “a woman of grace.” The genitive חֵן (khen, “grace”) functions as an attributive adjective. The contrast is between “a gracious woman” (אֵשֶׁת־חֵן, ’eshet-khen), a woman who is not only graceful but generous, and “powerful men,” a term usually having a bad sense, such as tyrants or ruthless men.

² tn Heb “those who are terrifying.” The term עָרִיץ (’arits) refers to a person who strikes terror into the hearts of his victims. The term refers to a ruthless person who uses violence to overcome his victims (BDB 792 s.v.). Cf. ASV, NASB, NLT “violent men”; NRSV “the aggressive.”

³ tc The LXX adds: “She who hates virtue makes a throne for dishonor; the idle will be destitute of means.” This reading is followed by several English versions (e.g., NAB, NEB, NRSV, TEV). C. H. Toy concludes that MT provides remnants of the original, but that the LXX does not provide the full meaning (Proverbs [ICC], 229).

sn The implication is that the ruthless men will obtain wealth without honor, and therefore this is not viewed as success by the writer.