Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
to make one's way clear
Chinese translation:
明白己道
Added to glossary by
Wenjer Leuschel (X)
Jul 28, 2007 17:42
16 yrs ago
English term
to make one's way clear
English to Chinese
Art/Literary
Religion
Proverb
The context:
The following passage is taken from Proverb 14:8.
The wisdom of the man of good sense makes his way clear; but the unwise behaviour of the foolish is deceit.
The question: to make one's way clear
Yes, there is already a translation in Chinese which goes like "通达人的智慧，在乎明白己道。愚昧人的愚妄，乃是诡诈。（或作自欺）" in 中文和合本圣经. However, I am not quite sure about "明白己道" which doen't seem to matche "makes his way clear." Something deceitful in the translation, I am afraid.
Any enlightenment would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
The following passage is taken from Proverb 14:8.
The wisdom of the man of good sense makes his way clear; but the unwise behaviour of the foolish is deceit.
The question: to make one's way clear
Yes, there is already a translation in Chinese which goes like "通达人的智慧，在乎明白己道。愚昧人的愚妄，乃是诡诈。（或作自欺）" in 中文和合本圣经. However, I am not quite sure about "明白己道" which doen't seem to matche "makes his way clear." Something deceitful in the translation, I am afraid.
Any enlightenment would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Change log
Aug 5, 2007 09:16: Wenjer Leuschel (X) Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+2
1 hr
Selected
彰显明道
Since I have a very meagre knowledge of Bible, my understandng of this sentence is just on the surface. I hope this explanation is not offending if I am wrong.
Note from asker:
| Thank you for the suggestion, Martin! It does make sense in some way. Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote, "Tell me how how you seek and I will tell you what you are seeking." (Philosophical Review/Philosophische Bemerkungen) I guess you know already how I seek and your suggestion points to what I am seeking. However, one's way could be but not always the 明道. Sometimes, one must be ready to confront the consequences of making one's way clear, but it is still better than deceiving and sneaking. |
2 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you for your pointer!"
Discussion
The German version say,
"It is the wisdom of the sensible ones that he take heed of his way; but the folly of the fools is merely deceit." (Das ist des Kluges Weisheit, daß er auf seinen Weg merkt.),
while Spanish version says,
"The knowledge of the prudent is for understanding his way; but the indiscretion of those fools for deceit." (La ciencia del prudente está en entender su camino; Mas la indiscretion de los necios es engaño.)
It seems to me that 明白己道 means "to know one's way" in both translations. So, "to make one's way clear" means "to know oneself" with no (self-)deceit. 明白 must be a verb in this sense. It is a fool's work to tell another person that he has a big project so that he doesn't have the time to fulfill an appointment while the reason why he cannot keep his words lies somewhere else. It is as well a fool's work to take advantage of a position to suppress others with provoked excuses. In Salomon's proverbs, it is clear that the deceitful fools will lose by the end.