Proverbs 25:27

To search their own glory. It is difficult to translate the Hebrew of this verse so as to preserve the antithesis characteristic of the majority of the proverbs. Translators and commentators have suggested various other translations in an endeavor to find a meaning close to the Hebrew that shows the customary contrast between the two clauses of the verse. The language of the first clause is clear enough and should be expected to set the stage for the second. Since the Hebrew word for “glory,” kabod, also means “honor,” many have rendered the clause, “contempt of their honor is honor”; but this does not fit the warning against excess in the first clause. Others prefer, “searching out honor brings difficulty,” or “searching out one’s honor is burdensome” from another meaning of kabod, namely, “weight.”

A translation that fits the context in its warning against excess is, “The searching out of weighty matters is a weight.” This would warn against excessive study. Honey is good, study is good, but to indulge in either to excess would be to turn a blessing into a burden (see Eccl. 12:12). However, we cannot be sure that this is the intended meaning.