Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G Messagetry to silence her and you're trying to bottle the wind; you might as well reach for a fistful of oil.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.Gto restrain her is to restrain the wind; his right hand grasps at oil.
KJV
King James VersionWhosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which bewrayeth itself.
BSB
Berean Standard Biblerestraining her is like holding back the wind or grasping oil with one’s right hand.
Footnotes
Verse 16 continues the simile of verse 15. The second clause, *shemen yemino yiqra* (וְשֶׁמֶן יְמִינוֹ יִקְרָא), is among Proverbs' most contested half-verses. *Yiqra* can mean 'meets/encounters,' suggesting futile grasping at something that slips through the fingers; alternatively, some read the clause as 'perfume announces itself — it cannot be concealed,' meaning such a woman's quarrelsome character will inevitably reveal itself no matter how one tries to suppress it. Both FOG and FOG Message adopt the grasping-futility reading, but the alternative — that contentious character is ultimately self-disclosing — is linguistically live.