The KJV reads “He also that is slothful in his work Is brother to him that is a great waster” while the NKJV reads “He who is slothful in his work Is a brother to him who is a great destroyer,” and most modern translations are similar to the NKJV (the NRSV and CSB read “vandal” instead of “destroyer”). According to the OED, “waster”  could refer to “One who lays waste, despoils or plunders; a devastator, ravager, plunderer” (s.v. waster, noun¹, sense I.2.a.) or “One who lives in idleness and extravagance; one who wastefully dissipates or consumes his or her resources, an extravagant spender, a squanderer, spendthrift” (s.v. waster, noun¹, sense I.1.a.). Both senses were current in the 1600s.

Interestingly, the Hebrew word being translated, מַשְׁחִית, is translated in the KJV as “destroy,” “destroyed,” “destroyer” or some variant in 10 of its 20 occurrences. Twice it is translated “destruction,” twice “corruption,” twice “spoilers” (in the sense of people spoiling the goods of an enemy), once “slay utterly,” and once “trap.” Twice the KJV translators rendered this term as “waster.” They did so in this verse and in Isaiah 54:16: “And I have created the waster to destroy.” Given then way that the KJV translators rendered this Hebrew word elsewhere, it seems likely that the sense “one who lays waste, despoils or plunders; a devastator, ravager, plunderer” is what the KJV translators intended here. However, it seems that “waster” was early misread as “an extravagant spender, a squanderer, spendthrift,” since this is the meaning ascribed to the term even in older commentators such as Matthew Henry and John Gill.

See also:

“Replenish,” a false friend in KJV Genesis 1:28

“Peoples” a false friend in Zechariah 11:10 and Psalm 2:1

The pattern of these two proverbs is “kind woman / cruel man // kind man / ruthless man.” By itself v. 16 could be read cynically (“A kind woman gets respect, but a cruel man gets rich” [the word “only” is not in the text]) to justify unscrupulous behavior. In conjunction with v. 17, however, the self-destructive nature of the “hard-nosed” approach to life is apparent.

Duane A. Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, vol. 14, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 126.

By translating אִישׁ in 11:17 in a gender-neutral manner—”Those who are kind” (NRSV, NIV 2011), “A merciful person” (NASB 2020), “Kind persons” (CEB)—the parallel with “A gracious woman” in 11:16 is missed. I find that too often gender-neutral translations miss how the Bible highlights men and women in its metaphors and proverbs.

GB my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies,

AV 1873 My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies

NKJV I smile at my enemies

ESV My mouth derides my enemies

NIV My mouth boasts over my enemies

NASB95 My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies

LSB My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies

CSB My mouth boasts over my enemies

Steinmann: My mouth is [opened] wide against my enemies,

Hoffner: My mouth boasts (lit. ‘is wide’) over my enemies,

It seems that the ESV comes to the translation “derides” from the seeing how the phrase is used in Isaiah 57:4 and Psalm 35:21. However, it is not clear to me that the phrase refers to mocking or deriding. To open the mouth wide seems to be an assertive kind of speaking, and in those contexts it is a mocking speech. In this context, it seems that the NASB/LSB properly captures the breadth of the expression: “My mouth speaks boldly.” The NIV and CSB reasonably provide a more specific translation based on this context. Hannah would have been speaking to enemies after having been exulted over them. Thus they translate, “boasts over.” However, I think the more general expression of the NASB/LSB is superior. Steinmann, for instance, notes that “now [Hannah] can open her mouth to reply to her ‘enemies’…, which would include her rival Peninnah” (Concordia Commentary, 78). It does not appear that the reply to Peninnah’s antagonism would need to be derisive or boastful. However, now Hannah can reply with boldness.