Isolation = Snarling Against All Sound Wisdom

Proverbs 18:1 is awkward to understand in the King James Version:
   Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.

At the other end of the spectrum a contemporary paraphrase, the Message Bible, oversimplifies it, making the main point but losing the nuances:
   Loners who care only for themselves spit on the common good.

The JPS Tanakh, 1917,* has in interesting interpretation using verbs that were already rather dated when they were first translated a century ago:
   He that separateth himself seeketh his own desire, And snarlest against all sound wisdom.

The Bible In Basic English, which uses a core vocabulary of 850 English words plus another 150 religious or poetic terms, making it a good choice for beginning readers or those who wish to practice English as a second language—about as basic as one can get—puts it this way:
   He who keeps himself separate for his private purpose goes against all good sense.

The New American Standard, the translation that I use most often for its balance of staying literal while employing modern English, reads:
   Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.

The New English Bible, which is probably the strongest translation in the area of literary imagery, delivers this:
   The man who holds aloof seeks every pretext to bare his teeth in scorn at competent people.

So, do you understand Proverbs 18:1 yet?
I found the two translations that used a form of the root separate to be ambiguous. Separation can be a 'distinction' for refining, as separating gold from dross, or it can mean a cloistered 'isolation' for sequestering one from another. By comparing the different versions, it becomes clearer that it is the isolation that is meant.

Another tricky part was the use of intermeddleth in the KJV. It is not a word that you hear in every day usage. Inter- is a prefix meaning among, or in the midst of. Meddling is usually defined as intruding into other people's affairs; in this case, however, it's not with people but with wisdom and sound reasoning. The Hebrew root word holds a connotation of contention, so it becomes "a meddling dispute with wisdom or sound knowledge."

In late August, 2015, I made several posts about Triangulation. The one that explains it in the greatest depth is HERE.
The topic becomes important again as it relates to Proverbs 18:1 because triangulation separates or isolates a person from being able to hear big-picture wisdom. Moreover, a person who agrees to have someone else be in charge of monitoring and bowdlerizing the communication that he receives is being foolish—it is nearly impossible to get an accurate, realistic picture when some other person is controlling what you see and hear. The following verse, Proverbs 18:2, says, "The foolish have no interest in seeking to understand." They don't even enjoy understanding. This is a tragic state to be in! 

The Lesson
When KatieLyn isolated herself, the scriptures say that she was lashing out at common sense: she was seeking her own desire, and "breaking out" or rebelling against all sound judgment. Proverbs 18:1 says that; I did not make it up.
I don't know what boogeyman she believed that she was protecting herself from. No one on this end was angry at her. Deeply hurt, yes, but it was a feeling of loss from betrayal at broken promises and of desolation at the shattering of trust, not anger.
I think her family expected anger. Gwen behaved as if she were defending against anger, but she misjudged the response. There is a lot that she misjudged. 
As to the lesson, scripture is clear that KatieLyn's desire to isolate herself the way that she did was not what the Bible instructs a person to do.
The updated King James sheds the archaic seeketh and intermeddleth and says this: A man, having separated himself, seeks his own desire, and rages against all sound wisdom. 


* (JPS=Jewish Publication Society)