“When he made firm the skies above”: “Made firm” or made strong is used in regard to making something strong or resistant; for example, the repaired temple in 2 Chr 24.13. “Skies” renders a word meaning dust or clouds and in this context refers to the sky or the sky with its clouds. Some translations render this line “when he put the clouds in the sky.”

“When he established the fountains of the deep”: “Established”, as the Revised Standard Version footnote shows, is uncertain in its meaning. Some interpreters change the word slightly to get a rendering like that of Revised Standard Version. Others take it to mean to restrain or control. The Septuagint says “made secure.”

“Fountains” translates the same word rendered “springs” in verse 24. “Fountains of the deep” refers to the waters beneath the earth that were thought to supply the oceans and rivers with water. We may translate, for example, “I was there beside him when he put the clouds in the sky and when he made the springs that fill the oceans.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .