This verse is difficult to interpret.

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life”: “Fruit” is normally a figure of speech referring to the product of a person’s living, the way someone lives, or the results of someone’s actions. The Good News Translation footnote shows that it has replaced “fruit . . . is a tree” by “righteousness gives life.” However, “righteousness gives life” is not at all clear. “Tree of life” was first used in 3.18, where it was taken to mean, among other things, “a tree that gives long life.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, which gives the Hebrew text a “B” rating, understands “the fruit of” “the righteous” to mean “the righteous person’s fruit is. . ..” If we take “tree of life” as indicated above, this line may be expressed, for example, “The good person’s fruit is a tree that gives long life.” Using nonfigurative language we may say, for example, “The acts of a good person are a source of life” or “What a good person does gives life to others.” We may also say, for example, “The way honest people live gives life to others.”

“But lawlessness takes away lives”: “Lawlessness”, as the Revised Standard Version footnote shows, is from the ancient versions. The Hebrew text says “a wise person.” If we follow the Hebrew text, as recommended by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, the second line should be read “and the wise person acquires people.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project explains this to mean that “the Israelite father increases his family, as is shown for instance by the story of Ruth. It is not possible to determine the level of sociological or spiritual development on which this proverb lies; the persons the wise man acquires for his family may be slaves, partisans, or disciples.” One way of expressing the sense of this line is “The wise person makes others want to come and stay with him.”

If we follow Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, we will have a translation that says, for example, “The righteous person’s fruit is a tree of life, and the wise person acquires people.”

If we follow Revised Standard Version, we may adjust it to say, for example, “The fruit of a good person is a tree that gives life, but violence destroys life.”

We may also adapt Good News Translation to say, for example, “People who live uprightly are a source of life for others, but living violently destroys life.”

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 .