This verse is irregular in Proverbs as it has three lines and is textually difficult.

“All a poor man’s brothers hate him”: “Brothers” may be taken literally here as offspring of the same mother and father. In some languages “All . . . brothers” will include brothers and sisters. It may also have a wider sense of “all his relatives” (New International Version). “Hate”, as in 11.15, probably means “avoid” or “keep away from,” as is suggested in the second line.

“How much more do his friends go far from him!”: The opening expression “how much more” shows that this line intensifies the thought of the first. “Friends” here is singular in Hebrew but is probably to be taken as collective. “Go far from him” parallels “hate” in line 1, and supports “avoid” as the translation of “hate” there.

“He pursues them with words, but does not have them”: The Revised Standard Version footnote shows the Hebrew of this line to be uncertain. See also the Good News Translation footnote. To “pursue” is to follow after or even to chase in order to catch up with someone. However, when followed by “with words” the sense is more like “he tries to talk with them.” Bible en français courant translates “When he would like to talk with them. . ..” However, the translations of this expression vary greatly. New Revised Standard Version has revised Revised Standard Version to “When they [the poor] call after them [the friends] . . ..” See Good News Translation. The final words of this line (Revised Standard Version “but does not have them”) are in dispute among interpreters. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, which gives a “B” rating to the written Hebrew text, recommends translating “He pursues words which are nothing”; or we may say, for example, “He tries to talk with his friends, but it does not help.”

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 .