In the view of sayings earlier in the chapter, physical discipline is required to train children, and that is applied here to servants or slaves also.

“By mere words a servant is not disciplined”: “By mere words” is simply “by words” in Hebrew; the context shows that the sense is “by words alone” or “words by themselves.” For “servant” see 11.29. We may translate, for example, “You cannot discipline servants by merely talking to them,” “Words are not enough to teach a slave,” or “It takes more than words to teach a servant.”

“For though he understands, he will not give heed”: “Understands” obviously means to understand with the mind. New Living Translation says “the words may be understood, but. . ..” “He will not give heed” is literally “there is no answer.” The sense of this expression is not that the servant refuses to reply, but that he is not willing to obey orders. Contemporary English Version translates the whole saying as “Even when servants are smart, it takes more than words to make them obey.”

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 .