This verse expresses the purpose of the whole collection of sayings in this division.

«That your trust may be in the Lord«: «That» (“so that” New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible) marks this line as a purpose clause dependent on the main clause in the second line. For «trust . . . in the Lord» see the comments at 3.5. The noun form of «trust» is used here, but the sense is the same as for the verb form there.

«I have made them known to you today, even to you»: «Them» is supplied by Revised Standard Version and some other translations and refers back again to the “words” in verse 17. The Hebrew verb form is actually “I make you know,” which New International Version renders “I teach you” and New Jerusalem Bible “I wish to instruct [you].” Because of the word «today» most English versions express the verb in the present tense; for example, “I make these things known to you now” (Revised English Bible) and “I am going to tell them to you now” (Good News Translation). The expression at the end of the line, «even to you» (“yes, to you” New Revised Standard Version), puts an emphasis on the person who is being addressed. In many languages such emphasis may be awkward or unnecessary; in any case translators should express it in a natural way if it is appropriate to express it at all. In English New Jerusalem Bible, for instance, says, “it is you whom I wish to instruct today.”

In many languages it will be more natural to restructure this verse so that the main clause comes first. In English an example of this is Contemporary English Version: «I am teaching them today, so that you may trust the Lord.»

An example from another language is «I want to tell these wise words to you now, because I want you always to trust the Lord.!

Good News Translation does not change the order of the lines, but restructures them so that the first line becomes the main clause: «I want you to put your trust in the Lord; that is why I am going to tell them to you now.»

These are all good models for other translators to follow.

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 .