11:21

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

21a Be assured that the wicked will not go unpunished,

21b but the offspring of the righteous will escape.

11:21a–b

will not go unpunished…will escape: Both of these phrases probably have a legal sense here. When the wicked and the righteous are judged, the wicked will receive a verdict of guilty and will be sentenced to punishment. The righteous will be declared innocent, so they will escape punishment.

The implied judge of both wicked and righteous people is the LORD. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:

The LORD will indeed punish wicked people, but he will declare that righteous people are innocent.

11:21a

Be assured that: This phrase emphasizes the truth of the following statement. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

Depend upon it (Revised English Bible)
-or-
You can be sure that (Good News Translation)

will not go unpunished: The double negative will not go un punished may be expressed as a simple negative. For example:

will not escape punishment (Revised English Bible)

It may also be translated as a positive statement. For example:

will be punished (Good News Translation)

Some scholars identify the double negative as a figure of speech that emphasizes the opposite meaning. So if you translate this expression with a positive statement, it may be more accurate to add positive emphasis. For example:

will certainly be punished (NET Bible)

Be careful that this emphasis is not redundant in light of the initial phrase “Be sure of this.”

11:21b

but the offspring of the righteous: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “the seed of the righteous.” There are two ways to interpret this phrase:

(1) It refers to the offspring or descendants of the righteous. For example:

the descendants of righteous people (God’s Word)

(2) It refers to righteous people as a class or group of people having the same quality. For example:

those who are righteous (New Revised Standard Version)

You may follow either interpretation. Both are well supported by versions and scholars. It is suggested that you put the other interpretation in a footnote. Interpretation (1) is used in the Display for the following reasons:

(a) When referring to people, “offspring/descendants” is by far the most frequent meaning of “seed.”

(b) Throughout Proverbs, the author uses the word “righteous” to refer to righteous people as a group or class. Since this is the only time in Proverbs where he uses the word “seed,” one would expect it to have a significant meaning.

The phrase “seed of the righteous” does not exclude the righteous themselves. It is implied that the righteous will go free along with their descendants. For example:

the righteous and all their offspring (Revised English Bible)

will escape: In Hebrew, this verb is literally “will be delivered.” It is implied that righteous people will escape from the judgment or punishment that the LORD will give to the wicked. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

will go free (New International Version)
-or-
will come to no harm (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
will not suffer unjust judgment (NET Bible)

© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.