24:16
The reason for obeying this advice is that a righteous person always recovers from a disaster. When wicked people experience a disaster, they do not recover. Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:
16a For though a righteous man may fall seven times, he still gets up;
16b but the wicked stumble in bad times.
The verbs “fall” and “stumble” are similar in meaning. The contrast is that the righteous person “gets up.” The lack of a similar verb in 24:16b implies that wicked people do not rise again.
24:16a–b
a righteous man…the wicked: In Hebrew, the first phrase is singular. The second phrase is plural. But each phrase refers to a group of people who share a common trait, either righteousness or wickedness. Use a natural way in your language to refer to one or more people who are in the same category.
24:16a
may fall…he still gets up: In some contexts, these words have literal meanings. The word fall can mean “fall over” or “fall down,” as a person who trips and falls. The phrase gets up can mean “rise” or “stand up.”
However, in this context, both have figurative meanings. The word fall means “experience disaster or severe trouble.” The phrase gets up means “recovers from the disaster” or “regains his prosperity.”
In some languages, these words have the same figurative meaning as in Hebrew. If that is true in your language, you may be able to translate them literally. For example:
Though a righteous person trips and falls seven times, he stands up again.
-or-
Seven times the righteous man falls and gets up (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
In other languages, it will be clearer to translate the figurative meaning. Use natural expressions in your language. For example:
Even though trouble catches a righteous person again and again, he will defeat it every time.
seven times: In this context, the number seven has a figurative meaning. It means “many times” or “repeatedly.” If you translate this number literally, it is recommended that you add a footnote to explain the figurative meaning. For example:
In this verse, “seven times” means “many times.”
If you translate the meaning figuratively, it is recommended that you add a footnote that gives the literal number. For example:
In Hebrew, what is written here is “seven times.”
24:16b
but the wicked stumble in bad times: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as stumble is passive in Hebrew. It means “are tripped” or “are caused to stumble.” This verb is different from the verb “fall” in 24:16a, but it has a similar meaning. Some other ways to translate this passive clause are:
• Use a different passive verb. For example:
the wicked are tripped by one misfortune (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
-or-
the wicked are overwhelmed by trouble (New Century Version)
• Use an active verb as the Berean Standard Bible has done. For example:
disaster destroys the wicked (Good News Translation)
-or-
in a disaster wicked people fall (God’s Word)
In contrast to the righteous, it is implied that the wicked do not recover after they experience bad times. In contrast to “seven times,” it may also be implied that even one disaster or misfortune is enough to destroy the wicked. The New Living Translation (2004) makes this implied information explicit in order to emphasize the contrast. It has:
But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked. (New Living Translation (2004))
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