“Hatred stirs up strife”: “Hatred” refers to extreme dislike or hostility toward others. “Stirs up” translates a verb meaning to arouse, awaken, or incite. “Strife” is plural in the Hebrew and refers to discord, conflict, disharmony, quarrels, and fighting between people.

“But love covers all offenses”: “Love”, the opposite of “Hatred”, refers to harmonious and affectionate relations with positive feelings toward others. “Covers” renders the same Hebrew verb as used in verses 6 and 11 where “conceals” is used. “Covers” is here used metaphorically with the sense of “forgives.” “Offenses” renders a word that is often used in the Old Testament to mean sin against God. It is sometimes used in Proverbs as a personal offense committed by people against each other. This saying is a clear appeal for people to love others instead of making them enemies.

We may translate, for example, “If you hate others, you will fight with them, but if you love them, you will forgive the wrongs they do.”

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 .