“Men of perverse mind are an abomination to the Lord“: 3.32 in the Revised Standard Version says “the perverse man is an abomination to the Lord.” In this verse it is those “of perverse mind” who are described in this way. “Perverse”, a different Hebrew adjective than that used in 3.32, has the same sense as there. “Mind” is literally “heart,” which represents the inner self of the person. For “abomination” see 3.32 and 6.16. This statement is a straightforward condemnation of evil, and the line may be rendered, for example, “The Lord hates people who have evil minds” or “. . . whose hearts are full of evil.” New Revised Standard Version says “Crooked minds are an abomination to the Lord.”

“But those of blameless ways are his delight”: “Blameless”, as used in verse 5, refers to a good person, someone of moral integrity. A person of “blameless ways” is someone who lives uprightly, does what is right. “Delight” is used in verse 1 where a just weight on a scale is said to be a “delight” to the Lord. As in 8.30 the sense is to give pleasure or be pleasing. See Good News Translation “loves.” We may translate this line, for example, “But he takes pleasure in everyone who does what is right.”

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 .