The two lines of this verse affirm the same thought and have essentially the same meaning. They agree with the idea expressed in the first line of verse 24.

“A liberal man will be enriched”: “A liberal man” is literally “a soul of blessing,” which is made up of two feminine nouns in the Hebrew. New Revised Standard Version has “a generous person.” Note Good News Translation “Be generous.” “Will be enriched” is literally “will be made fat,” which is an idiom for “grow rich” or “become prosperous.” The sense of this line is that the generous person will be rewarded with wealth. We may translate, for example, “If you are generous, you will become rich.”

“And one who waters will himself be watered”: “Waters” renders a form of the verb “to water” in the sense of giving someone a drink of water. “Be watered” means “will receive a drink of water in return.” Some translations render this line in a more general way: “If you help others, they will help you too.”

We may translate this verse, for example, “Be generous to other people and you will receive things in return. Give someone a drink of water and someone will give you a drink too.”

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 .