The theme of this saying is that conduct is the test of character, even in the case of children. This is a statement in two parts, in which the second line adds an explanation to the first.

“Even a child makes himself known by his acts”: The Hebrew word order is “even [or, also] in-his-deeds makes-himself-recognized-a-child.” This indicates that “Even” probably qualifies the sentence as a whole rather than the word “child”; and it puts the emphasis on “his doings,” that is, his conduct. The Hebrew term translated “child” may also mean “a young man” (New Jerusalem Bible); however, the sense of the term in this section of Proverbs always seems to be someone who is living with and dependent on parents, so most versions have “child” or “children” here. The verb “makes himself known” has the sense of making people recognize what sort of person he is. Good News Translation expresses this line well with “Even children show what they are by what they do.”

“Whether what he does is pure and right”: This adds to the sense of the first line by making clear that the statement is about character in the moral sense. “What he does” has the same meaning as “his acts” in the first line, and now the test of character is whether this is “pure and right”. The Hebrew form of this line begins “whether-pure and-whether-right.” The term “pure” can also be rendered “clean” (as in verse 9) or “righteous,” and the basic meaning of the term rendered “right” is “straight.” “Right” is often rendered “upright” by Revised Standard Version in Proverbs (see 2.7 and 3.32). There is a suggestion that the word translated “right” really should be “evil,” making this line say “whether what he does is good or bad.” Contemporary English Version appears to follow this proposed change (“the good or bad that children do”); but the text makes perfectly good sense without it.

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 .