This is another observation about human nature, in this case pointing out the contrast between what people claim to be and what they really are, or between words and behavior.

“Many a man proclaims his own loyalty”: “Many a man” means “many people” or possibly “Everyone” (Good News Translation). This is a comment on human nature in general, so another possible rendering is “People say. . ..” The sense of “proclaims his own loyalty” is “claim that they can be trusted.” “Loyalty” renders the Hebrew word chesed, which means faithful love in a relationship, so it may point in particular to giving help and sympathy to another person in time of need. In line with this some translations say something like “Many people say that they love their friends.” However, the parallel expression in line 2 does mean “trustworthy,” and it is therefore quite likely that this is the sense intended here in line 1 also. So Contemporary English Version has “There are many who say ‘You can trust me!'”

“But a faithful man who can find?”: This Revised Standard Version rendering is not natural English (and New International Version is the same). The literal Hebrew is better expressed in New Jerusalem Bible, “but who can find someone really to be trusted?” The Hebrew form is a rhetorical question that actually has the meaning that it is impossible to find any person who is really trustworthy. English versions generally render this as a question, but it is also possible to express the meaning as a statement; for example, “But there are very few who are faithful friends” or “But if you look for this kind of person, you can’t find one.”

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 .