This saying is a single sentence. It expresses the belief that those who respect and serve the Lord receive material as well as spiritual rewards.

“The reward for humility and fear of the Lord“: The Hebrew term translated “The reward” has the basic meaning of “consequence,” that is, what happens or what follows from the attitude or conduct that is referred to. Because the terms in the second line all refer to good and valuable things, “reward” is quite a suitable rendering in English. We may also say, for example, “Humility and the fear of the Lord bring. . .” (New International Version) or “Obey the Lord . . . and you will get. . .” (Good News Translation). For “humility” see 15.33. For “fear of the Lord” see 1.7 and 15.33. Since the word “and” is not found in the Hebrew, and there is no verb in the verse, some versions put the verb “is” into the first line: “The reward of humility is the fear of Yahweh, and. . .” (New Jerusalem Bible). Most, however, insert “and”, as Revised Standard Version does.

“Is riches and honor and life”: See 3.16 for the terms “riches” and “honor” (as the rewards of Wisdom). For “life” see 3.2.

In some languages the form of this saying will need to be restructured to express the terms in the first line as verbs; and it may also be more natural to express the idea of consequence or reward by means of an “if” construction. Two examples of the way the verse may be rendered are: “If you make yourself humble and obey the Lord, you will have plenty of money and possessions, and a big name, and you will live well.”!

Or: “The person who obeys the Lord, and makes himself humble, will become rich. He will have a long life, and people will honor him.”

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 .