The theme of this saying is generosity, especially giving to the poor. For similar sayings see 19.17; 28.27; 31.20. The verse is a single sentence, in which the second line is an explanation of the first.

“He who has a bountiful eye will be blessed”: “He who has a bountiful eye” represents a Hebrew idiom, literally “good eye.” New Jerusalem Bible “a kindly eye” follows Revised Standard Version in a fairly literal rendering of the idiom, but most versions express its sense in a nonfigurative way; for example, “a generous man” (Scott, New International Version), “those who are generous” (New Revised Standard Version), and “one who is kindly” (Revised English Bible). The text does not state who the generous person “will be blessed” by; it could be by God, as in Contemporary English Version “The Lord blesses everyone who. . ..” On the other hand it could mean that people say words of praise or thanks: “A generous man will hear himself blessed” (Scott). Most English versions, like Good News Translation, leave this ambiguous.

“For he shares his bread with the poor”: The term “for” shows that this line gives the reason why the generous person is blessed. The line is also one instance of the way the generous person acts. The Hebrew rendered “he shares his bread” is literally “he gives from his bread.” A number of translations follow Revised Standard Version in expressing the verb as “shares”, but most take the term “bread” as representing food in general, “he shares his food” (New International Version, Revised English Bible). In this context “the poor” may have the sense of a person who is needy or short of food, so Scott says “. . . he gives of his own food to the needy.”

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 .