“If you beat him with the rod”: This repeats the beginning of the previous line. There is a difference, however, in the Hebrew: there is no “If”, and the line begins with the pronoun “you”. Most English versions take this as a command with emphasis on the word “you”; for example, “Give him a stroke of the cane” (New Jerusalem Bible), “Indeed, you should beat him with a stick” (Scott), and “Punish him. . .” (New International Version).

“You will save his life from Sheol”: This line is similar in meaning to the last part of the second line in the previous verse. In Hebrew thought, “Sheol” was the place where people went when they died (see 1.12); so “save his life from Sheol” is the same as “save him from death.” Both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version render this as “save their lives.”

In translating this verse, some translations do not repeat the words from the previous line, and say something like Contemporary English Version “and it may even save their lives.” A translation that brings out the emphasis in this part of the saying links the two verses as follows: “13 . . . If you give him the cane, he won’t die. No! 14 Doing that will help [save] him so that he doesn’t go to the place of dead people.”

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 .