“If you say, “Behold, we did not know this””: In this verse the second person verb forms are singular in Hebrew. “If you say” introduces a course of action that the person may consider following (Good News Translation “You may say”). “Behold” (New Revised Standard Version “Look”) calls for attention, in this case to a protest or argument against the command in the previous verse. In modern English the word “but” (New International Version, Revised English Bible) is sufficient to express this element. The protest is presented in direct speech in Hebrew and most English versions, but we may also use indirect speech: “You may say that. . .” (Good News Translation). Revised Standard Version is a literal rendering of the words of protest; but it is not clear what the words refer to. Revised English Bible takes them to mean “I do not know this person,” with the reader being expected to understand “. . . and so it is not my responsibility to do anything for him.” New International Version expresses the words as “But we knew nothing about this,” again suggesting the excuse “. . . and so we could not do anything.” It is much clearer to include what is to be understood in the wording, as, for example, in Good News Translation or in Scott: “See, this is none of my business.” Most languages have expressions or idiomatic ways of saying this.

“Does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?”: This and the next two lines are a series of rhetorical questions pointing out that God will not accept the person’s excuse or lack of kindness. If the meaning will not be clear in the question form in translation, it may be better to restructure the questions as statements; see Good News Translation for a model of how to do this. “He who weighs the heart” is a reference to God, and this should be made clear, as in Good News Translation and some other versions. For the expression “weighs the heart”, which Good News Translation translates “judges your motives,” see 21.2. To “perceive it” means more than just to see, it is to “take note” of it (Scott, Revised English Bible), looking ahead to what he (God) will do about it in the final line.

“Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it”: This line repeats in other words the same thought as in the previous line. “He who keeps watch over your soul” may have the sense of “he who guards your life” (New International Version), but in parallel with “weighs the heart”, it is probably better to take it as “he who watches you” (Revised English Bible, and see also Good News Translation). “Know it” is the common verb for “know” and has the same meaning as “perceive it” in the previous line. Since these two lines are very similar, it is possible to combine them into something like “God who sees what you think will know about it.”

“And will he not requite man according to his works?”: “Will he not requite” is a causative form of the verb “return,” meaning “make it come back.” So the sense is that God will “give back,” “repay” (New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Revised English Bible) or “pay back” (Contemporary English Version) people for what he sees them doing. “His works” is a noun form derived from the verb “to do”; so “according to his works” means “according to what he has done” (New International Version) or “as your deeds deserve” (New Jerusalem Bible).

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 .