“My son, fear the Lord and the king”: For “My son” see 1.8. For “fear the Lord” see the comments on 1.7 (where the related noun form is used). Because the command includes “and the king”, the meaning of “fear” here is probably “respect and be in awe of. . .,” which should include the aspect of obedience, whether that is expressed in the next line or not. A similar use of the term is found in the concluding words of Eccl 12.13, “Fear God, and keep his commandments.”

“And do not disobey either of them”: This rendering in Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version is based on the Septuagint, as the footnotes indicate. The Hebrew text is literally “with those who change do not associate,” and this is favored by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project (with a “B” rating). Most English versions try to make sense of this in one way or another. New Jerusalem Bible follows the Hebrew quite literally with “do not ally yourself with innovators.” But others take “those who change” in the sense of “people who want to rebel” against the authority of the Lord or of the king. So New International Version has “do not join with the rebellious” and Contemporary English Version “you must not make friends with anyone who rebels against either of them”; these and Good News Translation are good models for other translators to follow.

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 .