Verses 16 and 17 describe characteristics of evil people and provide a reason why the learner should avoid them.

“For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong”: Unlike the psalmist, who sleeps soundly because the Lord protects him (Psa 4.8), the kind of evil people described here cannot rest unless they have done wrong to someone. The sense, as is shown from the parallel line, is not that they stay up and avoid sleep in order to commit some crime, but rather that their evil consciences will not let them be at peace until they have done something evil. For a model rendering see Good News Translation.

“They are robbed of sleep unless they have made some one stumble”: This line almost repeats the first line. “Robbed” translates the passive form of a verb meaning to seize or tear away. It is used in a literal sense in Gen 21.25 of a well that Abimelech’s servants had violently taken from Abraham’s men. In Hebrew, as in English, people said that someone was robbed of sleep if thoughts or worries prevented sleep. In languages where “rob” or “steal” are not used in this way, it will be necessary to use an expression of the meaning in plain terms; for example, “They are unable to sleep unless they have made. . ..” To avoid the misunderstanding that the evildoers are using the night to commit their crimes, some translations say, “If they have not . . . they lie on their beds but can’t sleep.” “Stumble” translates the same word as used in verse 12 and has the same sense as there. Contemporary English Version brings together the two uses of the word “sleep”: “They can’t sleep or rest until they do wrong. . ..”

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 .