“For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord“: This verse is introduced by a particle that marks it as a reason. Here the learner is reminded that the Lord watches over people and so they should conduct themselves in the right way. “A man” is general and refers to everyone. New Jerusalem Bible says “human ways,” Traduction Œcuménique de la Bible “each one,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “everyone.” “A man’s ways” means “everything a person does” or “all that we [inclusive] do.”

“The eyes of the Lord” is a common expression in the Old Testament and means “the Lord sees” or, as Contemporary English Version says, “The Lord sees everything.”

“He watches all his paths”: The sense is very much the same as in the first line. “He” refers to the Lord. “Watches” (see Revised Standard Version footnote) translates a word that means “weighs” or “makes level.” The sense of weighing a person’s ways is that the Lord takes account of, or thinks about, what that person does, whether it is good or bad. New Revised Standard Version and New International Version render the sense “he examines all. . ..” “Paths” was used in 4.11 with the literal sense of tracks. We may translate verse 21, for example, “The Lord sees everything we do and he knows all our ways.”

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 .