This saying compares the mind of a king with the unsearchable heights and depths of sky and earth.

“As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth”: New Revised Standard Version says “Like the heavens. . ., like the earth. . ..” The sense here is that we may compare the thinking of kings to the height of the sky and the depth of the earth in that the mind of kings is unreachable or unknowable. “The earth for depth” may refer to the underparts of the earth as seen, for example, in Job 9.6. Note that Good News Translation speaks of “the depths of the ocean.”

“So the mind of kings is unsearchable”: “The mind”, as elsewhere in Proverbs, is literally “heart.” “Unsearchable” comes from the same Hebrew root as “search” in verse 2.

Good News Translation has reversed the two lines of this saying so that the comparison comes in the second line: “his thoughts are beyond us, like. . ..” Contemporary English Version is similar with “Who can fully understand the thoughts of a ruler? They reach beyond the sky and go deep into the earth.”

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 .

This saying continues the theme of things that are not fitting or not appropriate. It is linked in thought to verse 9. A proverb in the mouth of a fool is inappropriate.

“Like a lame man’s legs, which hang useless”: The text of “a lame man” is rated as “A” by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. The word that Revised Standard Version renders “hang useless” (New Revised Standard Version, New International Version “hang limp”) is rated as “C” and may mean “to be weak” or “to dangle.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project’s recommended translations for this line are “as the legs of a cripple are too weak to use” or “as the legs dangle from a cripple.”

“Is a proverb in the mouth of fools”: The sense here is that a proverb or saying spoken by a fool is as useless as the crippled person’s legs. In other words a proverb spoken by a fool has no effect; it can accomplish nothing. Good News Translation makes the comparison effective with “. . . can use . . . about as well. . ..” Revised English Bible says “A proverb in the mouth of fools dangles helpless as the legs of the lame.” Another way of expressing the saying is “If a fool tries to speak a good-sounding talk, he can’t, just as a man with a crippled leg can’t walk.”

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 .

This verse is almost identical with 20.16. See there for comments. As the footnotes in Revised Standard Version and other versions indicate, the Hebrew text has “a foreign woman,” where the Vulgate and 20.16 have “foreigners.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rates the Hebrew text as “B”; a good number of versions, however, follow Revised Standard Version with “foreigners” or “persons unknown” (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 .

Verses 18-20 share a common topic, the contrast between acceptable and unacceptable conduct.

“He who walks in integrity will be delivered”: For “walks in integrity” see 2.7 and 10.9. “Delivered” means here “will be safe” or “will be secure.”

“But he who is perverse in his ways will fall into a pit”: For “perverse in his ways” see 2.15, where “perverse” is rendered “crooked.” “Is perverse” is the opposite of “walks in integrity”, and so we may say “who is dishonest” or “who is corrupt.” Revised Standard Version “will fall into a pit” follows the ancient Syriac translation, where the Hebrew has “fall into one.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rates the Hebrew text a “B.” It says “fall into one” is linked to “in his ways” (Hebrew “two ways”) and recommends translating “he will fall down all of a sudden” or “he will fall down in one of them [that is, one of the two ways].” Note that Good News Translation follows the first of these recommendations: “you will suddenly fall.” “Fall” here is not to be taken literally but in the sense of “be ruined or destroyed.” Good News Translation is a good model translation.

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 .

“A man of wrath stirs up strife”: This line is very similar to 15.18a. See there for comments. “A man of wrath” is expressed in some languages, for example, as “a person with a hot liver,” “a person with a fever in the stomach,” or “a person who fires up quick.”

“And a man given to anger causes much transgression”: “A man given to anger”, as in 22.24, is literally “a master or possessor of heat,” where “heat” refers to rage, fury, or anger. “Causes transgression” is literally “great in transgression” and, as Good News Translation suggests, may refer to causing trouble in the community. However, some versions take this in a general sense as “commits many sins” (New International Version) or “gets into all kinds of sin” (New Living Translation).

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 .

“The badgers are a people not mighty”: The Hebrew term rendered “badgers” is generally understood to refer to the hyrax or rock badger, a small animal that lives in the crevices of rocks. “A people not mighty” is very similar to the expression used of ants in the previous verse; New International Version translates this as “creatures of little power,” while Good News Translation says “they are not strong either.”

“Yet they make their homes in the rocks”: This is how these little animals show their wisdom. They are not strong, so they protect themselves by living and hiding “in the rocks” where they will be safe.

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 .

“Strength and dignity are her clothing”: Scott takes this line as referring literally to clothing (“Her clothing is of good quality and elegant”), but others take it as figurative language. The term “Strength” refers to physical strength in verse 17, but here it seems to mean strength of character. “Dignity” probably should be taken as meaning “honor” in this context; it describes a quality of character that people praise or respect. To say that qualities “are her clothing” or “She is clothed in [them]” (New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible) means that she shows those qualities in her life. This is simply expressed as “She is strong and respected” (Good News Translation).

“And she laughs at the time to come”: “The time to come” is literally “the day afterwards,” and this simply means “the future” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). To say that “she laughs at” the future may mean that she is “not afraid of the future” (Good News Translation), but it may also have the sense of “happily looks forward to. . .” (Scott).

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 .

This saying about the training of children is a single statement in which the second line expresses the consequence of the first line.

“Train up a child in the way he should go”: “Train up a child” is rather unnatural English, but the sense is clear. Other English versions say “teach children,” “give children training,” or “start a child.” “The way he should go” could refer to what is good and right in life, which may be expressed as “in the right way” (New Revised Standard Version) or “on the right road” (Revised English Bible). Or it may have the sense of training for life, as in “Teach children how they should live” (Good News Translation) or “Give a lad the training he needs for life” (Scott). A common rendering in Pacific languages is “Teach children to do what is right.”

“And when he is old he will not depart from it”: This is the consequence of the training described in the first line. The Hebrew begins with a word that gives emphasis to the thought of this line; Revised English Bible expresses this as “and even. . ..” “Is old” is the verb for reaching old age; but “when he is old” does not mean only in old age, it means through all the years of life. So Good News Translation expresses this as “they will remember it all their life,” and one other translation that is a good model says, “and he will keep going this way right up to his old age.” “Not depart from it” is a negative way of saying “will follow that way.”

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 .