“The beginning of strife is like letting out water”: The meaning of this line is that once a flow of water starts from a source, it is difficult to stop it and the same is true of a quarrel. For “strife” see 15.18. “Letting out water” assumes a supply of water that at first is being released slowly. Contemporary English Version calls it “a water leak,” Good News Translation “the first break in a dam,” and Bible en français courant “opening a dike.” Contemporary English Version expresses the line well: “The start of an argument is like a water leak.”

“So quit before the quarrel breaks out”: This line draws a consequence from the first and is in the form of a warning. “Quit” means to stop or cease. “Quarrel” refers to an argument or dispute. “Breaks out” renders a word meaning to expose or lay bare, snarl or show the teeth. The image is of snarling animals on the verge of combat. Revised English Bible says “abandon a dispute before you come to blows.” Contemporary English Version has “so stop it before real trouble breaks out.” We may also say, for example, “so stop quarreling before you begin to fight.”

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 lot puts an end to disputes”: “The lot” renders the same Hebrew word as used in 1.14 and 16.33. Lots were possibly small marked pebbles or pieces of clay which were thrown to decide various issues. It was recognized that God determined the way the lots fell and so the decision was divinely made. “Puts an end to” means “settles,” “resolves,” “decides.” “Disputes” or quarrels between people were settled by the casting of lots.

“And decides between powerful contenders”: Instead of a judge hearing arguments and deciding a case on its merits, the casting of lots (Contemporary English Version “drawing straws”) decided. “Powerful contenders” renders a word meaning “the mighty” or “powerful people.” In the context of this saying these are men of great influence, people in high positions. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project accepts both “litigants” and “powerful people.” Litigants are people engaged in a lawsuit. Note Good News Translation “two powerful people are opposing each other in court.” We may translate the whole verse, for example, “Throw dice to stop people from quarreling and decide who is right between powerful people.”

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 .

“He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother”: “He who” is revised by New Revised Standard Version to “Those who.” “Does violence” renders a form of the verb meaning to attack or abuse physically. Good News Translation understands “does violence” as “mistreat,” which could be either physical or emotional. Revised English Bible “expels his father” follows an interpretation based on a similar word in Arabic. It assumes that the son has forcefully taken over his parent’s property and manages it with no regard for them. However, Whybray, which is preferred over Revised English Bible, believes the Revised Standard Version rendering represents the Hebrew text correctly. “And chases away his mother” may refer to forcing the mother to leave the family home and is perfectly parallel with “expels his father.” Here Revised English Bible has “evicts his mother,” which means to make her leave her house.

“Is a son who causes shame and brings reproach”: For “causes shame” and “brings reproach” see the comments on 13.5, where “acts shamefully and disgracefully” is used. The son mistreats his parents and causes them to feel shame and disgrace. See Good News Translation for a 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 .

The two lines of this verse are parallel and make a contrast between the most admirable qualities of people when they are young and when they are old.

“The glory of young men is their strength”: The Hebrew word rendered “glory” has the primary sense of beauty, and it is used here in the sense of what a person can be proud of or what others praise someone for (see 16.31 and 17.6). So New Jerusalem Bible has “The pride of the young. . .” and Good News Translation “We admire. . ..” “Young men” translates a term whose meaning in the singular is a young male in the prime of manhood; and since “strength” is the quality in focus in this line, to translate as Revised Standard Version does (and also New International Version and Revised English Bible) is quite appropriate here. However, the plural term can also have the general meaning of “youth” as a time of life; both men and women in that age range could then be referred to. So translations such as “We admire the strength of youth” (Good News Translation) and “The pride of the young is their strength” (New Jerusalem Bible) are also satisfactory.

“But the beauty of old men is their gray hair”: “But” in English indicates that the statement in this line is a contrast with the previous line. The Hebrew text has its normal connector, and this is rendered as “and” by some English versions (Good News Translation, Scott) and omitted by others (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible). There is a case, however, for taking the second line of the parallel structure of the verse as expressing what is higher or greater or “more so” than the first line. Contemporary English Version understands the saying this way: “the gray hairs of wisdom are even more beautiful.” “Beauty” is the parallel term for “glory” in the first line. Its meaning is “splendid adornment,” something that people admire very much. Most English versions translate “gray hair” (rendered “hoary head” in 16.31) quite literally, without indicating for the reader the real quality that is in focus, namely, the wisdom that old people have acquired; the commentators mostly mention this as the real meaning, but few translations include it. In some cultures it goes without saying that the old are respected for their wisdom; where this is not the case, translators are advised to follow Contemporary English Version and say something like “the gray hair of wisdom,” or even “their wisdom.” “Wisdom,” after all, is the main theme of the book of Proverbs; and that also makes it more likely that the sense of this verse is that the wisdom of old age is more to be admired than the strength of youth.

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 follows on from the previous verse: “If verse 30 warns us not to fight against the Lord, 31 warns us not to fight without Him” (Kidner). The theme here is that in spite of human plans and efforts, victory in battle is decided by the Lord.

“The horse is made ready for the day of battle”: “Is made ready” is a passive that is not easy to translate in some languages. If this is the case, it may be necessary to say, “Soldiers get their horses ready” or “An army may have horses ready.” Readers of this text probably understood that “The horse” stood for superior military strength—an army with a strong force of horses would expect that it could overcome its enemies. Contemporary English Version reflects this expectation in its rendering “Even if your army has horses ready. . ..” If the “horse” is unknown, this may be expressed more generally as “Even if your army is very strong [or, has many weapons].” In some languages it may be best to express “for the day of battle” simply as “for war” or “for fighting.”

“But the victory belongs to the Lord“: “But” is the normal Hebrew connector, but here it marks what follows as contrary to what people might expect. There is no verb in this line, which is literally “to the Lord the victory.” Most versions use a verb like “belongs to”, “rests with” (New International Version, Revised English Bible), or “the Lord . . . gives” (Good News Translation). The emphasis on the power of the Lord here is sometimes expressed by saying, for example, “. . . only the Lord can make you win.”

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 gives another piece of advice for the situation presented in verse 1. It is parallel to the advice given in verse 2.

“Do not desire his delicacies”: The Hebrew verb rendered “desire” is used to refer to bodily appetite. A number of versions express this warning as “Don’t be greedy for. . ..” “Delicacies” is a plural noun meaning “tasty or savory food.” Good News Translation renders “his delicacies” as “the fine food he serves”; Contemporary English Version has “all of that fancy food.”

“For they are deceptive food”: This line is the reason for not being greedy for the fine food. The Hebrew is literally “it [is] bread of lies,” but the meaning of this expression is not clear. One suggestion is that it is “food offered with deceitful purpose” (Toy); Good News Translation “he may be trying to trick you” follows this approach. Others think that the food is “deceptive” because it is not really what it looks like; Revised English Bible “they are not what they seem” and Contemporary English Version “It may not be so tasty” are examples of this approach.

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 .

“Be not envious of evil men”: “Be not envious” or “don’t be jealous of” (Contemporary English Version) renders a word that has strong emotional content (see 23.17). The sense is “don’t be consumed with desire for what they have.” The Hebrew “evil men” is literally “men of badness,” with the focus on their deeds. It is not exclusively masculine, so a number of versions translate it as “the wicked” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible); Contemporary English Version uses the more colloquial term “crooks.”

“Nor desire to be with them”: “Desire” is the parallel term to “Be . . . envious” in the previous line (see 21.10). However, the warning in this line is against wanting “to be with them”. This is a literal rendering of the Hebrew; but the expression has the sense of wanting their company or their friendship, and so many versions say something like “wish for their company” (New Jerusalem Bible, Scott) or “want to be their friends” (Contemporary English Version).

One translation that is a good model for the whole verse says “It’s not good for you to feel bad that you don’t have everything that bad people have; and it’s also not good for you to try to make friends with them.”

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 4-5 form a close unit through their parallelism.

“Take away the dross from the silver”: “Take away” means “remove” or “skim off.” “Dross” is the scum of impurities that forms on the surface of a molten metal. The impurities must be removed before the silversmith begins to make anything.

“And the smith has material for a vessel”: This line is literally “and there goes out for the smith a vessel.” “The smith” is the craftsman who works with silver to produce silver objects. “A vessel” means an object or utensil. It must be assumed that the smith goes through the whole process of producing a silver vessel. Note Good News Translation “and the artist can produce. . ..” We may also translate, for example, “Take out the impurities from the silver and the silver worker can make a cup.” In some languages this verse is best expressed using an “if” construction; for example, “If people take out the rubbish from silver to make it clean, the worker can make good things with it.”

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 .