“The Lord tears down the house of the proud”: “Tears down” renders the same Hebrew verb as used in 2.22, where it is translated “rooted out” since its meaning there is to “snatch away” or “uproot violently.” Here the sense is “pulls down” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “destroys” (Contemporary English Version). “The proud”, which contrasts with “the widow” in the next line, refers to powerfully arrogant or ruthless people who have the means to take away other people’s property. In some languages the expression for “proud person” has nothing to do with power, craftiness, or arrogance, and so a literal rendering of “proud” is likely to give the wrong sense. In some languages a proper translation is “big grasping people” or “big hand people.”

“But maintains the widow’s boundaries”: “Maintains” renders a verb meaning “to fix” or “to establish.” This word contrasts with “tears down” in the first line. “The widow” is a representative of the helpless, defenseless underclass and the opposite of the arrogant overlords in the first line. “Boundaries” refers to the property markers or land borders that might be moved to increase the size of a neighbor’s property. Contemporary English Version says “The Lord destroys the homes of those who are proud, but he protects the property of widows.”

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 .