hate

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “hate” or a form thereof is translated in Tabasco Chontal as “don’t want to see [the person who is hated].” (Source: John Beekman & Harwood Hess in Notes on Translation, March 1963, p. 1ff.)

See also hate.

Translation commentary on Proverbs 15:10

“There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way”: “There is” is supplied by Revised Standard Version. “Severe” renders a word whose general meaning is “bad” or “evil.” In relation to “discipline” the sense is “painful,” “harsh,” or “vicious.” “Discipline”, as in 3.11, refers to “correction,” “rebuke,” or “punishment.” “Forsakes the way” means to depart from the way of wisdom, knowledge, or righteousness. Contemporary English Version says “If you turn from the right way, you will be punished.”

“He who hates reproof will die”: For “hates” “reproof” see 12.1. “Shall die” is parallel to “severe discipline”, but the thought is intensified from punishment in line 1 to death in line 2. See Good News 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 .

complete verse (Proverbs 15:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 15:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “(A) person who does evil deeds will be punished much
    and a person who does not like/want to be counselled/brought back will be destroyed.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Anyone who abandons the good path
    will be punished severely.
    Anyone who does not accept correction
    will die.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The straightening of behavior is-considered as bad by a man who distances-(himself) from the right path. The man who does not want to-be-rebuked will-die.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Serious (lit. heavy) is the punishment of one who does what is not right. One who dislikes/rejects advice will moreover die.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Those who do what is wrong will be severely punished;
    those who do not want to be corrected will die.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 15:10

15:10

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

10a
Discipline is harsh for him who leaves the path ;

10b
he who hates correction will die.

In both the Berean Standard Bible and Hebrew, the parallel parts occur in the form of a chiasm. That is, the parts in 15:10a occur in the opposite order from the parallel parts in 15:10b. In some languages, it may be more natural to translate the parallel parts in the same order. Use whatever order is natural in your language.

15:10a–b

Discipline is harsh for him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die: The two lines of this verse are similar in meaning. But the parts in 15:10b have stronger, more specific meanings than the parallel parts in 15:10a. For example, both lines describe the consequences of evil conduct. The consequence in 15:10a is described as Discipline. The second line then specifies the extreme severity of that discipline—death.

The first line refers in a general way to a person who leaves the path. The second line specifies hates correction as one of the main attitudes of someone who has left the right path.

The words Discipline and correction also occur in 15:5a–b and 13:18a–b. See the notes on those verses.

15:10a

Discipline is harsh: This phrase refers here to painful, harsh, or severe punishment.

for him who leaves the path: This severe punishment will be experienced by a person who leaves the path. As in other verses in Proverbs, the path is a metaphor that refers to conduct. The previous verse speaks of pursuing righteousness in contrast to the way (behavior) of the wicked. So the path here probably represents right conduct.

Some ways to translate this line are:

• Keep the metaphor. For example:

Whoever abandons the right path will be severely punished (New Living Translation (1996))

• Translate the meaning without a figure of speech. For example:

The person who quits doing what is right will be punished (New Century Version)
-or-
If you do what is wrong, you will be severely punished (Good News Translation)

Notice that the New Century Version and Good News Translation express the same meaning in opposite ways.

15:10b

he who hates correction will die: As in most references to death in Proverbs, this probably refers primarily to physical death. However, the verse itself does not specify either physical death or eternal death. So it is recommended that you do not specify one meaning or the other in your translation.

Some other ways to translate 15:10b are:

and the one who hates to be corrected will die (New Century Version)
-or-
if you refuse correction, you will die (Contemporary English Version)

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