Translation commentary on Proverbs 19:26

“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 .

complete verse (Proverbs 19:26)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 19:26:

  • Kupsabiny: “A child who disrespects his father and chases his mother,
    brings shame.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Sons who rob their fathers
    and drive out their mothers
    are people who have no respect and no shame.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “A child who is cruel to his father and drives-out his mother is disgraceful and an-object-of-scorn.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “A child who causes-hurt to his father and causes-to-leave his mother excessively causes-shame.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Anyone who mistreats/abuses his father or forces his mother to leave the home
    is a child who is acting shamefully and disgracefully.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 19:26

19:26

This proverb describes a son who mistreats his parents, causing terrible disgrace. The son’s actions in the first line are parallel to each other.

26a He who assaults his father or evicts his mother

26b is a son who brings shame and disgrace.

19:26a

He who assaults his father or evicts his mother: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as assaults means “mistreats,” or “acts violently against.” It could refer to a violent physical attack. But it probably indicates here that the son forcibly deprived his elderly father of the property that belonged to the family. He may have done this by prematurely taking over the property that he normally would have inherited from his father. In doing this, he forced both his father and mother out of their house.

Some other ways to translate 19:26a are:

He who ill-treats his father and drives out his mother (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
A son who takes his father’s property and forces his mother and father to leave their home

19:26b

is a son who brings shame and disgrace: A son who mistreats his parents causes shame and disgrace to them and possibly also to himself. The words shame and disgrace mean almost the same thing. They are probably used together here for emphasis.

In some languages, the same word is used for both “shame” and “disgrace.” If that is true in your language, you may be able to express the emphasis in a different way. For example:

causes great/terrible shame

Some other ways to translate this line are:

is a shameful and disgraceful son (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
[Children who…] are an embarrassment and a public disgrace (New Living Translation (2004))

See the note on 13:5b. The same terms also occur there.

General Comment on 19:26a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder the parts of this verse. For example:

How utterly disgraceful it is for a son to take his father’s property by force and send his parents out of their own home!

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