Translation commentary on Proverbs 2:15

“Men whose paths are crooked”: “Men” is supplied by Revised Standard Version; the Hebrew is literally “their [masculine] paths.” New Revised Standard Version has “those whose paths.” Translators may wish to begin a new sentence with “They are people. . ..” “Crooked” refers here to people being devious or deceptive. They are described in Deut 32.5 as “a perverse and crooked generation.” If a language does not express deceptive conduct by the image of crooked or twisted paths, another natural figure should be used.

“And who are devious in their ways”: This line means the same as the first one. In some languages figurative language may be used in one line and nonfigurative in the other; for example, “They walk on crooked paths and they are dishonest people” or “They are deceitful people and speak with two tongues.” In other cases it may be necessary to use figurative expressions in both lines. It is also possible to combine the two lines and say, for example, “people whose way of life is not straight.”

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 2:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 2:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “Their paths are crooked paths and their behaviors have gone astray.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “These [understanding and insight]
    will keep you far away from evil doers.
    and [deliver us from] those
    who abandon the good path
    to go down the dark path,
    and [deliver us from] those
    who keep on rejoicing
    in false and evil work,
    and deliver [us] from untrustworthy liars.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Their ways are not right; what they are-walking-on is not straight.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “They are tricky and liars, they can never-be-trusted.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 2:15

2:15

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning. The Hebrew phrases form a chiasm. The parts in 2:15b occur in the opposite order from the parallel parts in 2:15a, as can be seen in the New International Version below.

15a whose paths are crooked

15b and who are devious in their ways.

If a chiasm is not natural in your language, you may need to change the order of the parallel parts, as the Berean Standard Bible does.

2:15a–b

whose paths are crooked…whose ways are devious: These two lines are very similar in meaning. Both paths and ways refer to conduct, as in 2:13. The phrase paths are crooked refers here to actions that are morally crooked or wrong and ways… devious refers to conduct that deceives others.

One way to translate these two metaphors is to translate the meaning of the first metaphor without using a figure of speech. Keep the second metaphor. For example:

15a What they do is wrong, (New Century Version)

15b and their ways are dishonest. (New Century Version)

Some other ways to translate the second line are:

They are dishonest.
-or-
They habitually do what is dishonest.
-or-
They cannot be trusted.

General Comment on 2:15a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts, as the Good News Translation has done:

unreliable people who cannot be trusted (Good News Translation)

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