Translation commentary on Proverbs 22:25

“Lest you learn his ways”: This is the first of the two undesirable consequences of “friendship with a man given to anger”. To “learn his ways” means to “behave as he does” or to “copy his behavior”; Contemporary English Version expresses this as “turn out like them.” The word “lest” means in English “so that you will not. . .,” and it renders a Hebrew conjunction that has the sense of “to avoid. . ..” A number of English versions use the words “may” or “might” to express this sense; for instance, “you may learn” (New Revised Standard Version, New International Version) or “you might. . .” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). However, these English verb constructions are probably not good models for other languages, which express the sense in their own different ways. Examples of renderings from two non-English translations are “It is not good that you take on their behavior” and “Watch out. If you don’t, you will take on their behavior.”

“And entangle yourself in a snare”: The Hebrew of this line is literally “and take the bait for your life,” that is, “get yourself caught in a trap.” English translations mostly have something like “get yourself ensnared” (New International Version) or “get caught in a trap” (Contemporary English Version). However, the expression is figurative, and following on from the previous line it means something like “[become like him and] not be able to escape from that.” Good News Translation expresses this with “. . . and not be able to change.” Another way of rendering the figurative expression is “. . . and that ruins your life.”

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 22:25)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 22:25:

  • Kupsabiny: “because you may learn his ways and set a trap for yourself.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Otherwise you may also become like them.
    And sink into the pit yourself.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “for you (sing.) might become-like him also, and you (sing.) will-be-trapped with that (kind) of behavior.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “because you (sing.) will-be-affected/rubbed-off-on by them and it will be as if you (sing.) are caught in a trap/snare.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “but if judges say that guilty people must be punished,
    things will go well for those judges, and they will receive blessings/God will bless them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 22:25

22:25

This verse gives the reason or motivation for obeying the commands in 22:24. The reason is to avoid the bad consequences of disobeying those commands.

25a or you may learn his ways

25b and entangle yourself in a snare.

These consequences are closely related. The first consequence leads to the second.

22:25a

or you may learn his ways: In Hebrew, this verse begins with a word that introduces the bad consequences of associating with a person who is always angry. If a person does this, his behavior will become like the behavior of the angry person. Some other ways of expressing this relationship are:

lest you learn his ways (English Standard Version)
-or-
If you do, you will be like them (New Century Version)
-or-
You might learn their habits (Good News Translation)

22:25b

and entangle yourself in a snare: This is a metaphor. It compares a person who learns to behave in an angry way to a bird or animal that gets caught in a net or trap. The similarity is that both the bird/animal and the person will be in danger of losing their lives and will not be able to escape. In some languages, a literal translation of this metaphor may be difficult to understand. If that is true in your language, some other ways to translate this metaphor are:

• Change the metaphor to a simile. Make one or more of the similarities explicit if necessary. For example:

Then you will be ⌊like an animal that gets⌋ caught in a trap. Your life will be in danger.

• Express the meaning directly. For example:

Then you will be in real danger. (New Century Version)

in a snare: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as snare can refer to:

(a) a net with weights around the edge that a hunter releases from the lower branches of a tree. The net falls onto a bird that comes to the bait underneath the net.

(b) a trip wire or loop to catch small animals

If your language has words for specific nets or traps like these, you may use them. If not, you may use a more general word for anything that is used to catch birds or animals.

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