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The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as a form of “save” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo with a phrase that means literally “make to live,” which combines the meaning of “to rescue” and “to deliver from danger,” but also the concept of “to heal” or “restore to health.”

Other translations include:

  • San Blas Kuna: “help the heart”
  • Laka: “take by the hand” in the meaning of “rescue” or “deliver”
  • Huautla Mazatec: “lift out on behalf of”
  • Anuak: “have life because of”
  • Central Mazahua: “be healed in the heart”
  • Baoulé: “save one’s head”
  • Guerrero Amuzgo: “come out well”
  • Northwestern Dinka: “be helped as to his breath” (or “life”) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida),
  • Matumbi: “rescue (from danger)” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Noongar: barrang-ngandabat or “hold life” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • South Bolivian Quechua: “make to escape”
  • Highland Puebla Nahuatl: “cause people to come out with the aid of the hand” (source for this and one above: Nida 1947, p. 222)
  • Bariai: “retrieve one back” (source: Bariai Back Translation)

See also salvation and save (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on Proverbs 23:14

“If you beat him with the rod”: This repeats the beginning of the previous line. There is a difference, however, in the Hebrew: there is no “If”, and the line begins with the pronoun “you”. Most English versions take this as a command with emphasis on the word “you”; for example, “Give him a stroke of the cane” (New Jerusalem Bible), “Indeed, you should beat him with a stick” (Scott), and “Punish him. . .” (New International Version).

“You will save his life from Sheol”: This line is similar in meaning to the last part of the second line in the previous verse. In Hebrew thought, “Sheol” was the place where people went when they died (see 1.12); so “save his life from Sheol” is the same as “save him from death.” Both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version render this as “save their lives.”

In translating this verse, some translations do not repeat the words from the previous line, and say something like Contemporary English Version “and it may even save their lives.” A translation that brings out the emphasis in this part of the saying links the two verses as follows: “13 . . . If you give him the cane, he won’t die. No! 14 Doing that will help [save] him so that he doesn’t go to the place of dead people.”

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 23:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 23:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “It is better if you punish/discipline (him) so that (he) may be straightened so (he) does not meet death.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “By this their lives will be saved.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (sing.)] do- not -neglect disciplining your (sing.) child. Beating (him) can- not -kill him, but-rather can- even -save him from death.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The truth of it is, it-is-possible that that will-be-the-means-of-saving-him.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 23:14

23:14

In this verse, the second line gives the result of the first line.

14a Strike him with a rod,

14b and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.

23:14a

Strike him with a rod: In Hebrew, this clause is almost identical to the first clause of 23:13b. Many English versions translate it as an “if” clause. For example:

If you beat them with the rod (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
If you spank them (New Century Version)

23:14b

and you will deliver his soul from Sheol: This verse part indicates that the parent will spare the child from an early death. The implied reasoning is that painful discipline will persuade a child to change his bad behavior. Then he will not die early as a result of a wild lifestyle or a crime.

soul: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as soul refers to the child’s life or the child himself. It probably does not imply a contrast between the child’s inner being and his physical body.

Sheol: The word Sheol refers to the world/place of the dead. For more information and translation advice on this word, see the notes on 1:12a and 15:11a.

Some other ways to translate this part of the verse are:

you will save him from the grave (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
-or-
you will be preserving him from Sheol (Revised English Bible)
-or-
you will deliver him from death (NET Bible)

General Comment on 23:13–14

In some languages, it may be redundant to repeat the almost identical clauses in 23:13b and 23:14a. Two ways to avoid unacceptable redundancy are:

• Use different expressions in 23:13b and 23:14a. For example:

13a Don’t fail to discipline your children.

13b They won’t die if you spank them.

14a
Physical discipline

14b may well save them from death. (New Living Translation (2004))

• Combine the almost identical clauses into one clause. For example, the Good News Translation combined 23:13b and 23:14a. It has:

13a Don’t hesitate to discipline children. 13b/14a A good spanking won’t kill them.

14b As a matter of fact, it may save their lives.

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