Translation commentary on Proverbs 23:6

“Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy”: The expression “Do not eat the bread of . . .” is somewhat repetitive in Hebrew, but the sense is “do not eat the food of . . . [as a guest].” Translators should make it clear that this is a situation where the “man who is stingy” has invited the other person to eat a meal with him. Contemporary English Version, for example, says “Don’t accept an invitation to eat. . .”; in some languages the way to express this is “Don’t go and eat at the house of. . ..” “A man who is stingy” is literally “a person of evil eye”; the expression can have different meanings, but in this context the sense is “miserly” (Revised English Bible), “stingy” (Revised Standard Version and many others), or even “selfish” (Contemporary English Version).

“Do not desire his delicacies”: This line is identical to the first line of verse 3; see there for comments.

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 23:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 23:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “Do not eat the food of a person who is black stomached (envious). Do not even wait with expectation for that delicious food.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Don’t go to feasts at a stingy person’s place.
    Don’t be greedy for his tasty, delicious feasts.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (sing.)] do- not -eat or crave/envy the food which has-been-prepared by a stingy man, even if it is delicious.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Do not (sing.) eat-with a stingy person if he invites you (sing.). Do not (sing.) crave the collectively-delicious foods that he has put-in-front-of you (sing.),” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 23:6

Paragraph 23:6–8 Saying 8

23:6

This verse contains two parallel commands to not eat with a stingy person if he invites you to a meal. Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

6a
Do not eat the bread of a stingy man,

6b
and do not crave his delicacies ;

The parts in the second line have a more intense or specific meaning than the parallel parts in the first line.

23:6a

Do not eat the bread of a stingy man: The Hebrew idiom that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a stingy man refers to a person who does not like to share what he has with others. The context of this saying may be a situation where cultural obligations have forced a selfish or stingy person to offer hospitality. In such a situation, the young man should not accept his invitation to eat with him. Some other ways to translate this command are:

Do not go to dine with a miserly person (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Don’t accept an invitation to eat a selfish person’s food (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Don’t eat at the table of a stingy person (Good News Translation)

23:6b

do not crave his delicacies: This clause is almost identical to 23:3a. See how you translated the same clause there. Here the clause occurs in the second line rather than the first, so it may not be possible to use the same wording.

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