“Take away the wicked from the presence of the king”: “Take away” began the previous verse also, indicating that there is a comparison being made between these two verses. “The wicked” may be expressed as a singular noun, but the thought here is probably collective, “wicked people.” Most likely these are people who give the king bad advice and are comparable to the dross in the silver in verse 4. In some languages it is desirable to use an expression at the beginning of this verse to make it clear that this is a comparison with verse 4; for example, “And in the same way if we drive out the people who give the king bad advice. . ..”
“And his throne will be established in righteousness” is similar to the expression used in 16.12b. Here the removal of wicked counselors will enable the king to reestablish his authority, that is, “his throne”. “In righteousness” means by doing the right thing or acting justly. 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 .
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 25:5:
Kupsabiny: “If bad advisers are removed from the king/ruler, then the rulership is seen as righteous/upright.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Don’t let the king associate with bad people, only then will he be able to rule with justice.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “(It is) necessary to remove the wicked people of the king, and his kingdom will-continue with righteousness.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “It is also necessary that wicked people be removed from the location of the king so-that righteousness/justice will-be-seen in the way he rules.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “Similarly, if wicked advisors are taken away from a king, his government will remain secure, because the king will be able to act justly.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
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