complete verse (Proverbs 26:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 26:20:

  • Kupsabiny: “Like when a fire goes out when there is no firewood.
    also a quarrel subsides when there is no gossip/slander.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “When there is no wood, the fire will die,
    in the same way, when there are no gossips,
    there will be no quarrelling.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “As a fire goes-out if there is no firewood, quarrel stops also if there is no gossip.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The fire goes-out when there is no wood, also there-are-none who quarrel-together if there-are-none who gossip.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “If there is no more firewood to put on the fire, the fire will go out;
    similarly , if there are no people who gossip/tell people things that are not true, quarreling will end.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 26:20-21

These two sayings are nearly identical in meaning.

“For lack of wood the fire goes out”: In some languages the word for “wood” used for fires is different than the word for “wood” used for other purposes. In areas where “wood” is not used for making fires, the local material should be used or a more general word such as “fuel.”

“And where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases”: “Whisperer”, as in 16.28, is the literal Hebrew term and refers to a “gossiper.” For “quarreling” refer to 16.28, where it is rendered “strife.” In some languages this saying may be translated, for example, “Where there is no more wood for the fire it dies, and where there are no more running tongues disputes stop” or “If there is no firewood left, the fire will die, and in the same way, if there are no people who circulate talk that hurts others, rows will finish.”

“As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire”: Some interpreters modify the Hebrew word rendered “charcoal” to one meaning “bellows.” However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rates the Hebrew text as “B” and endorses the Revised Standard Version rendering. The sense of “charcoal to hot embers” is that “charcoal” produces “hot embers” or “charcoal” turns into “hot embers”. In the same way “wood” fuels “fire”.

“So is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife”: The previous line gives the basis of the simile or the comparison and this line shows what is compared. “A quarrelsome man” is “a quarrelsome person.” “Quarrelsome” renders the same Hebrew term as “quarreling” in the previous verse. “Kindling”, which means “to start a fire” or “to flare up,” is parallel in sense to the change of “charcoal to hot embers” and “wood to fire” in the previous line. For “strife” refer to 15.18, where it is rendered “contention.” See Good News Translation for a model translation of verse 21. We may also say, for example, “Just as burning charcoal makes hot embers and burning wood makes a hot fire, a quarrelsome person makes trouble.”

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 .