hate

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “hate” or a form thereof is translated in Tabasco Chontal as “don’t want to see [the person who is hated].” (Source: John Beekman & Harwood Hess in Notes on Translation, March 1963, p. 1ff.)

See also hate.

complete verse (Proverbs 29:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 29:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “A killer/violent man hates an honest/friendly person,
    but the righteous person guards/protects that friendship.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Murderers do not like good people.
    but righteous people deliver them [the good people].” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The ones-who kill hate and try to kill the people who live rightly and without blame.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “A murderer hates those who have no reason-to-be-criticized, but they are the ones whom the righteous protect.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Those who murder others hate people who are honest/always do what is right,
    but righteous people try to protect them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 29:10

“Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless”: “Bloodthirsty men” is literally “men of bloods” and refers to killers or murderers. “Hate” is the same Hebrew verb found in 25.17; but while it may have the same sense of “dislike,” here the feeling of “dislike” seems to be more intense. For “blameless” see 11.5.

“And the wicked seek his life”: The Revised Standard Version footnote shows that “the wicked” is literally “the upright.” For comments on “the upright” see 2.7. However, “the upright seeks his life” appears to give a wrong meaning, which is why Revised Standard Version has used “the wicked” here. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rates the Hebrew text as “A” and translates “and even upright men. . ..” Good News Translation “but righteous people. . .” is typical of many versions that retain the rendering “the upright” and try to find ways of interpreting “seek his life” in a positive sense. There is a second textual problem in this line. Revised Standard Version “seek his life” translates a Hebrew verb that usually means “seek to kill.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project understands it here to mean “begrudge.” In fact, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project offers two translations of this line: (1) “Murderers hate the blameless man, and even upright men begrudge [are annoyed by] his life”; or (2) “Murderers hate the blameless man, but do the upright begrudge his life?” No modern versions appear to follow the latter interpretation. The Good News Translation footnote shows that it has modified the Hebrew “seek” to get “protect.” Scott and others modify the Hebrew to get “are concerned for.” There is no certain solution to the translation of this line, but translators are encouraged to follow either Good News Translation or the first suggestion of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project.

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 .