This saying is a brief one-liner. Scott suggests that possibly it was used as a response to a person who was constantly asking to be given things.
“The leech has two daughters”: As the footnotes in Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version indicate, the meaning of the term rendered “leech” is uncertain. But most translations take this as the meaning. In languages that do not have a name for this creature a descriptive expression is often used; for example, “small bush worm that drinks blood.” However, a better approach in this saying may be for the translator to look for some creature that is known in his or her culture to be always demanding more. Where that is impossible, Contemporary English Version offers another approach: “Greed has twins, each named ‘Give me!'”
““Give, give,” they cry”: The Hebrew has just the two words “Give, give”. The Revised Standard Version rendering makes a complete sentence by taking ““Give, give”” as what the daughters say. New International Version and some others also follow this approach; Revised English Bible translates “ ‘Give,’ says one, and ‘Give,’ says the other.” But it is also possible to regard the two words as the (identical) names of the daughters. So Scott translates, “A leech has two daughters—‘Give!’ and ‘Give!'”; and Good News Translation says, “A leech has two daughters, and both are named ‘Give me!'”
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 .
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