The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “remember” in English is translated in Mairasi as “it is (or: place it) in your liver’s crack” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar as barrang-dwangka, literally “ear-hold” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).
The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “forget” in English is translated in Noongar as dwangka-anbangbat, lit. “ear-lose.” (Source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).
“Let them drink and forget their poverty”: The verb form is actually singular in Hebrew, but the reference is clearly back to the people described in verse 6, and the plural “let them drink” is required if plurals have been used there. This is not an imperative, and it may have the sense of “they can drink to forget. . .”; in one language, for example, it is translated as “If they want to, they can drink and they won’t think any more about. . ..” The noun rendered “their poverty” is found only in Proverbs; for comments on its meaning, see 6.11. Since “poverty” does not quite seem to fit what is described in verse 6, New Jerusalem Bible renders the term “misfortune” in this context.
“And remember their misery no more”: “Remember . . . no more” has the same sense as “forget” in the previous line, and “misery” is the matching term for “poverty”. “Misery” renders a Hebrew word that basically means “labor” or “toil,” but which often has the sense of “trouble” (Revised English Bible) or “suffering.” Good News Translation translates “unhappiness” and Contemporary English Version “how . . . miserable they feel.”
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 31:7:
Kupsabiny: “Let those (people) drink and then (they) forget their poverty/weakness and their troubles.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “By drinking they forget their sorrows, and they forget the pains of their heart.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Let- the people -drink who have now lost hope and their feeling were-hurt, so-that they could forget their poverty and difficulties.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “so-that they will forget their hardship/suffering and their pitiable situation.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “If they drink, they will forget that they are poor, and they will not think about their distress/troubles any more.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
This verse describes the parallel benefits of intoxicating drink for the individuals that are described in 31:6.
7a Let him drink and forget his poverty,
7b and remember his misery no more.
31:7a
Let him drink: The singular pronoun him refers to any of the group of people mentioned in 31:6. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
When they drink, they will forget… (New American Bible)
-or-
Such a person drinks and forgets… (God’s Word)
forget his poverty: There are two ways to interpret the word poverty :
(1) It refers to “poverty,” a lack of material resources. For example:
forget their poverty (English Standard Version)
(2) It refers to misery or misfortune. For example:
forget his misfortune (New Jerusalem Bible)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most versions. No commentaries or lexicons support misery/misfortune.
Some other ways to translate this line are:
and forget their need (New Century Version)
-or-
and forget that they are very poor
31:7b
and remember his misery no more: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as misery usually refers to the unpleasant aspects of hard labor. It implies trouble, sorrow, and misery. Some other ways to translate this line are:
and think no more of their burdens (New American Bible)
-or-
and remember their troubles no more (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
then ⌊perhaps⌋ he won’t remember his sorrows anymore (The Voice)
General Comment on 31:7a–b
In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts in these lines. For example:
forget their poverty and unhappiness (Good News Translation)
-or-
forget how poor and miserable they feel (Contemporary English Version)
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