Translation commentary on Proverbs 31:9

“Open your mouth, judge righteously”: “Open your mouth” is the same as in the previous verse. “Judge righteously” is literally “judge righteousness” or “give a right judgment.” Having in mind the responsibility of a king to give decisions or verdicts in cases before him, the following are appropriate renderings in this context: “pronounce an upright verdict” (New Jerusalem Bible), “pronounce just sentence” (Revised English Bible), “See justice done” (Scott), and “be a righteous judge” (Good News Translation).

“Maintain the rights of the poor and needy”: “Maintain the rights” is the verb form of the noun “rights of” in the previous verse. Here it means something like “give judgement for” (Revised English Bible), “defend [in a legal sense]” (New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version), or “give justice to” (Contemporary English Version). For “the poor” see 14.21; for “needy” see 14.31.

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 .

complete verse (Proverbs 31:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 31:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “Speak for those who are hated and make true judgments.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Lift [your] voice supporting
    justice for the poor and the helpless,
    and protect them.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (sing.) judge without taking-one-side, and depend the rights of the poor-ones.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “It-is-necessary that you cause- nobody -to-be-differentiated (i.e., show favoritism) and protect the rights of the poor and pitiable.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Speak on their behalf/to help them and try to cause judges to decide matters fairly/justly;
    try to cause others to do for poor and needy people what should be done for them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 31:9

31:9

This verse is similar to 31:8. Both verses advise the king to defend the rights of people who are poor and unable to defend themselves. Verse 31:9 adds the information that the king is judging the case. The second line specifies the people whom the king is judging.

9a Open your mouth, judge righteously,

9b and defend the cause of the poor and needy.

31:9a

Open your mouth: See the notes on the identical phrase in 31:8a.

judge righteously: This phrase is literally “judge righteousness.” It advises the king to give a just/righteous verdict when he judges a court case. Some other ways to translate this command are:

be a righteous judge (Good News Translation)
-or-
judge fairly (New International Version)
-or-
give a just/fair verdict

31:9b

defend the cause: The phrase defend the cause is a verb form of the noun “cause” in 31:8b.

the poor: For the word poor, see the note on “oppressed” in 31:5b. This word has the same meaning. See the footnote on “the poor” in 14:21b for a list of other verses where this word occurs.

needy: In Hebrew, the word needy emphasizes people who have material needs. They need things like food, clothing, or protection from people who oppress them. See the footnote on “the needy” in 14:31b for a list of other verses where this word occurs.

Another way to translate this line is:

and defend the rights of oppressed and needy people (God’s Word)

General Comment on 31:8–9

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts in these two verses. See the meaning lines for 31:8–9 (combined/reordered) in the Display for an example.

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