Translation commentary on Proverbs 3:25

New American Bible makes a division of the chapter at this point rather than at verse 21 or verse 27 as most other versions do. It heads this division “Attitude toward Fellow Men.”

“Do not be afraid of sudden panic”: “Sudden” describes an event that happens without warning. It comes as a complete surprise. New English Bible changes the vowels of the word translated “sudden” to get “fools,” and this is continued by Revised English Bible. However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives the Hebrew text an “A” rating and supports Revised Standard Version. “Panic” translates the same root as “afraid” in verse 24. The sense is sudden fear, fright, terror. The nature of this fright is not stated, but it may be understood from the second line. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version call this “sudden disasters.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “sudden dangers.”

“Or of the ruin of the wicked when it comes”: “Ruin” renders a word that can mean a storm or disaster. See Revised Standard Version footnote. “Ruin of the wicked” means the storm or disaster that destroys wicked people. New Revised Standard Version says “the storm that strikes the wicked.” Good News Translation uses a comparison: “disasters, such as come on the wicked like a storm.”

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 3:25)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 3:25:

  • Kupsabiny: “You will not be afraid of trouble which suddenly come or when people who are evil are destroyed,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “You will have no need to fear the misfortune
    that comes suddenly to the wicked” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore you (sing.) should not be afraid if suddenly will-come/arrive a dreadful happenings, or if the wicked-ones will- now -be-destroyed,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Do not be afraid of sudden (bad) happenings or the destruction of the habitually-sinful,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 3:25

3:25

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning. The second line specifies the kind of people who experience disaster/ruin.

25a Do not fear sudden danger

25b or the ruin that overtakes the wicked,

3:25a

Do not fear: There are two ways to interpret the Hebrew clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Do not fear :

(1) It is a command. For example:

So don’t be afraid of sudden disasters (Contemporary English Version)

(2) It is a statement of fact. For example:

You won’t be afraid of sudden trouble (New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most versions. The Hebrew negative particle that is used here is the one that is normally used with a command.

sudden danger: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sudden danger is more literally “sudden terror” (New Jerusalem Bible). However, “terror” is often used as a figure of speech (metonymy) that represents the cause of terror: danger. The word danger also makes a better parallel with “ruin” in the second line. A sudden danger is one that is unexpected. The New Century Version provides another way to translate this phrase. It has:

sudden trouble (New Century Version)

3:25b

the ruin that overtakes the wicked: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as ruin is literally “storm” (New Revised Standard Version). It probably refers here to any kind of disaster or destruction. It does not refer primarily to a literal storm. The Good News Translation uses a simile to express this figurative meaning. It has:

…sudden disasters, such as come on the wicked like a storm. (Good News Translation)

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