Toward the scorners he is scornful . . .

For “Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he shows favor.” see James 4:6.

Note that this quote in the New Testament is not taken from the Hebrew Bible but from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) which translates into English as “The Lord resists the arrogant, but he gives grace to the humble” (Translation by NETS — for the Greek version see the title’s tooltip)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 3:34

“Toward the scorners he is scornful”: “Scorners” are people who ridicule or make fun of others. There is no indication in this context that the “scorners” are ridiculing God or religion; but since they are contrasted in the next line with “the humble”, it appears that they think of themselves as superior or greater than others. We may render this line, for example, “He mocks those who mock others” or “He makes fun of those who make fun of others.”

“But to the humble he shows favor”: “Humble” renders a word that is related to a verb meaning “bowed” or “bent” and may suggest someone who bows beneath a hostile force, such as a slave or a suffering, poor person. “Shows favor” is literally “gives grace,” which means he is kind, gracious, good. The Septuagint form of this verse, “The Lord resists the proud, but shows favor to the humble,” is quoted in James 4.6 and 1 Peter 5.5.

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 3:34)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 3:34:

  • Kupsabiny: “God cannot tolerate proud people, but (he) blesses those who humble themselves.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “He has no concern for the arrogant,
    To the humble, however, he shows favor.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He despises the one-who-despises, but he shows-mercy to the ones-who-are-humble.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “He does not pay-any-attention-to the proud (lit. one-who-causes-to-be-high his body), but he shows-mercy/kindness by-contrast to the humble.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("give")

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, atae-rare-ru (与えられる) or “give” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 3:34

3:34

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

34a
He mocks the mockers,

34b but gives grace to the humble.

3:34a–b

the mockers…the humble: In Hebrew, the word mockers refers to people who treat others with scorn, contempt, or ridicule.

This verse does not specify the object of the mockers’ scorn. It could be the LORD. For example:

The Lord laughs at those who laugh at him (New Century Version)

However, those whom they mock could also include their fellowmen or wisdom. If your language does not require that mockers have an object, it is better not to specify one. If it does require an object, follow the example of the New Century Version.

For more information on mockers, see the note on 1:22b.

3:34b

gives grace: Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

shows favor (Good News Translation)
-or-
shows kindness (New American Bible)
-or-
is kind (Contemporary English Version)

General Comment on 3:34a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to use two “if” clauses to translate the meaning of this verse. For example:

If people are scornful, the LORD will scorn them. If they are humble, he will be kind to them.

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