drink

In Telugu different verbs for humans drinking (tāgu / తాగు) and animals drinking (cēḍu / చేడు) are required.

Translation commentary on Proverbs 4:17

“For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence”: In this verse evil people are described in terms of “bread” and “wine”. “Violence” refers to bad actions that cause others to suffer. It may be physical or ethical. “Bread of wickedness” in the first line and “wine of violence” in the next line are handled in four ways by translators: (1) in their literal form as in Revised Standard Version; (2) “wickedness” and “violence” describe the manner in which “bread” and “wine” are obtained; for example, Revised English Bible “The bread they eat is gained by crime, the wine they drink is got by violence”; (3) as a figure, for example, Bible en français courant “They fill themselves with evil and intoxicate themselves with violence”; (4) as a plain statement, for example, “They are constantly wicked and violent.”

Since all of these are possible, you must decide which of the four is best in your language or what kinds of adjustments must be made to make clear the intended sense. For example, if you choose to follow approach (3), it may be possible to say “They gobble down evil like a person eats bread, and they fill themselves with violence like a person gulping down wine.” If the images of “bread” and “wine” are unsuitable, general terms or terms for local food and drink may be used. One translation says “Evil and violence are their food and drink.”

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 4:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 4:17:

  • Kupsabiny: “The food of this people is evil and violence.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Evil work and violence is their food and drink.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Wickedness and violence as-if-like food and drink for them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Their doing evil and cruel-things, it is like food and drink to them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 4:17

4:17

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

17a For they eat the bread of wickedness

17b and drink the wine of violence.

4:17a–b

For: This word introduces an explanation for why the wicked people in the previous verse cannot sleep until they do something wrong. It is because wickedness and violence are like food and drink to them.

they eat the bread of wickedness…drink the wine of violence: There are two ways to interpret these parallel statements:

(1) These statements are metaphors. They compare doing wicked and violent things to eating bread and drinking wine. They imply that for evil people, doing wrong is as necessary or natural as eating and drinking. For example:

They feast on wickedness and cruelty as if they were eating bread and drinking wine. (New Century Version)

(2) These statements indicate the means by which evil people get their bread and wine. They get bread and wine by doing wicked and violent things. For example:

They eat food obtained through wrongdoing and drink wine obtained through violence. (God’s Word)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This interpretation better fits the context in 4:16 that wrongdoing is necessary for wicked people.

Bread and wine were the staple food and drink of that time. In some cultures today, bread is considered a luxury item or a snack food and wine is not drunk at meals. If that is true in your culture, it may be better to translate with more general terms. For example:

Wickedness and violence are like food and drink to them (Good News Translation)

Notice that the Good News Translation has changed the metaphors to a simile. It has also combined and/or reordered the parallel parts.

of wickedness…of violence: The second term clarifies the first by specifying the kind of wickedness that it is talking about. The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as violence refers to injury and probably murder.

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