“I give you good precepts”: This is the father’s or teacher’s claim to be heard. “Give” is used in the sense of teach or show. In the Hebrew “you” is plural to agree with “sons” or “children.” “Good” used with “precepts” refers to the positive effect these will have on the learner. “Precepts” translates a word used in 1.5, which refers to learning that is received or handed down from a teacher. In the active sense it means what is taught, and so Good News Translation has “what I am teaching you is good.” Bible en français courant says “I am transmitting to you sure knowledge.”
“Do not forsake my teaching”: “Forsake”, as used in 2.13, means to abandon, give up, or turn away from. “Teaching” translates the Hebrew torah, which was used in 1.8 in the sense of teaching or instruction. You may find it more natural to express this as a positive command; for example, “Remember my teaching” or “Keep in mind what I teach you.”
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 .
The Greek, Hebrew, and Ge’ez that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
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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 choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning. The first line gives the reason to obey the command in the second line.
2a For I give you sound teaching;
2b do not abandon my directive.
4:2a–b
For: In the Hebrew, 4:2a begins with a conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as For. It explains the reason why the father’s children should listen to his commands in 4:1.
I give you sound teaching: The word teaching comes from a Hebrew root that means “receive.” In the context of 4:3–4, the whole clause implies that the teacher is passing on advice that he received from his own father when he was a child.
sound teaching: The phrase translated as sound teaching is literally “good learning/teaching.” It is parallel with “my directive” in the second clause. In this context, “good” probably means “true” and “accurate” as well as “useful.” Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
My advice is useful (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
good guidance (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
good instruction (NET Bible)
In some languages, the phrase “sound teaching” or “good teaching” may be expressed more naturally as a verb. For example:
What I am teaching you is good (Good News Translation)
4:2b
do not abandon my directive: The command do not abandon my directive indicates that the listeners should not abandon or turn away from what the father instructs or teaches them. In some languages, it may be more natural to translate this clause as a positive command. For example:
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