Kölsch translation (Boch 2017): nix zo Käue han or “have nothing to chew on” and singe Mage hät geknottert wie ne Hungk or “his stomach growled like a dog” (source: Jost Zetzsche)
German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): Hunger überfiel ihn or “Hunger overtook (lit.: “attacked”) him” (in Matthew 4:2)
Kupsabiny: “hunger ate him” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Mairasi: “feeling tuber pains” (tubers are the main staple) (source Enggavoter 2004)
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “thief” in English is translated in Low German as Spitzboov or “naughty boy” / “scoundrel” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1937, republ. 2006).
“Do not men despise a thief if he steals”: As the Revised Standard Version footnote shows, this verse may be understood either as a question expecting a positive reply or as a negative statement. Revised Standard Version represents the former and New Revised Standard Version the latter: “Thieves are not despised who steal only to satisfy their appetite when they are hungry.” Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version put alternative translations in their footnotes.
“Men” is supplied by Revised Standard Version; the Hebrew has “Do they not despise.” “Despise”, a word meaning to show contempt or to consider as vile, is used in 1.7; 11.12; 13.13; and 14.21. “Thief . . . steals” refers to someone who steals or takes away objects he can carry without being seen.
“To satisfy his appetite when he is hungry”: This line makes clear that hunger is the thief’s motivation for stealing. “Appetite” translates the Hebrew “soul,” which expresses the idea of desire or want. In some languages “when he is hungry” must be expressed as “hungering for food.” Bible en français courant translates this verse “One does not scorn a thief when he has stolen to calm the hunger in his stomach.”
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 .
Men do not despise the thief: There are two ways to interpret this clause:
(1) It means that people do not despise a thief. For example:
People attach but little blame to a thief (New Jerusalem Bible)
(2) It means that people do indeed despise a thief. This may be expressed as a rhetorical question or as a statement. For example:
Do not men despise a thief? (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
We don’t put up with thieves (Contemporary English Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with a majority of versions and scholars. This interpretation preserves the contrast between the lesser evil of stealing and the greater evil of adultery. Also, the second interpretation does not follow normal Hebrew grammatical patterns for questions.
The point of the verse is that people may sympathize with a starving thief who steals food, but they will still punish him, as the next verse states.
In some languages, it may be more effective to change the negative statement “people do not despise a thief” into a rhetorical question. For example:
Do people despise a thief…? Of course not!
Notice that this rhetorical question has the same meaning as interpretation (1).
do not despise: The word despise means to show contempt for someone or to think of him in a belittling way. To “not despise the thief” may be expressed in various ways. For example:
Excuses might be found for a thief… (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
people don’t hate a thief… (New Century Version)
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