Translation commentary on Proverbs 6:4

“Give your eyes no sleep” expresses the urgency of getting free from this commitment. The language is figurative and means “Don’t waste a moment” or “Do so immediately.”

“And your eyelids no slumber” repeats the thought of the previous line in somewhat more poetic terms. Note how Good News Translation has retained the parallelism with “. . . go to sleep or even stop to rest.”

One example of restructuring verses 3-4 runs as follows: “If you have done this, you are in the power of this man. But there is a way for you to escape from your difficulty. Go immediately to see this man and beg him to set you free. Don’t sleep. Don’t delay. Go now.”

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 6:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 6:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “Do not sleep or rest.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Don’t let your eyes doze off.
    Don’t rest for a minute.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Do not sleep or rest” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Do not still rest or sleep.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 6:4

6:4

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

4a Allow no sleep to your eyes

4b or slumber to your eyelids.

There is an ellipsis in 6:4b. In some languages, the missing verb may need to be supplied from 6:4a. For example:

4b
⌊nor allow⌋ slumber to your eyelids.

6:4a–b

no sleep…or slumber: In Hebrew, sleep refers to regular sleep. The second term, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as slumber, refers to light or occasional sleep, in other words, snoozing or dozing. This progression from regular sleep in 6:4a to just dozing in 6:4b can be seen in the following versions:

Don’t go to sleep or even rest your eyes (New Century Version)
-or-
Don’t let yourself go to sleep or even stop to rest (Good News Translation)

The guarantor should go to the neighbor at once, without delay. He should not allow a night’s sleep or even a short nap to delay this action.

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