“All at once he follows her”: “All at once” may suggest that the young man was hesitant and then suddenly began to follow the woman, or that after her seductive speech in verse 20 he is suddenly on his way following her. Some interpreters have changed the Hebrew word rendered “All at once” to another similar word meaning “simpleton” or “fool,” and so New English Bible says “Like a simple fool he followed her.” Revised English Bible says “He followed her, the simple fool” This change in the text is not favored by most, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, which rates the text as “B,” says it means “suddenly” or “thoughtlessly.” In this case we may say, for example, “Without giving it another thought, he followed her.”

“As an ox goes to the slaughter”: “An ox” is an adult castrated bull used chiefly as a work animal. “Slaughter” means to kill an animal for its meat. The thought expressed in this simile is that the animal has no idea that it is going to be killed and eaten. The young man follows the woman without any idea of the consequences. If the cow, bull, or ox are unknown, it may be possible to substitute a local animal that is killed for food. If this is not possible, then the simile can be modified by saying, for example, “He followed her without a care” or “He went along with her without thinking what might happen to him.”

“Or as a stag is caught fast”: Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation show in their footnotes that the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. The Hebrew word translated “caught fast” is found elsewhere only in Isa 3.18, where Revised Standard Version says “anklets” and Good News Translation “ornaments . . . on their ankles.” Some interpreters understand it to refer to fetters, that is, shackles or chains put on the ankles of prisoners. This would give a meaning “and like shackles [chains] to punishment the fool,” which is not adequate. Some have suggested a slight change in the form “like chains” to “in chains” and get “and a fool goes to punishment in chains.” The Septuagint, which has “dog,” and the Vulgate, with “lamb,” apparently understood that the simile concerned an animal, as in the line before it.

Modern versions vary greatly in the translation of this line. However, they separate into two main groups:

(1) those that have an animal being captured and
(2) those having a fool being punished.

Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, which rates the text as “C,” favors the interpretation of the second group.

You may select any model from among those given here; however, you are advised to follow one that most naturally suits the requirements of meaning in your language. Translations following the first interpretation include New International Version “like a deer stepping into a noose,” New Revised Standard Version “bounds like a stag toward the trap,” Moffatt “like a dog cajoled to the muzzle,” and New English Bible/Revised English Bible “like an antelope bounding into the noose.” :Some examples from the second interpretation are Contemporary English Version “like a fool on the way to be punished,” New Jerusalem Bible “like a madman on his way to the stocks,” and Bible en français courant “He stupidly hands himself over to punishment, bound hand and foot.”

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 .