Translation commentary on Proverbs 8:10

“Take my instruction instead of silver”: “Take” expresses a command in the second person masculine plural form and has the sense of accepting, receiving, or choosing what is offered. See 1.3. In a context that speaks of “taking” one thing out of two that are mentioned, the term “choose” is very natural in English, as in the Good News Translation and Revised English Bible, renderings. “My instruction” is the instruction or teaching that Wisdom gives. “Instead of silver” is literally “and not silver,” which means “rather than silver” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), or “in preference to silver.” Some translations render this line “Let me teach you, because my words are better than silver.”

“And knowledge rather than choice gold”: As there is no verb in this line, the verb “take” from the first line is to be understood here also. For “knowledge” see 1.4. “Choice gold” refers to gold that is of the highest value and purity. See Good News Translation “finest gold.”

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 8:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 8:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “Accept my teaching and do not love riches.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Choose my teaching rather than silver,
    Choose knowledge rather than gold.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Favor-most/Choose wisdom and for my straightening of your (sing.) behavior than silver and gold.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “You should count/consider my advice as more-valuable than silver and knowledge as more valuable than the most-expensive gold.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 8:10

8:10

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

10a Receive my instruction instead of silver,

10b and knowledge rather than pure gold,

There is an ellipsis in 8:10b. In some languages, it may be necessary to supply the missing verb from 8:10a. For example:

10b and ⌊receive⌋ knowledge rather than pure gold

8:10a

Receive my instruction instead of silver: This clause is an appeal to Receive the moral instruction that Wisdom offers rather than choosing silver. In Hebrew, the word Receive is literally “take.” It includes the idea of accepting and heeding Wisdom’s advice. For the word instruction, see the note on 1:2a.

In some languages, the comparison in this verse may be wrongly understood as a command not to accept silver or gold. One way to avoid this problem may be to translate as follows:

Consider my instruction to be more valuable than silver; consider knowledge to be more valuable than pure gold.

8:10b

and knowledge rather than pure gold: The phrase pure gold refers to the purest and most valuable gold. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

finest gold (Good News Translation)
-or-
choice gold (New International Version)
-or-
the most expensive gold

General Comments on 8:10a–b

This verse is similar to 3:14, but in 3:14, the comparison is between the profits produced by wisdom and those produced by silver and gold. Here in 8:10, the comparison is between the value of wisdom and the value of silver and gold.

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel lines. For example:

Choose to receive my instruction and knowledge rather than to accumulate silver and gold.

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