Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 8:8:
Kupsabiny: “All the words coming from my mouth are righteous/straight and there is not even one which is crooked.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Every word that I speak is truth. Not one is false. And they are also not deceptive.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “All I say is right and I do- not -speak lie or deceitful.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “All my speech/words, it is trustworthy, there-is- absolutely -no one that it leads-astray or deceives.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
“All the words of my mouth are righteous”: This line says essentially the same as the first line of verse 7. “Righteous” means “right,” “straight,” “clear,” or “honest.”
“There is nothing twisted or crooked in them”: This line repeats in the negative what was affirmed in the first line. “Twisted”, which means to coil, wind, or entwine, is used figuratively here to represent something spoken in a false, distorted, or misleading manner. “Crooked” is the same word as used in 2.15 in relation to paths. A noun from the same root is used in 4.24 in connection with speech. Many languages have figurative terms such as “crooked” to express the idea of false and misleading speech. One translation spells out “twisted or crooked” in everyday language, saying “I don’t deceive, and I don’t lead people on the wrong road.”
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 .
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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.
In this verse, the parallel lines describe Wisdom’s words from opposite points of view. Verse 8:8a describes what her words are like. Verse 8:8b describes what her words are not like.
8a All the words of my mouthare righteous ;
8b noneare crooked or perverse.
8:8a
All the words of my mouth are righteous: The Hebrew word ṣedeq that the Berean Standard Bible translates as righteous refers here to words that conform to God’s standard. The New International Version translates this word as “just.” See the note on 1:3b.
In this verse, where “righteous” words are contrasted with “crooked” words, the meaning may be equivalent to “true” (Good News Translation), “honest,” (New Century Version) or “sincere” (New American Bible). As in previous verses, the words of my mouth is a figurative way of saying “the words that I say” or “my words.”
8:8b
none are crooked or perverse: The word crooked literally means “twisted” or “contorted.” Here it has the sense of “deceptive” or “tricky.”
The literal meaning of perverse is “warped” or “crooked.” Here it has almost the same meaning as the first word.
If figurative terms such as “crooked” or “twisted” cannot be used about a person’s words in your language, you may need to use nonfigurative terms. For example:
not one is misleading or deceptive (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
nothing is false or misleading (Good News Translation)
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