complete verse (Proverbs 9:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 9:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “(It) has sent girls/maids to go round calling/inviting. (They) call from the highest places in the city, saying that,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Sending her maid servants
    to the highest place in the city,
    she invites everyone to the feast.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then he commanded his female servants to go to the high places of the city in-order-to let- this -known:” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “He sent his female servants to go to the highest place in the town and they said:” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 9:3

“She has sent out her maids to call . . . town”: This verse may not be entirely clear because “call” (literally “she calls”) and in verse 4 “says” both have Wisdom as the subject. Some interpreters, therefore, take “sent out” to mean that she “sent away” or “dismissed” her maids. However, most modern versions translate as in Revised Standard Version and make it clear that the words of the invitation are those of Wisdom, but are called out by the maids. “Maids” refers to female servants. “To call” means to invite; the servants shout the invitation as a public announcement.

“The highest places in the town” is the same expression used with Folly in verse 14. The exact nature of this place is uncertain, but Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation are both appropriate renderings of the Hebrew plural term. “Town” is better translated by “village” than by a term suggesting the equivalent of a large city.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 9:3

9:3a–b

She has sent out her maidservants; she calls out: Grammatically, the pronoun she refers to Wisdom in both clauses. In the context, however, it is clearly the servant women who actually invite people, using Wisdom’s words. In some languages, it may be clearer to make this information explicit. For example:

She has sent her servant women to call out (Good News Translation)
-or-
She has sent her servant women to announce her invitation (Contemporary English Version)

9:3a

She has sent out her maidservants: Wisdom’s maidservants are her “servant women” (Good News Translation) or female servants, whom she has sent to invite the guests.

9:3b

from the heights of the city: This phrase probably refers to the places in the town from which the inhabitants can most easily see and hear the servant women. Here is another way to translate this:

from the highest places in the town (New Revised Standard Version)

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