“Delivering you from the way of evil”: “Delivering” means saving, rescuing, or setting free. As the verb form of “delivering” does not show who does this action, it may refer to “wisdom” in verse 10 or “discretion” and “understanding” in verse 11. Contemporary English Version takes it to be wisdom: “Wisdom will protect you from evil schemes.” Others like Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, and Good News Translation take the subject of “delivering” to be the two nouns of verse 11. Another way of expressing the idea of being delivered is “Then you will not follow people who do evil or. . ..”

“From men of perverted speech”: “Men” is literally “man,” but the word is used here in a collective sense. The reference is not limited to males, as Good News Translation “people” indicates. “Perverted” translates a word whose basic meaning is “turned around.” It refers to that which is turned away from the right path or whatever is opposed to the right way of living and thus is wicked or bad. Bad people are characterized by their bad conduct and by their “speech”. Here “speech” reflects the thought and life of these persons. New Revised Standard Version says “those who speak perversely,” New Jerusalem Bible “whose speech is deceitful,” Bible en français courant “from men with deceptive words,” and Contemporary English Version “from those liars.” In some languages persons who speak deceptively are described in figurative terms; for example, “people who speak with two tongues,” “people with two faces,” or “those who talk with two hearts.”

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 .