“By wisdom a house is built”: “Wisdom” is used in the sense of practical skill and management here. “A house” should probably be taken literally as referring to the building; it is possible, however, that it may refer to the family, as Good News Translation “Homes” suggests, and in this case “wisdom” may include a moral element in addition to its practical sense. The structure of the sentence in Revised Standard Version may seem to give the meaning “Wisdom builds a house”; but in fact the sense of the preposition “By” is that people build the house “through wise skill” (Scott) or “by using wisdom.”

“And by understanding it is established”: For “understanding” see 1.5 and 2.2, where it is also parallel to “wisdom”, as here. The pronoun “it” refers back to “house” in the previous line. “Established” is parallel to “built” in the previous line; it has the sense of “make firm” or “make secure,” thinking particularly of the foundations in the case of a house. Scott translates this line “And by understanding it is set firm upon its foundation.” Other suitable renderings of “established” are “made strong” (New Jerusalem Bible) and “makes it secure” (Revised English Bible).

In some languages it is necessary to refer to the owner or person who builds the house; one translation, for example, says, “A person who has good thinking and skill will have a good house, and his family will become strong.”

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 .