“Let not loyalty and faithfulness . . .”: “Loyalty and faithfulness” are a combination of qualities that occur in such passages as Gen 24.49; Exo 34.6; Deut 7.9; and Psa 25.10 and express the ideal relationship between people or between God and people. The two words overlap considerably in their meanings. In Gen 47.29 the word rendered “loyalty” (Hebrew chesed) is used of the relationship of Joseph to his father Jacob and in Exo 34.6 of the relationship of the Lord to his own people. An essential element in “loyalty” is love, and the word is sometimes translated as “love.” New Jerusalem Bible says “faithful love.”
The idea of being “loyal” is sometimes stated in figurative language, for example, “to keep every word spoken to someone” or “to follow faithfully in someone’s tracks.”
“Faithfulness” may be described as a state of trustworthiness or dependability. A person who is faithful is one in whom complete confidence may be placed.
“Let not . . . forsake you”: The two qualities of “loyalty and faithfulness” are somewhat personified in that the learner is told not to allow them to forsake or depart from him. In some languages these abstract nouns must be expressed in another form, with the real subject “you” as the subject of each sentence; for example, “Do not cease to be loving and faithful to others,” “Do not give up being a loyal and dependable person,” or “Always be loyal and reliable in everything you do.”
“Bind them about your neck”: It is apparent that “loyalty” and “faithfulness” cannot literally be tied around the neck. Therefore, the clause has a figurative sense, that is, “Wear them like something tied around your neck.” The image probably suggests a necklace as in 1.9 or a signet ring hung on a cord as in Gen 38.18. Contemporary English Version says “Let love and loyalty always show like a necklace.” Bible en français courant says “Keep those qualities like a precious ornament.” If it is not natural to say “Wear them like. . .,” it may be possible to say “Carry them with you like a precious jewel” or “Put them on like you put on a ring.”
“Write them on the tablet of your heart”: This line is lacking in some manuscripts of the Septuagint. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project considers it to be a line added by a copyist, gives it a “C” rating, and recommends that it be omitted. However, most modern translations keep it, and translators are advised by the authors of the Handbook to do the same.
This expression is found elsewhere only in 7.3 and in Jer 17.1, but the same thought is found in Deut 30.14 and Jer 31.33. In Deut 6.9 the commandments of the Lord were to be written on the doorposts of the houses and on the gates to remind people of them as they went in and out. In ancient times tablets were made of stone or clay. The term “tablet” would have led Jewish readers to think of the tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were written (Deut 5.22).
The expression is used here figuratively and is a graphic way of saying “Keep them in your memory” or “Don’t forget them.” Some languages use the literal expression “to write something on the heart.” If this is not a natural way of speaking in your language, it may be best to keep the expression more general with, for example, “Keep them fresh in your memory” or “Put them into your mind.”
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 .