Verses 20 and 21 form one long sentence in Hebrew about the nature and purpose of the sayings that follow.

“Have I not written for you. . .?”: The sentence has the form of a question, but it is a rhetorical question that clearly expects the answer “Yes.” In English, translations such as Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and Revised English Bible do not use a question form and begin “I have written. . ..” This is a good model for translators in other languages also.

“Thirty sayings”: There is a textual problem regarding the Hebrew word rendered “thirty sayings” in Revised Standard Version and most recent translations. The written form of the text is generally taken to be a word meaning “three times.” Traditionally the Hebrew letters have been read with vowels that make them into a word meaning “officers” or “important things.” Thus King James Version renders the line “Have not I written to thee excellent things”; and some other older versions are similar. However, reading the Hebrew letters with a different set of vowels gives the word that means “thirty.” Since the recognition of parallels with the “thirty precepts of Amen-em-opet” in this collection of sayings, most commentators accept that “thirty” is most likely to have been the original intention of the author or editor. The Handbook recommends that translators use “thirty” here, even if this is not brought into the title for the collection. There is no word corresponding to “sayings” in the Hebrew text, but something like this must be supplied; most versions have “sayings”, but New Jerusalem Bible has “chapters.” When “thirty” is applied to the whole collection of sayings, the sense is of thirty sayings or parts into which the whole may be divided. See also the comments at the beginning of 22.22.

“Of admonition and knowledge”: This line explains the nature of the sayings that make up the collection. There is some debate about the form of the first Hebrew word, but the sense is practically the same for the two possibilities. The term translated “admonition” means “[wise] counsel” or “advice”; so New Jerusalem Bible renders this line “of advice and knowledge,” and many versions have something similar. For “knowledge” refer to 1.4. Revised English Bible “full of knowledge and wise advice” is a good model for translators.

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 .