hungry

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in English as “hungry” is translated in Noongar as koborl-wirt or “without stomach” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang) and in the Kölsch translation (publ. 2017) it is often translated as nix zo Käue han or “have nothing to chew on” (note that zo Käue han or “something to chew on” is also used for “eat” — see Mark 6:37). (Source: Jost Zetzsche)

See also famished.

If your enemies are hungry . . .

For the phrase “If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink; for you will heap coals of fire on their heads,” see Romans 12:20.

Note that this quote in the New Testament is not taken from the Hebrew Bible but from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) which translates into English as “If your enemy is hungry, nourish him;
if he is thirsty, give him to drink. For by doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head.” (Translation by NETS — for the Greek version see the title’s tooltip)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 25:21

Verses 21-22 form a unit in which verse 22 is the reason given for following the advice of verse 21. Paul cites these verses in Rom 12.20, omitting the second line of verse 22.

“If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat”: “Enemy” is literally “one who hates you,” but some translators make the term plural. “Bread” is used generally for “food,” and in many areas “food” will serve better in translation than “bread”, which is sometimes little known and seldom eaten. So we may say, for example, “If your enemy [or, the one who hates you] is hungry, give him something to eat.”

“And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink”: This line is parallel to the first in form and meaning.

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 .