justice

The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin that is translated as “justice” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that describes the quality or principle of fairness, righteousness, and impartiality in treating other people. A literal back-translation of the signs are “FOLLOW(God is implied) ACTIONS, DECISIONS JUST-RIGHT”. A more idiomatic back-translation would be: “actions and decisions are right/fitting/just in accordance to God’s will.” The movement in the signs itself helps to indicate that this is a noun, not a verb. (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Justice” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

Translation commentary on Proverbs 2:9

Good News Translation marks this as a second consequence of verses 1-4 by referring back to those verses here: “If you listen to me, you will know. . ..” This may be a helpful model for some languages.

“Then . . . righteousness and justice and equity”: For these three qualities see comments on 1.3. New English Bible/Revised English Bible make a change in the text that replaces “equity” with “keep,” that is, “keep only to the good man’s path.” However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives the Hebrew text at this point an “A” rating, which means the committee considers “equity” to be certain.

It appears that “every good path” is unrelated to what goes before it. However, “every good path” is to be understood as the fourth element that the learner of wisdom will understand. The sense of “every good path” is “what is right conduct,” “the right way to live,” or “the practice of doing what you should do.” Good News Translation offers a model translation.

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 .