“Happy is the man who finds wisdom”: “Happy” renders the same Hebrew word used in Psa 1.1 and 94.12. It is a term used often in the Old Testament to describe a fortunate person, someone deserving congratulations. In translation a term that suggests luck or chance should be avoided. Note Contemporary English Version “God blesses. . ..” “Man” translates the Hebrew ʾadam, but this is to be understood as a collective referring to people in general. “Finds” is not the result of a chance event but rather the result of seeking or searching. In some languages this may need to be expressed as “who looks for and finds.” “Wisdom” is not an object that may be lost and found but a reward that comes from disciplined effort on the part of the learner. Note Good News Translation “who becomes wise.” We may also say, for example, “who discovers wisdom” or “who learns what wisdom teaches.”
“Gets understanding”: “Wisdom” and “understanding” are used as a matching pair here, as in 2.2.
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 .
This verse is the first warning or negative command of Lemuel’s mother.
“Give not your strength to women”: This renders the Hebrew quite literally. The term “strength” here means the physical strength of a male person, “your virility” (Scott). This is expressed as “the vigour of your manhood” (Revised English Bible), “your energy” (New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation). Contemporary English Version translates the whole line as “Don’t waste your life chasing after women!” It is not stated directly in Hebrew, but “Give . . . your strength to women” may be intended to convey the meaning that Contemporary English Version suggests, namely, “getting women to have sex with.” Good News Translation states this meaning directly: “Don’t spend all your energy on sex.” It was a fact of life in ancient times, and still is today in some parts of the world, that one way in which leaders or rulers demonstrate their power is by their sexual prowess.
“Your ways to those who destroy kings”: This line is parallel to the previous line. “Your ways” is taken by some to refer to “money” (Good News Translation) or “wealth” (New Jerusalem Bible). Others propose a slight change in the Hebrew to get “your loins” (Scott), referring to the sexual organs; New International Version apparently accepts this, and translates “your vigor.” “Those who destroy kings” may be another way of referring to the “women” of line 1. If this is the case, there is no need to repeat “women” in this line; so Good News Translation says just “they have destroyed kings.” However, “those who destroy kings” may refer to particular women rather than to women generally; so Revised English Bible says “or consort with women who bring down kings.” It is suggested that this could be a reference to courtesans (prostitutes) or other women who offer their sexual favors to gain influence at the king’s court or in state affairs.
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 .
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
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