“She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her”: “Tree of life” is a traditional image referring to health and long life. It may be taken from Gen 2.9 and 3.22 (see also Rev 2.7 and 22.2), or it may be just a commonly used image. The same expression is used in 11.30 and in 15.4. “Tree of life” is not just a “living tree.” It picks up the idea of long life as a gift of wisdom expressed in verse 16. “Lay hold” means to seize or grasp, usually in the physical sense, but the term is used here in the sense of grasping with the mind or holding firmly in the heart.

“Is a tree of life” may have to be adjusted in translation to say, for example, “is like a tree of life,” “is a tree that gives long life”; or it may be necessary to replace the figure of the tree and say, for example, “She gives life” or “Wisdom gives life to.” There is no suggestion that this carries the idea of an existence after death. If something more than the word life by itself is needed, it is sufficient to say “long life” or “many years of life.”

“Those who hold her fast are called happy”: “Hold . . . fast” renders another word with a very similar meaning to “lay hold” in the first line. The repetition of thought serves to emphasize the idea of getting or holding firmly to wisdom. “Called happy” in the Hebrew is literally “are blessed,” “happy,” or “fortunate.” It uses a form of the same word that begins this poem in verse 13. This happiness is a result of people’s attachment to wisdom. As Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says: “Wisdom is life for those who get it; happy are those who keep hold of it!”

We may also translate, for example: “Wisdom is like a tree that gives people long life. Fortunate are those who hold on to it.”

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 .