“Keep my commandments and live”: See 4.4.

“Keep my teachings as the apple of your eye”: Hebrew has no verb in this line; Revised Standard Version supplies “keep” from the previous line. “Apple” translates a Hebrew word that is literally “little man,” perhaps taken from seeing the small reflection of the person looking into the pupil of someone else’s eye. The word refers to the small circular opening in the center of the eye through which the light passes to the back of the eye. It is the very seat of vision and is used here, as in Psa 17.8, as an image for something precious or highly valuable. In Psa 17.8 and also in Lam 2.18 and Zech 2.8 (verse 12 in Hebrew), the Hebrew uses another expression “daughter of the eye.” In some languages the pupil of the eye is called “the child of the eye” or “the fruit of the eye.”

Translators handle “apple of your eye” in various ways. In some languages the rendering “. . . as you look after your eye[s]” carries the sense very well. Some like Contemporary English Version avoid any reference to the eye and say “your greatest treasure.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “like a treasure.” If the image of the pupil of the eye or the eye itself is not associated with the idea of precious value, it may be best to give the meaning of the figure; for example, “Treat my teachings as your most precious belonging” or “. . . as your most valuable possession.”

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 .