“Honor the Lord with your substance”: To “Honor” means to hold in high esteem, to recognize someone as being great and worthy. In relation to the Lord it means to give respect or to speak highly of. In some languages this is expressed as “Show that the Lord is great,” “Show that the Lord is wonderful,” or “Show how much you respect the Lord.”

“Substance” has here the sense of agricultural produce or crops, as is seen from verse 10. This is the only verse in Proverbs that requires the learner to conform to the religious practice of ancient Israel. See Exo 23.19; Num 28.26-31; and Deut 26.1-15. The two lines of this verse follow a typical pattern of Hebrew poetry in which an element in the first line (“substance”) is narrowed in meaning in the second line (“first fruits”). Accordingly, we may translate “substance” as “wealth,” “possessions,” or “money.”

“And with the first fruits of all your produce”: “First fruits” were offered by the worshipers of Israel at their yearly harvest festival, sometimes called the Festival of Weeks (Lev 23.15-21). The first grain harvested was believed to belong to the Lord, as was the firstborn male child or animal. In some contexts the word used here refers to wine, oil, and honey, as well as to grain. In translation “the first fruits” may be called “the first part of the harvest that is given to God.” In some translations a footnote may be required to explain this custom.

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 .