“And put a knife to your throat”: This is a literal rendering of the Hebrew, which may not make any sense to readers. Some commentators take it as an idiom meaning “restrain yourself” (Good News Translation); Revised English Bible says “Cut down your appetite.”

“If you are a man given to appetite”: This explanation qualifies the advice given in the previous line. New Revised Standard Version and New Jerusalem Bible express this more naturally in English with “if you have a big appetite.” Revised English Bible says “if you are a greedy person.”

In many languages it is more natural to reverse the order of the two lines of this verse so that the conditional clause is first; for example, “If you are a person who likes to eat a lot, control yourself and don’t be greedy.”

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 .