Verse 17 describes the immoral woman referred to in verse 16.
“Who forsakes the companion of her youth”: Although this may be unknown in some societies, people have most often heard of it happening, particularly in cities. “Forsakes” is to abandon, leave, or depart from. The sense of “companion of her youth” is clearly “her husband,” as the next line speaks of her marriage vows.
New English Bible renders the first line “who forsakes the teaching of her childhood.” This change is based on a change of one vowel point in the Hebrew word for companion, which gives a word meaning “education.” However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rates the Hebrew text as a “B” and recommends translating as “companion,” which has in this context the more precise sense of her partner, that is, the man she married when she was young.
“Covenant of her God”: The marriage obligation is seen here as an agreement, pledge, or pact with God not to commit adultery (Exo 20.14). As Toy points out, very little is known of the nature of marriage ceremonies in pre-Christian times. “Covenant . . . God” may refer to the making of a promise or to the idea that God is a witness to the marriage. Both ideas are expressed in Mal 2.14.
Some translate this expression as a reference to the woman’s marriage vows; for example, Contemporary English Version “who breaks her wedding vows,” Good News Translation “[who] forgets her sacred vows.” Others show her as being unfaithful to God; for example, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders the whole of verse 17 “She has forsaken her own husband and so has also broken faith with God.” Bible en français courant says “a woman who is unfaithful to her first partner and who has thus betrayed her God.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy renders it “Who abandons the partner of her youth and forgets her pledge to God.” All of these are good translation models.
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 .