“My soul will rejoice”: This is similar in meaning to the previous line; “My soul” matches “my heart” in that line, and “rejoice” has the same sense as “be glad.” “My soul” is literally “my kidneys.” In Hebrew naming these internal organs expresses the depth of an emotion. A number of English versions render this as “my inmost being”; so New International Version has “my inmost being will rejoice.” Others express the depth of emotion in some other way; Contemporary English Version, for example, says, “I will really be glad” and Good News Translation “I will be proud.”

“When your lips speak what is right”: It is not necessary to say “when your lips speak” in English; the meaning is “when you speak.” Taken with the first line, Good News Translation renders this as “when I hear you speaking.” “What is right”, as in 8.6, is the translation of a plural noun meaning “uprightness” (derived from the verb “to be right” or “to be straight”). Good News Translation takes this to be “words of wisdom,” while others think it means being “truthful” (Contemporary English Version) or speaking “honest words” (New Jerusalem Bible).

In English Contemporary English Version reverses the order of the lines in this verse, making its structure the same as that of the previous verse. In some other languages also this will give a more natural sentence structure.

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 .