“When panic . . . like a storm” is literally “when your terror comes like a storm.”
“Whirlwind” in the second line represents an intensification of “storm” in the first line. “A whirlwind” refers to a destructive and violent wind as in Job 27.20. “Calamity” translates the same Hebrew word used in verse 26.
“When distress and anguish come upon you”: “Distress and anguish” are the equivalents of “worry and trouble” or “pain and misery.” New English Bible omits this line, but Revised English Bible has kept it. There is no reason for translators to drop it.
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 .
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 1:27:
Kupsabiny: “So when you (plur.) are in trouble and suffer, or/and when trouble has come to you like a storm that knocks you down, I shall laugh at you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Trouble will come upon you like a storm, Trouble will strike you like a whirlwind.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I will-laugh-at you (plur.) when destruction comes to you (plur.) as-if-like a whirlwind; I will-mock you (plur.) when difficulties comes to you (plur.) and the dreadful happenings as-if-like storm.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “when like a typhoon that arrives in your life is your hardship and time-of-sorrow.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Notice that the New International Version retains the parallel parts that are similar in meaning in the Hebrew:
27a when calamityovertakes youlike a storm, (New International Version)
27b when disastersweeps over youlike a whirlwind, (New International Version)
27c when distress and troubleoverwhelm you. (New International Version)
1:27a–c
(New International Version) overtakes you…sweeps over you…overwhelm you: The word translated here (and in 1:26b) as overtakes and overwhelm is literally “come.” The word translated as sweeps over is a close synonym that also means “come” or “arrive.” In Hebrew, repetition of this nature emphasizes the certainty of the coming judgment. In English, it is more effective to use different verbs that express more picturesquely the effects of a storm. You will need to decide what is effective in your language.
(New International Version) like a storm…like a whirlwind: Both storm and whirlwind refer to storms that cause severe destruction. If whirlwinds are not known in your language area, you may:
• Use a descriptive term. For example:
violent wind storm
• Use a word in your language for a similar storm that occurs in your area. For example:
(New International Version) distress…trouble: The words that the New International Version translates as distress and trouble may refer to difficulties that surround or press in on someone. They may also refer to the resulting emotions of fear or misery that a person in such difficulties experiences. Some other ways to translate these words are:
when ordeal and anguish bear down on you (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
when…you are in pain and misery (Good News Translation)
General Comment on 1:26a–b and 1:27a–c
In some languages, it may be necessary to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts in both of these verses to avoid redundancy, as the Contemporary English Version has done:
So when you are struck by some terrible disaster,
or when trouble and distress surround you like a whirlwind,
I will laugh and make fun. (Contemporary English Version)
The Contemporary English Version also moves the main consequence “I will laugh and make fun” to the end of 1:27. You will need to consider if it is natural to do this in your language.
Remember that whenever you combine and/or reorder parallel parts in order to avoid unacceptable redundancy, you must be careful not to lose the emphasis that the original repetition may have conveyed. In Hebrew, the repetition of these five parallel lines emphasizes that the fools described in 1:22 will certainly be destroyed.
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