The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” in English is rendered into Babatana as “different man,” i.e. someone who is not one of your relatives. (Source: David Clark)
In North Alaskan Inupiatun, it is rendered as “a person outside of your building,” in Tzeltal as “your back and side” (implying position of the dwellings), in Indonesian and in Tae’ as “your fellow-man,” in Toraja-Sa’dan it is “your fellow earth-dweller,” in Shona (translation of 1966) as “another person like you,” in Kekchí “younger-brother-older-brother” (a compound which means all one’s neighbors in a community) (sources: Bratcher / Nida and Reiling / Swellengrebel), in Mairasi “your people” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Mezquital Otomi as “fellow being,” in Tzeltal as “companion,” in Isthmus Zapotec as “another,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “all people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in most modern German translations as Mitmensch or “fellow human being” (lit. “with + human being”).
In Matt 19:19, Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, Luke 10:29 it is translated into Ixcatlán Mazatec with a term that refers to a person who is socially/physically near. Ixcatlán Mazatec also has a another term for “neighbor” that means “fellow humans-outsiders” which was not chosen for these passages. (Source: Robert Bascom)
In Noongar it is translated as moorta-boordak or “people nearby” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” or “relative” in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) and the Buku Lopatulika translation (1922/2018) with just one word: nansi. This word can also be translated as neighbors whom you share a blood relation with because in Chewa context a community is mostly comprised of people of blood relations. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated as “sin” in English has a wide variety of translations.
The Greek ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō) carries the original verbatim meaning of “miss the mark” and likewise, many translations contain the “connotation of moral responsibility.”
Loma: “leaving the road” (which “implies a definite standard, the transgression of which is sin”)
Navajo (Dinė): “that which is off to the side” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
Toraja-Sa’dan: kasalan, originally meaning “transgression of a religious or moral rule” and in the context of the Bible “transgression of God’s commandments” (source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21ff. )
Bariai: “bad behavior” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Sandawe: “miss the mark” (like the original meaning of the Greek term) (source for this and above: Ursula Wiesemann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 36ff., 43)
In Shipibo-Conibo the term is hocha. Nida (1952, p. 149) tells the story of its choosing: “In some instances a native expression for sin includes many connotations, and its full meaning must be completely understood before one ever attempts to use it. This was true, for example, of the term hocha first proposed by Shipibo-Conibo natives as an equivalent for ‘sin.’ The term seemed quite all right until one day the translator heard a girl say after having broken a little pottery jar that she was guilty of ‘hocha.’ Breaking such a little jar scarcely seemed to be sin. However, the Shipibos insisted that hocha was really sin, and they explained more fully the meaning of the word. It could be used of breaking a jar, but only if the jar belonged to someone else. Hocha was nothing more nor less than destroying the possessions of another, but the meaning did not stop with purely material possessions. In their belief God owns the world and all that is in it. Anyone who destroys the work and plan of God is guilty of hocha. Hence the murderer is of all men most guilty of hocha, for he has destroyed God’s most important possession in the world, namely, man. Any destructive and malevolent spirit is hocha, for it is antagonistic and harmful to God’s creation. Rather than being a feeble word for some accidental event, this word for sin turned out to be exceedingly rich in meaning and laid a foundation for the full presentation of the redemptive act of God.”
Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators for the DanishBibelen 2020, comments on the translation of this term: “We would explain terms, such that e.g. sin often became ‘doing what God does not want’ or ‘breaking God’s law’, ‘letting God down’, ‘disrespecting God’, ‘doing evil’, ‘acting stupidly’, ‘becoming guilty’. Now why couldn’t we just use the word sin? Well, sin in contemporary Danish, outside of the church, is mostly used about things such as delicious but unhealthy foods. Exquisite cakes and chocolates are what a sin is today.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )
This saying has some form and content in common with verse 20.
“He who despises his neighbor is a sinner”: New Revised Standard Version has revised “He who” to “Those who.” “Despises” translates the same word used in 6.30, meaning “show contempt for,” “look down on.” “Neighbor” is the same word as in verse 20; however, in this verse there is sympathy expressed toward the “neighbor”. Also, it is assumed here that the neighbor is poor. Some translations follow the Septuagint and replace “neighbor” by “hungry man.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project opposes this change by giving a “B” rating to “neighbor”. “Sinner” in Hebrew is a verb form meaning “one who sins.” However, this word contrasts with “happy is he who” in the next line and so may be taken as “the person who fails to obtain happiness.”
“But happy is he who is kind to the poor”: “Happy” translates the word used in Psa 1.1, which is traditionally rendered “blessed” with the understanding that God is the one who blesses. With this thought in mind Contemporary English Version says “It’s wrong to hate others, but God blesses. . ..” As in the first line, New Revised Standard Version replaces “he who” with “those who.” “Kind to the poor” means to be merciful or compassionate in dealing with poor people and may be expressed more concretely as “generous” (New English Bible/Revised English Bible). Being “kind to the poor” is a theme that is repeated in 14.31; 19.17; and 28.8. The Contemporary English Version rendering may serve as a suitable model translation: “but God blesses everyone who is kind to the poor.”
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 14:21:
Kupsabiny: “Whoever looks down/despises his neighbor, is evil, and/but the one who helps/is generous to the poor, will be blessed.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “To despise anyone is a sin, Those who help the helpless will be blessed.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Sinner is a man who despises his poor fellowmen, but blessed is a man who is good to the poor.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The one who mocks/belittles his poor neighbor(s) sins, but the one who shows-mercy/kindness to them is fortunate.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “It is sinful to despise your poor neighbors; God is pleased with those who do kind things for the poor.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
This verse contrasts a person who despises his neighbor with a person who accepts him and treats him with kindness and generosity.
21a He who despiseshis neighborsins,
21b but blessed ishe who shows kindness tothe poor.
The parallelism with 14:21b implies that the neighbor is clearly someone who is poor or needy. The close connection with the topic of 14:20 also makes it likely that the word “neighbor” has the same meaning as in that verse.
The Berean Standard Bible reorders the parts of 14:21b so that the parallel parts sins and blessed occur in the opposite order. The New Living Translation (2004) reorders the parts of 14:21a. It has:
21a It is sinto despiseone’s neighbors
The NET Bible follows the Hebrew order for both lines. It has:
21a The one who despiseshis neighborsins,
21b but whoever is kind tothe needyis blessed.
You should arrange the parts in whatever order expresses the contrast effectively in your language.
14:21a
despises: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as despises means to look down on or consider of little value. See the note on 11:12a, where the Berean Standard Bible translates the term as “shows contempt.”
14:21b
blessed: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as blessed probably means “happy.” For example:
happy is he who is kind to the poor (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
If you want to be happy, be kind to the poor (Good News Translation)
This word is not the same word that is used in other verses about God blessing people. See the notes on 3:13a and 8:32b, where this word is used and the Berean Standard Bible translates it as “blessed.”
the poor: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as poor refers to people who are needy. It emphasizes that they suffer some kind of distress or disability. Because such people have low status in society, their lives are difficult. Others often oppress them.
The Berean Standard Bible translates the same Hebrew word as “humble” in 16:19a. See the footnote there. Many English versions, including the Berean Standard Bible, use the general term “poor” here. Another way to translate this word is:
needy (New International Version)
See the note on 10:4a and the footnote there that provides information on the other words for “poor” in Proverbs.
General Comment on 14:21a–b
The Good News Translation (quoted above) uses the pronoun “you.” The English Standard Version uses “his/he” In some languages, it may also be appropriate to use “we(incl.) ” or “we(dual).” Use whatever pronoun is natural in your language for a proverb that gives advice.
In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts that are similar in meaning. See 14:21a–b (combined/reordered) in the Display.
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