Translation commentary on Proverbs 2:18

“For her house sinks down to death”: Interpreters have found this line difficult. The figure of the loose woman leading “my son” to death is found also in 5.5; 7.27; and 9.18. The same imagery is used in the Akkadian “Descent of Ishtar to the Nether World.” New Revised Standard Version changes “house” to “way,” but Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rates “house” as “A” and supports the Revised Standard Version rendering. Since the expression is figurative it may refer to the road to her house, to the men who go to her house, or to what goes on in her house as leading to death. As Scott says, “death” in the book of Proverbs means untimely, premature death, the penalty for living foolishly. Good News Translation offers a good translation model. Another is Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “To take the road that goes to her house is to take the road that leads to death.”

“And her paths go to the shades”: “Her paths” may be taken to mean the path she follows, and so her way of life. But “paths” may also refer to the paths that lead to where she lives. “Shades” as used in Job 26.5 and Psa 88.10 refers to the spirits of the dead in Sheol. Here “shades” refers more generally to Sheol or the place of the dead. Because the second line repeats the first so closely in sense, Contemporary English Version reduces the two lines to one: “The road to her house leads down to the dark world of the dead.” Some translations say “If you go with this woman to her house, it is like going on the road to the place of the dead.”

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 .

complete verse (Proverbs 2:18)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 2:18:

  • Kupsabiny: “If any person walks together with/follows this woman, he is (as good as) dead or if any person follows her ways, that one has gone to the world of the dead.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “To go to their houses
    is to go into the mouth of death.
    They are the path of death.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The truth-is, if you (sing.) go to her house it is just like you (sing.) are-going to death. The path/way going to her house leads to the place of the dead.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Her house, it is like a path that leads to death, for those who enter there, they are getting-closer-and-closer to the place of the dead.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 2:18

2:18

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

18a For her house sinks down to death,

18b and her tracks to the departed spirits.

There is an ellipsis in 2:18b. In some languages, the missing words will need to be supplied from 2:18a. For example:

18b and her tracks ⌊sink down⌋ to the departed spirits of the dead.

2:18a–b

For: This word introduces an explanation for the statement in 2:16 that wisdom will save the young man from getting involved with an adulteress. Verse 2:18 gives the severe consequences from which wisdom will save him. It does not introduce the reason why the woman ignored her marriage vows. In some languages, it may be clearer to leave the connection between these verses implied. For example:

Entering her house leads to death (New Living Translation (2004))

her house sinks down to…her tracks to: In Hebrew, the first phrase is more literally “she sinks down to death, her house.” Almost all versions understand her house to be the subject of the sentence. Most scholars also understand sinks down to refer to paths that lead down to the world of the dead, not to a house that literally sinks down.

The parallel phrase her tracks to probably means here “the tracks that lead to her” rather than “the tracks that she takes.” Together, these parallel phrases indicate that men who choose to get involved with an adulteress are acting in a way that will lead to death. Other ways to translate these parallel lines are:

18a Her house is on the way to death;

18b those who took that path are now all dead. (New Century Version)
-or-
18a If you go to her house, you are traveling the road to death. 18b To go there is to approach the world of the dead. (Good News Translation)

death…the departed spirits: In this verse, death refers to an early or unexpected literal death, the consequence of adultery. Death is a figure of speech (metonymy) that represents Sheol, the world of the dead. Sheol is regarded as being under the surface of the earth (also see the notes on 1:12a–b and 9:18b).

The parallel phrase that is translated by the Berean Standard Bible as the departed spirits is one word in Hebrew. It refers to the spirits of the dead who inhabit Sheol, the place of the dead. Other ways to translate this Hebrew word are:

the world of the dead (Good News Translation)
-or-
the grave (New Living Translation (2004))

General Comment on 2:18a–b

Because of the similar meaning of the parallel parts, it may be preferable in some languages to combine and/or reorder the parts. For example:

The road to her house leads down to the dark world of the dead. (Contemporary English Version)

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