Translation commentary on Proverbs 8:16

“By me princes rule”: This line repeats the first line of verse 15. “Princes” does not refer to the hereditary sons of kings but more generally to rulers, leaders, officials, or authorities.

“Nobles govern the earth”: “Nobles”, which is also used in Job 12.21 and is translated by Revised Standard Version there as “princes,” refers to a class of persons in authority. The Hebrew of this line is literally “nobles, all judges of righteousness.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project has made two recommendations regarding the Hebrew text: it gives a “C” rating to “righteousness” and a “B” rating to “all judges.” That committee suggests verse 16 be translated “by me princes govern, and the nobles, all those who govern righteously.” This is followed by New Revised Standard Version: “by me rulers rule, and nobles, all who govern rightly.” Revised Standard Version follows the Septuagint. New English Bible follows another Hebrew text and says for this whole line “from me all rulers on earth derive their nobility” (Revised English Bible similar).

Since both Hebrew Old Testament Text Project and New Revised Standard Version are ambiguously worded, we may follow Good News Translation or Contemporary English Version, which says “Every honest leader rules with help from me.”

Because of the repetition between verses 15 and 16, and because of the difficulty in some languages of finding a number of different terms for various types of rulers, some translations combine the two verses; for example, “I help kings and leaders to rule their countries well, and to make good laws so that their countries follow right behavior.”

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 8:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 8:16:

  • Kupsabiny: “I help influential/powerful people and all councilors in (the) land/world to do their good work.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “With my help rulers rule,
    and with my help noble
    people do justice.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “By me the ones-who-rule and officials can-rule — all who rule rightly.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “By-means-of me, kings and other officials rule on this earth and the rulers make exactly-right laws.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 8:16

8:16

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning.

16a By me princes rule,

16b and all nobles who govern justly.

There is an ellipsis in 8:16b. In some languages, it may be necessary to supply the missing words. For example:

16b and ⌊by me⌋ all nobles who govern justly ⌊rule⌋ .

8:16a

By me princes rule: The word princes refers to anyone who belongs to the ruling class. It does not refer specifically to the sons of kings. For example:

Rulers lead with my help (New Living Translation (2004))

8:16b

and all nobles who govern justly: There is a textual issue here:

(1) Some Hebrew manuscripts have: “nobles, all judges of righteousness.” For example:

and nobles, all who govern rightly (New Revised Standard Version)

(2) Other Hebrew manuscripts and the LXX have: “nobles, all judges of the earth.” For example:

and nobles govern the earth (Revised Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1), because it is more likely to have been the original text. Also it better fits the parallel idea of 8:15b. As a practical translation issue, the content of text (2) would also be implied in text (1), since the “judges of righteousness” are on the earth.

nobles: The word nobles refers to a man who belongs to the ruling class.

who govern justly: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “all judges of righteousness.” It refers here to any government leader who governs or rules in a just or fair manner. It does not refer specifically to someone who presides over a law court. Another way to translate this phrase is:

so do all important people who judge fairly (New Century Version)

General Comment on 8:15–16

The four lines of these two verses are all parallel. In some languages, there may not be four different words for different kinds of rulers, so it may be more natural to combine these verses. For example:

15-16 It is by means of me that kings and other leaders rule their countries and make good/just laws.
-or-
15-16 I am the one that helps kings and all other leaders in the government to rule ⌊their countries/people well⌋ and to make laws that are good/just.

The parallel parts of each verse may also be combined and/or reordered. See the Display for 8:15a–b (combined/reordered) and 8:16a–b (combined/reordered).

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