Translation commentary on Proverbs 8:6

“Hear, for I will speak noble things”: “Hear” means “Listen to me” or “Listen to what I say.” The sense of “for” is as given in Contemporary English Version: “Listen, because. . ..” “Noble things” renders a word that suggests a foreign ruler or prince and so things associated with such a royal person. Although some interpreters change one vowel to get “that which is right,” which makes a better parallel with the second line, Good News Translation takes “noble things” to refer to Wisdom’s “excellent words.” Contemporary English Version says, “Listen, because what I say is worthwhile. . ..” Bible en français courant has “. . . what I am going to say is important.” All these are satisfactory translation models.

“From my lips will come what is right” is literally “from the opening of my lips right things.” “Opening of my lips” represents a shift from “speak” in the first line to a figurative expression here. “What is right” renders a word meaning “even” or “level,” and in ethical contexts like this, it refers to what is fair, just, or equitable.

Some translations combine the two lines of this verse; for example, “Put your ears [listen] to the good and straight talk I want to give you.”

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 8:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 8:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “Listen, because I have a word which is righteous/straight and of value.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Listen to my worthy words.
    The words that I speak are true.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (plur.)] listen to what I say, for this is useful and right.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Listen because what I say is valuable and right/correct.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 8:6

8:6–9

In these four verses, Wisdom’s words are described with a series of expressions that largely overlap in meaning. The notes will try to explain any similarities and differences so that you can look for words or expressions in your language that cover a similar range of meaning. Other languages may use more terms or fewer terms than Hebrew or English.

8:6

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

6a Listen, for I speak of noble things,

6b
and the opening of my lips will reveal right.

8:6a

Listen, for I speak of noble things: In this verse, Wisdom gives the first reason why people should listen to her words. It’s because what she says is noble. Other ways to translate this word are:

worthy (New International Version)
-or-
excellent (Good News Translation)
-or-
worthwhile (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
important

8:6b

and the opening of my lips will reveal right: The phrase and the opening of my lips will reveal is a poetic way to say “I speak.” The New Jerusalem Bible expresses it as:

when I speak, my words are right. (New Jerusalem Bible)

The word translated by most English versions as right means “honest,” “straightforward,” or “fair.” See the note on 1:3b. It does not mean “right” in the sense of “correct.” So this line may be translated as:

All the words that come from my mouth are fair/honest.

General Comment on 8:6a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel expressions about speaking. For example:

Listen, because what I say is worthwhile and right. (Contemporary English Version)

© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.