PROV 1:18 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:8–19: First lesson: Avoid evil companions

This first lesson may be summarized as follows:

Introduction: Pay attention to your parents’ advice, because it will improve your character (1:8–9).
Lesson: If robbers try to persuade you to do evil (1:10–14), refuse to join them (1:15), because they will destroy their own lives (1:16–18).
Conclusion: People who are greedy and try to obtain wealth illegally will die (1:19).This outline is based on “The Design of Lecture 1” in Fox (page 92).

Some other headings for this section are:

Warnings against Bad Friends (CEV)

Advice to a young man to not be tempted by evil people

Paragraph 1:15–19

In this paragraph, the father repeats his advice to the son to reject the sinners’ invitation (1:15). He then gives two reasons: (a) Criminals lead evil lives (1:16). (b) They are so foolish they will end up destroying themselves (1:17–18). The paragraph ends with a summary statement (1:19).

1:18

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^18aBut they lie in wait for their own blood;

^18b they ambush their own lives.

1:18a–b

(combined/reordered)

But these wicked men will die in the traps they themselves have set for other people.
But these wicked men do not even have the intelligence/mind of a bird, because they do not realize that the result of their ambushing and killing others is that they themselves will die.

But: The Hebrew conjunction that the BSB translates as But expresses a contrast between the birds that are too smart to be caught (1:17) and the men who have less sense than birds. Consider how to express the contrast most effectively in your language.

they: This pronoun refers to the same men who are called “sinners” in 1:10.

lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives: In the Hebrew (also in the BSB), the same parallel verbs, lie in wait and ambush are used in 1:18 as in 1:11. This reinforces the irony of the criminals’ situation. They planned to ambush and kill others, but they end up being killed themselves. Some English versions, however, have used the “trap” metaphor because of the immediate contrast with 1:17. For example:

but people like that are setting a trap for themselves, a trap in which they will die (GNT)

You will need to decide what terms will provide better contrast in your language. If you decide to use “net” or “trap,” be sure that your readers understand that this is not a literal trap. It refers to behavior that will result in the death of the people who do it. In some languages, it may be necessary to use one of the following options to make sure that the meaning is clear:

General Comment on 1:18a–b

Use a simile. For example:
But these men act like people who set traps and then fall into them themselves! They lie in wait to kill someone else, but they are the ones who die.
Make the implied contrast with the birds explicit. For example:
But these people have less sense than birds, because it is as if they are ambushing themselves. They set traps in which they themselves will die.
Translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example:
But as for these people, they lie in wait to kill someone else. They do not realize that they will cause their own death by such actions.

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts in this verse. For example:

But these wicked men will die in the traps they themselves have set for other people.

1:18a

But they lie in wait for their own blood;

But these men have less sense than birds because it is as if they will ambush themselves.

1:18b

they ambush their own lives.

It is their own selves that will end up being killed.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast

וְ֭⁠הֵם

and,they

Here, but indicates a contrast between the bird mentioned in the previous verse and the sinners who speak in [1:11–14](../01/11.md). Use the most natural way in your language to indicate a contrast. You may want to start a new sentence. Alternate translation: “By contrast, they”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

וְ֭⁠הֵם לְ⁠דָמָ֣⁠ם יֶאֱרֹ֑בוּ יִ֝צְפְּנ֗וּ לְ⁠נַפְשֹׁתָֽ⁠ם

and,they for,their_own_of,blood lie_in_wait ambush for,their_own_of,life

This verse compares the sinners to the birds being hunted in the previous verse. But here it speaks of the sinners as both the hunters and the hunted. Unlike a bird that is smart enough to avoid a net, these sinners destroy themselves by doing sinful things that cause them to be killed. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “but because they intend to kill others, they will be killed; their attempts to attack others will cost them their lives”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

וְ֭⁠הֵם לְ⁠דָמָ֣⁠ם יֶאֱרֹ֑בוּ יִ֝צְפְּנ֗וּ לְ⁠נַפְשֹׁתָֽ⁠ם

and,they for,their_own_of,blood lie_in_wait ambush for,their_own_of,life

These two clauses mean basically the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could use a word that shows the connection between these two clauses. Alternate translation: “but they lie in wait for their blood; yes, they hide in ambush for their lives”

Note 4 topic: writing-pronouns

וְ֭⁠הֵם לְ⁠דָמָ֣⁠ם יֶאֱרֹ֑בוּ יִ֝צְפְּנ֗וּ לְ⁠נַפְשֹׁתָֽ⁠ם

and,they for,their_own_of,blood lie_in_wait ambush for,their_own_of,life

In this verse, the pronouns they and their refer to the sinners described in [1:10–16](../01/10.md). If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “but those sinners lie in wait for their own blood; those sinners hide in ambush for their own lives”

Note 5 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

וְ֭⁠הֵם לְ⁠דָמָ֣⁠ם יֶאֱרֹ֑בוּ יִ֝צְפְּנ֗וּ לְ⁠נַפְשֹׁתָֽ⁠ם

and,they for,their_own_of,blood lie_in_wait ambush for,their_own_of,life

In this verse, for introduces the result of these actions. They lie in wait and hide in ambush and the result is that it costs them their bloodand their lives. Use the most natural way in your language to indicate results. Alternate translation: “but they lie in wait, which costs them their blood; they hide in ambush, which costs them their lives”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

לְ⁠דָמָ֣⁠ם

for,their_own_of,blood

See how you translated blood in [1:11](../01/11.md).

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.

OET interlinear PROV 1:18

Hebrew word order

Section 1:8–19: First lesson: Avoid evil companions

Paragraph 1:15–19

1:18

1:18a–b

General Comment on 1:18a–b

1:18a

1:18b

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)