OET interlinear PRO 31:2

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / quotemarks

מַה־בְּ֭רִ⁠י

what? son_of,my

[32:2](../32/02.md)–[31](../31/31.md) is a long quotation of what Lemuel’s mother told him. If it would be helpful in your language, you could indicate this with quotation marks or with whatever other punctuation or convention your language uses to indicate a quotation.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

מַה־בְּ֭רִ⁠י וּ⁠מַֽה־בַּר־בִּטְנִ֑⁠י וּ֝⁠מֶה בַּר־נְדָרָֽ⁠י

what? son_of,my and,what son_of womb_of,my and,what son_of vows_of,my

Lemuel’s mother is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. You could supply these words from the context if it would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: “What should I say to you, my son? And what should I say to you, son of my womb? And what should I say to you, son of my vows?”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

מַה־בְּ֭רִ⁠י וּ⁠מַֽה־בַּר־בִּטְנִ֑⁠י וּ֝⁠מֶה בַּר־נְדָרָֽ⁠י

what? son_of,my and,what son_of womb_of,my and,what son_of vows_of,my

These three questions could be: (1) rhetorical questions that Lemuel’s mother asks in order to emphasize that her son should listen to what she is about to say. Alternate translation: “This is what I should tell you, my son! And this is what I should tell you, son of my womb! And this is what I should tell you, son of my vows!” (2) exclamations in which What is not introducing a question. Alternate translation: “O, my son! O, son of my womb! O, son of my vows!”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

בַּר־בִּטְנִ֑⁠י

son_of womb_of,my

Here, Lemuel’s mother is using the possessive form to describe a son whom she had carried in her womb. If your language would not use the possessive form for this, you could use a different expression. Alternate translation: “son whom I carried in my womb”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

בַּר־נְדָרָֽ⁠י

son_of son_of vows_of,my

Here, vows could mean: (1) the promise Lemuel’s mother made to dedicate her son to God if he allowed her to have a child. Alternate translation: “son whom I dedicated to Yahweh” (2) Lemuel is the result of God hearing his mother’s vows, in which case vows would refer to prayers. Alternate translation: “son for whom I prayed”