PROV 31:8 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 31:1–9: Here are the sayings of King Lemuel

The verses in this section were written or collected by King Lemuel. They contain advice that his mother gave him regarding the way that a good king should rule his people. Her advice focuses on a king’s relationships with women (v. 3), the use of intoxicating drink (vv. 4–7) and justice for the poor (vv. 8–9). English versions divide the paragraphs in this section in several ways. The paragraphs in the Notes will be divided according to these three topics. The title (v. 1) and introduction (v. 2) will each form a separate paragraph.

Some other headings for this section are:

What King Lemuel’s Mother Taught Him (CEV)

Advice to a King (GNT)

Wise Words of King Lemuel (NCV)

Paragraph 31:8–9

In this paragraph, Lemuel’s mother advises him to defend the rights of people who are poor and cannot defend themselves in court.

31:8

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning They refer to the same group of people.

^8aOpen your mouth for those with no voice,

^8b for the cause of all the dispossessed.

There is an ellipsis in 31:8b. In some languages, it may be necessary to supply the missing verb from 31:8a. For example:

^8b Open your mouth for the cause of the dispossessed.

31:8a

Open your mouth for those with no voice,

¶ If there are people who have no ability to speak in court, you^(sing) should speak on their behalf.
¶ You must be the spokesman for people who cannot defend themselves in court.

Open your mouth: Instead of neglecting the rights of poor people due to being drunk (31:5), the king is advised to be their spokesman in court. The phrase Open your mouth is a figure of speech. Some other ways to translate this figure of speech are:

Speak out (NRSV)

Make your views heard (NJB)

But you must defend (CEV)

for those with no voice: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “for the dumb/mute.” It refers figuratively to people who are not able to defend themselves in court. Their inability to speak may be due to their lack of education, fear of retaliation, or any other reason.Cohen (page 210), Waltke (page 509), NET footnote (b).

Some other ways to translate this line are:

Speak out for those who cannot speak (NRSV)

You must be the spokesman for people who cannot defend themselves in court.

31:8a–b

(combined/reordered)

You^(sing) are responsible to speak in order to protect/defend the rights of all people who are too poor to defeat their opponents in court.

31:8b

for the cause of all the dispossessed.

Defend the rights of all people who have no hope of winning their case.
Protect the rights of these poor and helpless people.

for the cause of all the dispossessed: The Hebrew phrase that the BSB translates as all the dispossessed is literally “all the sons of passing away.” It probably refers to people who are extremely poor. They may be homeless and starving. In the context of verses 8–9, they have no hope of winning a court case.Murphy (pages 240–241), Cohen (page 210), UBS (page 650). Some other ways to translate this line are:

defend the rights of all who have nothing (NCV)

Protect the rights of all who are helpless. (GNT)

General Comment on 31:8a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder these parallel lines. For example:

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; oppose any that go to law against them (REB)

But you must defend those who are helpless and have no hope. (CEV)

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

פְּתַח־פִּ֥י⁠ךָ לְ⁠אִלֵּ֑ם

open mouth_of,your for_[the],dumb

Open your mouth refers to doing so in order to say something to defend someone. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “Open your mouth to speak on behalf of a mute one”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

לְ⁠אִלֵּ֑ם אֶל־דִּ֝֗ין כָּל־בְּנֵ֥י חֲלֽוֹף

for_[the],dumb to/towards rights_of all/each/any/every sons_of destitute

Here, a mute one, the legal claim, and the one passing away refer to these people and things in general. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use more natural expressions. Alternate translation: “for any mute person, for any legal claim of all the sons of any person passing away”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

אֶל־דִּ֝֗ין

to/towards rights_of

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 earlier in the sentence or use a connecting word if it would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: “open your mouth for the legal claim of” or “and for the legal claim of”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

בְּנֵ֥י חֲלֽוֹף

sons_of destitute

See how you translated the same use of the sons of in [31:5](../31/05.md).

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / euphemism

חֲלֽוֹף

destitute

Lemuel’s mother is referring to death in a polite way by using the phrase passing away. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a more normal polite way of referring to this in your language, or you could state this plainly. Alternate translation: “the dying one”

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 31:8

Hebrew word order