PROV 5:18 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 5:1–23: Eighth lesson: Avoid the temptation to commit adultery

A summary of this lesson is: Stay away from a woman who commits adultery, or you will bitterly regret it (5:1–14). Instead, be delighted with your own wife (5:15–20), because the LORD sees everything you do and will punish wickedness (5:21–23).

Some other headings for this section are:

Advice to stay away from a woman who commits adultery

Warning About Adultery (NCV)

Avoid Adultery (GW)

Be Faithful to Your Wife (CEV)

5:18

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^18aMay your fountain be blessed,

^18band may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

5:18a

May your fountain be blessed,

May Yahweh bless your^(sing) wife, who gives you happiness like a spring gives you water.
May Yahweh show his kindness/favor to your wife. She is like your source of water.

May your fountain be blessed: The word that the BSB translates as fountain literally means a “spring” or “source of flowing water.” In this verse, your fountain clearly refers figuratively to the person’s wife, but scholars disagree on the way that the wife is similar to a fountain. A fountain/spring is a source of water. In the same way:

The wife is a source of sexual enjoyment. For example:
she gives you joy as your fountain gives you water (NCV) (NCV, GNT, CEV)
The wife is a source of children.

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the preceding and following verses, as well as the parallel clause, are mainly about sexual enjoyment in a faithful marriage relationship.Interpretation (1) is supported by BDB (#4726), Garrett, Ross, Toy, and Waltke. Interpretation (2) is supported by Cohen, Delitzsch, McKane, and Fox.

blessed: The word blessed indicates here that the LORD shows the wife his favor and enables her to be successful. The wife is blessed when her husband delights in her. She is also blessed when the LORD gives her children.The agent of blessing is not specified. Scott (page 58) says it is the young man (may it be blessed “by you”). However, most others, including NIDOTTE (H1385) and TWOT (#285), say that the agent of blessing is God. Fox (page 202) asserts that baruk refers to fertility and that it never refers to the gratification of sexual desires. Ross (page 930), on the other hand, states that “sexual delight is God-given” and is part of a divinely blessed husband-wife relationship. Toy and an NET footnote also understand “may your fountain be blessed” as referring to sexual pleasure as the gift of God. Toy (page 114) says, “The fountain may be regarded as blessed when it is enjoyed in accordance with the laws of God and man…there is no reference to the blessedness of children born in wedlock.” The author of these notes feels that both aspects are probably in view, and a good translation should preserve the ambiguity if possible. If possible, translate blessed in such a way that either interpretation can be understood. If your language requires that the person who does the blessing be made explicit, make the LORD explicit, since he is the source of both kinds of blessing. For example:

May the LORD show his kindness/favor to the one who is like your spring of water.

5:18a–b

(combined/reordered)

May your^(sing) wife, whom you married when you were young, be blessed by God. May she be your source of enjoyment/happiness like a spring is a source of water.

5:18b

and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:

Be happy with her. She has been your^(sing) wife since you were young.
You married her when you were young. You should be happy with her.

and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth: Here is another way to translate this:

Be happy with the wife you married when you were young. (NCV)

Be careful that your translation does not imply that the man had more than one wife, one of whom he married when he was young. In some languages, it may be possible to leave the phrase of your youth implied. This should be done only if it is clear from the context that the writer is addressing a young man. For example:

find your joy with the woman you married (GNT)

General Comment on 5:18a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parts of this verse. See the Display for 5:18a–b (combined/reordered).

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

יְהִֽי־מְקוֹרְ⁠ךָ֥ בָר֑וּךְ

let_it_be spring_of,your blessed

Here Solomon speaks of his son’s wife as if she were a fountain that can be blessed by Yahweh. This probably refers to the blessing of children. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “May your wife bless you with children”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / euphemism

וּ֝⁠שְׂמַ֗ח מֵ⁠אֵ֥שֶׁת

and,rejoice from,the_wife_of

Here the phrase be glad refers to experiencing joy or sexual pleasure. If it would be helpful, you could use a natural expression for this in your language or express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “take pleasure in the wife of”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

מֵ⁠אֵ֥שֶׁת נְעוּרֶֽ⁠ךָ

from,the_wife_of your_youth(s)_of,your

Here Solomon is using the possessive form to describe the wife whom his son married while he was in his youth. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “with the wife whom you married in your youth”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

נְעוּרֶֽ⁠ךָ

your_youth(s)_of,your

See how you translated the abstract noun youth in [2:17](../02/17.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 5:18