PROV 20:13 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Don’t love sleep or you might end up in poverty.
⇔ ≈ Open your eyes then you’ll have enough food.

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Μὴ ἀγάπα καταλαλεῖν, ἵνα μὴ ἐξαρθῇς· διάνοιξον τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς σου, καὶ ἐμπλήσθητι ἄρτων.
(Maʸ agapa katalalein, hina maʸ exarthaʸs; dianoixon tous ofthalmous sou, kai emplaʸsthaʸti artōn. )

BrTr Love not to speak ill, lest thou be cut off: open thine eyes, and be filled with bread.

ULT Do not love sleep lest you become impoverished.
⇔ Open your eyes; be satisfied with bread.

UST If you sleep a lot, you will become poor;
⇔ but if you stay awake and work, you will have plenty of food.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE Don’t love sleep, lest you come to poverty.
⇔ Open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Do not love sleep, lest you become impoverished;
⇔ open your eyes so that you might be satisfied with food.

LSV Do not love sleep, lest you become poor,
Open your eyes—be satisfied [with] bread.

FBV If you love sleeping you'll become poor. Wake up and get busy, and you'll have plenty to eat.

T4T ⇔ If you want to sleep all the time, you will become poor;
⇔ if you stay awake and work, you will have plenty of food.

LEB • Do not love sleep, lest you become poor; open your eyes and have plenty bread.

BBE Do not be a lover of sleep, or you will become poor: keep your eyes open, and you will have bread enough.

Moff Love not sleep, lest you fall into poverty:
⇔ waken, and you will have ample food.

JPS Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt have bread in plenty.

ASV Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty;
⇔ Open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

DRA Love not sleep, lest poverty oppress thee: open thy eyes, and be filled with bread.

YLT Love not sleep, lest thou become poor, Open thine eyes — be satisfied [with] bread.

Drby Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, [and] thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

RV Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
(Love not sleep, lest thou/you come to poverty; open thine/your eyes, and thou/you shalt/shall be satisfied with bread. )

SLT Thou shalt not love sleep lest thou shalt be dispossessed: open wide thine eyes, being filled with bread.

Wbstr Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thy eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

KJB-1769 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
(Love not sleep, lest thou/you come to poverty; open thine/your eyes, and thou/you shalt/shall be satisfied with bread. )

KJB-1611 Loue not sleepe, lest thou come to pouertie: open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps Loue not sleepe, lest thou come vnto pouertie: but open thyne eyes, that thou mayest haue bread inough.
(Love not sleep, lest thou/you come unto poverty: but open thine/your eyes, that thou/you mayest/may have bread enough.)

Gnva Loue not sleepe least thou come vnto pouertie: open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
(Love not sleep least thou/you come unto poverty: open thine/your eyes, and thou/you shalt/shall be satisfied with bread. )

Cvdl Delyte not thou in slepe, lest thou come vnto pouerte: but ope thine eyes, & thou shalt haue bred ynough.
(Delight not thou/you in sleep, lest thou/you come unto poverty: but open thine/your eyes, and thou/you shalt/shall have bred enough.)

Wycl Nyle thou loue sleep, lest nedynesse oppresse thee; opene thin iyen, and be thou fillid with looues.
(Not/Don’t thou/you love sleep, lest neediness oppress thee/you; open thin eyes, and be thou/you filled with loaves.)

Luth Liebe den Schlaf nicht, daß du nicht arm werdest; laß deine Augen wacker sein, so wirst du Brots genug haben.
(love(n) the sleep(n) not, that you(sg) not arm become; let your eyes wacker be, so will you(sg) bread enough have.)

ClVg Noli diligere somnum, ne te egestas opprimat: aperi oculos tuos, et saturare panibus.
(Don't to_love sleep, not you(sg) poverty opprimat: aperi the_eyes yours, and saturare bread. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 10:1–22:16: This is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs

This section is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs. It has a very different structure from the longer poetic lectures of chapters 1–9. It consists mostly of individual couplets (two-line poems) that are each one verse in length. With the exception of the title (10:1a), paragraph breaks will not be indicated in the Notes or Display. You may of course choose to start each proverb as a separate paragraph in your translation.

In chapters 10–15, most of these one-verse couplets express a contrast between the two lines. One of the more common contrasts is between the righteous/wise and the wicked/foolish and the different consequences of their conduct.

In chapters 16:1–22:16, more topics are discussed. There is more emphasis on the role of the king and other leaders. In these chapters, there are few proverbs with contrasting lines. Some of the parallel lines are similar in meaning. More frequently, the second line adds to what the first line says or gives an example. Most of the verses have no obvious connection with the previous or following proverbs.UBS (page 214), Fox (page 509), McKane (page 413). Many scholars, including McKane, point out that there are some topical groupings as well as poetic connections. These include the repetition of certain words or sounds. This observation does not deny the individual nature of most of the proverbs in this Section.

Two of the types of proverbs in this section are not found in chapters 1–9. One type contains logical reasoning from the lesser to the greater. See 11:31 for a list of these proverbs. There are also several varieties of complex “better than” proverbs. The most common have a contrasting situation in each line (see 12:9). For other varieties, see 16:16, 19:1, and 21:9.

Many of the proverbs in this section refer to categories of people who share a common trait. For example, they refer to the righteous, the wise, the poor, and the lazy. In Hebrew, some verses use singular forms to refer to these groups of people. Other verses use plural forms. Still others use a combination of singular and plural. See the note on 10:30a–b for one example. For most of these verses, the Notes will not comment on the difference between singular and plural forms. Use a natural way in your language to refer to one or more people who are in the same category.

Many of the proverbs in this section express a general principle in abstract terms. They are not addressed specifically to the readers. For example, 10:2a–b says:

Ill-gotten treasures are of no value,

but righteousness delivers from death.

However, the author intended his readers to understand these proverbs as advice that they should follow. In some languages, authors or speakers give advice more directly, using pronouns such as you^(sing), you^(plur), we^(dual), or we^(incl). See the note on 10:2 for translation suggestions.

Some other headings for this section are:

Proverbs of Solomon (NIV)

The Wise Words of Solomon (NCV)

Here are many wise things that Solomon said

20:13

This proverb contrasts the bad results of loving sleep with the good results of staying awake. Notice that the negative command “Do not love sleep” is actually similar in meaning to the positive command “stay awake”:

^13a Do not love sleep or you will grow poor;

^13b open your eyes, and you will have plenty of food.

20:13a

Do not love sleep, or you will grow poor;

It is not good to just stay asleep. If you^(sing) do that, you will soon be poor.
If a person sleeps all the time, he will become poor.

Do not love sleep, or you will grow poor: The verb phrase that the BSB translates as “you will grow poor” is literally “you will be dispossessed/impoverished.” The verb usually refers to having one’s land or inheritance taken away, as when the Israelites “dispossessed” the people of Canaan. Here, however, it probably refers more generally to becoming poor, as in Proverbs 23:21 and 30:9. See Fox (page 668), HALOT (#4008). The word that the BSB translates as or is literally “lest.” It introduces the bad consequences of ignoring the preceding command.

Do not love sleep: This command is a general admonition or warning to anyone. It does not imply that particular listeners or readers did in fact love sleep. The purpose of the command is to warn people not to be lazy. It indicates that they should not sleep when they ought to be working.UBS (page 423), Cohen (page 133).

Some other ways to translate 20:13a are:

Do not love sleep lest you become impoverished (NET)

If you spend your time sleeping, you will be poor. (GNT)

20:13b

open your eyes, and you will have plenty of food.

So stay awake/alert. Then you^(sing) will have more than enough food to eat.
If he keeps busy, he will have plenty to eat.

open your eyes, and you will have plenty of food: There are two ways to interpret the command that the BSB literally translates as open your eyes:

It means “stay awake,” “stay alert,” or “stay busy.” It implies that a person should stay alert in order to do his work. For example:
Keep busy (GNT) (GW, NAB, NCV, NIV, NJB, NJPS, NLT, REB, GNT)
It means “open your eyes,” “wake up, or get up.” It implies that a person should wake up in order to do his work. For example:
if you get up and work (CEV) (BSB, CEV, ESV, NASB, NET, NRSV)Except for the CEV, the other versions listed here all follow the literal Hebrew wording “open your eyes.” It is possible that their renderings mean “wake up,” but it is also possible that they are simply following the form of the Hebrew.

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most versions and scholars.Scholars who support interpretation (1) include Hubbard, UBS, Fox, Ross, Scott, and Murphy. Scholars who support interpretation (2) include Waltke and McKane.

In Hebrew, this line consists of two commands: “stay awake” and “be satisfied with food.” Some ways to translate these two commands are:

Use two commands. For example:
keep your eyes open and have your fill of food (NJB)
Translate the first clause as a command. Translate the second clause so that it is understood as a result of the first command (as in the BSB). For example:
Keep busy and you will have plenty to eat. (GNT)
Translate the two commands as an “if” clause followed by a result.Toy (page 388) says that the first command states the condition, the second the result. He characterizes this construction as common in Hebrew. UBS (page 423) also mentions a conditional statement as “another good option for translators.” For example:
If you stay awake, you will have plenty of food. (NCV)

you will have plenty of food: The word that the BSB translates as food is literally “bread.” Bread was the staple food in Israel. To have plenty of food means “to have plenty of food.”

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

אַל־תֶּֽאֱהַ֣ב שֵׁ֭נָה

not love sleep

The phrase love sleep means to sleep a lot because one enjoys sleeping. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “Do not sleep a lot”

Note 2 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast

פְּקַ֖ח עֵינֶ֣י⁠ךָ שְֽׂבַֽע־לָֽחֶם

open eyes_of,your have_plenty_of bread

The idea of this clause is in contrast with the idea of the previous clause. Use the most natural way in your language to indicate a contrast. Alternate translation: “Instead, open your eyes; be satisfied with bread”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

פְּקַ֖ח עֵינֶ֣י⁠ךָ

open eyes_of,your

Here Solomon says open your eyes to refer to staying awake. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “remain awake”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

פְּקַ֖ח עֵינֶ֣י⁠ךָ

open eyes_of,your

Here Solomon implies that the person who opens his eyes does so in order to work. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “Open your eyes to do your work”

Note 5 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

שְֽׂבַֽע־לָֽחֶם

have_plenty_of bread

This phrase states the result of obeying the command to open your eyes in the previous phrase. Use the most natural way in your language to indicate result. Alternate translation: “you will be satisfied with bread”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

לָֽחֶם

bread

Here, bread is used to refer to food in general. See how you translated the same use of bread in [9:5](../09/05.md).

Parallel PROV 20:13

Section 10:1–22:16: This is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs

20:13

20:13a

20:13b