PROV 31:2 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=minor/spelling Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Now what my son? My son that I gave birth to.
⇔ ≈ The son from my marriage.

Key: .
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).

UST My son, whom I gave birth to
⇔ and whom I vowed to dedicate to Yahweh, listen to me!

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE ⇔ “Oh, my son!
⇔ Oh, son of my womb!
⇔ Oh, son of my vows!

WMBB (Same as above)

NET O my son, O son of my womb,
⇔ O son of my vows,

LSV “What, my son? And what, son of my womb? And what, son of my vows?

FBV What shall I tell you, my son?—the son I gave birth to, the son given in response to my vows.

T4T You are my son; I gave birth to you [RHQ];
⇔ you are the son that God gave me in answer to my prayers.

LEB • What, my son? And what, my son in my womb? And what, son of my vows?

BBE What am I to say to you, O Lemuel, my oldest son? and what, O son of my body? and what, O son of my oaths?

Moff Son of mine, heed what I say
⇔ listen, O son of my prayers, and obey.

JPS What, my son? and what, O son of my womb? and what, O son of my vows?

ASV ⇔ What, my son? and what, O son of my womb?
⇔ And what, O son of my vows?

DRA What, O my beloved, what, O the beloved of my womb, what, O the beloved of my vows?

YLT 'What, my son? and what, son of my womb? And what, son of my vows?

Drby What, my son? and what, O son of my womb? and what, O son of my vows?

RV What, my son? and what, O son of my womb, and what, O son of my vows?
(What, my son? and what, Oh son of my womb, and what, Oh son of my vows? )

SLT What, my son? and what the son of my womb? and what the son of my vows?

Wbstr What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?

KJB-1769 What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?

KJB-1611 What, my sonne! and what, the sonne of my wombe! and what, the sonne of my vowes!
(What, my sonne! and what, the son of my womb! and what, the son of my vowes!)

Bshps What my sonne? what the sonne of my body? and what O my deare beloued sonne?
(What my son? what the son of my body? and what Oh my dear beloved son?)

Gnva What my sonne! and what ye sonne of my wombe! and what, O sonne of my desires!
(What my sonne! and what ye/you_all son of my womb! and what, Oh son of my desires! )

Cvdl My sonne, thou sonne of my body: O my deare beloued sonne,
(My son, thou/you son of my body: Oh my dear beloved son,)

Wycl What my derlyng? what the derlyng of my wombe? what the derlyng of my desiris?
(What my darling? what the darling of my womb? what the darling of my desires?)

Luth Ach, mein Auserwählter, ach, du Sohn meines Leibes, ach, mein gewünschter Sohn,
(Oh_dear, my chosen_(one), oh, you(sg) son my body, oh, my gewünschter son,)

ClVg [Quid, dilecte mi? quid, dilecte uteri mei? quid, dilecte votorum meorum?
([Quid, beloved mi? quid, beloved uteri my/mine? quid, beloved wish/forbidrum of_mine? )

SOTN 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 31:2

In this verse, the mother uses three phrases to address her son. This repetition emphasizes what she will say. The three phrases have different emphases, but together, they express or imply the mother’s strong love for her son and her desire that he will listen to her good advice.

31:2

What shall I say, O my son? What, O son of my womb? What, O son of my vows?

¶ My dear son/child. You^(sing) were inside my womb, and I vowed to dedicate you to Yahweh. This is my advice to you.
¶ She said: You are the son that I gave birth to. I promised to give/dedicate you to Yahweh, so listen to what I will advise/instruct you.

What shall I say, O my son? What, O son of my womb? What, O son of my vows?: There are two main ways to interpret these three phrases/questions:Versions that can be interpreted in more than one way have not been listed under either interpretation. These include versions that have an incomplete phrase/question (BSB, GW, KJV, NAB, NASB, NJB, and RSV) as well as versions that have a complete phrase/question (NCV, NET, NIV, and NLT).

They are worded in a positive way. They express or imply the mother’s desire that her son will listen to the advice that she will give him. For example:
What shall I say to you, my son?… (REB)
Listen, my son!… (NIV11) (CEV, NIV11, REB, GNT)
They are worded in a negative way. They express or imply the mother’s dismay that her son has not been acting wisely. She rebukes him for not living according to the advice that she will give him. For example:
No, my son!… (NRSV) (ESV, NJPS, NRSV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most versions and scholars.See Waltke (pages, 503–504, 506) for arguments in favor of the first interpretation. See Fox (page 884) for support of interpretation (2). Most scholars do not give a clear conclusion one way or the other. Garret, McKane, and Toy seem to favor interpretation (1).

Some other ways to translate the first phrase are:

My son (NCV)

You are my own dear son (GNT)

O son of my womb: This phrase expresses the mother’s close relationship to her son from the time when she got pregnant to the time when she gave birth to him. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

I gave birth to you (NCV)

the son that was in my womb

O son of my vows: There are two ways to interpret this phrase:

It means that the mother vowed or promised to dedicate her son to the LORD. She probably made this vow before she got pregnant. For example:
You are the son whom I vowed to dedicate to the LORD. (BSB, ESV, NAB, NASB, NET, NIV, NJB, NJPS, NLT, NRSV)
It means that the mother asked the LORD to give her a son, and the LORD answered her prayers. For example:
You are the son I prayed for. (NCV) (CEV, GW, NCV, NIV11, REB, GNT)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most versions and commentaries. The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as vows refers to solemn promises to sacrifice or dedicate something to the LORD or to do something for him. A person may make a vow to do something if his prayers are answered,For example, Hannah vowed that if God answered her prayer for a child, she would dedicate that child to him (1 Samuel 1:11). but a vow is not the same thing as an answer to prayer.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / quotemarks

מַה־בְּ֭רִ⁠י

what? my_son_of,O

[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? my_son_of,O and,what? son_of my_womb_of,of and,what? son_of my_vows_of,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 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? my_son_of,O and,what? son_of my_womb_of,of and,what? son_of my_vows_of,of

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 my_womb_of,of

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 my_vows_of,of

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”

Parallel PROV 31:2

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

Paragraph 31:2

31:2