PROV 5:18 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.)

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 Ἡ πηγή σου τοῦ ὕδατος ἔστω σοι ἰδία, καὶ συνευφραίνου μετὰ γυναικὸς τῆς ἐκ νεότητός σου.
(Haʸ paʸgaʸ sou tou hudatos estō soi idia, kai suneufrainou meta gunaikos taʸs ek neotaʸtos sou. )

BrTr Let thy fountain of water be truly thine own; and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

ULT May your fountain be blessed,
⇔ and be glad because of the wife of your youth!

UST As a result, may Yahweh bless your marriage with children;
⇔ enjoy sexually the woman whom you married when you were young!

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE Let your spring be blessed.
⇔ Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET May your fountain be blessed,
⇔ and may you rejoice in your young wife –

LSV Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice because of the wife of your youth,

FBV May your spring of water be blessed, and may you enjoy the wife you married when you were young.

T4T Let your wife be a source of great pleasure to you.
⇔ ◄Be happy/Enjoy sex► with the woman whom you married when you were both young.

LEB • May your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife[fn] of your youth.

5:? Or “woman”

BBE Let blessing be on your fountain; have joy in the wife of your early years.

Moff Let your fountain flow for yourself alone:
⇔ let a young wife be your joy,

JPS Let thy fountain be blessed; and have joy of the wife of thy youth.

ASV Let thy fountain be blessed;
⇔ And rejoice in the wife of thy youth.

DRA Let thy vein be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth:

YLT Let thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of the wife of thy youth,

Drby Let thy fountain be blessed; and have joy of the wife of thy youth.

RV Let thy fountain be blessed; and rejoice in the wife of thy youth.
(Let thy/your fountain be blessed; and rejoice in the wife of thy/your youth. )

SLT Thy fountain shall be blessed: and rejoice from the wife of thy youth.

Wbstr Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

KJB-1769 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
(Let thy/your fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy/your youth. )

KJB-1611 Let thy fountaine be blessed: and reioyce with the wife of thy youth.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps Let thy well be blessed, and be glad with the wyfe of thy youth.
(Let thy/your well be blessed, and be glad with the wife of thy/your youth.)

Gnva Let thy fountaine be blessed, and reioyce with the wife of thy youth.
(Let thy/your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy/your youth. )

Cvdl Let thy well be blessed, and be glad with the wife of thy youth.
(Let thy/your well be blessed, and be glad with the wife of thy/your youth.)

Wycl Thi veyne be blessid; and be thou glad with the womman of thi yong wexynge age.
(Thy/Your vain be blessed; and be thou/you glad with the woman of thy/your young wexing age.)

Luth Dein Born sei gesegnet, und freue dich des Weibes deiner Jugend!
(Your spring/well be blessed, and am_happy you/yourself the woman your(s) youth!)

ClVg Sit vena tua benedicta, et lætare cum muliere adolescentiæ tuæ.[fn]
(Let_it_be vena your blessed, and joyre when/with woman of_adolescence yours. )

5.18 Sit vena. Sit doctrina tua, et quæcunque nascuntur ex ea, in benedictione Ecclesiæ; et lætare cum ea, cui ab adolescentia, id est ex quo credidisti, conjunctus es.

5.18 Let_it_be vena. Let_it_be teaching/instruction your, and whatever they_are_born from them, in/into/on blessing Assemblies/Churches; and joyre when/with them, to_whom away adolescence, that it_is from where credidisti, joined_together you_are.

SOTN 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).

UTN 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,of

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,of