A Prince of a Fellow

(Proverbs 17:26 KJV)  Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.

Most of the resource material on my Bible Study software is in the public domain.  When I  compare old translations like the KJV and Douay-Rheims with modern translations I see a different choice of words.  The old commentators like Henry, Wesley and Clarke understand this in the same way as the old translations.  The words I am looking at are “princes” (KJV) and “noble” (NASB) (5081).  The modern translations also put a “the” in front, making it “the noble.”

In the 17th and 18th centuries this was understood to refer to a class of people.  In modern times we translate it to mean a class of behavior.  Both meanings are in the Hebrew.  It is amazing how culture can take a word like “noble” or “saint” or “love” and put the cultural meaning on it instead of the broader Biblical meaning.

So?  Are you making assumptions about living an upright life that are not based on scripture?  Are you sinning by omission or commission because you have the idea that it doesn’t matter.  Think, read, pray and respond appropriately.  God will not be mocked but He will forgive.