Proverbs 6:31

Yet ¹  if he is caught ²  he must repay ³  seven times over, he might even have to give ⁴  all the wealth of his house.

Ex 22:1,3,4; 2Sa 12:6; Job 20:18; Mt 18:25; Lu 19:8

¹ tn The term “yet” is supplied in the translation.

² tn Heb “is found out.” The perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to the imperfect nuances. Here it introduces either a conditional or a temporal clause before the imperfect.

³ tn The imperfect tense has an obligatory nuance. The verb in the Piel means “to repay; to make restitution; to recompense”; cf. NCV, TEV, CEV “must pay back.”

⁴ tn This final clause in the section is somewhat cryptic. The guilty thief must pay back sevenfold what he stole, even if it means he must use the substance of his whole house. The verb functions as an imperfect of possibility: “he might even give.”