Proverbs 11:25

A generous person ¹  will be enriched, ²  and the one who provides water ³  for others ⁴  will himself be satisfied. ⁵ 

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

The generous man will be prosperous, And he who waters will himself be watered.

The generous prosper and are satisfied; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.

He who gives blessing will be made fat, but the curser will himself be cursed.

A generous person will be enriched, and one who gives water will get water.

The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.

A generous person ¹  will be enriched, ²  and the one who provides water ³  for others ⁴  will himself be satisfied. ⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “the soul of blessing.” The genitive functions attributively. “Blessing” refers to a gift (Gen 33:11) or a special favor (Josh 15:19). The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= soul) for the whole (= person); see BDB 660 s.v. 4.

² tn Heb “will grow fat.” Drawing on the standard comparison of fatness and abundance (Deut 32:15), the term means “become rich, prosperous.”

³ tn The verb מַרְוֶה (marveh, “to be saturated; to drink one’s fill”) draws a comparison between providing water for others with providing for those in need (e.g., Jer 31:25; Lam 3:15). The kind act will be reciprocated.

⁴ tn The phrase “for others” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the causative Hiphil verb which normally takes a direct object; it is elided in the Hebrew for the sake of emphasis. It is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

⁵ tn This verb also means “to pour water,” and so continues the theme of the preceding participle: The one who gives refreshment to others will be refreshed. BDB 924 s.v. רָוָה lists the form יוֹרֶא (yore’) as a Hophal imperfect of רָוָה (ravah, the only occurrence) and translates it “will himself also be watered” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). But the verb looks very much like a Hiphil of the root יָרָא (yara’, “to shoot; to pour”). So the editors of BHS suggest יוּאָר (yu’ar).