Proverbs 31:7

31:7 let them ¹  drink and forget ²  their poverty,

and remember their misery no more.

Proverbs 31:5

31:5 lest they drink and forget what is decreed,

and remove ³  from all the poor ⁴  their legal rights. ⁵ 

[31:7]  ¹ tn The subjects and suffixes are singular (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). Most other English versions render this as plural for stylistic reasons, in light of the preceding context.

[31:7]  ² tn The king was not to “drink and forget”; the suffering are to “drink and forget.”

[31:5]  ³ tn The verb means “change,” perhaps expressed in reversing decisions or removing rights.

[31:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “all the children of poverty.” This expression refers to the poor by nature. Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the afflicted”; NIV “oppressed.”

[31:5]  ⁵ sn The word is דִּין (din, “judgment”; so KJV). In this passage it refers to the cause or the plea for justice, i.e., the “legal rights.”