13:23

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

23a
Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor,

23b but without justice it is swept away.

13:23a

Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor: There are two main interpretations of the Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as fallow ground. With any of these interpretations, it refers to land that is suitable for farming:

(1) The word refers in general to farmland. It is assumed that this land has been planted with seed. For example:

The field of the poor may yield much food (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
When poor people are able to plow, there is much food (God’s Word)

(2) The word refers specifically to land that was left unplanted for a season (fallow ground) or that has never been farmed. For example:

The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food (English Standard Version)
-or-
Unused fields could yield plenty of food for the poor (Good News Translation)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most versions. An unplanted or unused field does not normally produce a large amount of food. Some other ways to translate this line are:

Even when the land of the poor produces good crops (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
A poor person’s field might produce plenty of food (New Century Version)

13:23b

but without justice it is swept away: In Hebrew, this line is literally “there is what is swept away because [there is] no justice.” There are two main interpretations of this line:

(1) The poor person’s crop is swept away. For example:

but injustice sweeps it all away (New Living Translation (2004))

(2) The poor person himself is swept away. For example:

but a person is swept away where there is no justice (God’s Word)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most versions and scholars. This interpretation assumes that poor people plant crops, but unjust people or practices keep them from getting a fair price or a fair share of the harvest.

without justice it is swept away: One way to translate this using a figure of speech is:

injustice sweeps it away (New International Version, New Living Translation (2004))

In this translation , “injustice” is personified. It is described as if it were a person who swept away the crops of poor people. In some languages, it may not be natural use such a figure of speech. Other ways to translate this are:

but others often steal it away (New Century Version)
-or-
they get cheated out of what they grow (Contemporary English Version)

As in other proverbs, this verse describes a general principle or a situation that often occurs. The New Century Version (quoted above) makes this explicit with the word “often.” Use a natural way in your language to express a general principle.

it is swept away: This phrase is a figure of speech that often describes hostile or violent action by a person’s enemies. In this context, it means that the poor person’s crop is taken away from him by various means. See the New Century Version and Contemporary English Version (quoted above) for two examples. Another way to translate this line is:

but through injustice it may be stolen (Revised English Bible)

© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.