23:5

This verse gives a reason for the parallel warnings in 23:4. The overall reason is that riches can quickly disappear. Both lines contain figures of speech. In Hebrew, they both use terms that are associated with a bird that flies.

5a When you glance at wealth, it disappears,

5b for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

23:5a

When you glance at wealth, it disappears: In Hebrew, this line is literally “Do your eyes fly to/on it and it does not exist.” The first part is a rhetorical question that is probably equivalent to an “if” clause. It is followed by a consequence in the last part.

When you glance at wealth: In Hebrew this clause contains at least two other figures of speech. The phrase “your eyes” represents the action of looking or glancing (metonymy). This phrase is also part of a metaphor in Hebrew: “your eyes fly to/on it.” It compares the young man’s eyes to a bird that flies swiftly to wealth (23:5a). Some ways to translate these figures of speech are:

• Keep the figurative ideas of flying or landing. For example:

When your eyes light upon it (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
While your glance flits to it (New American Bible)

• Translate the idea of looking or glancing without using a figure of speech. For example:

Before you can look around (Revised English Bible)

• Use a different figure of speech in your language. Some versions have used common English idioms. For example:

In the blink of an eye (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
in a flash (Good News Translation)

it disappears: When his eyes fly there or land there, the wealth disappears. More literally, “it ceases to exist” or “it is there no longer” (New Jerusalem Bible). This clause is a figure of speech (hyperbole). It means that wealth can very quickly disappear or be used up. Another way to translate this clause using a hyperbole is:

wealth disappears (New Living Translation (2004))

When you translate 23:5a, remember that the author used figures of speech to make a vivid picture in the minds of his readers. Try to use expressions in your language that will help your readers understand and remember the meaning of the proverb.

General Comment on 23:5a

In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder and/or combine the clauses in this part of the verse. For example:

Your money flies away before you know it (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Wealth can vanish in the wink of an eye (New Century Version)

23:5b

for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky: This clause uses a complex figure of speech to explain how riches can disappear so quickly. In some languages, it will be necessary to make explicit that both parts of the clause make a comparison. For example:

as if it had grown wings and flown away like an eagle (Good News Translation)

makes wings: In Hebrew, this phrase is an emphatic form of the verb “make.” It may emphasize that riches certainly make wings for themselves or that they make them suddenly. For example:

For wealth certainly makes itself wings (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
for suddenly it sprouts wings (English Standard Version)

Some versions do not make this verb explicitly emphatic. In some languages, it may already be implied from the context. For example:

It can seem to grow wings and fly away like an eagle. (New Century Version)

eagle: In Hebrew, this word can also refer to a vulture. In this context, most English versions translate it as eagle. In languages where eagles or vultures are not known, you may use a more general word, such as “bird.”

to the sky: Notice that the Good News Translation and the New Century Version (both quoted above) leave the phrase to the sky implied. The Berean Standard Bible translates it explicitly. Use whichever option expresses the meaning most effectively and naturally in your language.

General Comment on 23:5b

Both parts of 23:5b help to explain the surprising statement in 23:4b that the riches “disappear.” The second part of 23:5b also helps to explain the metaphor of wealth that grows wings for itself.

In the Berean Standard Bible, this double explanation is introduced by the word “for.” In some languages, it may be natural to introduce an explanation with an explicit word, as in the Berean Standard Bible. For example:

for they surely make wings for themselves, and fly off into the sky like an eagle! (NET Bible)

In other languages, it may be more natural to introduce an explanation without using an explicit word. For example:

It can seem to grow wings and fly away like an eagle. (New Century Version)
-or-
It will surely grow wings like an eagle, like a bird in the sky. (Revised English Bible)

You should introduce this explanation in a way that is both natural and emphatic in your language.

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