“At the end of your life you groan”: “At the end” may refer to the time of old age when the learner’s wealth is gone, or the end of a life of immoral living. We may say, for example, “when you are finished,” “when your life is over,” or “when you die.” See Good News Translation “on your deathbed.”

“When your flesh and body are consumed”: “Flesh and body” are literally “flesh and muscles” and refer to the physical body or the whole person, personality and being. “Consumed” is literally “finished” as a result of having lived an immoral life.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .