gluttonous eaters of meat

The Hebrew that is translated as “gluttonous eaters of meat” or similar in English is translated in Kenga with the existing one-word concept of sukuɗge or “those who eat a lot of meat.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 23:21

This verse expresses thoughts similar to those in 21.17.

“For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty”: “The drunkard and the glutton” are the people referred to in the previous line. “Come to poverty”, as in 20.13, translates a passive verb meaning “to be dispossessed,” that is, “to lose all they have” or “to become poor.” Revised English Bible expresses this as “end in poverty” and Good News Translation “be reduced to poverty.”

“And drowsiness will clothe a man in rags”: In this context “drowsiness” or “sleep” (Scott) refers to the result of eating too much or drinking too much wine. So some translations say, for example, “If a person just eats and then sleeps. . ..” “Clothe a man in rags” means that the person will be so poor that he has nothing to wear but rags. “Rags” is expressed in some languages as “dirty old clothes.” In one translation the last part of this line is “and it won’t be long before you have only rubbish clothes to wear.”

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 .

complete verse (Proverbs 23:21)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 23:21:

  • Kupsabiny: “for those things bring about poverty until people put on rags.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “For drunkards and gluttons become paupers.
    If you never do anything but eat and sleep
    you will have nothing to wear but rags and tatters.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (sing.)] do- not -be-like the drunkards and fond-of-eating/glutton, for that kind of people will- easily -become-poor. They just keep-on sleeping, therefore some time-later they will- just -cloth rags.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because people like those, they are always sleeping, so they will-become-poor and they will wear what-is-repeatedly-torn (i.e., ragged).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 23:21

23:21

The reason the son should heed the warning in 23:20 is that such behavior leads to poverty. Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

21a For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,

21b and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

23:21a

For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty: When people eat, drink, and sleep too much, they are not able to work, so they come to poverty. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

for the drunkard and glutton impoverish themselves (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Those who eat and drink too much become poor. (New Century Version)

will come to poverty: In Hebrew, the verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as will come to poverty is literally “be dispossessed” or “be impoverished.” It indicates that they lose their possessions and live in poverty.

23:21b

and drowsiness will clothe them in rags: This line is a figure of speech (personification). In this figure of speech, drowsiness is compared to a person who puts ragged clothing on poor people. It means that when people sleep too much, they will have only old, tattered clothes to wear. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

They sleep too much and end up wearing rags. (New Century Version)
-or-
If all you do is eat and sleep, you will soon be wearing rags. (Good News Translation)

drowsiness: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as drowsiness refers here to the sleepy feeling that people have after they get drunk or eat too much food.

will clothe them in rags: The expression clothe them in rags describes their poverty more specifically in terms of the clothes that they wear. As a result of their behavior, they will have nothing to wear except rags.

General Comment on 23:21a–b

In some languages, the order of the parallel lines may wrongly imply that drunkards and gluttons first become poor. After that, they sleep and end up wearing ragged clothes.

The correct logical order is that drunkards and gluttons become sleepy. They end up becoming poor and wearing ragged clothes. The Contemporary English Version has reordered the parallel parts to reflect the logical order. It has:

It will make you feel drowsy, and you will end up poor with only rags to wear.

See 23:21a–b (combined/reordered) in the Display for another example of reordering.

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