When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
Parallel translations
- WEB Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.
- KJV Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
- NKJV Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.
- NASB When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.
- NLT In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Wealth is fleeting, sprouting wings and flying away before you know it.
Overview
Riches are pictured as suddenly vanishing, like an eagle taking flight, underscoring their unreliability. To fix one's eyes on wealth is to chase what cannot be held. This points to the gospel call to store up treasure in heaven, where it cannot be lost (Matt. 6:19-21; 1 Tim. 6:17).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Prov 27:24for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to every generation.
- 1 Jn 2:16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
- Jas 5:1–2Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
- Matt 6:19Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
- 1 Tim 6:17Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.
- Ps 119:36–37Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to covetous gain.
- Gen 42:36Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”
- Eccl 12:8“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile!”
- Jer 22:17“But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”
- Ps 39:6Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.
- Eccl 1:2“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”
- 1 Cor 7:29–31What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;
- Job 1:14–17a messenger came and reported to Job: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby,
- Eccl 5:13–14There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,
- Isa 55:2Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 23:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.