Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
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.
- BSB When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
- 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 for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?
- 1 Jn 2:16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
- Jas 5:1–2Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
- Matt 6:19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
- 1 Tim 6:17Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
- Ps 119:36–37Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
- Gen 42:36And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.
- Eccl 12:8Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
- Jer 22:17But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
- Ps 39:6Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
- Eccl 1:2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
- 1 Cor 7:29–31But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;
- Job 1:14–17And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
- Eccl 5:13–14There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
- Isa 55:2Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
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
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