Proverbs 27:24 - Exposition

For riches are not forever; as Proverbs 23:5 . Money and other kinds of wealth may be lost or wasted; it is therefore expedient to have the resources of agriculture, land and herds, to depend upon. Chosen ( Proverbs 15:6 ), translated "riches," is "strength," "abundance," "treasure laid up." Delitzsch renders, "prosperity;" Septuagint, "A man has not strength and power forever;" Vulgate, Non habebis jugiter potestatem , i . e . "you will not always be able to tend your flocks; infirmity and old age will prevent you." And doth the crown endure to every generation? The crown or diadem, נֵזֶר ( nezer ), is the symbol of royal authority, or of the highest dignity of the priesthood ( Exodus 29:6 ; Exodus 39:30 ). These positions are not secure from generation to generation; much less stable, in fact, than the possession of farms and cattle. St. Jerome, Sed corona tribuetur in generationem et generationem , where corona is the headship of the family. Septuagint, "Neither doth he transmit it (his strength) from generation to generation."