In verse 20 the woman gives further assurances that her husband will not be back soon.

“He took a bag of money with him”: “Money” is literally “silver.” This would probably not be minted coins but bulk silver to be weighed. The underlying sense is probably that such a large quantity of money is for purchasing, if he is a merchant. Some translations bring this out: “. . . and he took a lot of money.”

“At full moon he will come home”: The word translated “full moon” occurs elsewhere only in Psa 81.3 (Hebrew verse 4) with a slightly different spelling. That passage also refers to “our feast day.” That would mean either the Festival of Shelters or Passover. According to Lev 23 the Festival of Shelters began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and Passover began on the fourteenth day of the first month. In each case this means at full moon. The woman may be relating his return to the festival or may be using the expression “full moon” as a date, that is, “the middle of the month.” Accordingly Good News Translation says “He won’t be back for two weeks.” This is based on the assumption that verse 9 refers to the time of no moonlight. If that is correct, the Good News Translation rendering is adequate. Most modern versions have “until full moon” or “until the middle of the month.”

In order to make this verse follow more naturally from the previous verse, some translators adjust it as follows: “(19) he’s gone far away and he won’t be coming back quickly (20) because he took a lot of money with him. In two weeks’ time he might come.”

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 .