How is the person who “gets riches but not by justice” like the partridge?

This appears to be yet another proverbial saying. The content of the proverb is not absolutely clear. It either speaks of a male partridge that steals eggs from other birds to brood or it broods its own eggs that do not hatch. The meaning of the proverb seems clear though. In the midst of his days they will leave him. Whether because the eggs are not his own, or because something happens to his eggs, the partridge is left without any chicks. In the same way, the man who gets riches but not by justice will find that his riches are ultimately lost and at his end he will be a fool. The prosperity of the wicked is merely a passing delusion¹ . The last line of this proverb probably hides a powerful play on words. A closely related Hebrew word to fool meaning corpse or carcass is used (see Jeremiah 19:7). The implication is that the end of all, humans and birds alike, is death and the man who pursues unjust wealth is exposed as a fool by death when he has to leave all his wealth behind² . The implications for Judah are clear. They have pursued wealth and safety in the land by trusting in humans and their false gods and in the end, they will be exposed as fools when they lose everything as they face the Lord’s judgment.