זה לא עניין של כסף; זה עניין של זמן.

Here עניין means matter, issue, or question of.

So זה עניין של כסף is literally something like it’s a matter of money, and זה עניין של זמן is it’s a matter of time.

A very important point is that עניין does not always mean interesting or interest in the emotional sense. It often means a subject, issue, or matter.

Examples:

• זה עניין חשוב — This is an important matter
• אין לי עניין בזה — I have no interest in this
• זה עניין של זמן — It’s a matter of time

So the word is flexible, and in your sentence it clearly means matter / issue.

זה here means this or, more naturally in English, it.

Hebrew often uses זה in sentences where English would use it is:

• זה טוב — It’s good
• זה קשה — It’s hard
• זה עניין של זמן — It’s a matter of time

So:

• זה לא עניין של כסף = It’s not a matter of money
• זה עניין של זמן = It’s a matter of time

Repeating זה in the second clause is natural and helps make the contrast clear. It sounds balanced: not money; time.

In the present tense, Hebrew usually does not use a word for am / is / are.

So where English says:

• It is a matter of time

Hebrew simply says:

• זה עניין של זמן

Likewise:

• זה לא עניין של כסף literally looks like this not matter of money, but naturally means it is not a matter of money.

This is one of the biggest structural differences from English:

• Present tense: usually no is/are
• Past and future: forms of להיות are used

For example:

• זה היה עניין של זמן — It was a matter of time
• זה יהיה עניין של זמן — It will be a matter of time

לא is the standard Hebrew word for not.

It usually comes before the thing being negated. In your sentence:

• זה לא עניין של כסף = It is not a matter of money

So the basic pattern is:

• זה — it/this
• לא — not
• עניין של כסף — a matter of money

This is very common:

• זה לא נכון — That’s not correct
• זה לא פשוט — It’s not simple
• זה לא רע — It’s not bad

של usually means of or belonging to, but in many expressions it works like of in English.

So:

• עניין של כסף — a matter of money
• עניין של זמן — a matter of time

This structure is extremely common in Hebrew. It often links one noun to another in a very general way.

More examples:

• כוס של מים — a glass of water
• בעיה של זמן — a problem of time / a time problem
• שאלה של עיקרון — a question of principle

In your sentence, של is what connects עניין to כסף and זמן.

Because עניין של... is the normal idiomatic pattern here.

Hebrew does have another way to connect nouns, called the construct state (for example, בית ספר = school, literally house of book), but not every noun combination sounds natural that way.

In this sentence, עניין של כסף is the normal expression for a matter of money.
עניין כסף would sound unnatural or incomplete in most contexts.

So for this idea, learners should remember the chunk:

• עניין של... = a matter of...

For example:

• עניין של זמן
• עניין של מזל
• עניין של עיקרון

Because the sentence is talking about money and time in a general sense, not the money or the time.

So:

• כסף = money
• זמן = time

If you added ה:

• הכסף = the money
• הזמן = the time

That would change the meaning and make it more specific.

Compare:

• זה עניין של כסף — It’s a matter of money
• זה עניין של הכסף — closer to It’s a matter of the money, meaning some specific money already being discussed

In your sentence, the general meaning is what we want, so no ה is used.

Yes. זה עניין של זמן is a very common and natural expression, just like English it’s a matter of time.

It is often used when something is expected to happen eventually:

• הוא יצליח. זה רק עניין של זמן. — He’ll succeed. It’s only a matter of time.

Your full sentence uses a contrast:

• זה לא עניין של כסף; זה עניין של זמן. — It’s not a matter of money; it’s a matter of time.

That kind of contrast is also very natural in Hebrew.

Yes, absolutely. The pattern זה עניין של... is very productive.

Examples:

• זה עניין של מזל — It’s a matter of luck
• זה עניין של ניסיון — It’s a matter of experience
• זה עניין של עיקרון — It’s a matter of principle
• זה עניין של גישה — It’s a matter of attitude / approach

So once you learn עניין של..., you can use it in many situations.

Sometimes in casual speech, people may shorten things, but in this sentence the repeated זה is the most natural and clear version.

So:

• זה לא עניין של כסף; זה עניין של זמן. is the best standard form.

If you said:

• זה לא עניין של כסף; עניין של זמן that would sound incomplete to many speakers.

The repetition helps the sentence sound balanced and emphatic.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

ze lo in-YAN shel KE-sef; ze in-YAN shel ZMAN

A few notes:

• זה sounds like zeh or just ze
• עניין is stressed on the last syllable: in-YAN
• כסף is usually stressed on the first syllable: KE-sef
• זמן is one syllable in practice for many learners: zman

If you want to sound natural, put a slight pause at the semicolon:

• זה לא עניין של כסף; זה עניין של זמן.

The semicolon is just a punctuation choice to show a strong pause and contrast. In speech, you simply pause slightly.

You could also write it with a comma:

• זה לא עניין של כסף, זה עניין של זמן.

Or even as two sentences:

• זה לא עניין של כסף. זה עניין של זמן.

All of these are understandable. The semicolon just gives the sentence a slightly more polished or written feel.

They are not the same.

• עניין = matter / issue / question
• בעיה = problem

Your sentence says:

• It’s not a matter of money; it’s a matter of time

That does not necessarily mean time is a problem. It means the key factor is time, not money.

If you said:

• זו בעיה של זמן that would mean It’s a problem of time or It’s a time problem, which is a different nuance.

So עניין is broader and more neutral than בעיה.