When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;
put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to appetite.
Don’t be desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.
Parallel Translations
-
When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;
put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to appetite.
Don’t be desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.
-
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
Show all 3 translations
-
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well him that is before thee;
And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
Be not desirous of his dainties; seeing they are deceitful food.
Cross-references (10)
- Philippians 3:19 (v2) whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things.
- Matthew 18:8-9 (v2) If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or…
- 1 Corinthians 9:27 (v2) but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
- Proverbs 23:6 (v3) Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and don’t crave his delicacies:
- Psalms 141:4 (v3) Don’t incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness with men who work iniquity. Don’t let me eat of their delicacies.
Show all 10 cross-references
- Luke 21:34 (v3) “So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you…
- Daniel 1:8 (v3) But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s dainties, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore he…
- Ephesians 4:22 (v3) that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit,
- Genesis 43:32-34 (v1) They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians don’t eat with…
- Jude 1:12 (v1) These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (24 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Eat with sobriety.
Eat with sobriety.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Pro 23:1 When thou sittest to eat with a…
Pro 23:1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee:
Ver. 1. When thou sittest to eat.] See my Common Place of Abstinence.
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Consider diligently what is before thee.] And "feed with fear," {Jdg 1:12} lest thou lose by thy luxury that praise and preferment that thou hadst gotten by thine industry. {Pro 22:9}
‘Non minor est virtus quam quaerere parta tueri.’
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–3 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, when…
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, when thou art invited to a feast with a great man,
consider diligently what is before thee; either
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1. What person or persons. Or rather,
2. What things; what plenty and variety of meats and drinks, by which thou mayst easily be tempted to excess, and by that means induced to use such speeches or carriages as may be unfit for thee, or many ways hurtful to thee.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–3 And put a knife to thy throat,.... Refrain from…
And put a knife to thy throat,.... Refrain from too much talk at the table; give not too loose to thy tongue, but bridle it, considering in whose presence thou art; do not use too much freedom, either with the ruler or fellow guests; which, when persons have ate and drank well, they are too apt to do, and sometimes say things offensive to one or the other; it is good for a man to be upon his guard; see Ecc 5:2. Or restrain thine appetite; deny thyself of some things agreeable, that would lead thee to what might be hurtful, at least if indulged to excess: put as it were a knife unto thine appetite, and mortify it; which is the same as cutting off a right hand, or plucking out a right eye Mat 5:29. Or while thou art at such a table, at such a sumptuous entertainment, consider thyself as in danger, as if thou hadst a knife at thy throat; and shouldest thou be too free with the food or liquor, it would be as it were cutting thine own throat;
if thou be a man given to appetite; there is then the more danger; and therefore such a person should be doubly on his guard, since he is in the way of temptation to that he is naturally inclined to. Or, "if thou art master of appetite" (r): so the Targum,
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"if thou art master of thy soul;''
if thou hast power over it, and the command of it, and canst restrain it with ease; to which agrees the Vulgate Latin version: but the former sense is more agreeable to the Hebrew idiom.
(r) "dominus animae", Vatablus, Mercerus, Michaelis.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Ruler - With a great man.
Ruler - With a great man.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1–2 Sobriety in eating and drinking, especially at the tables…
CHAPTER XXIII
Sobriety in eating and drinking, especially at the tables of
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the great. Have no fellowship with the covetous. Remove not the
ancient landmark. Children should receive due correction. Avoid
the company of wine-bibbers. Obedience to parents. Avoid lewd
connections. The effect of an unfeeling conscience.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIII
Verse 1. When thou sittest to eat with a ruler] When invited to the table of thy betters, eat moderately. Do not appear as if half starved at home. Eat not of delicacies to which thou art not accustomed; they are deceitful meat; they please, but they do not profit. They are pleasant to the sight, the taste, and the smell; but they are injurious to health. These are prudential cautions; and should be carefully observed by all who would avoid the conduct of a clown, and desire to pass for a well-bred man.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v1 Pro 23:1-3. When thou sittest to eat with a…
Pro 23:1-3. When thou sittest to eat with a ruler — When thou art invited to the table of a great man; consider diligently what is before thee — What things, what plenty and variety of meats and drinks, by which thou mayest easily be tempted to excess in partaking of them, and so mayest be induced to speak or act in an unbecoming manner. And put a knife to thy throat, &c. — Restrain and govern thine appetite, so as to avoid all excess, as with a sword hanging over thy head, or as if a man stood with a knife at thy throat ready to take thy life, if thou didst transgress. Schultens, however, with some others, reads this verse, For thou wilt put a knife to thy throat, if thou art given to appetite; that is, “If thou dost not curb thy appetite, it will expose thee to certain danger, as if a knife were at thy throat.” And be not desirous of his dainties — Especially be on thy guard when exquisite delicacies are set before thee; for they are deceitful meat — Agreeable to the taste, and promising pleasure, but, if eaten to excess, loading the stomach, injuring the health, defiling the conscience, and depriving a man of peace with God, and peace of mind. “There are two evils,” says Dr. Dodd, from Patrick, Melancthon, and others, “to be avoided at the tables of the great: the one is, too much talking; the other, too much eating: the wise man exhorts his disciple to avoid both the one and the other, by the phrase, Put a knife to thy throat; repress your appetite and your inclination to talk. Wine, company, and the gayety which attends entertainments, often invite men to be too free in the use of meat and drink; and it is by these that kings frequently prove the fidelity and the secrecy of their confidants.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–3 What is before thee - Beware lest dainties tempt…
What is before thee - Beware lest dainties tempt thee to excess. Or, “consider diligently who is before thee,” the character and temper of the ruler who invites thee.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain On v1 THE book of God is our rule of practice,…
THE book of God is our rule of practice, not less than of faith. It enforces religion not only in our religious, but in our natural, actions. (1Co 10:31 .) It directs in the daily details of common life. Suppose we are invited, in the way of Providence, to the table of a man of rank — how wise the caution — Consider diligently what is before thee! Think where you are; what is the besetting temptation; what impression your conduct is likely to make. Wantonness of appetite, or levity of manner, gives a plausible ground of prejudice to the ungodly, or "stumbling to the weak."†1
But after all, ourselves are mainly concerned. May not the luxuries of the table spread before us stir up disproportionate indulgence? The rule is plain and urgent. If thou art conscious of being given to appetite, making it thy first object and delight, — bridle it as by violence. (Mat 18:8-9 .) Act as if a knife was at thy throat. Be stern and resolute with thyself.†2 Give no quarter to the lust. Resist every renewed indulgence. The dainties are deceitful meat, sometimes from the insincerity of the host;†3 always from the disappointment of the anticipated pleasure. (Ecc 2:10-11 .) To use them may be lawful. To be desirous of them is fearfully dangerous.
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Who that knows his own weakness will deem this caution needless? Alas! was not "the lust of the flesh" the first inlet to that sin, which has overwhelmed us all? (Gen 3:6 .) Often has it tarnished a Christian profession,†4 and damped the liveliness of spiritual apprehensions and enjoyments.†5 If Christ’s disciples, conversant only with mean and homely fare, needed a caution to "take heed;"†6 much more must it apply to a ruler’s table, where everything ministers to the temptation.
It is man’s high prerogative to "have dominion over the creature."†7 It is his shame therefore, that the creature in any form should have dominion over him. God gives us our body to feed, not to pamper; to be the servant, not the master, of the soul. He gives bread for our necessities,†8 man craves "meat for his lust."†9 We are to "make provision" for the wants, not "for the lusts, of the flesh." (Rom 13:14 .) And surely a soul, that "puts on the Lord Jesus Christ," can never degrade itself to be a purveyor of the flesh. If a heathen could say, ’I am greater and born to greater things, than to be the servant of my body’†10 — is it not a shame for a Christian, born as he is, the heir of an everlasting crown, to be the slave of his carnal indulgences?
To go as near as we can to the bounds of intemperance, is to incur imminent danger of exceeding. ’He that takes his full liberty in what he may, shall repent him.’†11 Temptation presses hard. Then put the strongest guard at this weak point. ’Curb thy desires, though they be somewhat importunate, and thou shalt find in time incredible benefit by it.’†12 Take the prayer of our Church — ’Grant unto us such abstinence, that our flesh being subdued unto the spirit, we may ever obey thy godly motions.’†13 Connect with it the resolution of one Apostle — "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection" (1Co 9:27 ) — and the rule of another — "Add to your faith temperance." (2Pe 1:5-6 .) This practical warfare will break the power of many a strong temptation, and triumph over the flesh gloriously.†14
Footnotes:
†1 1Co 8:9 . Rom 14:21 .
†2 Pro 23:31. Psa 141:4 .
†3 Pro 23:6-8.
†4 1Co 11:21 . Php 3:18-19 . Jud 1:12-13 .
†5 Gen 25:28; Gen 27:4, with Gen 27:26-29 .
†6 Luk 21:34.
†7 Gen 1:26, Gen 1:28 ; Gen 9:2 .
†8 Mat 6:11, Mat 6:25-33 .
†9 Psa 78:18.
†10 Seneca.
†11 Bishop Hall’s Works, viii. 101. ’If I see any dish to tempt my palate, I fear a serpent in that apple, and would please myself in a willful denial.’ - Ib. Ep. Decad. vi. Ep. i.
†12 Bp. Sanderson’s Sermon on Psa 19:13 .
†13 Collect for the first Sunday in Lent.
†14 Dan 1:8. Compare Augustine’s ingenuous and instructive Confessions, book x. c. 31.
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Sit. Saul sat at table, and the custom of…
Sit. Saul sat at table, and the custom of lying down was adopted only a little while before the captivity. It was recent among the Romans. (Calmet) --- Soliti patres considere mensis. (Virgil, Æneid vii. 170.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 c) Warning against greediness, intemperance, impurity, etc
c) Warning against greediness, intemperance, impurity, etc
Chap. 23
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1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler,
consider well him who is before thee,—
2 and thou wilt put a knife to thy throat
if thou art a gluttonous man.
3 Crave not his dainties,
for it is deceitful food.
4 Labor not to be rich;
cease from (this) thine own wisdom.
5 Wilt thou look eagerly after it—and it is no longer there?
for assuredly it maketh itself wings,
as an eagle that flieth toward the heavens.
6 Eat not the bread of him that hath an evil eye,
and crave not his dainties.
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he;
“eat and drink” saith he to thee,
but his heart is not with thee.
8 Thy morsel which thou hast eaten, wilt thou cast up,
and wilt have lost thy pleasant words.
9 Speak not in the ears of a fool,
for he would despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Remove not old landmarks,
and into the field of the fatherless enter thou not.
11 For their avenger is a mighty one;
He will maintain their cause with thee.
12 Apply thine heart to instruction,
and thine ears to words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child;
for if thou beatest him with the rod he shall not die.
14 Thou beatest him with the rod,
and his soul thou deliverest from hell.
15 My son, if thine heart be made wise,
my heart will rejoice, even mine;
16 And my reins will exalt,
when thy lips speak right things.
17 Let not thine heart press on eagerly after sinners,
but after the fear of Jehovah all the day;
18 for if the end come
then thy hope shall not be destroyed.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise,
and incline thine heart in a right way.
20 Be not among winebibbers,
who devour much flesh.
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to want,
and the sleep of sloth clotheth in rags.
22 Hearken to thy father that hath begotten thee,
and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth and sell it not,
wisdom, and discipline and understanding.
24 The father of a righteous man rejoiceth greatly;
he that begetteth a wise man hath joy in him.
25 Let thy father and thy mother be glad,
and her that bare thee exult.
26 My son, give me thine heart,
and let thine eyes delight in my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep ditch,
and the strange woman a narrow pit.
28 Yea, she lieth in wait like a robber,
and the false among men doth she multiply.
29 Who hath woe? who hath grief?
who hath contentions,—who trouble,—who wounds without cause,
who hath redness of eyes?
30 They that tarry long at the wine,
who come to seek mixed wine.
31 Look not on the wine, when it is red,
when it sparkleth in the cup,
when it glideth smoothly!
32 At last it biteth like a serpent,
and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thine eyes shall see strange things,
and thine heart shall utter perverse things;
34 and thou shalt be as one that (is) in the midst of the sea?
as one that lieth on the top of a mast.
35 “They have stricken me—I have not felt it—
they have smitten me—I have not known it—
when I awake I will seek it yet again.”
GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL
Pro_23:1.—[We have in בִּין, as in גִּיל, ver, 24, examples of the “spurious” עי verbs, or mixed עי and עו. The present result is that we have here in Pro_23:1, and in the K’ri in Pro_23:24, forms apparently of the Inf. constr., where the idiom of the language requires an Inf. abs. See Green, § 158, 2, 8; Bött., §§ 988, 4, a; 1141; 1143, 1, 2, etc. The תָּבִין is followed by a Perf. consec. to express the idea of the “Fiens debitum,” what ought always to be, and so may confidently be expressed as a finished result. Bött., § 981, B. γ.—A.]
Pro_23:4.—The punctuation לְהַעֲשִׁיר is unquestionably correct (see Exegetical notes); to alter it to לְהֶעָשִׁיר (LXX, Targ., Hitzig), as though the admonition were against laboring for the favor of the rich man, is unnecessary.
Pro_23:5.—We render according to the K’ri יָעיּף, which is certainly to he preferred to the unmeaning K’thibh ועיף (for which many conjecture וְעוֹף, “as eagles and birds of the heavens”). [Bött., §1132, 3, very confidently proposesוְיָעֹף, making the verb a Jussive.—A.]
Pro_23:7.—[For the form אֱכוֹל comp. critical notes on Pro_22:7-8.—A.]
The verb (שָׁעַר) pointed and accented as here can be nothing but 3d pers. Perf. Kal, equivalent to the Chald. שְׁעַר, cogitavit, meditatus est; and this meaning of the expression gives a general sense so appropriate that we ought clearly to abide by it (with Aben Ezra, Umbreit, Bertheau, Elster, etc. [so the E. V., N., S., M., W., De W., Fuerst], although no support can be found for it any where in the Old Testament. The LXX rendered שֵׂעַר “ hair” [so he eats and drinks, as if any one should swallow a hair]; the Chald., שַׁעַר, “fool;” Schultens, שַׂעַר, shuddering; Ewald and Hitzig,, שָׁעֻר divided (“as one who is divided in his soul”) [Holden and others, “as he is vile”]; but these are all unnecessary attempts at emendation.
Pro_23:10.—[In שְׂדֵי Bött., § 821, Decl. 2, and n. 5, maintains that we have a sing, constr. from the original form שָׂדַי, and not a plur. const, collateral to שְׂדוֹת, as most of the grammars and lexicons hold. He compares עֲדֶי and עֲלֵי.—A.]
Ver.12.—[הָבִיאָה, a poetical form, a lengthened Imper. pres. Comp. דְּעֵה in Pro_24:14.—A.]
Pro_23:15.—[The supplementary אָנִי conforms to the case of the preceding suffix of the same person, which is of course a genitive. Bött., § 855, 3.—A.]
Pro_23:19.—אַשֵּׁר is here a real Piel with a factitive meaning, unlike its use in Pro_4:14.
Pro_23:22.—[The demonstrative זֶה used, as it is occasionally in poetry and prophecy, not instead of a relative, but as the emphatic antecedent of an omitted relative. Bött., §§ 896, 6; 897, E.—A.]
Pro_23:25.—[Instead of reading the verbs as simple Imperf., to be rendered by the future, they may perhaps be made more expressive if made examples of the “consultative” use of the Jussive: “let thy father and thy mother,” etc. The E. V. is “thy father and thy mother shall,” etc.—A.]
Pro_23:26.—Instead of the K’thibh, תִּרְצֶנָה (= תִּרְצֶינָה), “let them delight in my words” (comp. Pro_16:7), the K’ri, with all the old versions, calls unnecessarily for תִּצֹּרְנָה, “let them preserve or keep,” etc.
Pro_23:32.—[יַפְרִשׁ Bött would explain as shortened from יַפְרֵשׁ and not from יַפְרִישׁ. See §1013, ex.—A.]
Pro_23:33.—[יִרְאוּ, a masc. form agreeing with a fem. subject, as the fem. תִּרְאֶיגָה would have seemed perhaps to agree with זָרוֹת. See Bött., § 936, A. a.—A.]
EXEGETICAL
l. Pro_23:1-8. Warnings against courting the favor of the powerful, against greed, and against intercourse with the envious. The first of these warnings, Pro_23:1-3, stands very plainly in immediate connection with the last verse of the preceding chapter. The counsel that one’s powers be employed in the service of kings is followed by a warning against the dangers of a too confidential intercourse with powerful and honorable men, especially against the danger of being watched by them on occasion of their banquets, and possibly recognized as immoderate, as intemperate, as an epicure, etc. Comp. the Arabic proverb: He that eats the Sultan’s soup burns his lips, though it be not till afterward (Meid., II., 741); or this other: With kings one seats himself at the table for the sake of honor, and not of surfeiting (Thaâl Synt., p. 31); see Horace also, Ars poet., 434 sq., and Sir_9:13-14; Sir_31:12-14.—Consider well him who is before thee, viz., that he is not one of thine equals, but one much mightier and loftier (so Luther, Umbreit, Hitzig [Kamph., N., M.] etc. Others: Consider well what is before thee, i.e., the food that is set before thee (LXX, Vulg., Ewald, Bertheau [E. V., H., S, Wordsw.] etc. Both explanations are possible; the first seems more consistent with the connection.
Pro_23:2. Thou wilt put a knife to thy throat. Lit., “and thou hast put”—for which reason Hitzig thinks it necessary to put this entire verse after verse 3, and to regard it as a continuation of the reference made in 3, b, to the danger of eating with great men. But no ancient MS. or version exhibits any other order of the verses than the usual one, and besides this gives unquestionably a good logical progress in the thought. It is grammatically unjustifiable to regard the verb as Imperative (LXX, Vulg., Luther [E. V., etc.]: “And put a knife to thy throat”). [But Bött. justifies a rendering substantially the same (see Critical note) by saying, “Although the legislator and teacher prescribes only for the future, yet the hearer and reader (and their point of view must be taken) cannot regard the thing prescribed as merely future.—Something that is in general terms enjoined he must, as soon as he becomes cognizant of it, not merely do in the future, but in case of need immediately, etc. This Fiens debitum remains then indeterminate in time.” As between the two resulting ideas: “Thou hast virtually destroyed thyself if thou art a self-indulgent man,”—and “ Thou must at all hazards subdue thine appetite” we prefer the latter, with K, N., W., M., H, against S.—A.]. If thou art a gluttonous man, lit. a master or owner of desire, not precisely one ruled by appetite (Umbreit), but a man cherishing and maintaining strong desires; comp. “Master of dreams,” Gen_37:19.
Pro_23:3. Crave not his dainties (comp. 6, b, Pro_24:1): for it is deceitful food, lit., “bread of lies” (comp. Pro_20:17). i.e., a deceptive meal, which in reality has another object than that which it seems to have.
Pro_23:4-5. Labor not to be rich. Since what follows plainly emphasizes the fugitive and perishable nature of riches in itself, the sentiment as a whole doubtless aims to deter from striving after wealth, or from covetousness—Cease from (this) thine own wisdom, viz, from that which has reference to the acquisition and preservation of riches.—Wilt thou look eagerly (lit. “let thine eyes fly”) after it:—a we render in accordance with the K’ri, which in spite of the fact that a Hiphil of this verb does not occur elsewhere, is to be preferred to the unintelligible K’thibh; and we do not need (with Hitzig) to substitute the rendering “if thou faintest, if thou art weary” (from עוף “to be feeble or powerless;” comp Jer_4:31; Jdg_4:21)—And it is no longer there, has disappeared, is suddenly gone! Comp. the same expression, Job_7:9. also Gen_5:24.—For assuredly it maketh itself wings, precisely “it will make itself wings;” comp. 2Sa_15:1; 1Ki_1:5; also the Latin phrase alas sibi facere (Sil. Ital. 16, 351) and our proverbial expression “to make one find his logs,” or again “Füsse kriegen und davon flaegen” [to get feet and fly away]—As an eagle that flieth towards the heavens (see Critical notes).
Pro_23:6-8. Eat not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, the jealous; the man of an evil eye is the opposite of the man with the “good eye,” to him who is of a “kindly look,” (comp. Pro_22:9; Deu_15:9; Mat_6:23).
Pro_23:7. For as he thinketh in his heart so is he See Critical notes.
Pro_23:8. Thy morsel which thou hast eaten thou shalt cast up and this under the constraint of the “evil eye exciting vexation and disgust, under the feeling of bitterness which the envy and ill will of thine entertainer will excite in thee, and from the perception of the fruitlessness of thy friendly words, which were intended to gain the false heart of this man.
2. Pro_23:9-11 Warning against intercourse with fools, and against violence.—With Pro_23:9 comp. Pro_9:8.—And into the field of the fatherless press thou not, lit. “come not into them.” i.e., in the way of removing boundaries or other acts of violence. [Hackett (Scripture Illustrations) and other travellers in the East call attention to the simplicity of these landmarks, a single stone or small heap of stones,—and the ease with which an aggressor could encroach without detection.—A.].
Pro_23:11. For their avenger is a strong one, i.e., Jehovah, who appears as the vindicator of outraged innocence (as גֹּאִל, Job_19:25; Jer. 1:34, etc.), when human deliverers and protectors are wanting to it. (For illustration of human “redeemers” comp. Rth_3:12). With b compare Pro_22:23; also Psa_68:6 Mal_3:5, etc.
3. Pro_23:12-18. Admonition to the strict training of children, and to the striving after true wisdom and the fear of God—Apply thine heart to correction. For this phrase “to apply the heart, to incline the heart,” comp. Psa_90:12, b; for the “words of knowledge,” Pro_1:2.
Pro_23:12 can hardly be regarded as an introduction to all that follows as far as Pro_24:2 (in opposition to Bertheau); rather does the general exhortation contained in it, to the reception of a discipline of the understanding, prepare the way only for what immediately follows,.—perhaps as far as Pro_23:16, or 18.
Pro_23:13. Comp. Pro_3:27, Pro_19:18; Pro_22:15.
Pro_23:14. And his soul thou deliverest from hell i.e., so far forth as correction leads to life, and is even itself life; comp. Pro_4:13; Pro_15:24 : also Pro_7:27 sq; Pro_9:18.
Pro_23:15-16 My son, if thine heart be cometh wise, i.e., if it as the result of whole some discipline shall have become wise—My heart will rejoice, even mine—therefore not thine merely. For the repetition of the suffix which expresses the genitive relation, by the casus rectus, compare, 1Ki_21:1; 1Ki_21:9;2Sa_17:5; 2Sa_19:1.; and also chap Pro_22:19 above. The “reins ” in 16, a, are plainly only an interchangeable expression for “heart” (Psa_16:7; Psa_17:3), and the “right speaking of the lips” is the necessary effect or the outward sign of having become wise.
Pro_23:17. Let not thine heart press on eagerly after sinners, but after the fear of Jehovah all the day. Thus, Schelling, Umbreit, Hitzig, [K.] correctly render, while the greater number, following the LXX, Vulg., etc., restrict the effect of the verb יְקַנֵּא to the first member, and for the second supply the Imper, of the substantive verb. For the general idea moreover comp. Pro_3:31; Proverbs 24;Pro_1:19. [Holden gives a qualified endorsement to the interpretation which our author adopts; (N., M., S. follow the E, V) in the line of the LXX rendering.—Rueetschi supports the view which makes the one expressed verb common to the two clauses, the shades of meaning varying as a person is the object in the former, a thing in the latter clause; in the former case the idea is very nearly that of “envy,” in the latter “to be zealous for.” A more delicate point discussed by R. is the peculiarity of the compound connective כִּי אִם, in Pro_23:17 and again in Pro_23:18. In the former it is hardly more than the simple adversative “but” (see Ewald, Lehrb. 343, b); in the latter (see Z’s. view below), it must be virtually a causal “for,” or by conjectural emendation =כִּי אָז “for then,” (as above, p. 157).—A.].
Pro_23:18. For if the end come. So Umbreit, Bertheau, Elster correctly render, for the connective is here not “rather” or “but rather” as in Pro_23:17, but כִּי is a causal (comp. Pro_24:20), and אִם supplies a condition, as in the similar passage Pro_24:14. The “end” is not specifically the hour of death (Umbreit) but the terminus which is necessarily reached in all human relations (Elster), the hour of judicial decision, when God fulfils the hopes of the pious but visits the ungodly with righteous penalties. So far forth as this decisive end is ordinarily reached not till the future life, there is undoubtedly a hint of the hope of immortality and of a future retribution involved in this passage, as in Pro_11:7; Pro_14:32.
4. Pro_23:19-25. Warning against intemperance and extravagance, and counsel to an obedient endeavor after truth.—Hear thou, my son, and be wise. The pronoun is added to strengthen the appeal in the Imper. “hear” for the sake of the contrast with the disobedient in Pro_23:20 sq.—And incline thine heart in a right way, lit. “and let thine heart go straight forward in the way” (i.e., in the “way of understanding” Pro_9:6). Comp. Job_31:7.
Pro_23:20. Who devour much flesh. This conception of the Hebrew phrase is the simplest and best supported by the authority of all the old translators. We are to think of gluttons who at their carousals with much wine consume also much flesh. Comp. Pro_7:14; Pro_9:2; and for the association of זוֹלֵל “waster, consumer,” with סבֵא, “drunkard,” comp. also Deu_21:20, as well as the expression of the New Testament, φάγος καὶ οἰνοπότης, Mat_11:19, which seems to be a free rendering of this fixed formula. It is arbitrary and contrary to the meaning of זולֵל as established in the usage of the language, when Ewald and Umbreit refer it to licentious voluptuaries, who “dishonor or destroy their own body.” Of the later commentators Bertheau, Elster, Hitzig have taken the right view. [The author is perhaps too summary in his way of dismissing an interpretation, which has the support of Hebraists and expositors like Gesen., Fuerst, De W., N.; and yet we concur in his view, which is best supported by scriptural parallels, and is that favored by the LXX, Vulg., Luther, E. V., H., S., M., Wordsw., etc.—A.]
Pro_23:21. And the sleep of sloth clotheth in rags. The noun נוּמה, “sleep,” which occurs only here, according to the context describes the indolence and drowsiness into which the drunkard and glutton sinks in consequence of his excesses, and the necessary result of which is poverty.
Pro_23:22. Hearken to thy father that hath begotten thee,—and for that reason deserves obedience, as does the mother also, to whom, according to clause b, it is becoming to hearken in the time of her old age.
Pro_23:23. Buy truth and sell it not. The “buying” of the truth consists in the acquisition of it with labor, exertion and sacrifice (comp. Pro_4:5; Pro_4:7; Pro_16:16; Mat_13:44; Mat_13:46). The “selling” of it would consist in its gross disparagement, and its sacrifice for the sake of sensual enjoyment, or any unsubstantial seeming treasure. [“Give up everything for truth,” says Dr. Chalmers, “and let no bribery of any sort induce me to surrender it.”]
Pro_23:24. The father of a righteous man rejoiceth greatly. The K’ri is unquestionably to be preferred to the K’thibh, while in clause b we ought probably to give the preference rather to the K’thibh; we render therefore literally, “the begetter of a wise man—and he shall rejoice in himself.”—With respect to the sentiment of this verse and the one following comp. Pro_10:1; Pro_15:20; Pro_27:11.
5. Pro_23:26-28. Warning against licentiousness, introduced by a summons to a loving consecration to wisdom.—My son, give me thine heart. The speaker is evidently wisdom personified, who appears here as in Pro_7:4-5, in opposition to a treacherous harlot, and admonishes to a firm adherence to her “ways,” i.e. to the principles and rules of life which are prescribed by wisdom.
Pro_23:27. With a compare Pro_22:14 a.—And the strange woman a narrow pit; therefore, those that have been ensnared by her artifices and brought to ruin, she releases again with as much difficulty as a narrow and deep well (possibly of a conical, or, the reverse, a funnel shape) permits one who has fallen into it to escape.
Pro_23:28. Yea, like a robber doth she lie in wait. חֵרֵף is used only here to describe a robber. Comp Jer_3:2, where a wanton harlot is compared to an “Arab of the desert” lurking about the roads.—And the false among men doth she multiply; i.e. by her seductive arts she allures many to unfaithfulness, especially when it is married men among whom she practises her impurities. Umbreit unnecessarily renders: she draweth to herself faithless ones (i.e. adulterers);—besides, the verb here used could hardly express this idea. But it is likewise inappropriate, with Ewald, Bertheau, Elster, etc., to understand by the “faithless” not so much adulterers, etc., as rather robbers and murderers. No sufficient support from the language can be adduced for Hitzig’s conception of בּוֹגְדִים as equivalent to the abstract בּוּגְרָה “perfidy, faithlessness.”
6. Pro_23:29-35. Warning against the vice of intemperance, by means of a vivid picture of its ruinous results.—who hath woe? Who hath grief? Lit., “to whom is ah? to whom alas?”. The interjection אֲבוֹי, an expansion ofאוֹי is found only here. Among the subsequent terms, the “trouble” is strictly anxious care, complaint; “wounds without cause” are wounds received in causeless or wholly unprofitable disputes, wounds and stripes such as come of the brawls of drunken men; finally the dark “redness of the eyes” is the revolting effect of excessive use of wine as it shows itself in the face, according to Gen_49:12.
Pro_23:30. They that tarry long at the wine (comp. Isa_5:11), who come to seek mixed wine. There is hardly need of our supposing (in accordance with Bertheau’s view) an actual entrance into a proper wine store or cellar (Song Son_2:4),—but rather a concourse of several at the house of some one (comp. Job_1:4), to drink there strong spiced wine or mixed liquor (Pro_9:5).
Pro_23:31. When it sparkleth in the cup (lit., “giveth out or showeth its eye”), when it glideth smoothly (lit., “goeth a straight or right way,” ingreditur blande (Vulg.)). Comp. Song Son_7:10. [The figurative use of the term “eye” in this vivid description has suggested two slightly different conceptions;—one, that of Bött., etc., derived from the brightness of the eye; the other, that of Fuerst, etc., from its roundness, setting forth therefore the “ bead, or pearl” of the wine. Two different interpretations have likewise been given to the latter part of the description; one of these is based upon the smooth flow in the glass of rich, oily old wine (so E. V., W., etc.); the other upon its smooth pleasant flow as it is swallowed, when “it goeth down aright” (so substantially Luther, De W., K., Z., Bertheau, H., N., S., M.). The LXX gives a curiously divergent rendering: “For if thou shouldest set thine eyes on bowls and cups, thou shalt afterwards go more naked than a pestle.”—A.]
Pro_23:32. At last it biteth like a serpent; lit., “its end,” i.e. its ruinous influence which finally becomes evident, its fearful after-pangs.—And stingeth like an adder. This Hiphil form, which occurs only here, can, in accordance with the Aramæan, have no other meaning than “to sprinkle, or spirt,” for which in the case before us “poison” suggests itself as the natural object; (the serpent is the very poisonous species of viper mentioned also in Isa_11:8).
Pro_23:33. Thine eyes shall see strange things. The “strange” (זָרוֹת) standing parallel with “perverse (things),” is evidently to be taken in a different sense from that required in Pro_22:14; it therefore does not denote “strange women” (Umbreit, Bertheau, Elster), but “strange, marvellous things,” as the object of the drunken man’s vision; thus, e.g., the doubling of certain objects, their inversion, their tremulous or swaying motion, etc. (thus, correctly, Rosenm., Ewald, Hitzig).—With clause b compare Pro_15:28. [While the Book of Proverbs emphasizes the connection of drunkenness and licentiousness as kindred, and often contemporaneous or successive vices (see especially chap. 7), still the rendering suggested by Pro_22:14, and preferred by the E. V., De W., N., M., H., S., etc., is rendered less probable by the parallelism, which in Hebrew is not to be lightly disregarded.—A.]
Pro_23:34. And shalt be as one who (is) in the midst of the sea,—i.e. probably not one who is out in the midst of the high sea (so Umbreit, Bertheau, etc.), but one who is in the depths of the sea (Jon_2:4), and therefore one who is as unconscious, with the spirit as completely removed from all previous surroundings, as a drowned man lying upon the deep sea-bottom (Hitzig). [Kamph., H., N., S., M. take the other view, which has this to commend it, that it refers to more common experiences, and experiences of living men, and harmonizes better with the second part of the description.—A.]—As one that sleepeth on the top of a mast,—a lively image of the condition of the drunken man, reeling, staggering hither and thither, rising and falling, as it were, and so exposed to imminent perils to his life.חִבֵּל “mast,” (which is usually described by תֹּרֶן), a word occurring only here, and apparently related to the verb חבל, “to bind;” comp. Dan_4:20. [Fuerst makes the primary meaning “to conduct, direct, guide,” and therefore interprets the noun of the “steering apparatus, the rudder.”—A.]
Pro_23:35. They have stricken me—I have not felt it, etc. Evidently language of the intoxicated man, who first, in clauses a and b, tells how he feebly remembers having experienced, without really feeling, even blows and bodily abuse of other kinds, while he was in his intoxication,—and then in clause c, although still half-bewildered by the later influence of the wine, expresses his intense craving for more, and his fixed purpose to seek anew the prohibited enjoyment. The more characteristic this whole picture of the mode of thought and action of a confirmed inebriate, so much the more unnecessary is it, with Hitzig, to read in a and b “it hath stricken—it hath smitten me” (הֲלָמָנִי הִכָּנִי) and to make wine personified (as in Pro_23:32) the subject.—With c compare, moreover, the language of the sluggard craving sleep; Pro_6:10.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
There is hardly need of further demonstration to show, that it is several of the main forms of sensual self-indulgence of which our chapter treats in the way of warning and dissuasion. At first it is a very strong desire for the pleasures of great men’s tables, as well as for the enjoyments and advantages which intercourse with envious men secures (Pro_23:1-3; Pro_23:6-8), that forms the subject of the admonition. The remonstrance interposed between these two warnings, and relating to striving after riches, points to covetousness as the deep root not only of evils in general, but of this one in particular (Pro_23:4-5; comp. 1Ti_6:10).—[Lawson:—Solomon often speaks of riches as a reward that wisdom frequently bestows on those who love her, but here he cautions us against supposing that wisdom encourages the love of riches]. There follows next a further warning against common, rude and uncultivated conversation (Pro_23:9).—[Chalmers:—Let me know when to be silent as well as when to speak. There is a manifest contempt for what is said that should lay instant arrest upon me]. There is a like warning against the rough and greedy exercise of violence upon helpless orphans, and others who are weak and entitled to consideration (Pro_23:10-11); against foolish doting, and a false carnal forbearance in the matter of the discipline of children (Pro_23:12-18);—[Arnot:—The command is framed upon the supposition that parents often fail on the side of tenderness; the word is given to nerve them for a difficult duty. There is no ambiguity in the precept; both the need of correction and the tremendous issues that depend on it are expressed with thrilling precision of language];—next, against haughty contempt of the consideration due to parents, and disobedience to them (Pro_23:22-25); against intercourse with the gluttonous and profligate (Pro_23:19-21); against being ensnared by wanton women (Pro_23:26-28); against the vice of drunkenness (Pro_23:29-35). As a basis for the warning against these two chief forms of incontinence and fleshly indulgence we have at one time more prominence given to the nothingness and transientness of the possessions or enjoyments to be obtained by means of them (Pro_23:5; Pro_23:21; Pro_23:35), and at another to the heavy penalty in temporal and eternal death,(vers, 11, 14, 18, 27 sq., 32). To the foolish sentiments and manner life which lead down to such ruin, Pro_23:17, which is cast in a peculiarly comprehensive form, opposes the “fear of Jehovah,” as the only means of deliverance and preservation. And as the glorious fruit and result of this we have extolled in Pro_23:18 a hope which outlasts the grave and death,—the same hope, therefore, of an eternally blessed life, which in some earlier passages of the Book of Proverbs had already come out significantly; comp. above, remarks on this passage, on p. 202.
HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL
Homily on the entire chapter:—The fear of God the only safeguard against the ruinous ascendency of fleshly lusts, especially avarice, extravagance, drunkenness and licentiousness.—Comp. Stöcker: On intemperance in eating and drinking.—Berleburg Bible:—The art of living well, according to the rules of wisdom.
Pro_23:1-3. Luther (marginal):—At court there is deceitful bread, for one is ever out-lying and out-flattering another that he may bring him down, and himself up.… It is bad eating cherries with lords.—Melanchthon:—To be seeking offices and positions of service with great men is allowable if we know ourselves to be in some measure fitted for it; yet one striving for these may never restrain the independent judgment of him who has the choice, or in general seek to attain its end by unjust means: otherwise it is a guilty ambition.—Hasius:—He that cannot walk prudently in dangerous places does better to keep away from them.—Geier:—At the table of the Lord’s grace in the Holy Sacrament, one should appear with special reverence and humility; for there one has to do with the King of all kings.—Starke:—Moderation and the careful testing of that which is and that which is not hurtful to the body must always be the rule of prudence, even though one have great stores on hand.—[Arnot:—It is of the Lord that hunger is painful and food gives pleasure; between these two lines of defence the Creator has placed life with a view to its preservation. The due sustenance of the body is the Creator’s end; the pleasantness of food the means of attaining it. When men prosecute and cultivate that pleasure as an end, they thwart the very purposes of Providence].
Pro_23:4-5. Melanchthon:—Diligence, industry, faithful striving to fulfil one’s earthly calling this proverb does not forbid, but multiplicity of cares and a greedy eagerness under which, man, from want of confidence in God, seeks with pain and self-imposed smart for the perishable goods of this world. From such wayward and unlawful striving it summons us back to the true sphere of our calling and to a prudent and diligent work therein with appeals for divine aid.—Tübingen Bible:—To toil for riches which are perishable and cannot satisfy the soul, is a sinful folly. In heaven should we be gathering treasures that endure forever, Mat_6:19 sq.—[T. Adams:—Solomon compares riches not to some tame house bird, or a hawk that may be fetched down with a line, or found again by her bells; but an eagle that violently cuts the air and is gone past recalling.—Bp. Hopkins:—It were a most strange folly to fall passionately in love with a bird upon his wing, etc. How much better were it, since riches will fly, for thyself to direct their flight towards heaven, by relieving the necessitous servants and members of Jesus Christ?]
Pro_23:6-8. Zeltner:—Learn to be pleased and content at little cost, and thou wilt be able easily to forget dainty morsels. Follow Paul: I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content (Php_4:11).—Wohlfarth:—Reflect how much ruin envy works, this annoyance at others’ prosperity,—how it spares no means for the overthrow of the envied neighbor, how unhappy and discontented it also makes even its own slaves, to what grievous sins it forces them, etc. Consider this, and thou wilt not merely take to heart the prudential maxim: Beware of the envious,—but thou wilt seek to keep thyself also from this vice!
Pro_23:9 sq. Starke (on Pro_23:9):—To speak at the wrong time and in the wrong place brings always far more harm than profit.—(On Pro_23:10-11):—Pious widows and orphans have, notwithstanding their forsaken and apparently helpless condition, the mightiest protection; Sir_35:16 sq.—(On Pro_23:12):—Not simply instruction, but also correction and punishment one must receive gladly if one would become wise.
Pro_23:13-18. Luther (marginal comm, on Pro_23:13):—If thou scourgest thy son the executioner need not scourge him. There must be scourging once; if the father does not do it, then Master John does it; there is no help for it. No one has ever escaped it, for this is God’s judgment.—J. Lange:—Many parents deserve hell in their own children, because they have neglected to train them in holiness.—Cramer (on Pro_23:15):—Next to the experience of God’s grace there is no greater joy on earth than when one finds joy and honor in his children.—[H. Melvill:—If a child do that which will make a parent happier he does that which will also make himself so. Heart-wisdom is the thing desired. No wisdom is thought worthy of the name that has not heaven for its origin and end, and the heart for its abode.—Trapp (on ver.17):—Men must wake with God, walk with Him, and lie down with Him, be in continual communion with Him, and conformity unto Him. This is to be in heaven aforehand.—Bp. Hopkins:—It is the property of grace and holiness, when there are no actual explicit thoughts of God, then to be habitually in the fear of God, possessing the heart and overawing it],—Starke (on Pro_23:18):—The true good of the pious is still future; so much the less may they be enamored of the present seeming good of the ungodly.—Reinhard (Gesam. Predd., Bd. 2., 1804; Sermon on Pro_23:17-18):—How much cause we have to hold true to the old unchangeable principles of a genuine fear of God.—Sackreuter (Fast-day Sermon on Pro_23:17-18,—see “Sonntagsfeier,” 1839):—Of three excellent preservatives from sin, viz.: 1) the avoidance of evil example; 2) reverence for God; 3) frequent remembrance of the blessing of virtue.
Pro_23:19 sq. [Trapp (on Pro_23:19):—Let knowledge and affection be as twins, and run parallel; let them mutually transfuse life and vigor, the one into the other.—John Foster:—On the self-discipline suitable to certain mental states].—Tübingen Bible (on Pro_23:20-21):—Gluttony and drunkenness are works of the flesh; they that do such things cannot inherit the kingdom of God, Gal_5:19.—Lange (on Pro_23:22):—In the eyes of wicked children nothing is wont to seem more worthy of contempt than the old mother; and yet he is accursed of the Lord who troubles his mother, Sir_3:18.—Saurin (on Pro_23:23):—The investigation of truth involves the seven following duties: 1) be attentive; 2) do not be discouraged at labor; 3) suspend your judgment; 4) let prejudice yield to reason; 5) be teachable; 6) restrain your avidity of knowing; 7) in order to edify your mind subdue your heart.—[A. Fuller:—Solomon does not name the price of truth, because its value was beyond all price. Buy it at any rate! It cannot be too dear! And having got it make much of it! sell it not, no, not for any price!]—Zeltner (on Pro_23:26 sq.):—The best and most welcome present that thou canst bring thy God is thy heart with all its desires and powers. Is it ruined? He alone can amend and cleanse it.—Starke:—He who opens his heart to the prince of this world thereby shows himself the enemy of God and of eternal wisdom.—[Bp. Hopkins:—Whatever else we tender unto God if the heart be wanting, it is but the carcass of a duty].
Pro_23:29-35. Cramer:—All sins come in agreeably and taste well in the mouth; but afterward they are as bitter as gall, and fatal as the poison of vipers.—Osiander:—Wine is a noble gift of God; but its abuse is only the more ruinous, and therefore to be shunned like deadly poison.—Starke:—That man only is really and in the spiritual sense drunken who does not discern the great peril of his soul, but under all correction becomes only the more confident and defiant (Jer_5:3).—[Trapp:—Such is the drunkard’s lethargy; neither is he more insensible than sensual and irrecoverable.—Lawson:—An inferior master in the art of moral painting gives us a just picture of drunkenness in these words, “Drunkenness is a distemper of the head, a subversion of the senses, a, tempest of the tongue, a storm in the body—the shipwreck of virtue, the loss of time, a wilful madness, a pleasant devil, a sugared poison, a sweet sin, which he that has has not himself, and he that commits it, doth not only commit sin, but is himself altogether sin”].
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–3 put a knife--an Eastern figure for putting restraint on…
put a knife--an Eastern figure for putting restraint on the appetite.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v1 1-3. When thou sittest to eat with a ruler…
1-3. When thou sittest to eat with a ruler — The first three verses of this chapter are closely connected, and pertain to one and the same topic.
What — Some render who. Zockler: “Him who is.”
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Put a knife to thy throat — Some read: “For thou wilt put.” The meaning is: Thou wilt be in great danger of ruin from overindulgence in his dainties; therefore, restrain thyself. Compare Gen_27:4, in Hebrew. The third verse may be considered exegetical of the second: His delicacies are dangerous. Horace says that kings urge with frequent drinks those whose characters they wish to test. The last verse of the preceding chapter describes the qualities of the person who is most likely to come to preferment; so these verses caution him against the danger of luxurious living, to which he is exposed when promoted. Melanchthon regards these verses as an admonition to courtiers; but the principle may be more extensively applied.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–3 1. what] Rather, who. Be continually on your guard;…
1. what] Rather, who. Be continually on your guard; let not the luxury that surrounds you betray you into forgetting in whose presence you are, for the favour of a ruler, an Eastern despot, is a dangerous thing.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–3 (1) Consider diligently what is before thee,—Rather, Who is…
XXIII.
(1) Consider diligently what is before thee,—Rather, Who is before thee; that thy host is not an equal, but one who, if offended, might do thee deadly harm.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Vers. 1-3. A hexastich closely connected with the last…
Vers. 1-3. A hexastich closely connected with the last verse of the preceding chapter, as if the warning was addressed to the man of skill whom his talents had made the guest of kings.
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler. This, of course, would be a great honour to a man of lowly birth, or to one of the middle class, to whom the manners of courts and palaces were practically unknown. Consider diligently what is before thee. So the Vulgate, Qua apposita sunt ante faciem tuam; and the Septuagint, Ta paratiyemena soi . Take heed lest the unusual dainties on the table tempt thee to excess, which may lead not only to unseemly behaviour, but also to unruly speech, revealing of secrets, etc. But the latter words may also be tendered, "him that is," or, who is before thee." And this gives a very appropriate sense. The guest is enjoined to fix his attention, not on the delicate food, but on the host, who is his superior, and able to exalt and to destroy him (compare the cautious maxims in Ecc 13:2, Ecc 13:6, Ecc 13:7, Ecc 13:11, etc.).
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Vers. 1-3. Sycophancy and independence.
The reader is here warned against the danger of depending too much on the favour of great people. Possibly that favour is only offered as a bribe, and the unwary recipient of it may be no better than a dupe, who has unconsciously sold himself. At the best it tends to destroy the spirit of independence.
I HE WHO DEPENDS ON THE FAVOUR OF A GREAT MAN PUTS HIMSELF IN HIS POWER. In proportion to the power to help is the power to hurt. It is a dangerous thing to trust one"s interests to man at all; but it is doubly dangerous where there is no equality of relationship.
II DEPENDENCE ON THE FAVOUR OF THE GREAT TEMPTS TO DISHONOURABLE CONDUCT. The sycophant is in danger of stooping to unworthy actions in order to please his patron. He is tempted to deceive and flatter in the hope of winning favour. The will of the great man supersedes the conscience of his dependant. Thus sycophancy wrecks the moral nature.
III THIS DEPENDENCE DESTROYS TRUE MANLINESS. The poor creature who lives on the favour at the great loses all self-reliance. The honest industry that earns a night"s repose is exchanged for miserable tricks of cringing slavery. Such conduct may earn the dainties of luxury, but only at the cost of all that life is worth living for. It is infinitely better to be independent, though compelled to live on the coarsest fare.
IV SUCH A DEPENDENCE ON THE GREAT IS SURE TO BE DISAPPOINTING. The sycophant succeeds in obtaining a place at the banquet. But he cannot enjoy the feast like those guests who meet the host on terms of equality. He sits in constant dread of offending the great man. Though hungry, he shrinks from eating too much. He must almost put a knife to his throat to check his appetite; i.e. he must be always nervously on his guard against trespassing too far on the good will of his host. Surely such a condition must be miserable at the best!
V THE ONLY SAFE DEPENDENCE IS THAT OF MAN ON GOD. This is not degrading, but ennobling; for God is worthy of all trust, honour, and adoration. He never deceives those who put their confidence in him. There is no painful fear for those who accept, his gracious invitation to the "wedding feast," for he is kind and merciful.
VI AMONG MEN THE SAFEST CONDITION IS ONE OF MANLY INDEPENDENCE. This does not mean churlish indifference and selfish isolation from all social intercourse. The text supposes a person"s presence at the great man"s table, while it warns against the danger of the situation. We want to learn to be friendly with all men, and, at the same time, self-reliant through inward dependence on God alone.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-8. Hints and warnings on conduct.
I PERILS OF COURTLY LIFE. (Vers. 1-3) The Arab proverb says, "He who sups with the sultan burns his lips," and, "With kings one sits at the table for honour"s sake, not for that of appetite." Horace says that kings are said to press dainties and wine upon those whom they desire to scrutinize and test, as to whether they be worthy of friendship. The caution is therefore one dictated by prudence. And in general it may be thus understood: Beware of going to places and frequenting society where watchfulness and prudence are likely to be overborne; and take care that the body, by being pampered, becomes not the master of the soul.
II PERILS AND VANITY OF RICHES. (Vers. 4, 5) This precept does not forbid industry and diligent toil for worldly gain; but only excessive carefulness in regard to it, over-valuation of its worth, and the burning lust of avarice, which implies want of confidence in God and of the sense of our true position in the world. The antidote is the exhortation of the Saviour to lay up treasures in heaven to make certain of the incorruptible riches. (Mat_6:19, Mat_6:20) "It is a wise course to be jealous of our gain, and more to fear than to desire abundance. It is no easy thing to carry a full cup with an even hand" (Leighton).
III CORRUPTION FROM EVIL ASSOCIATIONS. (Vers. 6-8) The man of the evil eye is the jealous or envious temper; his heart is dyed in its dark relent. There is no genuine hospitality here; it is like that of the Pharisees who invited our Lord. This bitter sauce of envious hatred will presently be found giving a disgusting flavour to his delicacies. Discontent will poison the best food and wine. "Mens minds will either feed on their own good or others" evil, and whoso wanteth the one will prey upon the other." Envy takes no holidays. The devil is represented as the envious man who sows tares among the wheat at night. Always it works subtly, in the dark, and to the prejudice of good things, such as is the wheat (Bacon). Instead of seeking the pleasures which bring disgust, let us secure a humble fare with Christian content. J. (Php_4:11)
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-3. The temptation of the table.
It is probable that Solomon had in view those who did not often sit down to a "good dinner," and who, when they were invited to a feast by some one who was able to spread his table with delicacies, found themselves subjected to a strong temptation to unusual indulgence. Dr. Kitto tells us that, in the East, men would (and now will) eat an almost incredible amount of food when a rare opportunity offered itself. From the moral and the religious standpoint this matter of appetite demands our attention to
I A SPECIAL SPHERE OF OBEDIENCE AND SELF-CONTROL. Appetite is undoubtedly of God; and for few things, on the lower level, have we more occasion to thank our Creator than for the fact that he has made our food to be palatable, and caused us so to crave it that the partaking of it is a pleasure. Otherwise, the act of eating in order to keep ourselves alive and strong would be a daily weariness and penalty to us. But as it is, the necessary act of eating is a constant source of pleasure. But with the pleasure there enters inevitably a temptation. Appetite in man, strengthened as it is by man"s imaginative faculty, and fostered as it is by the inventiveness which provides all kinds of inviting dainties, becomes one of those things which allure to excess, and thus to sin. To maintain the golden mean between asceticism on the one hand and epicurism or gluttony on the other hand is not found to be an easy task. Medical science inclines now to the view that a very large proportion of people take more to eat than is really for their good especially in later life. Frequently, perhaps generally, this is rather a mistake than an offence. But the wise man will carefully consider how far he should go, and where he should draw the line. In doing this he will more especially consider two things.
1. How he should act at the table, so as not in any way to weaken his intelligence by what he eats or drinks.
2. How he should act so as to keep himself in health and strength for all useful activity in the days to come. By resolving to act with a firm self-command, with the higher and indeed the highest end in view, he may, in eating and drinking, do what he does "to the glory of God". (see 1Co_10:31)
II THOSE TO WHOM THIS FORMS A SPECIALLY STRONG TEMPTATION. "If thou be a man given to appetite." Some men are so constituted that to have the greatest delicacies in the world before them would be no temptation to them; others have an appetency which they have the greatest difficulty in controlling, this may arise either from heredity, or from their individual bodily organization, or (as is oftenest the case) from the habit of indulgence. There are also
III OCCASIONS WHEN THIS TEMPTATION IS SPECIALLY SEVERE. Such as that indicated in the text (see also 1Co_10:27). There are times when it would be churlish, and even unchristian, to refuse an invitation; but the presence of food or of stimulants upon the table may be a serious inducement to transgression. Then "put a knife to thy throat;" determinately stop at the point of strict moderation; resolutely and fearlessly refuse that of which you know well that you have no right to partake; distinctly and definitely decline the dish or the cup which you cannot take with a good conscience. For consider
IV THE FOLLY AND THE SIN OF INDULGENCE. "They are deceitful meat." Excess may bring some momentary enjoyment, but:
1. It is quickly followed by pain, disorder, feebleness, incapacity; even if not of a serious order, yet humiliating enough to a man who respects himself.
2. The habit of it leads with no uncertain step to physical and also to mental and moral degeneracy.
3. The pleasure afforded, like all the grosser gratifications, declines with indulgence.
4. All excess is sin. It is a misuse and profanation of that body which is given us as the organ of our own spirit, and should be regarded and treated as "the temple of the Holy Ghost". C. (1Co_6:19)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Put a knife to thy throat, if thou be…
Pro_23:1-3
Put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
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Moderation
This virtue the people of God ought to practise in everything. They should exercise self-government in the desire, the use, the enjoyment, and the regret of all that pertains to the present world. Here is commended laying restraint on the animal appetites.
1. There are few things, if any, more disgusting and degrading than the studied and anxious indulgence of these appetites. It is particularly loathsome when the man appears to catch with extraordinary avidity the occurrence of a feast, and to be resolved on making the most of his opportunity.
2. There are on such occasions temptations to over-indulgence and excess. And then our self-jealousy and watchfulness should be proportioned to two things--the strength of propensity and the amount of temptation. Eat as if a knife were at thy throat. Eat in the recollection and impression of thine imminent danger. Or the expression may mean, Otherwise thou wilt put a knife to thy throat if thine appetite have the dominion.
3. A mans conduct on such occasions is marked, especially if he be a religious professor. He may in this way bring reproach upon religion, which ever ought, and which, when genuine and duly felt, will impose a restraint on such indulgences.
4. We should also be on our guard against the ostentation of abstinence and plainness--the affectation of extraordinary abstemiousness.
5. There should be special vigilance if there be reason to suspect any snare, any intended temptation for answering a selfish or malicious purpose. Worldly men sometimes do, very wickedly, lay snares for the godly. (R. Wardlaw, D.D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 Pro_23:1. When thou sittest, etc. Miller here translates “Forasmuch…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Pro_23:1. When thou sittest, etc. Miller here translates “Forasmuch as thou sittest,” and applying the word ruler to God gives to the proverb a meaning entirely different from that generally attached to it. See his remarks in the Suggestive Comments. What is before thee? Rather “Who is before,” etc.
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Pro_23:2. Put a knife, etc. Zöckler, Ewald, and others translate “Thou hast put,” or “thou puttest.” The meaning may then be “Thou hast virtually destroyed thyself if thou art a self-indulgent man.” Delitzsch, however, gives the verb the imperative form, as in the English version.
Pro_23:3. Deceitful meat. Literally “Bread of lies.” Many commentators understand this to mean a deceptive meal, which is not given from motives of hospitality.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH Pro_23:1-3
THE TEMPTATIONS OF THE TABLE
I. The table of a wealthy man is a place of temptation to the sin of overindulgence. At such a table there is a great variety of dishes, and the human appetite, in common with every bodily sense and mental faculty, delights in variety. The eye is best pleased with a diversified landscape, the ear with a diversity of sound, and the mind when it can vary the objects of its contemplation. So man’s appetite is most gratified by a variety of food, and there is much more temptation to excess under such circumstances than when his hunger has to be satisfied from a single dish. Then, again, the food at such a repast is generally of the most tempting kind—all the countries of the world are put under contribution to supply it with dainties, and much skill and time is expended upon the preparation of the food. There is little danger of eating too much when bread is the only fare, but it begins and increases in proportion to the palatable nature of the viands. And the proverb seems to be addressed to those to whom a seat at the rich man’s or ruler’s table was not an every-day occurrence—to those to whom it was not given to feast so sumptuously every day—and this would increase the force of the temptation. The variety and the rarity of the dishes is much more tempting to one unaccustomed to such feasts.
II. It is most degrading and injurious to yield to such a temptation. This is implied in the strong metaphor which Solomon uses. An undue indulgence in the pleasures of the table, even when it does not amount to positive gluttony, is a most fruitful source of disease, and for this cause, if for no other, dainty food well deserves the name which is here given to it. But it is also most injurious to man’s better nature; it is often the first step to habits of intemperance and licentiousness, but if it does not lead to them it is altogether incompatible with intellectual and moral excellence. A man who is not master of his appetite is below the brute and can be neither great nor good. It is well to remember that an appeal to the appetite was one of the elements in the first temptation. An Eastern fable runs thus: “A king once permitted the devil to kiss him on either shoulder. Immediately two serpents grew from his shoulders, which, furious with hunger, attacked his head and attempted to get at his brain. The king tore them away. But he soon saw with horror that they had become part of himself, and that, in wounding them he was lacerating his own flesh.” Such is the deplorable condition of every victim of appetite and lust.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
First, thy duty is to be temperate as to the quantity of thy diet.… God gave man food to further, not to hinder him in his general and particular calling, and surely they sin who feed till, like fatted horses, they are unfit for service.… Christians may cheer nature, but they must not clog it. It is a great privilege in the charter granted us by the King of Kings, that we should have dominion over the creatures; but it will be a sordid bondage if we suffer them to have dominion over us. Socrates was wont to say, that evil men live that they may eat and drink, but good men eat and drink that they may live.… Secondly, thy duty is to be temperate as to the quality of thy diet. Though no certain quality of food can be set down, yet in general this must be observed, that we make not provision for the flesh. (Rom_13:12.) We may preserve the flesh, but we must not provide for the flesh. Our enemy is strong enough already, we need not put more weapons into his hands.… The Christian may take his food, but his food must not take him.… It is not unlawful to eat dainties, but it is unlawful to set the mind upon them.… We may eat and digest dainties, but we may not crave and desire dainties. God made man not for fleshly dainties, but for spiritual delights.… Elijah could be content with a raven for his cook. Daniel fed and thrived upon pulse: he looked fairer by it than those that did eat the king’s fare. Brown bread and the gospel are good cheer, said the martyr. John the Baptist could live upon locusts and wild honey. The apostles had some ears of corn for a Sabbath-day’s dinner. Though God is pleased out of mercy to afford us better provision, yet our work must be to mind moderation.—Swinnock.
It is of the Lord that hunger is painful and food gives pleasure; between these two lines of defence the Creator has placed life with a view to its preservation. The due sustenance of the body is the Creator’s end; the pleasantness of food is the means of obtaining it. When men prosecute and cultivate that pleasure as an end, they thwart the very purposes of Providence.—Arnot.
(It will be seen that the following comment is based on Miller’s rendering. See Critical Notes.) Kings like to see their guests eat. At the very utmost, this part of our behaviour is a matter of indifference. But of God nothing could be more exact. We are all eating with Him; in fact, feeding upon Him; as though He were Himself bread. “Forasmuch,” therefore, is just in place. “Discerning well who is before thee,” that also, is perfectly consistent. And then our sin, what is that? Why, fleshly appetite! What is innocent at courts is idolatry in the banquet to the skies.… Serving the creature more than the Creator, Paul expresses it; and gives us ample analogy after a New Testament kind (Rom_1:25, see also Jas_4:3), for understanding how we have put a knife to our throat, if we be men given to appetite.—Miller.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 I. This is the Hebrew way of telling us,…
Pro 23:7
I. This is the Hebrew way of telling us, in a casual word about feasting, that a man’s inmost thinking is the true index to his character.
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II. Christianity accepts and endorses this inward and broad basis of manhood, and employs its fact and revelation, impulse and inspiration, to secure a thorough regeneration of man’s inmost life. Nothing is more absurd than to speak of Christianity as hostile to the most daring and intrepid thought. Hostile to thinking! It lives upon it, thrives by it, compels it, pushes itself into every section of our manifold experience by it, and revolutionises the world by breaking the dull continuity of man’s mechanical movements with its spiritual goads to freshness and venture of thought. Its greatest men have been strong, capable, and heroic thinkers.
III. This is a thinking age. The manliest thinking is done with the heart; that is, with the whole of the inner forces of the life.
IV. Modern thinking, ignoring the Biblical rule, is smitten with the blight of cowardice, falls a victim to unreality, and lacks, notwithstanding its pride, Lutheran courage, holy daring, and self-devotion.
V. We expect too much to be done by mere thinking. Mere thought is analytical, surgical, cuts to pieces. We are analysts where we need a temper of friendly personal trust. Mere thinking never was the key to unlock another human heart. We get nothing from the man in whom we will not confide. The first need for many of us is not more thinking, but immediate obedience to what we know.
VI. No thinking is manly that fails to take adequate account of the force of intense moral enthusiasms. It is provable that only in the white heat of a glowing passion for an ethical goal have we the clearest vision of eternal fact.
VII. The thinking that is of the brain only, and not of the heart, is in serious danger of passing over the unseen order and treating it as though it did not exist.
VIII. Above all things, do not let us be alarmed at any of the mistakes and mischiefs that cause disobedience to the Christian law of manly thinking. We need have no misgiving about the future. Man is essentially a thinker and a unit; and he must think towards unity, and truth, and perfection. "God is his refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble;" therefore after every temporary eclipse the Sun of righteousness will break forth and reveal again the way to the Father.
J. Clifford, The Dawn of Manhood, p. 66.
References: Pro 23:7.—R. Tuck, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiii., p. 285. Pro 23:12-23.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. iii., p. 83. Pro 23:15-35.—W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 256.
Pro 23:17
I. Holy Scripture is full of warnings against this fatal form of envy, for indeed in this form came the first temptation to our mother Eve. Why did she look towards the fatal tree, and reach out her hand, and touch the fruit, and take it, and taste it but because the tempter had contrived to put it into her weak and foolish heart that by so doing she would become as a god; that is, as an angel, as the tempter himself? Holy Scripture could hardly say more against our envying sinners than that by it came the fall of man, and by it the captivity and ruin of the Jewish people.
II. God’s Holy Spirit, thus proclaiming the mischief, in His love proclaims also the remedy. The way not to let one’s "heart envy sinners" is to "be in the fear of the Lord all the day long;" to keep up a regular, habitual, serious sense that God is here, the great and good God; to turn towards Him instinctively in all temptations, as children in trouble run for shelter to their parents. One who in earnest has this in his mind cannot possibly envy sinners.
III. We are almost sure to begin to wish ourselves like the wicked if we willingly abide in their company. Therefore doth the wise man especially caution us that if we would not be "envious towards evil men," we must not "desire to be with them." Remember the end of these men; then you will leave off envying them, and you will begin to pity them and pray for them.
J. Keble, Sermons for the Christian Year: Sundays after Trinity, Part I., p. 53.
Pro 23:19
In our course through life, our minds are liable to be placed in certain states of feeling strongly marked, and for the time strongly prevailing, and this by causes, by influences, and circumstances independent of our will. These states of feeling, thus involuntarily produced, should be carefully turned to a profitable account; we should avail ourselves of what there is in them specially adapted to afford improvement.
I. It would surely be a wise application of a pleasurable state of feeling to seek most seriously that some of it may be directed into the channel of gratitude to God. These bright and warm states of feeling should be regarded as cultivators regard the important weeks of the spring; as mariners regard the blowing of favourable winds; as merchants seize a transient and valuable opportunity for gain; as men overlaboured and almost overmatched in warfare regard a strong reinforcement of fresh combatants. The spring and energy of spirit felt in these pleasurable seasons of the heart should be applied to the use of a more spirited performance of the Christian duties in general, but especially to those which are the most congenial, such as the exercises and services most directly expressive of gratitude to God, the study and exertions for promoting the happiness of men.
II. The infelicitous season of the soul—shall it not be turned, by wisely "guiding the heart," to lasting advantage? Now that light thoughts, and brisk spirits, and worldly pleasures and hopes are aloof for a while, take the opportunity for serious consideration.
III. We will apply the admonition to one more state of feeling which not seldom visits an observer of mankind; namely, an indignant excitement of mind against human conduct. This may enforce on you the necessity of a most carefully disciplined judgment. It may surely contribute to aggravate your permanent impression of the extreme evil of sin, and therefore to justify the Almighty in that part of His economy which is directed in hostility against it, to impress upon you that what is so much to be hated is no less to be dreaded.
J. Foster, Lectures, 1st series, p. 28.
Reference: Pro 23:19-23.—H. W. Beecher, Sermons, 4th series, p. 368.
Pro 23:23
The text declares two great truths: first, that truth is a matter of purchase; and, secondly, that there is a possibility of selling it and an inclination to do so.
I. Truth is, of course, in itself, one, perfect, and eternal; but to us it is a growing and increasing treasure. The discovery of truth rolls onward, widening as it rolls. While along its banks far back gathered the eager crowd of inquirers who came to dip their vessels into the passing stream, to each company it appeared broader; it swelled in a more magnificent current; it washed the banks of a deeper channel. We cannot see where the river rushes to the sea; it may be far, it may be near: but we see the shore where we are standing, and we know the truth that we have bought.
II. How shall we who have got truth devote ourselves in any way to its enlargement or retention? (1) One way in which we all of us can continue to purchase truth is by having the eye ever open to its still developing lessons. (2) A more direct means of the acquisition of truth will be reading, meditation, and conversation. (3) The reproof of the wise and good or of those in authority over us will be a third means by which we can purchase truth for ourselves. (4) Prayer to God becomes a constant mode of purchasing truth.
III. There is great danger lest we sell what has been gained by the sufferings of centuries, and cut ourselves off from the blessings which generations of our ancestors have striven to give us. Among other shrines at which we are tempted to sell the truth at this day, there are none more common than those that are raised by the principles of Erastianism, commercialism, and scepticism. We are the executors of a great will, the testament of the Cross and the day of Pentecost. We are responsible for our administration of it. But more than that, we are the heirs of the property and the inheritance which that will distributes. We all of us stand in two relationships. If we forfeit our claim of having performed the one faithfully, we forfeit the other. If we betray our trust, we forfeit our inheritance, and cancel for ourselves at least the testament of Calvary and the covenants of the bride of Christ.
E. Monro, Practical Sermons, vol. iii., p. 65.
The teaching of one who had a right to speak, from the largest experience, perhaps, that any man had, is that truth is hard to get and difficult to retain: "Buy the truth, and sell it not." The force of the metaphor lies in this, that we cannot obtain truth without cost, and that when we have it we shall be bribed to part with it. "Buy it"—then there must be a price; "sell it not"—then there must be a temptation to let it go.
I. What is the cost of truth? (1) You must follow truth wherever it leads you. (2) You must get out of the littlenesses and narrownesses of party feeling. (3) You must feel and act as an infant in intellect, being conscious of weakness and ignorance even in your strongest point. (4) You must fling away the selfishness of an indolent, luxurious, and pleasure-seeking life. (5) You must begin with God, else your brightest truth will be full of shadows, and your best wisdom shall turn out folly.
II. Truth is a precious treasure. But where there is a treasure, there the robbers will come. And they will come very deceptively, not by force, but by artifice. And they will pretend to buy. But the bargain is ruinous, ruinous to the seller. It often takes as much to keep truth as it does to get it. A little worldliness, a little frittering of pleasures, will enervate the very fibre of truth. And if you trifle with truth in one thing, you will loosen it in another thing, till you can scarcely keep it in anything. Christ and the Holy Ghost alone can make truth; and where they live, there is the image of God. And every seeker of truth, whether consciously or not, is striving after a thing no less than the image of God.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 12th series, p. 85.
References: Pro 23:23.—Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Genesis to Proverbs, p. 181; J. Vaughan, Children’s Sermons, 5th series, p. 160; R. Newton, Bible Warnings, p. 60.
Pro 23:26
I. The wise man here uses the word "heart" in the fullest sense. It includes the whole mind, the spirit, and the soul. These are what the Lord claims, and what the wise man here claims in the name of the Lord. Bear in mind that, although this claim is put affectionately and appealingly, it is a claim, and admits of no compromise. God will not be put off with any minor or inferior concession. He says to every child of man, "My son, give Me thine heart."
II. It is a very comprehensive claim, this demand of the heart. The best way to comply with it is to identify God with everything which will bear contact with Him. If you would give God your heart, just think over to yourself the list of all those pursuits in business, study, or pleasure for which you feel you have the strongest taste, and in which you find the most congenial enjoyment. The evil thing which is wrong in itself must be struck out of the list, and your heart given to God. A life thus controlled and regulated would, be indeed a blessed and a model life.
III. God demands your heart that He may enlighten, convince, pardon, sanctify, keep, dignify, and save you. We might press the demand on the ground: (1) of right; (2) of reason; (3) of gratitude; (4) of self-interest. Yield your heart to Him humbly, believingly, unreservedly, cheerfully, irrevocably.
A. Mursell, Calls to the Cross, 123.
I. Consider the relationship to God which is conveyed in the text: "My son." Can any closer, any more endearing, tie be suggested? Consider what is involved in the term "Father." (1) God is the Author of our being. (2) God not only bestows upon us life, but the means of enjoying it. He provides us with all that we want. (3) In one particular, God’s love is shown to us in a way that no analogy can reach. Our earthly parents can only provide the means of our education, our instruction, our start in life. What if these are neglected, misused,. and misapplied? Why, henceforth there is little help for us; "the voyage of our life is lost in shallows and in miseries." Our parents try remedies, but it is often too late; they are often in vain, ineffectual to do away with the mischief once wrought. God has provided a better remedy for His children.
II. Consider what God asks us to give: "My son, give Me thine heart? This implies that we have a power over our affections. There can be no doubt that the heart influences the will, and in a less degree the understanding. We are called upon to give our hearts to God.
III. Consider what this means. The loyal affection which a son feels towards his earthly parents throws some light upon the concentrated love with which we are called upon to regard Him "in whom we live, and move, and have our being." We may in our lighter moments, and for purposes of amusement, prefer the society of younger persons; but still there is a fund of deep, undisturbed love for our parents, with which the most enthusiastic friendship will not bear comparison—a love which sometimes slumbers, but never dies; a love the reality of which we cannot endure to be questioned. Such, in its calm repose, in its loyal attachment, and in its undying constancy, is the Christian’s love to God.
G. Butler, Sermons in the Chapel of Cheltenham College, p. 327.
References: Pro 23:26.—Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Genesis to Proverbs, p. 184; J. Budgen, Parochial Sermons, vol. ii., p. 127; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. viii., p. 87; H. Wonnacott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 289. Pro 23:29.—J. N. Norton, The King’s Ferry Boat, p. 50. Pro 23:29-35.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. ii., p. 303. Pro 24:1-12.—Ibid., vol. iii., p. 98. Pro 24:1, Pro 24:19, Pro 24:20.—W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 268.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 1. RV 'him that is before thee.' Do not…
1. RV 'him that is before thee.' Do not excite his contempt.
2. Restrain your appetite.
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3. He invites you for his own purposes.
4. Cease, etc.] i.e. desist from the attempt to be rich.
6-8. Estimate the niggard according to his thoughts, rather than his words. Your pleasant conversation is wasted labour.
10, 11. Read, 'The landmark of the widow.' God Himself is the Goel, the redeemer, the next of kin, who protects widows and orphans (Exo_22:21-23; Lev_25:25; Num_30:12; Rth_4:3-4; Jer_50:34).
16. Reins] lit. 'Kidneys.' Heart and kidneys were considered to be the seat of mental and spiritual life (Job_19:27; Psa_16:7; Jer_10:20; Jer_20:12).
18. End] lit. 'latter end,' crowning the life.
21. The drowsiness follows nights of intemperance.
27. In Galilee there are scores of ancient cisterns, bottle-shaped, into which one may fall and find it impossible to climb out.
28. The miserable duplicities and 'treacheries' (RV) of an unholy passion.
29. 'Complaining'—not babbling—arises amongst boon companions. Redness of eyes] is due to dissipation.
30. Seek] RV 'seek out,' try it thoroughly. Mixed wine] see on Pro_9:2.
31. Giveth his colour] i.e. sparkles. Moveth itself aright] RV 'goeth down smoothly.'
34. The midst of the sea] i.e. on the high seas (Pro_30:19; Eze_27:25). With a slight change in the text we get, 'in a great storm,' instead of, upon the top of a mast.
35. The sot is represented as saying that the blows which were showered on him when drunk have neither injured nor pained him, and as longing to be fully awake from his drunken sleep in order to return again to his carousing.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 CHAPTER 23 Instructions Continued
CHAPTER 23 Instructions Continued
The opening proverbs of this chapter treat of self-restraint in curbing the appetite and give manners to be observed in the presence of a superior. Warnings against riches and their uncertainty are contained in Pro 23:4 and Pro 23:5. How well it would be if the great mass of professing Christians, and some true believers also, would consider this instruction: “Labor not to be rich.” But this exhortation as well as the exhortation in1Ti 6:1-10 is overlooked, and many who profess to have their riches in Christ, in the heavenly places and never ending glory, weary themselves with earthly gain, and aim to become wealthy. But riches have wings; they can fly away swiftly as does the eagle when he mounts heavenward. This too is mentioned in the epistle to Timothy, in which those who are rich are charged not to be highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but to be rich in good works. The evil eye mentioned in Pro 23:6 has nothing to do with the superstitious belief that some person with an evil eye can cast a spell to harm others. It means a dishonest, insincere person, one who is pharisaical. While he urges to eat and drink, puts on a friendly front, in his heart he entertains other thoughts.
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Not to envy sinners is commanded in Pro 23:17; one who walks in fear of the Lord all the day long looks to their end, though they may prosper now, their prosperity will end, but the expectation of him who fears the Lord will not be cut off.
Beginning with Pro 23:22 is another call to hearken. Parents are to be obeyed. The truth is to be bought and never to be sold, as well as wisdom, instruction and understanding. There is a price often to be paid for the possession of the truth. Some have suffered even unto death to possess the truth, and in its defense. Then in Pro 23:26 is the familiar exhortation, “My Son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes delight in my ways.” This word is often misused when applied to sinners, the unsaved. It is addressed to a son. The gospel does not come to the sinner with the exhortation “give”; the sinner has nothing to give. The gospel comes with an offer and if the offer of free grace is accepted, the believing sinner becomes a child of God, a son of God and an heir. Such a one is to yield his whole heart to the Lord, and his eyes are to delight in His ways. Thus Jehovah spoke to Solomon. The chapter ends with proverbs relating to self-indulgence, the sin of intemperance and all that goes with it.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1–3 v. 1. When thou sittest to eat with a…
v. 1. When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, with a person of influence and power, consider diligently what is before thee, keeping in mind throughout the dinner that it is a mightier and loftier one at whose invitation one is present,
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v1 General Information:
General Information:
These verses continue the "thirty sayings" (Proverbs 22:20).
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put a knife to your throat
Possible meanings of this exaggeration are 1) "be very careful not to eat too much" or 2) "do not eat anything at all" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization and Idiom)
Do not crave
"Do not strongly desire." See how you translated "craves" in Proverbs 21:9.
his delicacies
"his special and expensive food"
it is the food of lies
This is an idiom. "he is giving it to you so he can deceive you" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
rule
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v1 23:1-3 Saying 6: Many proverbs address young men in…
23:1-3 Saying 6: Many proverbs address young men in government service. A ruler’s rich fare might tempt a novice to overindulge through lack of self-control. But he will be vulnerable when sated.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.