Proverbs 23:23-33

23 ¹Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

24 ²The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

25 ³Let your father and mother be glad; let ⁴her who bore you rejoice.

26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe^[a] my ways.

27 For a prostitute is ⁵a deep pit; ⁶an adulteress^[b] is a narrow ⁷well.

28 ⁸She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind.

29 ⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has ¹⁰wounds without cause? Who has ¹¹redness of eyes?

30 Those who ¹²tarry long over wine; those who go to try ¹³mixed wine.

31 Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.

32 In the end it ¹⁴bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.

33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter ¹⁵perverse things.

Proverbs 23:23-33 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 11

This chapter relates the false steps Solomon took, notwithstanding all his wisdom, in marrying strange wives, and worshipping other gods, 1Ki 11:1-8 upon which the Lord threatens him to rend the kingdom in his son's time, 1Ki 11:9-13 and he raised up adversaries against him, Hadad, Rezon, and Jeroboam, 1Ki 11:14-26 of which last an account is given, and of his being assured by Ahijah the prophet of his having ten of the tribes of Israel given to him; which Solomon having notice of sought to slay him, 1Ki 11:27-40 and the chapter is concluded with an account of Solomon's death and burial, 1Ki 11:41-43.

Cross References

• 1. [Proverbs 4:5, 7; Proverbs 18:15; Matthew 13:44]
• 2. ver. 15; See Proverbs 29:3
• 3. [See ver. 24 above]
• 4. Proverbs 17:25
• 5. [Proverbs 22:14]
• 6. See Proverbs 2:16
• 7. Psalms 55:23
• 8. Proverbs 7:12; [Ecclesiastes 7:26]
• 9. [ver. 20, 21]
• 10. [ver. 35]
• 11. Genesis 49:12
• 12. Isaiah 5:11
• 13. Proverbs 9:2, 5; Psalms 75:8; Isaiah 5:22; Isaiah 65:11
• 14. Job 20:16
• 15. See Proverbs 2:12

Footnotes

• [a]. Or delight in
• [b]. Hebrew a foreign woman