Proverbs 23:4-14

4 ¹Do not toil to acquire wealth; ²be discerning enough to desist.

5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone, ³for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

6 ⁴Do not eat the bread of a man who is ⁵stingy;^{[a] 6}do not desire his delicacies,

7 for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.^[b] "Eat and drink!" he says to you, but his ⁷heart is not with you.

8 You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words.

9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.

10 ⁸Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless,

11 for their ⁹Redeemer is strong; he will ¹⁰plead their cause against you.

12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.

13 Do not withhold ¹¹discipline from a child; ¹²if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

14 If you strike him with the rod, you will ¹³save his soul from Sheol.

Proverbs 23:4-14 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 15:27; Proverbs 28:20; Matthew 6:19; 1 Timothy 6:9, 10; Hebrews 13:5
• 2. [Proverbs 3:5, 7; Proverbs 26:12; Isaiah 5:21; Romans 12:16]
• 3. Proverbs 27:24
• 4. [Psalms 141:4]
• 5. Proverbs 28:22; Deuteronomy 15:9
• 6. ver. 3
• 7. [Psalms 12:2]
• 8. See Proverbs 22:28
• 9. [Exodus 6:6]; See Job 19:25
• 10. See Proverbs 22:23
• 11. See Proverbs 13:24
• 12. [Proverbs 19:18]
• 13. [1 Corinthians 5:5]

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew whose eye is evil
• [b]. Or for as he calculates in his soul, so is he