Proverbs 23

True Riches

1

Saying 7

1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler, ¹ consider carefully what is set before you, ^[a]

2 and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite.

3 Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.

Saying 8

4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.

5 When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

Saying 9

6 Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, ^[b] and do not crave his delicacies;

7 for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. ^[c] “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

8 You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.

Saying 10

9 Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

Saying 11

10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

11 for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.

Saying 12

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

Saying 13

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

14 Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.

Saying 14

15 My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice.

16 My inmost being ^[d] will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.

Saying 15

17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.

18 For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

Saying 16

19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course.

20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.

21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

Saying 17

22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

23 Invest in truth and never sell it— in wisdom and instruction and understanding.

24 The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.

25 May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice!

Saying 18

26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.

27 For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress ^[e] is a narrow well.

28 Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.

Saying 19

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?

30 Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks.

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

32 In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.

33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.

34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast:

35 “They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I did not know it! When can I wake up to search for another drink?”

Proverbs 23 Commentary

Chapter 23

Verses 1-3 God's restraints of the appetite only say, Do thyself no ( proverbs 23:4-5 ) this world are not happiness and a portion for a soul; those that hold them ever so fast, cannot hold them always, cannot hold them long. ( 6-8 ) . Do not make thyself burdensome to any, especially those not sincere. When we are called by God to his feast, and to let our souls delight themselves, Isa. 25:6 Isa. 55:2 |, we may safely partake of the Bread of life. Verse 9 . It is our duty to take all fit occasions to speak of Divine things; but if what a wise man says will not be heard, let him hold his ( proverbs 23:10-11 ) protection. He is their Redeemer, who will take their part; and he is mighty, almighty.

Verses 12-16 Here is a parent instructing his child to give his mind to the Scriptures. Here is a parent correcting his child: accompanied with prayer, and blessed of God, it may prove a means of preventing his destruction. Here is a parent encouraging his child, telling him what would be for his good. And what a comfort it would be, if herein he answered his ( proverbs 23:17-18 ) disappointed; the end of his trials, and of the sinner's prosperity, is at hand.

Verses 19-28 The gracious Saviour who purchased pardon and peace for his people, with all the affection of a tender parent, counsels us to hear and be wise, and is ready to guide our hearts in his way. Here we have an earnest call to young people, to attend to the advice of their godly parents. If the heart be guided, the steps will be guided. Buy the truth, and sell it not; be willing to part with any thing for it. Do not part with it for pleasures, honours, riches, or any thing in this world. The heart is what the great God requires. We must not think to divide the heart between God and the world; he will have all or none. Look to the rule of God's word, the conduct of his providence, and the good examples of his people. Particular cautions are given against sins most destructive to wisdom and grace in the soul. It is really a shame to make a god of the belly. Drunkenness stupifies men, and then all goes to ruin. Licentiousness takes away the heart that should be given to God. Take heed of any approaches toward this sin, it is very hard to retreat from it. It bewitches men to their ruin.

Verses 29-35 Solomon warns against drunkenness. Those that would be kept from sin, must keep from all the beginnings of it, and fear coming within reach of its allurements. Foresee the punishment, what it will at last end in, if repentance prevent not. It makes men quarrel. Drunkards wilfully make woe and sorrow for themselves. It makes men impure and insolent. The tongue grows unruly; the heart utters things contrary to reason, religion, and common civility. It stupifies and besots men. They are in danger of death, of damnation; as much exposed as if they slept upon the top of a mast, yet feel secure. They fear no peril when the terrors of the Lord are before them; they feel no pain when the judgments of God are actually upon them. So lost is a drunkard to virtue and honour, so wretchedly is his conscience seared, that he is not ashamed to say, I will seek it again. With good reason we were bid to stop before the beginning. Who that has common sense would contract a habit, or sell himself to a sin, which tends to such guilt and misery, and exposes a man every day to the danger of dying insensible, and awaking in hell? Wisdom seems in these chapters to take up the discourse as at the beginning of the book. They must be considered as the words of Christ to the sinner.

Cross References

• 1. (1 Timothy 6:17–19; James 5:1–6)

Footnotes

• [a]. Or who is before you
• [b]. Literally of him whose eye is evil
• [c]. Or for as he calculates in his soul, so is he
• [d]. Hebrew My kidneys
• [e]. Or a foreign woman or a wayward wife

Chapter Summary

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.