Proverbs 23

1 When thou sittest to eat with the prince, perceive thou diligently what things be set before thy face,

2 and set thou a coulter in thy throat. If nevertheless thou hast power on thy soul, (and set thou a knife at thy own throat, if thou hast not power over thy self.)

3 desire thou not of his meats, in whom is the bread of lying. (Do not thou desire any of his food, for he is not what he seemeth to be/for this is not what it seemeth to be.)

4 Do not thou travail to be made rich, but set thou measure to thy prudence. (Do not thou labour to be made rich, but set thou a limit to what thou can achieve.

5 Raise not thine eyes to riches, which thou mayest not have; for those shall make to themselves pens, as of an eagle, and they shall fly into heaven. (Raise not up thine eyes to riches, which thou cannot hold onto; for they shall make wings for themselves, like an eagle, and they shall fly away into the heavens.)

6 Eat thou not with an envious man, and desire thou not his meats; (Do not thou eat with the envious, and do not thou desire his food;)

7 for at the likeness of a false diviner, and of a conjecturer, that is, (an) expounder of dreams, he guesseth that, that he knoweth not. He shall say to thee, Eat thou and drink; and his soul is not with thee (but his heart is not for thee/but his heart is not with thee).

8 Thou shalt spew out the meat, which thou hast eaten; and thou shalt lose thy fair words (and thy flattery shall have been wasted).

9 Speak thou not in the ears of unwise men (Speak thou not in the ears of the unwise); for they shall despise the teaching of thy speech.

10 Touch thou not the terms, (or the boundary stones, of the property) of little children; and enter thou not into the field of fatherless and motherless children.

11 For the neighbour of them is strong, and he shall deem their cause against thee. (For their Friend is strong, and he shall judge their case against thee.)

12 Thine heart enter to teaching, and thine ears to the words of knowing. (Let thy heart draw close to instruction, and thy ears to words of knowledge.)

13 Do not thou withdraw chastising, (or discipline,) from a child; for though thou smitest him with a rod, he shall not die.

14 Thou shalt smite him with a rod, and thou shalt deliver his soul from hell. (Thou shalt strike him with a rod, and so thou shalt rescue his soul from Sheol, or from the land of the dead/from hell itself.

15 My son, if thy soul is wise, mine heart shall have joy with thee; (My son, if thou be wise, my heart shall have joy over thee;)

16 and my reins shall make full out joy, when thy lips speak rightful thing(s).

17 (Let) Thine heart follow not sinners; but be thou in the dread of the Lord all day (but be thou in the fear of the Lord/with reverence for the Lord all day long).

18 For thou shalt have hope at the last, and thine abiding shall not be done away.

19 My son, hear thou, and be wise, and (ad)dress thy soul in the way (and direct thy soul to the right way)

20 Do not thou be in the feasts of drinkers, neither in the oft eatings of them, that bring together fleshes to eat. (Do not thou be at the feasts of drinkers, nor at the oft eatings of those who bring much meat to eat.)

21 For men giving attention to drinks, and giving morsels together, shall be wasted, and napping shall be clothed with clothes rent. (For those giving attention to drinks, and giving morsels to each other, shall be wasted, or destroyed, and their napping shall eventually clothe them with torn clothes.

22 Hear thy father, that begat thee (Listen to thy father, who begat thee); and despise not thy mother, when she is eld.

23 Buy thou truth, and do not thou sell (off) wisdom, and doctrine, and understanding.

24 The father of a just man joyeth full out with joy; he that begat a wise man, shall be glad in him. (The father of a righteous person rejoiceth with great joy; he who begat someone who is wise, shall take much pleasure, or pride, in him.)

25 Thy father and thy mother have joy, and he that begat thee, make full out joy. (So let thy father and thy mother have joy over thee, and let she who bare thee, rejoice.)

26 My son, give thine heart to me, and thine eyes keep my ways.

27 For a whore is a deep ditch, and an alien woman, is a strait pit. (For a whore is a deep ditch, and a woman whom thou hath been intimate with, but who is not thy wife, is a narrow pit.)

28 She setteth ambush in the way, as a thief (She setteth ambush on the way, like a thief); and shall add despisers in men, that is, (she) shall multiply (the) despisers of God among men.

29 To whom is woe? to whose father is woe? to whom be chidings? (to whom be arguments?) to whom be ditches? to whom be wounds without cause? to whom is putting out of eyes?

30 Whether not to them, that dwell in wine, and study to drink [up] all of (the) cups? (Whether not to those, who live in wine, and endeavour to drink up every last drop from the cup?)

31 Behold thou not [the] wine (Look thou not upon the wine), when it sparkleth, when the colour thereof shineth in a glass cup. It entereth sweetly,

32 but at the last it shall bite as an adder, and as a cockatrice it shall shed abroad venoms. (but in the end, it shall bite like a serpent, and it shall sting, with its venom, like a cockatrice.)

33 Thine eyes shall see strange, (or unknown,) women, and thy heart shall speak wayward things.

34 And thou shalt be as a man sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a governor asleeped, when the steer(ing), either the instrument of governance, is lost.

35 And thou shalt say, They beat me, but I had not sorrow; they drew me, and I feeled not; when shall I wake out, and I shall find wines again? (when shall I wake up, and I can drink more wine again?)

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.

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.