Proverbs 23 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Proverbs 23

23:1   When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
    observe carefully what¹ is before you,
2   and put a knife to your throat
    if you are given to appetite.
3   Do not desire his delicacies,
    for they are deceptive food.
4   Do not toil to acquire wealth;
    be discerning enough to desist.
5   When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
    for suddenly it sprouts wings,
    flying like an eagle toward heaven.
6   Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;²
    do not desire his delicacies,
7   for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.³
    “Eat and drink!” he says to you,
    but his heart 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   Do not move an ancient landmark
    or enter the fields of the fatherless,
11   for their Redeemer is strong;
    he will plead their cause against you.
12   Apply your heart to instruction
    and your ear to words of knowledge.
13   Do not withhold discipline from a child;
    if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
14   If you strike him with the rod,
    you will save his soul from Sheol.
15   My son, if your heart is wise,
    my heart too will be glad.
16   My inmost being⁴ will exult
    when your lips speak what is right.
17   Let not your heart envy sinners,
    but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.
18   Surely there is a future,
    and your hope will not be cut off.
19   Hear, my son, and be wise,
    and direct your heart in the way.
20   Be not among drunkards⁵
    or among gluttonous eaters of meat,
21   for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
    and slumber will clothe them with rags.
22   Listen to your father who gave you life,
    and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23   Buy truth, and do not sell it;
    buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24   The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
    he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
25   Let your father and mother be glad;
    let her who bore you rejoice.
26   My son, give me your heart,
    and let your eyes observe⁶ my ways.
27   For a prostitute is a deep pit;
    an adulteress⁷ is a narrow well.
28   She lies in wait like a robber
    and increases the traitors among mankind.
29   Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
    Who has strife? Who has complaining?
  Who has wounds without cause?
    Who has redness of eyes?
30   Those who tarry long over wine;
    those who go to try mixed 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 bites like a serpent
    and stings like an adder.
33   Your eyes will see strange things,
    and your heart utter perverse things.
34   You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
    like one who lies on the top of a mast.⁸
35   “They struck me,” you will say,⁹ “but I was not hurt;
    they beat me, but I did not feel it.
  When shall I awake?
    I must have another drink.”

Footnotes

[1] 23:1 Or who
[2] 23:6 Hebrew whose eye is evil
[3] 23:7 Or for as he calculates in his soul, so is he
[4] 23:16 Hebrew My kidneys
[5] 23:20 Hebrew those who drink too much wine
[6] 23:26 Or delight in
[7] 23:27 Hebrew a foreign woman
[8] 23:34 Or of the rigging
[9] 23:35 Hebrew lacks you will say

Commentary

v1-3: The problem of greed; deceptive food, the king's delicacies, which offer much, but deliver little.

v4-8: The rich man and the miser; either way, material things matter above all else. The rich man may well be a miser as well.

The lesson is to put a limit on our wealth-gathering activities, so that we do not set our heart on money. The rich man is one who sets his heart on wealth, seeking something that is transitory; such a single-minded desire is folly.

Although he may share his delicacies, "his heart is not with you," there is no real concern for others, he is essentially selfish. Thinking about the cost of his meal, he is not really generous.

v9: The fool scorns the wisdom of the wise.

v10-11: From 22.28; people removed the landmarks so as to lay claim to land belonging to others, especially the poor. God will defend those treated badly, who are not able to defend themselves.

v12: Wisdom does not come easily; we must apply the heart, using effort to study to grow in wisdom.

v13-14: Discipline of others, as well as self-discipline, to avoid death.

v15-16: Parental desire, to see godly children, see 3 John 4, where the truth is applied in a wider sense, to those whom we may influence spiritually.

v17-18: Proper perspective; not just thinking of the things of this life, and the gain of material comforts. We look forward to eternity. Sinners may have much of this world's wealth, but we are not to envy them; seek peace with God and wisdom from God.

v19-21: Wisdom in who we keep company with; avoid drunkards and gluttons, for their god is their stomach.

v22-25: Growing in wisdom, as son follows the good example of his parents; this brings them joy, seeing their son walking in truth.

v26-28: Further wisdom for the son; beware the prostitute, who has gone astray, and will lead others astray also.

v29-35: The danger of drink;

bringing woe, sorrow, contentions, complaints, wounds without cause, redness of eyes;
affecting our thinking and behaviour;
leading us into addiction, always wanting another drink.

Such is the effect of an uncontrolled desire which gains domination over our lives.