Commentary
Old Testament : Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
The Song of Songs
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
![](images/minus.gif)
Text -- Proverbs 23:1-26 (NET)
![](images/arrow_open.gif)
Strongs On/Off
Context
23:1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler , consider carefully what is before you,
23:2 and put a knife to your throat if you possess a large appetite .
23:3 Do not crave that ruler’s delicacies , for that food is deceptive .
23:4 Do not wear yourself out to become rich ; be wise enough to restrain yourself.
23:5 When you gaze upon riches, they are gone , for they surely make wings for themselves, and fly off into the sky like an eagle !
23:6 Do not eat the food of a stingy person , do not crave his delicacies ;
23:7 for he is like someone calculating the cost in his mind . “Eat and drink ,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you;
23:8 you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten , and will have wasted your pleasant words .
23:9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool , for he will despise the wisdom of your words .
23:10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone, or take over the fields of the fatherless ,
23:11 for their Protector is strong ; he will plead their case against you.
23:12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to the words of knowledge .
23:13 Do not withhold discipline from a child ; even if you strike him with the rod , he will not die .
23:14 If you strike him with the rod , you will deliver him from death .
23:15 My child , if your heart is wise , then my heart also will be glad ;
23:16 my soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right .
23:17 Do not let your heart envy sinners , but rather be zealous in fearing the Lord all the time .
23:18 For surely there is a future , and your hope will not be cut off .
23:19 Listen , my child , and be wise , and guide your heart on the right way .
23:20 Do not spend time among drunkards , among those who eat too much meat ,
23:21 because drunkards and gluttons become impoverished , and drowsiness clothes them with rags .
23:22 Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old .
23:23 Acquire truth and do not sell it– wisdom , and discipline , and understanding .
23:24 The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly ; whoever fathers a wise child will have joy in him.
23:25 May your father and your mother have joy ; may she who bore you rejoice .
23:26 Give me your heart , my son , and let your eyes observe my ways ;
![](images/advanced.gif)
![](images/advanced.gif)
![](images/advanced.gif)
Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
![](images/arrow_open.gif)
Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Young Men |
Children |
Wisdom |
Guest |
DAINTIES; DAINTY (MEATS) |
Prudence |
Mother |
Hypocrisy |
Temperance |
Hospitality |
Citizenship |
Poor |
Poverty |
Hell |
EVIL EYE |
Drunkeess |
Associations |
Truth |
Frugality |
Greed |
more
![](images/cmt_minus_head.gif)
expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Pro 23:1; Pro 23:1; Pro 23:2; Pro 23:2; Pro 23:3; Pro 23:3; Pro 23:3; Pro 23:4; Pro 23:5; Pro 23:5; Pro 23:5; Pro 23:6; Pro 23:7; Pro 23:7; Pro 23:7; Pro 23:8; Pro 23:8; Pro 23:8; Pro 23:9; Pro 23:9; Pro 23:10; Pro 23:11; Pro 23:11; Pro 23:11; Pro 23:12; Pro 23:14; Pro 23:14; Pro 23:14; Pro 23:15; Pro 23:16; Pro 23:16; Pro 23:17; Pro 23:17; Pro 23:18; Pro 23:18; Pro 23:19; Pro 23:20; Pro 23:20; Pro 23:20; Pro 23:21; Pro 23:21; Pro 23:23; Pro 23:23; Pro 23:24; Pro 23:24; Pro 23:25; Pro 23:26
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:3 Verses 1-3 form the sixth saying about being cautious before rulers (cf. Instruction of Amememope, chap. 23, 23:13-18). One should not get too familia...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:4 Heb “from your understanding cease.” In the context this means that the person should have enough understanding to stop wearing himself ou...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:5 This seventh saying warns people not to expend all their energy trying to get rich because riches are fleeting (cf. Instruction of Amememope, chap. 7,...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:6 Heb “an evil eye.” This is the opposite of the “good eye” which meant the generous man. The “evil eye” refers to a...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:8 This is the eighth saying; it claims that it would be a mistake to accept hospitality from a stingy person. He is always thinking about the cost, his ...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:9 Saying number nine indicates that wisdom is wasted on a fool. The literature of Egypt has no specific parallel to this one.
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:11 This is the tenth saying; once again there is a warning not to encroach on other people’s rights and property, especially the defenseless (see v...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:12 Heb “bring.” The Hiphil imperative “come; enter” means “to apply the heart,” to use the heart or mind in the proce...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:15 Heb “my son,” although the context does not limit this exhortation to male children.
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:16 This twelfth saying simply observes that children bring joy to their parents when they demonstrate wisdom. The quatrain is arranged in a chiastic stru...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:17 Heb “the fear of the Lord.” This expression features an objective genitive: “fearing the Lord.”
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:18 The saying is an understatement; far from being cut off, the “hope” will be realized in the end. So this saying, the thirteenth, advises p...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:20 The verb זָלַל (zalal) means “to be light; to be worthless; to make light of.” Making light of something cam...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:21 This is the fourteenth saying, warning about poor associations. Drunkenness and gluttony represent the epitome of the lack of discipline. In the Mishn...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:23 The sixteenth saying is an instruction to buy/acquire the kind of life that pleases God and brings joy to parents. “Getting truth” would m...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Pro 23:25 The form תָגֵל (tagel) is clearly a short form and therefore a jussive (“may she…rejoice”); if this se...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)