Proverbs 23

Proverbs 23:1-3:
1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
Consider carefully what is before you;
2 And put a knife to your throat
If you are a man given to appetite.
3 Do not desire his delicacies,
For they are deceptive food.

Proverbs 23:4:
Do not overwork to be rich;
Because of your own understanding, cease!

In an immoderate over anxious way and manner, to a weariness, as the word signifies, and even as to gape for breath men ought to labour, that they may have wherewith to support themselves and families, and give to others and: if they can, lay up for their children; but then persons should not toil and weary themselves to heap up riches when they know not who shall gather them and much less make use of indirect and illicit methods to obtain them; resolving to be rich at any rate: rather men should labour for durable riches, lay up treasure in heaven, seek those things which are above, and labour to be accepted of God both here and hereafter; which only is in Christ. The Targum is,
``do not draw nigh to a rich man;''
and so the Syriac version; to which agree the Septuagint and Arabic versions; cease from thine own wisdom;
worldly wisdom in getting; riches, as if this was the highest point of wisdom; do not be always laying schemes, forming projects, inventing new things in order to get money; or do not depend upon thine own wisdom and understanding and expect to be rich by means thereof; for bread is not always to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, ( Ecclesiastes 9:11 ) . The Targum is,
``but by thine understanding depart from him;''
the rich man; and to the same purpose the Syriac and Arabic versions.
--Gills Exposition

1. Verses 4-5 constitute the seventh of thirty wise sayings in this section.
2. The theme of this proverb is money, and in particular, a warning against a desire to “make it rich in the world.”
3. It is a warning against making materialism our driving force in life.
4. This is a problem not only for the rich, but for poor and rich alike.
5. This is a problem not only for Americans and Saudi Arabians, but for Americans, Saudis as well as people in Somalia and Mongolia.
6. It is a universal message.

4a Labor not to be rich…1. Labor: The term means: To toil; labor; grow weary; be weary; worn out.
a. The author commands his readers NOT to wear themselves out trying to become rich.
b. The proverb speaks of the man who is so determined to become rich, that he wears himself out in the process. This man is a workaholic.
c. He is focused only on obtaining wealth, and therefore, he works himself to the bone. It is his priority in life. Everything is put on hold… on the back burner.
d. Very often, this kind of greedy ambition leads to a ruined home life; a failed marriage or two, and health issues. -Salem Bible

Proverbs 23:5-6:
5 Will you set your eyes on that which is not?
For riches certainly make themselves wings;
They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.
6 Do not eat the bread of a miser,
Nor desire his delicacies;

The context has warned about the deceitful dangers of luxurious living, which is the usual lifestyle of rulers and the rich (Pr 23:1-3). Men that love these things are at risk in such settings, for fine dining may corrupt their morals or priorities. Solomon then went further to warn about the vanity of riches, for they are not the real substance of life (Pr 23:4-5).

Proverbs 23:7:
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.”
― Albert Einstein

You need to know the hearts of men. It is not that difficult; and if you do not, you could be their next victim. The proverb here warns about deceitful hosts seeking your harm.
He then shifted to the danger of dining when the host has evil motives (Pr 23:6-8). The fine food and drink, and the flattering praise and questions, which you enjoyed much during the meal, will be quite distasteful once you realize how you have been used or abused. Whoremongers, conspirators, and salesmen often use fine dining this way. --Let God Be True

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he,.... He is not the man his mouth speaks or declares him to be, but what his heart thinks; which is discovered by his looks and actions, and by which he is to be judged of, and not by his words
.
--John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Today I will think like a dynamic servant of God, because I am what I think.
I am not always what I think I am; I am what I think.
I am not what I eat; I am what I think.
Clothes do not make the man; thinking makes the man.
Therefore I will keep my thought process active and open to the voice of God.
God did not call me to a life of failure, but to a life of success. This being so, I cannot fail as long as I do His will, allowing Him to work in and through me, motivating my every thought.
Because my God is a big God, I will think with confidence, knowing that my thoughts can never be bigger than my God.
Today I will think as the apostle Paul thought when he said: "I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me." (Phil. 4:13) --J Walls

God never intended for us to know about evil. In the beginning He made the universe, the world, all living things and mankind. Then He called it good. Evil, sin and corruption never entered the picture until Eve was deceived by Satan. He used her curiosity about evil to trick her into thinking she would be better off if she knew what evil was. The result was disastrous for mankind. As Adam and Eve partook in the tree that God commanded them not to eat of, their eyes were open to the knowledge of good and evil. The rest is history, the result was the universe and everything within it had a working knowledge that both good and evil existed, and we were not the better for it.

We live our lives out of the convictions of our heart. Proverbs 23:7 says, "For as he (man) thinketh in his heart, so is he" meaning that what you do and say comes from the true thoughts and philosophies rooted and established in your heart and thought process. When it comes down to it, whatever you value and believe is how you will act. To benefit from this truth, we are to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil. We cannot be tempted with things we don't think, dwell on or know about. Therefore, don't think about evil things, or go looking for them. Rather be innocent concerning them, and then you will not struggle with those things. --Jc Blog

It begins with a negative command: “Do not labor [do not be weary],” and then adds “cease from your intelligence.” Gaining wealth, it turns out, is wearisome. In a pithy chiasm, Solomon tells us to give it up: “Labor not to-enrich, from-understanding cease.”

Proverbs 23 is, of course, not contradicting the earlier wisdom. The sluggard is still a fool, and understanding is still a good. But Solomon is also warning, as he does over and over in Ecclesiastes, against “wearisome” pursuit of gain, whether material or intellectual. Put it aside, he said. Don’t work so hard. Cease from your pursuit of understanding.

The reason has to do with the nature of wealth, which is the nature of life. Life flies away (Psalm 90:10). The antecedent of “it” in verse 5 is unclear: Is the “it” the wealth at the beginning of verse 4, or the understanding at the end of the verse? Verse 5 is silent, never using the nouns again. The nearest antecedent would be “understanding,” but I suspect Solomon intended the ambiguity to work to encompass both wealth and understanding. Whether the wealth we “set eyes on” is material or intellectual, it’s quickly gone. --Peter Leithart

By the time I was seventeen, I had accepted the idea that rules are more important than relationships, fitting in is more desirable than standing out, and you'll never amount to anything without trying top be like someone else. I had already learned not to like myself. I didn't know then that I'd tend to live according to other peoples expectations of me.......Labels affix themselves to your heart and possess your thinking. I realize now this cycle of low expectation and lower desire is not limited to my town, my home, or even my church. It is epidemic because most people have accepted mediocre as the measuring stick of their lives. Why? We've been labeled, and those labels libel and limit us. We don't believe in ourselves because we're taught to look at our lives through the lens of labels. --David Foster ("Accept No Mediocre Life" p6-7)

Proverbs 23:8-30:
6 Do not eat the bread of a miser,
Nor desire his delicacies;
7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.
8 The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit up,
And waste your pleasant words

Here is Solomon’s whole warning, “Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words” Pr 23:6-8). Be careful, even at dinner!

Proverbs 23:9-11:
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
For he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not remove the ancient landmark,
Nor enter the fields of the fatherless;
11 For their Redeemer is mighty;
He will plead their cause against you.

It was customary in Bible times to use a pile of stones, a post, or other marker to establish property boundaries. These landmarks would remain unmoved from one generation to the next, as real property ownership continued as part of family estates. God gave wonderful laws to Israel, and one of them was the protection of property rights by condemning the moving of these established landmarks (Pr 22:28; Deu 19:14; 27:17; Job 24:2; Hos 5:10). -Let God be True

Proverbs 23:12-22:
12 Apply your heart to instruction,
And your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold correction from a child,
For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
14 You shall beat him with a rod,
And deliver his soul from hell.
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
My heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself;
16 Yes, my inmost being will rejoice
When your lips speak right things.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day;
18 For surely there is a hereafter,
And your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my son, and be wise;
And guide your heart in the way.
20 Do not mix with winebibbers,
Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
22 Listen to your father who begot you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.

Proverbs 23:23:
23 Buy the truth, and do not sell it,
Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.

Proverbs 23:23, “Buy the Truth and sell it not.”
What is this Truth which we must buy? There exists a truth of things, the truth of their essence or being. So, all things that are, are truly the same as they are. Gold is true gold as opposed to that which is false and counterfeit. And this truth of things is the conformity of these things to the Divine intellect or knowledge of God. For the Lord in his infinite knowledge comprehends and asserts all truth. By default, every untruth uttered by men is either a denial of some truth which God affirms or an affirming of some falsehood which God denies. God is original Truth and the source of all truth. Further, the truth of things agrees with the original truth of God, just as the truth of a copy agrees with the original. Truth also carries a relationship to knowledge, as every Truth has the capacity to be understood, and the Truth of all things is their conformity to a right understanding.
It is the true knowledge of those things which serve for the perfecting of the inner and the ordering of the outward man. The true knowledge of God, of Christ, of the mysteries of grace, of the ways of God, of the power of godliness, and of the will of God in things concerning the matter and manner of his worship. Secondly, the practical truth of these things. That is, a frame of heart consistent with the nature of these things rightly understood cannot be without the possession of the things themselves. You must have God dwelling in you. You must possess Christ and be made one with him. Your body and soul must become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, you will not have access to this practical, thorough, and effectual knowledge of God and Christ. Rather, you will possess a shadow of the truth rather than the truth itself. You must have the truth of all saving graces in you, otherwise you cannot have a heart suited to a right understanding of Divine Truth. Lastly, you must be so possessed of the truth that you speak the truth from the heart, and you walk in Truth.
[Taken from Truth, The Great Business of Our Times by John Maynard, Westminster Divine, soon to be published by Puritan Publications, 2022.]

Proverbs 23:24-30:
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who begets a wise child will delight in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her who bore you rejoice.
26 My son, give me your heart,
And let your eyes observe my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep pit,
And a seductress is a narrow well.
28 She also lies in wait as for a victim,
And increases the unfaithful among men.
29 Who has woe?
Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions?
Who has complaints?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
30 Those who linger long at the wine,
Those who go in search of mixed wine.

Proverbs 23:31-35:
31 Do not look on the wine when it is red,
When it sparkles in the cup,
When it swirls around smoothly;
32 At the last it bites like a serpent,
And stings like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
And your heart will utter perverse things.
34 Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying:
35 “They have struck me, but I was not hurt;
They have beaten me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?”

While the Bible does include examples of alcohol usage, it is also clear that it is a dangerous substance. “Those who are champions at drinking wine are as good as dead, who display great courage when mixing strong drinks” (Isaiah 5:22). Those are strong words from Isaiah, and Proverbs doesn’t hold back either. “Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper” (Proverbs 23:31, 32, NIV). -Juliana Muniz