Proverbs 23
23
1#Four admonitions for someone aspiring to be a sage: be careful about advancing your career by socializing with the great (vv. 1–3); avoid greed (vv. 4–5); do not force yourself on an unwilling host (vv. 6–8); do not waste your wisdom on those who cannot profit from it (v. 9). When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
mark well the one who is before you;
2Stick the knife in your gullet#Stick the knife in your gullet: a metaphor for self-restraint. The usual translation, “Put a knife to your throat,” is misleading, for in English it is a death threat. The exhortation is humorously exaggerated: stick the table-knife in your own gullet rather than take too much food. It assumes that the young courtier is unused to opulent banquets and will be tempted to overindulgence.
if you have a ravenous appetite.
3Do not desire his delicacies;
it is food that deceives.
4Do not wear yourself out to gain wealth,
cease to be worried about it;
5When your glance flits to it, it is gone!
For assuredly it grows wings,
like the eagle that flies toward heaven.#The frustration of covetous intent and elusiveness of wealth are portrayed by the sudden flight of an eagle. Amenemope, chap. 7, has a similar statement: “Do not set your heart on wealth. There is no ignoring Fate and Destiny; / Do not let your heart go straying.” Proverbs imagines covetous intent as a flight of the eyes, whereas Amenemope imagines it as a straying of the heart.
6#Some humorous advice on not trading on the courtesy of unwilling hosts who, for convention’s sake, use the language of welcome. Amenemope, chap. 11, gives similar advice: “Do not intrude on a man in his house, / Enter when you have been called; / He may say ‘Welcome’ with his mouth, / Yet deride you in his thoughts.” “Unwilling,” lit., “evil of eye,” is usually translated “stingy,” but the context suggests unwilling. In v. 8, the unwanted guest vomits up the food, thus destroying the desired good impression. Proverbs regards the uninvited banqueters as thieves who will suffer the consequences of their theft. Amenemope, chap. 11, is relevant: “Do not covet a poor man’s goods,…A poor man’s goods are a block in the throat, / It makes the gullet vomit.” Do not take food with unwilling hosts,
and do not desire their delicacies;
7For like something stuck in the throat is that food.
“Eat and drink,” they say to you,
but their hearts are not with you;
8The little you have eaten you will vomit up,
and you will have wasted your agreeable words.
9Do not speak in the hearing of fools;
they will despise the wisdom of your words.#Prv 9:7.
10Do not remove the ancient landmark,#Prv 22:28.
nor invade the fields of the fatherless;#In Israel ownership of property and other legal rights were vested mainly in the father as head of the family; thus the widow and fatherless child were vulnerable, left prey to those who would exploit them.
11For their redeemer is strong;
he will defend their cause against you.#Prv 22:23.
12Apply your heart to instruction,
and your ear to words of knowledge.
13#The young will not die from instructional blows but from their absence, for (premature) death results from uncorrected folly. The sardonic humor means the exhortation is not to be taken literally, as an argument for corporal punishment. The next verses (vv. 15–16) are exceedingly tender toward the young. Do not withhold discipline from youths;
if you beat them with the rod, they will not die.#Prv 13:24; 19:18; Sir 30:1.
14Beat them with the rod,#Prv 29:15, 17.
and you will save them from Sheol.
15My son, if your heart is wise,
my heart also will rejoice;
16And my inmost being will exult,
when your lips speak what is right.
17Do not let your heart envy sinners,#Prv 3:31; 24:1, 19.
but only those who always fear the Lord;#Those whom one admires or associates with exercise enormous influence. Do not join the wicked, who are a doomed group. The warning is repeated in 24:1–2, 19–20.
18For you will surely have a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.#Prv 24:14.
19Hear, my son, and be wise,
and guide your heart in the right way.
20Do not join with wine bibbers,
nor with those who glut themselves on meat.
21For drunkards and gluttons come to poverty,
and lazing about clothes one in rags.
22#Father and mother are associated with truth and wisdom. One should no more rid oneself of truth and wisdom than rid oneself of one’s parents, who are their source. Listen to your father who begot you,
do not despise your mother when she is old.
23Buy truth and do not sell:
wisdom, instruction, understanding!
24The father of a just person will exult greatly;
whoever begets a wise son will rejoice in him.#Prv 10:1.
25Let your father and mother rejoice;
let her who bore you exult.
26#The exhortation is a condensed version of chap. 7 with its emotional appeal to “my son” to avoid the forbidden woman (7:1–5), her traps (7:21–23), and her intent to add the youth to her list of victims (7:24–27). As in 23:15, 19, 22, a trustful and affectionate relationship between student and teacher is the basis of teaching. The danger of the woman is expressed in imagery that has sexual overtones (cf. 22:14). My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes keep to my ways,
27For the harlot is a deep pit,
and the foreign woman a narrow well;
28Yes, she lies in wait like a robber,#Prv 7:10–27.
and increases the number of the faithless.
29#A vivid description of the evil effects, physical and psychological, of drunkenness. The emphasis is on the unwise behavior, the folly, caused by alcohol. Cf. 20:1. Who scream? Who shout?
Who have strife? Who have anxiety?
Who have wounds for nothing?
Who have bleary eyes?
30Whoever linger long over wine,
whoever go around quaffing wine.#Prv 20:1; Sir 19:2; Hos 4:11.
31Do not look on the wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup.
It goes down smoothly,
32but in the end it bites like a serpent,
and stings like an adder.
33Your eyes behold strange sights,
and your heart utters incoherent things;
34You are like one sleeping on the high seas,
sprawled at the top of the mast.
35“They struck me, but it did not pain me;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When can I get up,
when can I go out and get more?”#Drunkards become insensible to bodily and moral harm. Their one desire is to indulge again.
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Proverbs 23
23
The Sixth Saying
1When you sit down to eat with someone important, keep in mind who he is.#23.1 keep… is; or notice carefully what is before you. 2If you have a big appetite, restrain yourself. 3Don't be greedy for the fine food he serves; he may be trying to trick you.
The Seventh Saying
4Be wise enough not to wear yourself out trying to get rich. 5Your money can be gone in a flash, as if it had grown wings and flown away like an eagle.
The Eighth Saying
6Don't eat at the table of a stingy person or be greedy for the fine food he serves. 7“Come on and have some more,” he says, but he doesn't mean it. What he thinks is what he really is. 8You will vomit up what you have eaten, and all your flattery will be wasted.
The Ninth Saying
9Don't try to talk sense to a fool; he can't appreciate it.
The Tenth Saying
10Never move an old boundary mark or take over land owned by orphans. 11The LORD is their powerful defender, and he will argue their case against you.
The Eleventh Saying
12Pay attention to your teacher and learn all you can.
The Twelfth Saying
13Don't hesitate to discipline children. A good spanking won't kill them. 14As a matter of fact, it may save their lives.
The Thirteenth Saying
15Son, if you become wise, I will be very happy. 16I will be proud when I hear you speaking words of wisdom.
The Fourteenth Saying
17Don't be envious of sinful people; let reverence for the LORD be the concern of your life. 18If it is, you have a bright future.
The Fifteenth Saying
19Listen, my child, be wise and give serious thought to the way you live. 20Don't associate with people who drink too much wine or stuff themselves with food. 21Drunkards and gluttons will be reduced to poverty. If all you do is eat and sleep, you will soon be wearing rags.
The Sixteenth Saying
22Listen to your father; without him you would not exist. When your mother is old, show her your appreciation.
23Truth, wisdom, learning, and good sense — these are worth paying for, but too valuable for you to sell.
24A righteous man's father has good reason to be happy. You can take pride in a wise son.
25Make your father and mother proud of you; give your mother that happiness.
The Seventeenth Saying
26Pay close attention, son, and let my life be your example. 27Prostitutes and immoral women are a deadly trap. 28They wait for you like robbers and cause many men to be unfaithful.
The Eighteenth Saying
29-30Show me someone who drinks too much, who has to try out some new drink, and I will show you someone miserable and sorry for himself, always causing trouble and always complaining. His eyes are bloodshot, and he has bruises that could have been avoided. 31Don't let wine tempt you, even though it is rich red, though it sparkles in the cup, and it goes down smoothly. 32The next morning you will feel as if you had been bitten by a poisonous snake. 33Weird sights will appear before your eyes, and you will not be able to think or speak clearly. 34You will feel as if you were out on the ocean, sea-sick, swinging high up in the rigging of a tossing ship. 35“I must have been hit,” you will say; “I must have been beaten up, but I don't remember it. Why can't I wake up? I need another drink.”
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.