Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 23
Albert Barnes Commentary
Proverbs 23
Albert Barnes Commentary
Proverbs 23
"When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider diligently him that is before thee;" — Proverbs 23:1 (ASV)
What is before thee - Beware that dainties do not tempt you to excess. Or, consider diligently who is before thee, the character and temper of the ruler who invites you.
"And put a knife to thy throat, If thou be a man given to appetite." — Proverbs 23:2 (ASV)
That is, “Restrain your appetite, eat as if the knife were at your throat.” Others render the words “you will put a knife to your throat,” etc., that is, “indulgence at such a time may endanger your very life.”
"Be not desirous of his dainties; Seeing they are deceitful food." — Proverbs 23:3 (ASV)
Dainties ... deceitful meat - Such as savory meat, venison (Genesis 27:4), offered not from genuine hospitality, but with some ulterior motives.
"Weary not thyself to be rich; Cease from thine own wisdom." — Proverbs 23:4 (ASV)
Cease from thine own wisdom - that is, “Cease from the use of what is in itself most excellent, if it only serves to seek after wealth, and so serves evil.” There is no special contrast between “thine own wisdom” and that given from above, though it is of course implied that in ceasing from his own prudence the man is on the way to attain a higher wisdom.
"Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For [riches] certainly make themselves wings, Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven." — Proverbs 23:5 (ASV)
Set your eyes - literally, as in the margin, that is, “gaze eagerly upon;” and then we get an emphatic parallelism with the words that follow, they fly away as an eagle toward heaven; certainly make themselves wings.
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