Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 23:15-35

"My son, if thy heart be wise, My heart will be glad, even mine: Yea, my heart will rejoice, When thy lips speak right things. Let not thy heart envy sinners; But [be thou] in the fear of Jehovah all the day long: For surely there is a reward; And thy hope shall not be cut off. Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And guide thy heart in the way. Be not among winebibbers, Among gluttonous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; And drowsiness will clothe [a man] with rags. Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she is old. Buy the truth, and sell it not; [Yea], wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; And he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him. Let thy father and thy mother be glad, And let her that bare thee rejoice. My son, give me thy heart; And let thine eyes delight in my ways. For a harlot is a deep ditch; And a foreign woman is a narrow pit. Yea, she lieth in wait as a robber, And increaseth the treacherous among men. Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? Who hath complaining? who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; They that go to seek out mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it sparkleth in the cup, When it goeth down smoothly: At the last it biteth like a serpent, And stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange things, And thy heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, [shalt thou say], and I was not hurt; They have beaten me, and I felt it not: When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again." — Proverbs 23:15-35 (ASV)

Another continuous exhortation rather than a collection of maxims.

(Proverbs 23:16) The teacher rejoices when the disciple’s heart receives wisdom, and yet more when his lips can utter it.

Reins - See the note on Job 19:27.

(Proverbs 23:17) Envy sinners - Compare Psalms 37:1 and Psalms 73:3; it is the feeling that looks half-longingly at the prosperity of evildoers. Some connect the verb “envy” with the second clause: “envy not sinners, but envy, emulate, the fear of the Lord.”

(Proverbs 23:18) Or, For if there is an end (hereafter), thine expectations shall not be cut off. There is an implied confidence in immortality.

(Proverbs 23:20) Riotous eaters of flesh - The word is the same as “glutton” in Proverbs 23:21 and Deuteronomy 21:20.

(Proverbs 23:21) The three forms of evil that destroy reputation and tempt to waste are brought together.

Drowsiness - Especially the drunken sleep, heavy and confused.

(Proverbs 23:26) Observe - Another reading gives, “let thine eyes delight in my ways.”

(Proverbs 23:28) As for a prey - Better as in the margin.

The transgressors - Better, “the treacherous,” those that attack men treacherously.

(Proverbs 23:29) Woe ... sorrow - The words in the original are interjections, probably expressing distress. The sharp touch of the satirist reproduces the actual inarticulate utterances of drunkenness.

(Proverbs 23:30) Mixed wine - Wine flavored with aromatic spices that increase its stimulating properties . There is a touch of sarcasm in “go to seek.” The word, elsewhere used for diligent search after knowledge (Job 11:7; Psalms 139:1), is used here for the investigations of connoisseurs of wine meeting to test its qualities.

(Proverbs 23:31) His color - Literally, “its eye,” the clear brightness, or the beaded bubbles on which the wine drinker looks with complacency.

It moveth itself aright - The Hebrew word describes the pellucid stream flowing pleasantly from the wineskin or jug into the goblet or the throat (compare Song of Solomon 7:9), rather than a sparkling wine.

(Proverbs 23:32) Adder - Said to be the Cerastes, or horned snake.

(Proverbs 23:34) The passage is interesting, as showing the increased familiarity of Israelites with the experiences of sea life (compare Psalms 104:25-26 and Psalms 107:23-30).

In the midst of the sea - i.e., when the ship is in the trough of the sea and the man is on the deck. The second clause varies the form of danger: the man is in the “cradle” at the top of the mast and sleeps there, regardless of the danger.

(Proverbs 23:35) The picture ends with the words of the drunkard on waking from his sleep. Unconscious of the excesses of the night, his first thought is to return to his old habit.

When shall I awake ... - Better, when I shall awake I will seek it yet again.