Proverbs 23:3

Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat. BE NOT DESIROUS OF HIS DAINTIES; FOR THEY ARE DECEITFUL MEAT. Intimacy with an absolute king is a hazardous privilege. His dainties may injure your body if you are not on your guard. A hasty word of undue familiarity and irreverent forwardness may cost you your life. Sir 9:13 'Keep thee far from the man that hath power to kill ... and if thou come unto him, make no fault, lest he take away thy life presently; remember that thou goest in the midst, of snares etc.,' 'His dainties are deceitful meat,' because they do not afford the solid delight which they promise: they delight at first, but are really and finally hurtful. They please the appetite, but soon bite as a snake (); leading him who indulges too freely in them to betray his inmost thoughts, to his own ruin....

DAINTIES ... DECEITFUL MEAT - Such as “savory meat,” venison Genesis 27:4, offered not from genuine hospitality, but with some by-ends....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 23:1 A hexastich closely connected with the last verse of the preceding chapter, as if the warning was addressed to the man of skill whom his talents had made the guest of kings. PROVERBS 23:1 WHEN THOU SITTEST TO EAT WITH A RULER. This, of course, would be a great honour to a man of lowly birth, or to one of the middle class, to whom the manners of courts and palaces were practically unknown. CONSIDER DILIGENTLY WHAT IS BEFORE THEE. So the Vulgate, _Qua apposita sunt ante faciem tuam_;_ _and the Septuagint, Τὰ παρατιθέμενά σοι_. _Take heed lest the unusual dainties on the table tempt thee to excess, which may lead not only to unseemly behavi

BE NOT DESIROUS OF HIS DAINTIES,.... His savoury food, which is very grateful to the taste, his rich provisions and royal dainties; do not lust after them, as the word s signifies, in an immoderate way, as the Israelites lusted after the fleshpots in Egypt: these may be lawfully desired, but not sinfully lusted after; and in feeding on them nature may be satisfied, and not the sensual lusts gratified in such a manner they crave, which would be criminal; FOR THEY [ARE] DECEITFUL MEAT; or, "bread of lies" t: through the pleasant and agreeable taste of them, they lead on to luxury and excess before a man is aware, and so deceive him; they promise him a great deal of pleasure, but, being too much indulged to, they produce sickness and nauseousness. Some think they are called so, from the intention and issue of them; being designed to draw out secrets, which men are very apt to divulge, when...

CHAPTER 23 INSTRUCTIONS CONTINUED The opening proverbs of this chapter treat of self-restraint in curbing the appetite and give manners to be observed in the presence of a superior. Warnings against riches and their uncertainty are contained in Proverbs 23:4 and Proverbs 23:5. How well it would be if the great mass of professing Christians, and some true believers also, would consider this instruction: “Labor not to be rich.” But this exhortation as well as the exhortation in 1Ti 6:1-10 is overlooked, and many who profess to have their riches in Christ, in the heavenly places and never ending glory, weary themselves with earthly gain, and aim to become wealthy. But riches have wings; they can fly away swiftly as does the eagle when he mounts heavenward. This too is mentioned in the epistle to Timoth

It is possible to take these three verses together as a warning against treachery lurking in the dainties of a royal table. In that case, in Proverbs 23:1 we should render consider diligently what (_mg._) is set before thee, and in Proverbs 23:2 continue, For thou wilt put (_mg.)._ But possibly the general interpretation represented by RV is more suitable, and Proverbs 23:3 has come in by error from Proverbs 23:6, where it more naturally belongs. Proverbs 23:4 f. The uncertainty of riches. The general sense is clear, but the text is

DAINTIES. dainty meals. DECEITFUL MEAT. meat that deceives. Hebrew. _kazah._ See note on Proverbs 11:18....

Maurer quotes in illustration of these verses (1 3): "Keep thee from the man that hath power to kill, And thou shalt have no suspicion of the fear of death: And if thou come unto him, commit no fault, Lest he take away thy life: Know surely that thou goest about in the midst of snares, And walkest upon the battlements of a city." Sir 9:13....

WHEN THOU SITTEST TO EAT WITH A RULER, &C.— There are two evils to be avoided at the tables of the great: the one is, too much talking; the other, too much eating: the wise man exhorts his disciple to avoid both the one and the other by the phrase, _put a knife to thy throat;_ "Repress your appetite, and your inclination to talk." Wine, company, and the gaiety which attends entertainments, often invite men to be too free in the use of meat and drink; and it is by these that kings frequently prove the fidelity and the secrecy of their confidants. Monarchs, 'tis said, with many a flowing bowl, Search through the deep recesses of his soul, Whom for their future friendship they design; And put him to the torture in his wine. Hor. Ars Poet. ver. 435. See also Sir 31:12-14. Schultens and some others render the second verse: _For thou wilt put a knife to thy throat, if thou art given to appeti...

CHAPTER 23 TEXT Proverbs 23:1-12 1. When thou sittest to eat with a ruler Consider diligently him that is before thee; 2. And put a knife to thy throat, If thou be a man given to appetite. 3. Be not desirous of his dainties; Seeing they are deceitful food. 4. Weary not thyself to be rich; Cease from thine own wisdom. 5. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings, Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven. 6. Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, Neither desire thou his dainties: 7. For as he thinketh within himself, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee. 8. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, And lose thy sweet words