Proverbs 23:32

At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. STINGETH LIKE AN ADDER - Hebrew, tsip`oniy (H6848); the basilisk (Bochart); a viper (Maurer)....

Another continuous exhortation rather than a collection of maxims. Proverbs 23:16 The teacher rejoices when the disciple’s heart Proverbs 23:15 receives wisdom, and yet more when his lips can utter it. REINS - See Job 19:27 note. Proverbs 23:17 ENVY SINNERS - Compare in Psalms 37:1; Psalms 73:3; the feeling whi

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

AT THE LAST IT BITETH LIKE A SERPENT,.... Though it goes down sweetly, yet it leaves a sting behind it, intemperately drank; a nausea in the stomach, a stink in the breath, pains and giddiness in the head, weakness in the eyes, trembling in the members of the body, palsy, gout, and other distempers, very painful and grievous to be bore; and, what is worse, if the conscience is awakened, sharp and cutting reflections there; and, without true repentance, torments intolerable in the world to come; AND STINGETH LIKE AN ADDER; or "spreads" u, or separates and scatters; that is, its poison. So the Vulgate Latin version, "diffuseth poisons as a basilisk", or "cockatrice"; the Targum and Syriac version, "as a serpent which flies;'' it signifies the same as before. u יפרש "jecur diffindet", Schultens....

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

AT THE LAST IT BITETH, &C.— "Remember that the pleasure will be attended at last with intolerable pains when it works like so much poison in thy veins, and casts thee into troubles as keen, and diseases as difficult to cure, as the biting of a serpent, or the stinging of a _basilisk;"_ (for so the last word should be rendered.) See Bishop Patrick. Mr. Prior has thus finely expressed the ill effects of drunkenness in his poem intitled _Solomon:_ Unhappy man! whom sorrow thus and rage To diff'rent ills alternately engage; Who drinks, alas! but to forget; nor sees That melancholy, sloth, severe disease, Mem'ry confus'd, and interrupted thought, Death's harbingers, lie latent in the draught: And in the flow'rs that wreath the sparkling bowl, Full adders hiss, and pois'nous serpents roll....

TEXT Proverbs 23:24-35 24. The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; And he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him. 25. Let thy father and thy mother be glad, And let her that bare thee rejoice. 26. My son, give me thy heart; And let thine eyes delight in my ways. 27. For a harlot is a deep ditch; And a foreign woman is a narrow pit. 28. Yea, she lieth in wait as a robber, And increaseth the treacherous among men. 29. Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? Who hath complaining? who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? 30. They that tarry long at the wine; They that go to seek out mixed wine. 31. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it sparkleth in the cup, When it goeth

23:32 last (k-3) Or 'in result;' lit. 'in its end.' as ver. 18....

1. RV 'him that is before thee.' Do not excite his contempt....