Proverbs 23:4

Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. LABOUR NOT TO BE RICH ( ; ); CEASE FROM THINE OWN WISDOM - from that wisdom of thine whereby thou labourest to be rich, as thy first aim. Solomon does not oppose diligence, but anxiety, and the common notion that it is true "wisdom" to make money the chief object....

Verse Proverbs 23:4. _LABOUR NOT TO BE RICH_] Let not this be thy object. Labour to provide things _honest_ in the sight of God and all men; and if thou get wealth, do not forget the _poor_, else God's curse will be a canker even in thy _gold_. _CEASE FROM THINE OWN WISDOM._] בינתך _binathecha_, thy own _understanding_ or _prudence_. The world says, "Get rich _if_ thou canst, and _how_ thou canst." Rem, si possis, recte; si non, quocunque modo rem; "Get a fortune _honestly_ if thou canst; but if not, get one at all events." This is the devil's counsel, and well it is followed; but Solomon says, and God says, "Cease from thine own counsel." Thou hast an immortal soul, and shalt shortly appear before God. Lay up treasure for heaven, and be rich towards God....

CEASE FROM THINE OWN WISDOM - i. e., “Cease from the use of what is in itself most excellent, if it only serves to seek after wealth, and so ministers to 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....

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

LABOUR NOT TO BE RICH,.... In an immoderate over anxious way and manner, to a weariness, as the word u signifies, and even as to gape for breath men ought to labour, that they may have wherewith to support themselves and families, and give to others and: if they can, lay up for their children; but then persons should not toil and weary themselves to heap up riches when they know not who shall gather them and much less make use of indirect and illicit methods to obtain them; resolving to be rich at any rate: rather men should labour for durable riches, lay up treasure in heaven, seek those things which are above, and labour to be accepted of God both here and hereafter; which only is in Christ. The Targum is, "do not draw nigh to a rich man;'' and so the Syriac version; to which agree the Septuagint and Arabic versions; CEASE FROM THINE OWN WISDOM; worldly wisdom in getting; riches, as...

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

LABOUR NOT, &C. Illustrations: Lot (Genesis 13:10; Genesis 13:13); the rich fool (Luke 12:16. Compare Proverbs 10:16). See Jeremiah's advice (Jeremiah 45:5). WISDOM. Hebrew. _binah._ See note on Proverbs 1:2. Not the same word as in verses: Proverbs 23:9; Proverbs 23:23.

_Labour not_ Rather, WEARY NOT THYSELF, R.V., as the same Heb. word is rendered "till his hand _was weary_," 2 Samuel 23:10; "_be weary_," Isaiah 40:30-31. Comp. John 6:27; 1 Timothy 6:9-10. _cease from thine own wisdom_ from the wisdom, namely, of becoming rich. Prudentiae tuae pone modum, set a limit to thy prudence in acquiring wealth. Vulg. We may, however, render _cease of thine own wisdom, "by reason of thine own understanding,"_R.V. marg. Let thine own sense teach thee better. τῇ δὲ σῇ ἐννοίᾳ ἀπόσχου, LXX....

LABOUR NOT TO BE RICH— In this admonition against covetousness, the wise man neither forbids all labour, nor a provident care, which he commends in other places; but only represents how vain it is to be over-solicitous, and to leave no thoughts or strength for any thing else: for so the first word is, _Do not weary thyself to be rich;_ and in the next part of the verse he bids us desist: from our own understanding: meaning thereby, either that we should not wholly trust to it, though in the use of honest means; or, that we should not follow our own inventions, contrary to divine direction. Houbigant corrects the text, and renders it, nearly after the LXX, thus: "Do not attend, or associate thyself with a rich man, when thou thyself art poor." Archbishop Tillotson has a very lively and pleasing remark upon the next verse; "wherein (says he) the wise man expresses himself in such a manner,...