Proverbs 23 Commentary
Wine… Bites Like A Serpent
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KEY THOUGHT: Do not look on the wine when it is red. [Proverbs 23:31a NKJV]
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Proverbs 23 NKJV
Listen to Your Father
23 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
Consider carefully what is before you;
2 And put a knife to your throat
If you are a man given to appetite.
3 Do not desire his delicacies,
For they are deceptive food.
4 Do not overwork to be rich;
Because of your own understanding, cease!
5 [a]Will you set your eyes on that which is not?
For riches certainly make themselves wings;
They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.
6 Do not eat the bread of a[b] miser,
Nor desire his delicacies;
7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.
8 The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit up,
And waste your pleasant words.
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
For he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not remove the ancient [c]landmark,
Nor enter the fields of the fatherless;
11 For their Redeemer is mighty;
He will plead their cause against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction,
And your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold correction from a child,
For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
14 You shall beat him with a rod,
And deliver his soul from [d]hell.
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
My heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself;
16 Yes, my [e]inmost being will rejoice
When your lips speak right things.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day;
18 For surely there is a [f]hereafter,
And your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my son, and be wise;
And guide your heart in the way.
20 Do not mix with winebibbers,
Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
22 Listen to your father who begot you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and do not sell it,
Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who begets a wise child will delight in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her who bore you rejoice.
26 My son, give me your heart,
And let your eyes observe my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep pit,
And a seductress is a narrow well.
28 She also lies in wait as for a victim,
And increases the unfaithful among men.
29 Who has woe?
Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions?
Who has complaints?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
30 Those who linger long at the wine,
Those who go in search of mixed wine.
31 Do not look on the wine when it is red,
When it sparkles in the cup,
When it [g]swirls around smoothly;
32 At the last it bites like a serpent,
And stings like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
And your heart will utter perverse things.
34 Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the [h]midst of the sea,
Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying:
35 “They have struck me, but I was not hurt;
They have beaten me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?”
Footnotes
a. Proverbs 23:5 Lit. Will you cause your eyes to fly upon it and it is not?
b. Proverbs 23:6 Lit. one who has an evil eye
c. Proverbs 23:10 boundary
d. Proverbs 23:14 Or Sheol
e. Proverbs 23:16 Lit. kidneys
f. Proverbs 23:18 Future, lit. latter end
g. Proverbs 23:31 goes around
h. Proverbs 23:34 Lit. heart
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 23 Commentary
Poverty awaits the drunkard and the gluttonous.
Do not look on the wine when it is red. At last, it bites like a serpent. Could this be a reference to the satanic objectives behind wine?
Verse 13 explains why men and women shouldn’t take wine. “Your eyes will see strange things. Your heart will utter perverse things.”
Drunkenness is an alteration to normalcy. It’s a jacket you wear to sin.
The LORD holds men and women accountable. Wine will never be in the dock!
Verse 15 announces the good news. Wisdom can once again put a happy face on the LORD. It refers to the salvation of the soul by the very Wisdom of God – the LORD Jesus Christ. We want to read the rest within the context of salvation.
Watch your appetite! Desires of the flesh can easily ruin your destiny.
Riches are never permanent; don’t wear yourself out.
Evil is sugar-coated.
The LORD will pass judgment in favor of the orphans. Treat them well.
Love God’s word!
Don’t be envious of sinful people. Check your ambitions, hopes, and aspirations. What preoccupies your prayer list? Is it not to have a life like them, the wicked? Indeed, there is a life that we must begin to hate.
Watch your friend list, even the ones on Facebook. Who is your hero? Don’t be surprised if you begin to dry up spiritually because of the people you associate with.
Without your father, you would not exist. Respect him. Think about it.
We have a perfect example in the LORD Jesus Christ. Sexual purity can be had. The deeper meaning draws our attention to Lady Wisdom while altogether rejecting Lady Wickedness.
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