This chapter reads almost like a series of fatherly warnings, urging restraint and discernment in several areas of life. It opens with advice on dining with the powerful: “When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you… do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive” (vv.1-3). This isn’t really about literal meals so much as about being cautious around influence, favors, and the subtle temptations that come with courting power.
The chapter then turns to a warning against the relentless pursuit of wealth: “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off” (vv.4-5). Wealth, no matter how eagerly pursued, is fleeting and unreliable, a theme consistent with Jesus’ later teaching on treasures that don’t last (Matthew 6:19-21).
Several verses caution against befriending or accepting hospitality from stingy or ill intentioned people (vv.6-8), and against wasting words on fools who will only despise wise counsel (v.9). The chapter also revisits the protection of the vulnerable, warning against moving boundary stones or encroaching on the fields of the fatherless, “for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you” (vv.10-11).
A significant portion of the chapter is devoted to parental discipline and guidance: “Do not withhold discipline from a child… Discipline your children, and they will give you peace” (vv.13-14), alongside an emotionally warm appeal, “My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad” (v.15).
Perhaps most striking is the extended warning against drunkenness and the dangers of alcohol in vv.19-21 and again more vividly in vv.29-35, which paints a sobering picture: “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? …Those who linger over wine… In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper” (vv.29-32). This passage describes with almost painful realism the disorientation, addiction, and self destruction that come from excessive drinking.
The chapter closes with an appeal to guard the heart with truth: “Buy the truth and do not sell it, wisdom, discipline and understanding” (v.23), and a final call for the son’s heart and eyes to delight in the Lord’s ways rather than the ways of sinners (v.26).
Chapter 23
1 When you take your seat at the feast with a ruler, give thought with care to what is before you;
2 And put a knife to your throat, if you have a strong desire for food.
3 Have no desire for his delicate food, for it is the bread of deceit.
4 Take no care to get wealth; let there be an end to your desire for money
5 Are your eyes lifted up to it? it is gone: for wealth takes to itself wings, like an eagle in flight up to heaven.
6 Do not take the food of him who has an evil eye, or have any desire for his delicate meat:
7 For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he: Take food and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you.
8 The food which you have taken will come up again, and your pleasing words will be wasted.
9 Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father;
11 For their saviour is strong, and he will take up their cause against you.
12 Give your heart to teaching, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Do not keep back training from the child: for even if you give him blows with the rod, it will not be death to him.
14 Give him blows with the rod, and keep his soul safe from the underworld
15 My son, if your heart becomes wise, I, even I, will be glad in heart;
16 And my thoughts in me will be full of joy when your lips say right things.
17 Have no envy of sinners in your heart, but keep in the fear of the Lord all through the day;
18 For without doubt there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Give ear, my son, and be wise, guiding your heart in the right way
20 Do not be among those who give themselves to wine-drinking, or among those who make themselves full with meat:
21 For those who take delight in drink and feasting will come to be in need; and through love of sleep a man will be poorly clothed
22 Give ear to your father whose child you are, and do not keep honour from your mother when she is old.
23 Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense.
24 The father of the upright man will be glad, and he who has a wise child will have joy because of him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad, let her who gave you birth have joy.
26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes take delight in my ways.
27 For a loose woman is a deep hollow, and a strange woman is a narrow water-hole.
28 Yes, she is waiting secretly like a beast for its food, and deceit by her is increased among men.
29 Who says, Oh! who says, Ah! who has violent arguments, who has grief, who has wounds without cause, whose eyes are dark?
30 Those who are seated late over the wine: those who go looking for mixed wine.
31 Keep your eyes from looking on the wine when it is red, when its colour is bright in the cup, when it goes smoothly down:
32 In the end, its bite is like that of a snake, its wound like the wound of a poison-snake.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say twisted things.
34 Yes, you will be like him who takes his rest on the sea, or on the top of a sail-support.
35 They have overcome me, you will say, and I have no pain; they gave me blows without my feeling them: when will I be awake from my wine? I will go after it again.
Important Verses:
v.5 “Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off.” A vivid picture of wealth’s impermanence.
v.7 “As he thinks within himself, so he is” (context varies by translation). Highlights the connection between inner thought and true character.
v.10-11 “Do not move an ancient boundary stone… for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.” Reinforces God’s protection of the vulnerable.
v.17-18 “Do not let your heart envy sinners, but keep your zeal for the fear of the Lord… surely there is a future hope for you.” Encourages patient trust in God’s ultimate justice rather than envy of temporary success.
v.23 “Buy the truth and do not sell it, wisdom, discipline and understanding.” Frames truth as a treasure worth any cost to obtain and never worth giving up.
v.29-32 The vivid description of drunkenness’s dangers, “In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.” A stark, almost visceral warning against alcohol abuse.
