Proverbs 23:13-23

TEXT Proverbs 23:13-23

13.

Withhold not correction from the child;

For if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.

14.

Thou shalt beat him with the rod,

And shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.

15.

My son, if thy heart be wise,

My hear will be glad, even mine.

.

16.

Yea, my heart will rejoice

When thy lips speak right things.

17.

Let not thy heart envy sinners;

But be thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day long:

18.

For surely there is a reward;

And thy hope shall not be cut off.

19.

Hear thou, my son, arid be wise,

And guide thy heart in the way.

20.

Be not among winebibbers,

Among gluttonous eaters of flesh:

21.

For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty;

And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

22.

Hearken unto thy father that begat thee,

And despise not thy mother when she is old.

23.

Buy the truth, and sell it not;

Yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 23:13-23

1.

Does Proverbs 23:13 sound like most people whip their children too hard or too easy?

2.

What is meant by Sheol in Proverbs 23:14?

3.

How does Proverbs 10:1 word the same truth as found in Proverbs 23:15?

4.

Is the opposite of Proverbs 23:16 just as true (that parents-' hearts weep when their children speak perverse things)?

5.

Do the wicked want us to envy them (Proverbs 23:17)?

6.

Will a godly person in time have more than a sinner has now (Proverbs 23:18)?

7.

How many times in this chapter does it say, My son (Proverbs 23:19)?

8.

Why is this said so many times (Proverbs 23:19)?

9.

What is the wrong of winebibbing and gluttony (Proverbs 23:20; Proverbs 23:20)?

10.

What is the relation of drowsiness to such habits (Proverbs 23:21)?

11.

What two crimes can one commit against parents (Proverbs 23:22)?

12.

What do buy and sell mean in Proverbs 23:23?

PARAPHRASE OF 23:13-23

13, 14.

Don-'t fail to correct your children; discipline won-'t hurt them! They won-'t die if you use a stick on them! Punishment will keep them out of hell.

15, 16.

My son, how I will rejoice if you become a man of common sense. Yes, my heart will thrill to your thoughtful, wise words.

17, 18.

Don-'t envy evil men but continue to reverence the Lord all the time, for surely you have a wonderful future ahead of you. There is hope for you yet!

19, 21.

O my son, be wise and stay in God's paths; don-'t carouse with drunkards and gluttons, for they are on their way to poverty. And remember that too much sleep clothes a man with rags.

22.

Listen to your father's advice and don-'t despise an old mother's experience.

23.

Get the facts at any price, and hold on tightly to all the good sense you can.

COMMENTS ON 23:13-23

Proverbs 23:13. Every child needs correction at times. He or she will not be correct in life without correction. At times this correction will have to be administered with the rod (whippings), and the language of our verse indicates that sometimes such must be administered with great severity.

Proverbs 23:14. Sheol of the Old Testament was parallel with Hades of the New. When one dies, his spirit goes to Sheol (Hades). Instead of causing a child to die through physical chastisements (Proverbs 23:13), such punishments will actually keep a child from a premature death through God's wrath or through a child's own foolishness or other ways.

Proverbs 23:15. Other passages showing that good children bring joy to parents: Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 23:24-25; Proverbs 29:3. There is a play on words here: If THY HEART be wise, MY HEART will be glad, Oh, how parents wait for and look for evidences of their children's good qualities! Surely if children thought of this, how happy they could actually make their parents!. And how we can make our heavenly Father pleased by our wisely doing His will!

Proverbs 23:16. The wise heart of Proverbs 23:15 will reflect itself in lips that speak right things. How much good judgment is reflected by wise words, excellent speech, etc.!

Proverbs 23:17. To envy sinners is not to be fearing Jehovah properly. Other passages that warn against envying sinners: Psalms 37:1; Proverbs 3:31; Proverbs 24:1; Proverbs 24:19. Yet people at times do envy sinners (Psalms 73:3-7). But if one truly fears Jehovah, he will have no temptation to envy His enemies (sinners) upon whom God's wrath will ultimately fall.

Proverbs 23:18. Yes, a godly person's reward is coming, and how great it will be! Such's hope will be fulfilled and not cut off: 1 Peter 1:3-5; Psalms 37:37. Pulpit Commentary: The writer has a firm belief in the moral government of God and in a future life which shall rectify all anomalies. If the poor man of Luke 16 were tempted to envy the rich man, it would have been a mistake because he himself ended up so much better off (Luke 16:25).

Proverbs 23:19. Again the father appeals for the son to be wise. Remember, it is a wise son that makes a glad father (Proverbs 10:1). Proverbs 4:23 speaks of the necessity one keeping his heart with all diligence. We note here that one is not to let his heart wander wheresoever society, trends, fads, or friends may lead it, but one is responsible to guide his heart in the way it should go. Failure to do this has been a great weakness of mankind.

Proverbs 23:20. The Bible sounds many warnings against taking up with wine and drunkenness: Isaiah 5:22; Matthew 24:48-51; Luke 21:34; Romans 13:13; Ephesians 5:18. But gluttony is also noted here as wrong. Jesus-' enemies tried to down Him by calling him-' a gluttonous man (Matthew 11:19). In affluent times many are guilty of both winebibbing and gluttony.

Proverbs 23:21. It costs money to eat like a glutton and drink like a drunkard. Many a man has devoured and destroyed a small fortune in this way. He is also brought to poverty by not showing up for work or by not being able to hold his job. The drowsiness has to do with his sleeping off his drunkenness. What a perversion of life!

Proverbs 23:22. We are to listen to the wisdom and instruction of our fathers (Proverbs 1:8; Ephesians 6:1). How many sorrows and mistakes young men can avoid by hearkening to their fathers! Prodigals and know-it-alls don-'t listen; in time they will see that they should have listened. Concerning despising one's mother when she is old, Pulpit Commentary says, When old age with its consequent infirmities comes upon thy mother, despise her not, but rather thank God for giving her long life, and profit by her love and long experience.

Proverbs 23:23. Truth, spoken of in this verse as wisdom, and instruction, and understanding, is something to obtain at all costs and something not to part with regardless of what earthly or momentary gains one may get by doing so. Pulpit Commentary: Consider truth as a thing of the highest value, and spare no pains, cost, or sacrifice to obtain it, and, when gotten, keep it safe; do not barter it for earthly profit or the pleasures of sense; do not be reasoned out of it, or laughed out of it...do not part with it for any consideration.

TEST QUESTIONS OVER 23:13-23

1.

What great message to parents is carried in Proverbs 23:13?

2.

How many proper whippings keep a child from Sheol (Proverbs 23:14)?

3.

What play on words is found in Proverbs 23:15?

4.

What is the relationship between Proverbs 23:15-16?

5.

Why should a godly person not envy a sinner (Proverbs 23:17)?

6.

What is the relationship between Proverbs 23:17-18?

7.

What is wrong with letting one's mind wander wheresoever it will go (Proverbs 23:19)?

8.

What two sins of the body are forbidden in Proverbs 23:20?

9.

Why is a drunkard and glutton brought to poverty (Proverbs 23:21)?

10.

How can a young man avoid both sorrows and mistakes (Proverbs 23:22)?

11.

Why would a person despise a mother when she is old (Proverbs 23:22)?

12.

How do we buy truth? How do we sell it (Proverbs 23:23)?