Christian Standard Bible
Proverbs 23:6
6Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread, and don’t desire his choice food,
Proverbs 23:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
- New International Version (NIV)Do not eat the food of a begrudging host, do not crave his delicacies;
- English Standard Version (ESV)Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies,
- New King James Version (NKJV)Do not eat the bread of a miser, Nor desire his delicacies;
Context of Proverbs 23:6
4Don’t wear yourself out to get rich; because you know better, stop! 5As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky. Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread, and don’t desire his choice food, 7for it’s like someone calculating inwardly. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. 8You will vomit the little you’ve eaten and waste your pleasant words.
Read all of Proverbs 23Proverbs 23:6 word by word
אַל־תִּלְחַ֗ם אֶת־לֶ֭חֶם רַ֣ע עָ֑יִן וְאַל־תִּ֝תְאָ֗יו לְמַטְעַמֹּתָֽיו׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 23:6
- Proverbs 22:9A generous person will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.
- Deuteronomy 15:9Be careful that there isn’t this wicked thought in your heart, ‘The seventh year, the year of canceling debts, is near,’ and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him nothing. He will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty.
- Deuteronomy 28:56The most sensitive and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her refinement and sensitivity, will begrudge the husband she embraces, her son, and her daughter,
- Matthew 20:15Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what is mine? Are you jealous because I’m generous?’
- Mark 7:22adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.
- Proverbs 23:3don’t desire his choice food, for that food is deceptive.
- Psalms 141:4Do not let my heart turn to any evil thing or perform wicked acts with evildoers. Do not let me feast on their delicacies.
- Daniel 1:8Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief eunuch not to defile himself.
Commentaries on Proverbs 23:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6Of him that hath an evil eye - Never eat with a covetous or stingy man; if he entertains you at his own expense, he grudges every morsel you put in your mouth. This is well marked by the wise man in the next verse: "Eat and drink, saith he: but his heart is not with thee."Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6A different danger from that of Proverbs 23:1. The hazard here is the hospitality of the purse-proud rich, avaricious or grudging even in his banquets. Evil eye - Not with the later associations of a mysterious power for mischief, but simply, as in the margin ref. and in Matthew 20:15.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-8Verses 6-8 Do not make thyself burdensome to any, especially those not sincere. When we are called by God to his feast, and to let our souls delight themselves, Is 25:6; 55:2, we may safely partake of the Bread of life.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6-8Proverbs highly values generosity (Proverbs 11:24–26; 21:13; 22:9).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 6-86-8. Beware of deceitful men, whose courtesies even you will repent of having accepted. evil eye--or purpose (Pr 22:9; De 15:9; Mt 6:23).Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 23:6
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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