the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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Proverbs 23:23
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
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- InternationalParallel Translations
Buy truth, and do not sell it,Get wisdom and discipline and understanding.
Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.
Purchase trueth, wysdome, nurture, and vnderstanding, and sell them not.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; wisdom, and instruction, and intelligence.
Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.
Buy the truth, and sell it not, also wisdom, and instruction and understanding.
Truth, wisdom, learning, and understanding are worth paying money for. They are worth far too much to ever sell.
Buy the truth, and don't sell it: Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
Buy the trueth, and sell it not; also wisedome and instruction and vnderstanding.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Labor for to get ye treuth: sell not awaye wy?dome, nourtor & vnderstodinge
Buy the truth, and sell it not; Yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense.
Buy the truth, and don't sell it; [Yes], wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Buy the truth, and sell [it] not; [also] wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Acquire truth and do not sell it— wisdom, and discipline, and understanding.
Invest in truth and wisdom, discipline and good sense, and don't part with them.
Buy the truth, don't sell it, also wisdom, discipline and discernment.
Bye the trueth, but sell it not: likewise wisdome, and instruction, and vnderstanding.
Buy the truth, and do not sell wisdom; also buy understanding and instruction.
Buy the truth, and don't sell it: Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Get the truth and never sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment.
Buy truth, and do not sell it. Get wisdom and teaching and understanding.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Invest in truth and never sell it-in wisdom and instruction and understanding.
Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
Truth, buy thou, but do not sell, wisdom, and correction, and understanding.
Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Buy truth and do not sell it, wisdom and instruction and understanding.
Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
Learn the truth and never reject it. Get wisdom, self-control, and understanding.
Truth, wisdom, learning, and good sense—these are worth paying for, but too valuable for you to sell.
Buy—and do not sell—truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
Bie thou treuthe, and nyle thou sille wisdom, and doctryn, and vndurstonding.
Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Buy: Proverbs 2:2-4, Proverbs 4:5-7, Proverbs 10:1, Proverbs 16:16, Proverbs 17:16, Job 28:12-19, Psalms 119:72, Psalms 119:127, Isaiah 55:1, Matthew 13:44, Matthew 13:46, Philippians 3:7, Philippians 3:8, Revelation 3:18
sell: Matthew 16:26, Acts 20:23, Hebrews 11:26, Revelation 12:11
Reciprocal: Job 28:13 - knoweth Psalms 90:12 - that Psalms 119:31 - stuck Proverbs 2:4 - thou Proverbs 4:13 - Take Proverbs 8:10 - General Proverbs 18:15 - General Jeremiah 5:1 - that seeketh Mark 10:21 - sell John 17:6 - they 1 Corinthians 15:2 - keep in memory Galatians 5:1 - Stand Ephesians 5:17 - understanding 1 Thessalonians 5:21 - hold 2 Timothy 1:13 - Hold 2 Timothy 4:7 - I have kept Titus 1:9 - Holding 1 John 2:24 - abide
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Buy the truth, and sell [it] not,.... Evangelical truth, the word of truth, the Gospel of salvation, which comes from the God of truth; has Christ, who is the truth, for the stem and substance of it; men are directed and led into it by the Spirit of truth; the whole matter of it is truth; truth, in opposition to the law, that was typical and shadowy; to the errors of false teachers, to everything that is fictitious, or another Gospel; and to that which is a lie, for no lie is of the truth: there are several particular doctrines of the Gospel which are so called; those which respect the knowledge of one God, and three Persons in the Godhead; the deity and sonship of Christ, his incarnation and Messiahship, salvation alone by him, a sinner's justification by his righteousness, and the resurrection of the dead; the whole of which is truth, and is an answer to Pilate's question,
John 18:38; and this men should "buy", not books only, as Aben Ezra interprets it, such as explain and confirm truth, though these should be bought; and especially the Bible, the Scriptures of truth; yet this does not reach the sense of the text: nor is it merely to be understood of persons supporting the Gospel ministry with their purses, by which means truth is preserved, propagated, and continued: no price is set upon it, as being above all; it should be bought or had at any rate, let the expense be what it will: "buying" it supposes a person to have some knowledge of it, of the excellency, usefulness, and importance of it; and shows that he sets a value upon it, and has a high esteem for it: it is to be understood of his using all means and taking great pains to acquire it; such as reading the word, meditating upon it, attending on the public ministry, and fervent and frequent prayer for it, and a greater degree of knowledge of it; yea, it signifies a person's parting with everything for it that is required; as with his former errors he has been brought up in, or has imbibed; with his good name and reputation, being willing to be accounted a fool or a madman, and an enthusiast, or anything for the sake of it; and even with life itself, when called for; and such a man will strive and contend for it, stand fast in it, and hold it fast, and not let it go, which is meant by "selling" it; truth is not to be sold upon any account, or for any thing whatever; it is not to be slighted and neglected; it should not be parted with neither for the riches, and honours, and pleasures of this life, nor for the sake of a good name among men, nor for the sake of peace, nor for the avoiding of persecution; it should he abode by, and not departed from, though the greater number is against it, and they the riots, the wise, and learned; and though it may be traduced as novel, irrational, and licentious, and be attended with affliction;
[also] wisdom, and instruction, and understanding; that is, buy these also, and sell them no; "wisdom" is to be prized above everything; it is the principal thing, and should be got; all means should he used to obtain it; it may be bought without money; it should be asked of God, who gives it liberally, and, being had, should be held fast: the "instruction" the Scriptures give, the instruction of the Gospel, the instruction of Wisdom, should be valued above gold and silver, and diligently sought after; should be laid fast hold on and not parted with: "understanding" of divine and spiritual things is to be gotten; happy is the man that gets it; and above all gettings this should be got, and all means made rise of to improve and increase it. The Targum, Syriac, and Vulgate Latin versions, connect these with the word sell only, thus, "buy the truth, and sell not wisdom, and instruction, and understanding"; but as buying and selling both refer to truth, so likewise to these also. The whole verse is wanting in the Septuagint and Arabic versions.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Another continuous exhortation rather than a collection of maxims.
Proverbs 23:16
The teacher rejoices when the disciple’s heart Proverbs 23:15 receives wisdom, and yet more when his lips can utter it.
Reins - See Job 19:27 note.
Proverbs 23:17
Envy sinners - Compare in Psalms 37:1; Psalms 73:3; the feeling which looks half-longingly at the prosperity of evil doers. Some connect the verb “envy” with the second clause, “envy not sinners, but envy, emulate, the fear of the Lord.”
Proverbs 23:18
Or, For if there is an end (hereafter), thine expectations shall not be cut off. There is an implied confidence in immortality.
Proverbs 23:20
Riotous eaters of flesh - The word is the same as “glutton” in Proverbs 23:21 and Deuteronomy 21:20.
Proverbs 23:21
The three forms of evil that destroy reputation and tempt to waste are brought together.
Drowsiness - Specially the drunken sleep, heavy and confused.
Proverbs 23:26
Observe - Another reading gives, “let thine eyes delight in my ways.”
Proverbs 23:28
As for a prey - Better as in the margin.
The transgressors - Better, the treacherous,” those that attack men treacherously.
Proverbs 23:29
Woe ... sorrow - The words in the original are interjections, probably expressing distress. The sharp touch of the satirist reproduces the actual inarticulate utterances of drunkenness.
Proverbs 23:30
Mixed wine - Wine flavored with aromatic spices, that increase its stimulating properties Isaiah 5:22. There is a touch of sarcasm in “go to seek.” The word, elsewhere used of diligent search after knowledge Proverbs 25:2; Job 11:7; Psalms 139:1, is used here of the investigations of connoisseurs in wine meeting to test its qualities.
Proverbs 23:31
His color - literally, “its eye,” the clear brightness, or the beaded bubbles on which the wine drinker looks with complacency.
It moveth itself aright - The Hebrew word describes the pellucid stream flowing pleasantly from the wineskin or jug into the goblet or the throat (compare Song of Solomon 7:9), rather than a sparkling wine.
Proverbs 23:32
Adder - Said to be the Cerastes, or horned snake.
Proverbs 23:34
The passage is interesting, as showing the increased familiarity of Israelites with the experiences of sea life (compare Psalms 104:25-26; Psalms 107:23-30).
In the midst of the sea - i. e., When the ship is in the trough of the sea and the man is on the deck. The second clause varies the form of danger, the man is in the “cradle” at the top of the mast, and sleeps there, regardless of the danger.
Proverbs 23:35
The picture ends with the words of the drunkard on waking from his sleep. Unconscious of the excesses of the night, his first thought is to return to his old habit.
When shall I awake ... - Better, when I shall awake I will seek it yet again.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Proverbs 23:23. Buy the truth — Acquire the knowledge of God at all events; and in order to do this, too much pains, industry, and labour cannot be expended.
And sell it not — When once acquired, let no consideration deprive thee of it. Cleave to and guard it, even at the risk of thy life. Coverdale translates: "Labour for to get the treuth; sell not awaye wissdome."
