the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Proverbs 23:26
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O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways.
My son, give me your heart; And let your eyes delight in my ways.
My son, pay attention to me, and watch closely what I do.
Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes observe my ways;
My son, give me thy heart, and let thy eyes observe my ways.
My son, give me your heart; And let your eyes keep in my ways.
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
My sone, yyue thin herte to me, and thin iyen kepe my weyes.
My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes delight in my ways.
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.
-17-
My son, pay close attention, and gladly follow my example.My son, give me thy heart; And let thine eyes delight in my ways.
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes take delight in my ways.
My son, give me your heart; let your eyes observe my ways.
My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
My son, listen closely to what I am saying. Let my life be your example.
My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
My sonne, giue me thine heart, and let thine eyes obserue my wayes.
Give me your heart, my son. Let your eyes find joy in my ways.
My child, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
My sonne, giue mee thine heart, and let thine eyes delite in my wayes.
My son. give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
-17-
Pay close attention, son, and let my life be your example.Oh give, my son, thy mind unto me, and let, thine eyes, observe, my ways;
My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
My sonne geue me thyne heart, and let thyne eyes haue pleasure in my wayes:
My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
My son, give me your heart,and let your eyes observe my ways.
My son, give me your heart; And let your eyes keep in my ways.
My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
My child, may you give your heart to me, and may your eyes delight in my ways.
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes watch my ways.
Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways.
My sonne, geue me thyne herte, and let thine eyes haue pleasure in my wayes.
17
Dear child, I want your full attention; please do what I show you.Give me your heart, my son, And let your eyes delight in my ways.
My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes observe my ways.
Give me your heart, my son, And let your eyes delight in my ways.
Give your heart to me, my son,And let your eyes delight in my ways.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
My son: Proverbs 23:15
give: Proverbs 4:23, Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 10:37, Matthew 10:38, Luke 14:26, 2 Corinthians 5:14, 2 Corinthians 5:15, 2 Corinthians 8:5, Ephesians 3:17
let: Proverbs 4:25-27, Psalms 107:43, Psalms 119:2, Psalms 119:9-11, Hosea 14:9, 2 Peter 1:19
Reciprocal: Genesis 39:8 - refused Genesis 49:2 - hearken Leviticus 3:3 - the fat Leviticus 3:9 - the fat Leviticus 3:14 - the fat that covereth Leviticus 8:25 - General Leviticus 9:10 - the fat Numbers 14:24 - followed me Deuteronomy 4:9 - teach them Judges 16:15 - when thine 1 Kings 8:48 - And so return 2 Chronicles 30:19 - prepareth Proverbs 23:19 - and guide Ecclesiastes 1:13 - I gave Song of Solomon 5:2 - Open Matthew 15:8 - but Mark 12:17 - and to Mark 12:29 - Hear Hebrews 10:22 - a true Revelation 3:15 - thou
Gill's Notes on the Bible
My son, give me thine heart,.... These words are not the words of Solomon to his son, for a greater than Solomon is here; besides, the claim and possession of the heart do not belong to a creature, but to God; but they are the words of Wisdom, or Christ, to everyone of his sons, the children the Father has given him in covenant; who are adopted through him, regenerated by his Spirit and grace, begotten by his word and ministers as instruments, and born and brought up in his church, and to whom he stands in the relation of the everlasting Father. The heart of a wicked man is little worth, and not worth having; Satan has the possession of it, and fills it, and influences and draws it at his pleasure; the world is set in it, and there is no room for any other; sensual lusts and pleasures, whoredom, wine, and new wine, take away the heart, Hosea 4:11; and it is to those this exhortation is opposed, as appears from the following verses; and the sense is, give not thine heart to women, nor to wine, but to me. Christ should have the hearts and affections of his people, and he only; he is to be loved with the whole heart, sincerely, and above all things else; and it is a good man's heart he desires; a broken and a contrite heart is not despised by him, he binds it up; a heart purified by faith in his blood, a new heart and a new spirit, in which his laws are put and written; a heart to know him, fear him, love him, and believe in him: and as he requites the heart in the exercise of every grace, as faith, fear, and love; so in the performance of, every duty, which, without the heart, is of no avail; as in prayer, singing of praise, and hearing the word, and other religious services. And it is but reasonable service, that Christ should have the hearts of his children, since he stands in such near relations to them; as father, husband, friend, and brother; is all in all unto them; is so lovely a person himself, and has so loved them, and given himself, his life, his blood, his all, for them;
and let thine eyes observe my ways; the ways which Wisdom, or Christ, took in eternity and time, in order to bring about the salvation of his people; his steps in the covenant of grace, as their surety; his coming down from heaven to earth, to do the will of his Father; his going away from hence, by submitting to the accursed death of the cross, thereby making peace and reconciliation for sin; his ascension to heaven, and session at the right hand of God, where he ever lives to intercede for us; the various methods of his grace, in calling and visiting his people, supplying their wants, protecting their persons, and preserving them safe to his kingdom and glory: these should be observed, with attention and wonder, to the encouragement of faith, and for the magnifying of the riches of grace: also the ways which he prescribes and directs his children to walk in; as himself, who is the way to the Father, the way of life and salvation; the way of faith in him, the way of truth concerning hath; the way of holiness and righteousness he leads in; the ways of his commandments; the ways in which he himself walked; all which should be observed by the enlightened eyes of the understanding, and be imitated, and copied after, and walked in; respect should be had unto them all; they should be observed and kept, as they are directed to, and in faith and love, without depending on them. Some render the words, "let thine eyes run through my ways" f: take a thorough and exact view of them. There is a letter transposed in the word rendered "observe", which occasions a different reading; "as is a man's heart, so are his eyes"; if his heart is to Christ, his eyes will be in his ways; and, where Christ's ways are not observed, the heart is not given to him.
f תרצנה "currant", Mercerus; "currere edomentur", Schultens.
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 23:26. My son, give me thine heart — This is the speech of God to every human soul; give thy affections to God, so as to love him with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength.
And let thine eyes observe my ways. — Be obedient to me in all things. My son, thou believest that I AM, and that I AM the Fountain of all good. Give me thy heart; it is I alone who can make thee happy. Observe my ways-follow me; do what is right in my sight. This exhortation contains three words: BELIEVE LOVE, OBEY! This is the sum of God's counsels to every child of man.
