Chapter 23

I look back on my blogs on Proverbs. Apart from being too infrequent, they also suffer from two problems:

1) I tend to write them late at night, and sometimes so late at night that I fall asleep at the keyboard. In those cases you will often see a blog that is either a little disjointed, or finishes very abruptly when you’d normally expect me to keep going.

2) Proverbs is such a rich book, and I don’t feel that I can do it justice. Bluntly, some chapters have so much in them that you feel like you’re a foody about to dine at the biggest buffet of haute cuisine that you ever saw.

It’s number 2 that really hits me tonight as I look at Proverbs 23. There’s so much here, and I can really only grab a couple of titbits.

Juicy titbits, to be sure, but only a couple.

As I previously noted, there are those who say that Solomon was not really the author of these proverbs; such people suggest that it’s someone trying to write what Solomon might have thought. Maybe; personally, I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be the man himself.

In any case, whoever wrote it has a remarkable understanding of people and how they work.

There are three concepts that are discussed in chapter 23 which I’d like to submit for your perusal tonight.

Firstly: Table manners.

Now, for a moment, you might be wondering why this comes up – collected wisdom of the ages, and he discusses table manners?! What gives?

But there’s more to it than that. Verses 1 – 3 and 6 – 8 are superficially about our behaviour with regard to food and drink – but they demonstrate something we intuitively know. We see eating and drinking with others as an important part of social life, and this is universal to human experience, whether you are from Melbourne, Madagascar, Malawi or even if you’re a member of the Maasai tribe. And because of this, the way we eat or drink – especially when we are with others – tells you something about how we regard others.

For example, when one is eating with an influential person (vs 1 – 3), one shouldn’t focus so much on the fare available to us that we exclude that person. The food isn’t really the point of the event; rather, it’s about developing relationships. If we aren’t aware of this, we miss the point of eating together!

Also, Solomon (or whoever) has sharply observed what it is like to eat the food of a stingy person. This is kind of the reverse – note that if you’re on the receiving end of treatment which sees the food (or its cost!) as the important thing, you too can see someone missing the opportunity to develop relationships.

Secondly: Parenting.

We live in a world where parenting is often practiced poorly. Many parents are so concerned with being friends with their children that they miss the opportunity to be their PARENTS. A child needs parents far more than they need friends, and you are the only parents your child can have – so it’s important that we get this one right.

It’s politically incorrect today to say “Smack your kids”, but Solomon is right alongside the use of physical discipline! Of course, the method of discipline is not so much the issue as the necessity of it being there. One thing is certain: children need to be disciplined consistently if they are to develop strong moral character. This is not to say necessarily treated badly, by the way; punishments are only part of discipline. So is direct teaching, so are rewards and so is modeling a good example of behaviour.

Thirdly: Alcohol.

I am not a big fan of alcohol myself, but many in our society would ask “where’s the harm in a quiet drink?”

I concede that if it is imbibed in moderation, alcohol may at least be non-harmful, and perhaps helpful. But so few people drink in moderation in our society; a very great number of people binge drink frequently, and not a few people suffer from that disease that was so well known even in Solomon’s day, ALCOHOLISM.

Vs 29 – 35 talk at length about alcohol, and demonstrate that alcoholism was at least as much a problem in Solomon’s day as it is today.

For all its good points, alcohol is a poison (literally – it damages body cells), and an addictive poison at that. So it must ALWAYS be handled with the greatest of care.


The three topics I have discussed above are not exhaustive – even in this chapter there is more. But these three are a good sample of the wisdom represented in this book. Solomon knew people; and if we listen to him, we will too.