Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20120909.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Proverbs: Motivating Teens And Adults To Align With God's Fixed Moral Order
Part IV: Proverbs Of Other Godly Men On God's Fixed Moral Order, Proverbs 22:17-24:34
A. Thirty Proverbs Of Other Godly Men, Proverbs 22:17-24:22
2. Studying Proverbs 23:4-11
  1. Introduction
    1. Solomon's Proverbs 10:1-22:16 proverbs are followed by those of other men in Proverbs 22:17-24:34 (Bib. Know. Com., O. T., p. 925, 954), and 30 of them are grouped in Proverbs 22:17-24:22, Ibid., p. 954.
    2. Opposite Solomon's style, many of these proverbs have a thought that is presented in more than one verse, and we view the seventh through tenth proverbs of this group of 30 in Proverbs 22:17-23:3 (as follows):
  2. Studying Proverbs 23:4-11.
    1. Proverbs 23:4-5 presents the seventh saying, teaching (4) do not toil, grow weary (yage'a, B. D. B., A Hebr.-Engl. Lex. of the O. T., p. 388) to gain riches (ashar, Ibid., p. 799; Hiphil = causative); from [the faculty of] your understanding (min + binah, Ibid., p. 108), cease (hadal , Ibid., p. 292-293) [have the sense to restrain yourself]; (5) your eyes alight [glance] (up, Ibid., p. 733) on it and they are gone since to make it makes (infinitive absolute + finite verb for emphasis of asah, Kittel, Biblia Hebraica, p. 1182; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 793-795) [it surely makes] wings (kanap, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 489) as an eagle (neser, Ibid., p. 676-677) and flies (up again) away to the heavens. It is unwise to make getting rich one's goal in life, for wealth is transitory as sudden costs can make it quickly vanish, 1 Timothy 6:17.
    2. Proverbs 23:6-8 presents the eighth saying, asserting (6) do not eat the food of him whose eye is evil (ra', Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 948; i. e., vicious in disposition or stingy), and do not desire (awah, Ibid., p. 16; Hithpael = intensive reflexive) his savory foods (mat'am, Ibid., p. 381), (7) for as he has calculated (sha'ar, Ibid., p. 1045) in his life principle (nepesh, Ibid., Kittel, p. 1182 and 3 in citing Gen. 2:7 where nepesh is man's physical, mental, emotional and spiritual life principle), thus is he; "Eat and drink!" he says to you, but his heart is not with you. (8) The morsels (pat, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 837) you ate you will vomit all up (qi', Ibid., p. 883), and waste (shahat, Ibid., Kittel, p. 1182; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 1007-1008) your pleasant (na'im, Ibid., p. 653) words. One must refrain himself from indulging in unusually lavish gifts from another because the lavish nature of such gifts means the giver has a selfish, false or even dangerous motive! If someone's gift seems too good to be true, it generally is too good to be true!
    3. Proverbs 23:9 presents the ninth saying, claiming do not speak in the ear [hearing] (ozen, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 23-24) of one with a dull, closed mind (kesil, Ibid., Kittel; Bible Know. Com. O. T., p. 908), for he will despise (buz, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 100) the prudence, good sense (sekel , Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 968) of your utterance, speech (milah, Ibid., p. 576). Jesus similarly directed us not to cast our pearls of godly truths before the "swine" of profane parties who will treat them as cheap and turn around to abuse us for giving them such truths, cf. Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Matthew 7:6.
    4. Proverbs 23:10-11 presents the tenth saying, teaching (10) do not move back, displace (sug, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 690-691) the ancient boundary [stone] (gebul, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 147-148), or do not enter [to encroach] (bo', Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 97-99) upon the fields of orphans (yatom, Ibid., p. 450), (11) because their Kinsman-Redeemer (ga'al, Ibid., p. 145; participle used as a substantive) is strong, mighty (hazaq, Ibid., p. 305); He (emphatic pron.) will conduct a legal case (rib, Ibid., p. 936, the verb) of their legal dispute (rib, the noun, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 936-937) in regards to [against] ( et, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 84-85) you! The ga'al (kinsman-redeemer) role was that of a near relative who acted "to redeem his kin from difficulty or danger," Theol. Wrdbk. of the O. T., v. I, p. 144, and God in Scripture claims He is the defender of widows and the fatherless, cf. Exodus 20:1; 22:22-24. God closely identifies as a near relative father-figure with vulnerable orphans, so taking advantage of such humanly vulnerable parties only invites a highly motivated Almighty God's judgment!
    5. [In summary, each of these proverbs teach self-restraint -- restraint from making wealth our life's goal, restraint from taking lavish gifts, restraint from wasting truths on abusers and restraint from taking advantage of the vulnerable, so the wise guard themselves from a lot of harm via godly self-restraint!]
Lesson Application: May we align with God's fixed moral order in each of these realms for blessing.