Proverbs 23:4

Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) Cease from thine own wisdom.—Cleverness shewn in piling up wealth.

Benson Commentary

Proverbs 23:4-5. Labour not — Hebrew, אל תיגע, Do not weary thyself, namely, with immoderate cares and labours, as many covetous men do; to be rich — To raise an estate, and make thy property abundantly more than it is. Solomon does not forbid all labour, nor a provident care, which he commends in other places; but only represents how vain and foolish it is to be over solicitous, and to carry our cares and labours to such excess as to injure, if not our health of body, yet our peace and serenity of mind, and to endanger or even preclude our everlasting salvation. Cease from thine own wisdom — From that carnal wisdom which is natural to man in his corrupt estate, and which persuades men to believe that it is their interest to use all possible means to get riches, and that the happiness of their lives consists in the abundance of their possessions, directly contrary to the assertion of our blessed Lord, Luke 12:15. Wilt thou set thine eyes — Wilt thou look with earnestness and eager desire; Hebrew, Wilt thou cause thine eyes to fly; upon that which is not — Which has no solid and settled existence; which is thine to have, but not to hold; which is always upon the wing, and ofttimes gone in the twinkling of an eye. For riches certainly make themselves wings — The wings on which they fly away are of their own making: like the wings of a fowl, they grow out of themselves. They have in themselves the principles of their own corruption, their own moth and rust. They are wasting in their own nature, and like a handful of sand, which, when griped, slips through the fingers. “The covetous man,” says Henry, “sits hatching and brooding over his wealth till it be fledged, as the chickens under the hen, and then it is gone. Or, as if a man should be enamoured with a flight of wild fowl that light in his field, and call them his own, because they are upon his ground; whereas, if he happen to come near them, they take wing immediately, and are gone to another man’s field.” They fly away as an eagle — Swiftly, strongly, and irrecoverably. We quickly lose the sight and the possession of them. Their flying away from us is elegantly opposed to our eyes being set, or flying upon them, in the beginning of the verse.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

23:1-3 God's restraints of the appetite only say, Do thyself no harm. 4,5. Be not of those that will be rich. The things of this world are not happiness and a portion for a soul; those that hold them ever so fast, cannot hold them always, cannot hold them long. 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, Isa 25:6; 55:2, we may safely partake of the Bread of life. 9. It is our duty to take all fit occasions to speak of Divine things; but if what a wise man says will not be heard, let him hold his peace. 10,11. The fatherless are taken under God's special protection. He is their Redeemer, who will take their part; and he is mighty, almighty.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Cease from thine own wisdom - i. e., "Cease from the use of what is in itself most excellent, if it only serves to seek after wealth, and so ministers to evil." There is no special contrast between "thine own wisdom" and that given from above, though it is of course implied that in ceasing from his own prudence the man is on the way to attain a higher wisdom.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4, 5. (Compare 1Ti 6:9, 10).

thine own wisdom—which regards riches intrinsically as a blessing.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Labour not, Heb. Do not weary thyself with immoderate cares and labours, as many covetous men do.

From thine own wisdom; from that carnal wisdom which is natural to man in his corrupt estate, which persuades men to believe that it is their interest to use all possible means to get riches, and that the happiness of their lives consists in the abundance of their possessions, directly contrary to the assertion of our blessed Lord, Luke 12:15.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Labour not to be rich,.... In an immoderate over anxious way and manner, to a weariness, as the word (u) signifies, and even as to gape for breath men ought to labour, that they may have wherewith to support themselves and families, and give to others and: if they can, lay up for their children; but then persons should not toil and weary themselves to heap up riches when they know not who shall gather them and much less make use of indirect and illicit methods to obtain them; resolving to be rich at any rate: rather men should labour for durable riches, lay up treasure in heaven, seek those things which are above, and labour to be accepted of God both here and hereafter; which only is in Christ. The Targum is,

"do not draw nigh to a rich man;''

and so the Syriac version; to which agree the Septuagint and Arabic versions;

cease from thine own wisdom; worldly wisdom in getting; riches, as if this was the highest point of wisdom; do not be always laying schemes, forming projects, inventing new things in order to get money; or do not depend upon thine own wisdom and understanding and expect to be rich by means thereof; for bread is not always to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, Ecclesiastes 9:11. The Targum is,

"but by thine understanding depart from him;''

the rich man; and to the same purpose the Syriac and Arabic versions.

(u) "ne fatiges", Mercerus, Junius & Tremellius; "ne hiascas", Schultens.

Geneva Study Bible

Labour not to be rich: cease from thy own {d} wisdom.

(d) Bestow not the gifts that God has given you, to get worldly riches.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4. Labour not] Rather, Weary not thyself, R.V., as the same Heb. word is rendered “till his hand was weary,” 2 Samuel 23:10; “be weary,” Isaiah 40:30-31. Comp. John 6:27; 1 Timothy 6:9-10.

cease from thine own wisdom] from the wisdom, namely, of becoming rich. Prudentiae tuae pone modum, set a limit to thy prudence in acquiring wealth. Vulg.

We may, however, render cease of thine own wisdom, “by reason of thine own understanding,” R.V. marg. Let thine own sense teach thee better. τῇ δὲ σῇ ἐννοίᾳ ἀπόσχου, LXX.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 4, 5. - These form a pentastich. Verse 4. - Labour not - weary not thyself - to be rich. John 6:27, "Labour not for the meat that perisheth," where the warning is against that absorbing eagerness for wealth which leads to evil doing and neglect of all higher interests. Cease from thine own wisdom. The wisdom (binah, Proverbs 3:5) is that which is necessary for making and keeping wealth. Vulgate, Prudentiae tuae pone modum. This is not the highest form of wisdom (chochmah), but rather the faculty of distinguishing one thing from another, mere discernment, which may exist without any religious or keen moral sense (see note on Proverbs 16:16, where possibly the contrast is expressed). Talmud, "He who augments his riches augments his cares." Erasmus, 'Adag,,' quotes or writes -

"Jupiter ementitur opes mortalibus ipse,
Sic visum ut fuerit, cuicunque, bonove, malove? Septuagint, "If thou art poor, measure not thyself (μὴ παρεκτείνου) with a rich man, but in thy wisdom refrain thyself." Proverbs 23:4

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

All the forms of proverbs run through these appended proverbs. There now follows a pentastich:

4 Do not trouble thyself to become rich;

   Cease from such thine own wisdom.

5 Wilt thou let thine eyes fly after it, and it is gone?

   For it maketh itself, assuredly it maketh itself wings,

   Like an eagle which fleeth toward the heavens.

The middle state, according to Proverbs 30:8, is the best: he who troubleth himself (cf. Proverbs 28:20, hasteth) to become rich, placeth before himself a false, deceitful aim. יגע is essentially one with (Arab.) waji'a, to experience sorrow, dolere, and then signifies, like πονεῖν and κάμνειν, to become or to be wearied, to weary or trouble oneself, to toil and moil (Fleischer). The בּינה (cf. Proverbs 3:5) is just wisdom, prudence directed towards becoming rich; for striving of itself alone does not accomplish it, unless wisdom is connected with it, which is not very particular in finding out means in their moral relations; but is so much the more crafty, and, as we say, speculative. Rightly Aquila, the Venet., Jerome, and Luther: take not pains to become rich. On the contrary, the lxx reads אל תיגע להעשׁיר, stretch not thyself (if thou art poor) after a rich man; and the Syr. and Targ. אל תּגּע להעשׁיר, draw not near to the rich man; but, apart from the uncertainty of the expression and the construction in both cases, poetry, and proverbial poetry too, does not prefer the article; it never uses it without emphasis, especially as here must be the case with it not elided. These translators thought that 'בּו וגו, Proverbs 23:5, presupposed a subject expressed in Proverbs 23:4; but the subject is not העשׁיר, but the עשׁר [riches] contained in להעשׁיר. The self-intelligible it in "it maketh wings," etc. is that about which trouble has been taken, about which there has been speculation. That is a deceitful possession; for what has been gained by many years of labour and search, often passes away suddenly, is lost in a moment. To let the eyes fly after anything, is equivalent to, to direct a (flying) look toward it: wilt thou let thine eyes rove toward the same, and it is gone? i.e., wilt thou expose thyself to the fate of seeing that which was gained with trouble and craft torn suddenly away from thee? Otherwise Luther, after Jerome: Let not thine eyes fly after that which thou cast not have; but apart from the circumstance that בּו ואיננּוּ cannot possibly be understood in the sense of ad opes quas non potes habere (that would have required באשׁר איננו), in this sense after the analogy of (ל) נשׂא נפשׁ אל, the end aimed at would have been denoted by לו and not by בו. Better Immanuel, after Rashi: if thou doublest, i.e., shuttest (by means of the two eyelids) thine eyes upon it, it is gone, i.e., has vanished during the night; but עוף, duplicare, is Aram. and not Heb. Rather the explanation is with Chajg, after Isaiah 8:22.: if thou veilest (darkenest) thine eyes, i.e., yieldest thyself over to carelessness; but the noun עפעפּה shows that עוף, spoken of the eyes, is intended to signify to fly (to rove, flutter). Hitzig too artificially (altering the expression to להעשׁיר): if thou faintest, art weary with the eyes toward him (the rich patron), he is gone - which cannot be adopted, because the form of a question does not accord with it. Nor would it accord if ואיננו were thought of as a conclusion: "dost thou let thy look fly toward it? It is gone;" for what can this question imply? The ו of ואיננו shows that this word is a component part of the question; it is a question lla nakar, i.e., in rejection of the subject of the question: wilt thou cast thy look upon it, and it is gone? i.e., wilt thou experience instant loss of that which is gained by labour and acquired by artifice? On בו, cf. Job 7:8. 'עיניך וגו, "thou directest thine eyes to me: I am no more." We had in Proverbs 12:19 another mode of designating viz. till I wink again an instant. The Chethı̂b 'התעוּף וגו is syntactically correct (cf. Proverbs 15:22; Proverbs 20:30), and might remain. The Kerı̂ is mostly falsely accentuated התּעיף, doubly incorrectly; for (1) the tone never retreats from a shut syllable terminating in , e.g., להכין, Isaiah 40:20; בהכין, 1 Chronicles 1:4; אבין, Job 23:8; and (2) there is, moreover, wanting here any legitimate occasion for the retrogression of the tone; thus much rather the form התּעיף (with Mehuppach of the last, and Zinnorith of the preceding open syllable) is to be adopted, as it is given by Opitz, Jablonsky, Michaelis, and Reineccius.

The subject of 5b is, as of 5a, riches. That riches take wings and flee away, is a more natural expression than that the rich patron flees away - a quaint figure, appropriate however at Nahum 3:16, where the multitude of craftsmen flee out of Nineveh like a swarm of locusts. עשׂה has frequently the sense of acquirere, Genesis 12:5, with לו, sibi acquirere, 1 Samuel 15:1; 1 Kings 1:15; Hitzig compares Silius Ital. xvi. 351: sed tum sibi fecerat alas. The inf. intensivus strengthens the assertion: it will certainly thus happen.

In 5c all unnecessary discussion regarding the Chethı̂b ועיף is to be avoided, for this Chethı̂b does not exist; the Masora here knows only of a simple Chethı̂b and Kerı̂, viz., ועוּף (read יעוּף), not of a double one (ועיּף), and the word is not among those which have in the middle a י, which is to be read like ו. The manuscripts (e.g., also the Bragadin. 1615) have ועוּף, and the Kerı̂ יעוּף; it is one of the ten words registered in the Masora, at the beginning of which a י is to be read instead of the written ו. Most of the ancients translate with the amalgamation of the Kerı̂ and the Chethı̂b: and he (the rich man, or better: the riches) flees heavenwards (Syr., Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, Jerome, and Luther). After the Kerı̂ the Venet. renders: ὡς ἀετὸς πτήσεται τοῖς οὐρανοῖς (viz., ὁ πλοῦτος). Rightly the Targ.: like an eagle which flies to heaven (according to which also it is accentuated), only it is not to be translated "am Himmel" [to heaven], but "gen Himmel" [towards heaven]: השּׁמים is the accusative of direction - the eagle flies heavenward. Bochart, in the Hierozocon, has collected many parallels to this comparison, among which is the figure in Lucian's Timon, where Pluto, the god of wealth, comes to one limping and with difficulty; but going away, outstrips in speed the flight of all birds. The lxx translates ὥσπερ ἀετοῦ καὶ ὑποστρέφει εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ προεστηκότος αὐτοῦ. Hitzig accordingly reads שׁבו לבית משׂגּבּו, and he (the rich patron) withdraws from thee to his own steep residence. But ought not οἶκος τοῦ προεστηκότος αὐτοῦ to be heaven, as the residence of Him who administers wealth, i.e., who gives and again takes it away according to His free-will?