Proverbs 23:2
in Proverbs 23and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And put a knife to thy throat, If thou be a man given to appetite.
KJV
And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
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This verse in Proverbs 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd put a knife to thy throat,.... Refrain from too much talk at the table; give not too loose to thy tongue, but bridle it, considering in whose presence thou art; do not use too much freedom, either with the ruler or fellow guests; which, when persons have ate and drank well, they are too apt to do, and sometimes say things offensive to one or the other; it is good for a man to be upon his guard; see Ecc 5:
This site's exposition
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler
on Proverbs 23:1-3
The chapter opens at a ruler's table, and the counsel is self-control before it is etiquette: consider diligently what is before thee, and put a knife to thy throat if given to appetite. The dainties are called deceitful meat, because a great man's food can be the bait for a favor he means to extract, and the guest who forgets that eats himself into a debt he did not intend. Bridges reads the verse as training for any table where flattery or advantage sits across from the plate.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off. A necessary caution against entertaining any favourable thoughts of prospering profaneness: " Let not thy heart envy sinners; do not grudge them either the liberty they take to sin or the success they are to be pitied rather than envied. Their prosperity is their portion ( Ps. xii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Put a knife to thy throat - Repress thy appetite, and do not be incontinent of speech. Eat, drink, and converse, under a check.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
i. e., “Restrain thy appetite, eat as if the knife were at thy throat.” Others render the words “thou wilt put a knife to thy throat” etc., i. e., “indulgence at such a time may endanger thy very life.”
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשַׂמְתָּ֣ | vesamta | and you will put | H7760 → | 584 times |
| שַׂכִּ֣ין | sakin | a knife | H7915 → | |
| בְּלֹעֶ֑ךָ | beloekha | in throat your | H3930 → | |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| בַּ֖עַל | baal | [are] a master of | H1167 → | 84 times |
| נֶ֣פֶשׁ | nefesh | appetite | H5315 → | 754 times |
| אָֽתָּה׃ | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
וְשַׂמְתָּ֣and you will put
vesamtaH7760 →584 times
שַׂכִּ֣יןa knife
sakinH7915 →
בְּלֹעֶ֑ךָin throat your
beloekhaH3930 →
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
בַּ֖עַל[are] a master of
baalH1167 →84 times
נֶ֣פֶשׁappetite
nefeshH5315 →754 times
אָֽתָּה׃you
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 9:27No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
it leads to
- Romans 8:13
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
- 1 Corinthians 9:25
Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.
- Colossians 3:5
Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
- 2 Corinthians 13:5–6
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you actually fail the test?
- 1 Peter 2:11
Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- Romans 8:13
Through
Philippians 3:19Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
it leads to
- Romans 16:18
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- Romans 8:5–7
Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
- 2 Peter 2:3
In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.
- Romans 16:18
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.