Proverbs 23:6

Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Eat	תִּלְחַ֗ם til.Cham	H3898	to feed on · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
bread	לֶ֭חֶם Le.chem	H3899	food (for man or beast) · noun, common masculine singular construct
evil	רַ֣ע ra'	H7451	bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · adjective, masculine singular construct
eye	עָ֑יִן 'A.yin	H5869	an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
desire	תִּ֝תְאָ֗יו tit.'av	H183	to wish for · verb, hithpael jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
meats	לְמַטְעַמֹּתָֽיו le.mat.'a.mo.Tav	H4303	a delicacy · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 141:4 Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
Proverbs 23:3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
Daniel 1:8-10 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: the…
Deuteronomy 15:9 Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil aga…
Matthew 20:15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
Deuteronomy 28:56 The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderne…
Proverbs 22:9 He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.
Proverbs 28:22 He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 23:6-8

Those that are voluptuous and given to appetite (Pro 23:2) are glad to be where there is good cheer stirring, and those that are covetous and saving, that they may spare at home, will be glad to get a dinner at another man's table; and therefore both are here advised not to be forward to accept of every man's invitation, but especially not to thrust themselves in uninvited. Observe, 1. There are those that pretend to bid their friends welcome that are not hearty and sincere in it. They have a fair tongue, and know what they should say: Eat and drink, saith he, because it is expected that the master of the feast should so compliment his guests; but they have an evil eye, and grudge their gues…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 23:6

Beware of deceitful men, whose courtesies even you will repent of having accepted. evil eye--or purpose (Pro 22:9; Deu 15:9; Mat 6:23).

John Gill on Proverbs 23:6

Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye,.... A sordid covetous man, that grudges every bit that is eaten, in opposition to a man of a good eye, or a bountiful one, that is liberal and generous, Proverbs 22:9; if he invites to a meal, do not accept of it, sit not down at his table to eat with him: neither desire thou his dainty meats; or savoury food, so as to lust after it; See Gill on Proverbs 23:3.

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 23:6-8

There now follows a proverb with unequally measured lines, perhaps a heptastich: 6 Eat not the bread of the jealous, And let not thyself lust after his dainties; 7 For as one who calculates with himself, so is he: "Eat and drink," saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee. 8 Thy morsel which thou hast enjoyed wilt thou cast up, And hast lost thy pleasant words. As טוב עין, Pro 22:9, benignus oculo, denotes the pleasantness and joy of social friendship; so here (cf. Deu 15:9; Mat 15:15) רע עין, malignus oculo, the envy and selfishness of egoism seeking to have and retain all for itself. The lxx ἀνδρὶ βασκάνῳ, for the look of the evil eye, עין רע, עינא בישׁא (cattivo occhio), refers…

The Church Fathers

Do not eat with an envious man, etc. Do not speak of Scriptures with a heretic, because he envies human salvation, preferring to deceive rather than correct; for just as a soothsayer and dream interpreter considers things he does not know, so a heretic presumes to interpret in the Scriptures as he pleases, things he does not understand.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

Wise, therefore, was he who forbids us even to dine in company with an envious man, and in mentioning this companionship at table, he implies a reference to all other social contacts as well. Just as we are careful to keep material which is easily inflammable as far away as possible from fire, so we must refrain insofar as we can from contracting friendships in circles of which envious persons are members. By so doing, we place ourselves beyond the range of their shafts. We can be caught in the toils of envy only by establishing intimacy with it.
— Basil of Caesarea, HOMILY CONCERNING ENVY

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Evil eye — (Prov. 23:6), figuratively, the envious or covetous. (Comp. Deut. 15:9; Matt. 20:15.)
Company · EVIL — EVIL
Guest · Rules for the conduct of — Rules for the conduct of
Hospitality · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 23:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 23:6-8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 23:6

John Gill on Proverbs 23:6

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 23:6-8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 23:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 23:6-8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 23:6

John Gill on Proverbs 23:6

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 23:6-8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 23:6-8

Rashi on Proverbs 23:5