Proverbs 23:6 (NASB)
Do not eat the bread of a selfish man, or desire his delicacies.
Proverbs 23:6 (KJV)
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye,
neither desire thou his dainty meats:
Proverbs 23:6 (ESV)
Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;
do not desire his delicacies,
Selfish people are deceptive people. People who are focused on themselves can't focus on anything else. Selfishness looks sickly. It carries itself in strange manners and attempts to disguise itself into something it is not. That seems to be the truth taught in this proverb and the next. Selfish people like to lay out bread crumbs that others follow - but they follow them into a trap few escape. A selfish person is so focused upon their own sediments and sympathies they do not se other's needs or other's wants. But, the selfish person seems to always have others around them. They seem, despite their self-promotion, to solicit a following. Hence the warning from Solomon. Solomon gives us two pictures. The selfish person lays out "bread" and 'delicacies." The bread can symbolize our needs, that the selfish person believes they could meet. But they simply use your needs to meet their own desire. The delicacies could symbolize our wants as the selfish person lays them out, again only to use us to accomplish their own deceit. Beware of a person focused on self. You are only a way for them to please their own greed and need. Note what the next verse says:
Proverbs 23:7 (ESV Strong's)
.. for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
The stingy, selfish person only has their own desires in their heart. If they share something with you, it is to get something more or better from you.
No comments:
Post a Comment