Proverbs 23:4 - Exposition

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."