Proverbs 23:23 - Exposition

Buy the truth, and sell it not (comp. Proverbs 4:5 , Proverbs 4:7 ; Proverbs 16:16 ). Consider truth as a thing of the highest value, and spare no pains, cost, or sacrifice to obtain it, and, when gotten, keep it safe; do not barter it for earthly profit or the pleasures of sense; do not be reasoned out of it, or laughed out of it; "sell it not," do not part with it for any consideration. The second clause gives the sphere in which truth moves, or the three properties which appertain to it. These are: wisdom ( chochmah ) , practical knowledge; instruction ( musar ) , moral culture and discipline; and understanding ( binah ), the faculty of discernment (see notes on Proverbs 1:2 ). This verse is omitted in the chief manuscripts of the Septuagint.