Proverbs 23:23 Explained in Context

Read It With

• Proverbs 23:22–25

Read Proverbs 23:23 with 23:22–25. Read alone, “Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction,…” could turn a compressed observation, warning, comparison, or command into a guarantee or complete policy. The full unit establishes: contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old”; by 23:25, it contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice”. Together the unit concentrates on family teaching, responsibility, and mutual care, wisdom, folly, teachability, and moral perception, instruction, correction, and formation within “Sayings of the wise.”

Why This Verse Appears Here

Proverbs 23:22–25 continues “Appetite, intoxication, desire, and self-government — Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in…” by carrying “Family teaching, responsibility, and mutual care — Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not…” within the same sustained discourse, admonition, numbered form, or poem. Within that relationship, this verse uses two-part parallelism to place “Buy the truth, and sell it not” beside “also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding”.