Bible Strands
Proverbs 23:6
Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A wisdom teacher addresses a young man during a cautionary lesson on wealth and social entanglements. The instruction occurs immediately after a warning that wealth vanishes like an eagle and before a description of a host who secretly tallies every expense.
The words — עָ֑יִן ('ayin) = eye and רַע (ra') = evil combine in the Hebrew phrase for "stingy man," literally rendering him a person of evil eyes. תִּלְחַ֗ם (tilcham) = you eat opens the command with a direct prohibition against partaking in his food.
The thread — The prohibition against craving a host's food echoes Proverbs 23:3, which labels such delicacies as deceptive. Daniel 1:8 demonstrates the practical boundary of refusing a ruler's provisions to maintain personal integrity, while Psalm 141:4 warns against allowing a heart to be drawn into the works of wicked men.
Why it lands — The text commands the reader to reject meals hosted by a miser who inwardly calculates costs and lacks genuine generosity. It demands a clear boundary against transactional fellowship that masks exploitation with forced hospitality.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
Cross-references
- Psalms 141:4 Do not let my heart be drawn to any evil thing or take part in works of wickedness with men who do iniquity; let me not feast on their delicacies.
- Proverbs 23:3 Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
- Daniel 1:8 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or wine. So he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself.
- Deuteronomy 15:9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
- Matthew 20:15 Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
- Deuteronomy 28:56 The most gentle and refined woman among you, so gentle and refined she would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge the husband she embraces and her son and daughter
- Proverbs 22:9 A generous man will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.
- Proverbs 28:22 A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty awaits him.
- Mark 7:22 greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness.