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New Defender's Study Bible Notes
23:6 hath an evil eye. Compare Proverbs 28:22. The eye is said to be the window of the soul. A greedy person or lustful person or a person with evil thoughts can often be discerned as such by the look in his eyes. Note Matthew 6:22-23. The phrase does not mean specifically a “miser” or “selfish person,” as some Bible versions paraphrase it.
23:14 beat him with the rod. This verse does not imply child-beating in the modern sense of the word. The Hebrew word for “beat” is the same as used in II Kings 11:12 (“they clapped their hands”). Actually, it has a range of meanings, from “strike lightly” to “smite lethally,” depending on context. Similarly, the word for “rod” can mean anything from a flexible switch to a weapon of war. There is no doubt that this and a number of other passages prescribe reasonable corporal punishment for disobedient children—not administered in anger or revenge but in concern for developing character, and not applied in such a way as to cause real injury, yet stern enough to discourage future wrongdoing. Note Psalm 23:4—“thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
23:14 deliver his soul. “Hell” is the Hebrew sheol, the prison of departed spirits in the heart of the earth. The “rod” can be merely a “switch.” Children must learn faith and obedience to godly parents before they will ever learn to have obedient faith in God.
23:20 winebibbers. This is a clear warning against drinking wine or other intoxicating drinks. It also prohibits gluttony and revelry.
23:31 wine when it is red. Here is another prohibition against intoxicating drink. See notes on Proverbs 20:1; 23:20.