Do not eat the bread of the stingy; do not desire their delicacies; for like a hair in the throat, so are they. “Eat and drink!” they say to you; but they do not mean it.—Proverbs 23:6–7
Brainy Tip: Your thoughts change the structure of your brain, which shapes your words and actions. You are what you think.
It seems like everyone has heard of the verse “as a man thinketh, so is he.” One of the most famous lines in the King James Version, Proverbs 23:7 has been used in songs, books, and films. So what is all this about a “hair in the throat”? The NRSV translation is closer to the original text, warning us to be careful when a stingy person shows generosity, because “they do not mean it.”
The meaning of “throat” in the original Hebrew is something akin to the “inner person,” soul, or mind.1 Within the context of the preceding and following verses, it appears the author is telling us about the importance of not only good actions like generosity and hospitality but also good motives. We have all had those experiences when someone does something nice for us, but there is just something “off” about the situation. It is not just important to do the right thing but also to think the right thing, since what we think eventually comes out one way or another and can poison our relationships and our health. No wonder Jesus placed so much emphasis on what is in our hearts!
1. Tremper Longman III, Proverbs (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006), 420.