What Does Proverbs 23:3 Mean?
Do not crave his savory food, for they are bread of deceit.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.THE KEY
The Hebrew calls the delicacy “bread of lies”: what looks like nourishment can carry deception.
THE MEANING
Food at another person’s table can satisfy your appetite while carrying deceit in what it promises or conceals. The warning speaks whenever something looks rich and desirable: its appeal alone does not prove it will nourish you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Desire is proof that an offer is good for me.
THE ROOT
כְּזָבִים
kezavim
GROWS FROM
כ־ז־ב
k-z-b
To lie, prove false, or fail.
“bread of deceit” in this verse is kezavim. The Hebrew calls the food לֶחֶם כְּזָבִים (leḥem kezavim), “bread of falsehoods.” The meal’s deception is not merely a risk around the food; falsehood is built into what is being offered.
ALSO GROWS
kāzāv: A lie or falsehood.
כָּזָב
This noun makes plain that the dish is described in terms of falsehood, not simply poor quality.
kāzav: To lie, disappoint, or fail.
כָּזַב
The root can name both deception and failure, hinting that what looks satisfying may not deliver what it promises.
מַטְעַמּוֹתָיו
maṭʿammōtāw
GROWS FROM
ט־ע־ם
ṭ-ʿ-m
To taste.
“savory food” in this verse is maṭʿammōtāw. The English “dainties” emphasizes luxury, while the Hebrew word is built from the root for taste. That root also names discernment, bringing appetite and judgment together: what tastes appealing still needs to be discerned.
ALSO GROWS
ṭāʿam: To taste or eat.
טָעַם
This branch keeps the word close to the bodily appeal of the food.
ṭaʿam: Taste, discernment, or judgment.
טַעַם
The shared root links the food’s flavor with the discernment needed to see what it contains.
תִּתְאָו
tit'av
GROWS FROM
א־ו־ה
ʾ-w-h
To desire or long for.
“desirous” in this verse is tit'av. The verse addresses desire while it is turning toward the food, before the food is taken in. It makes room to see that a strong longing can arise from appeal without revealing the nature of what is desired.
ALSO GROWS
ʾāvāh: To desire or long for.
אָוָה
This verb expresses the inward reaching that the warning names.
taʾavāh: Desire or craving.
תַּאֲוָה
This noun shows the same root as a felt longing that can draw someone toward what appeals.
THE PATTERN
Appetite can make an offer seem nourishing while hiding what it carries.
And the woman saw that the tree was good for eating, and that it was a craving for the eyes, and a tree to be desired for making one wise. And she took of its fruit and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.Bread of deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth is filled with gravel.But he answered and said, It is written, Humankind shall not live by bread alone, but by every word going out through the mouth of God.THE THREAD
Do not bend my heart toward any evil thing, to do wicked deeds with the men who work crookedness; do not let me eat of their sweet things.Both verses use מַטְעַמּוֹת (maṭʿammōt), “dainties,” from טעם (ṭaʿam), “taste.” Psalm 141:4 voices the same danger as a prayer about what one takes in; Proverbs 23:3 exposes the meal itself as bread of falsehood.
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