Fake It

(Pro 23:3 KJV)  Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
(Pro 23:3 NAS77) Do not desire his delicacies, For it is deceptive food.
(Pro 23:3 Brenton)  desire not his provisions; for these belong to a false life.

Various translations add a lot of interesting nuances.  It’s hard to know how many are accurate so you need to be careful, but they are worth considering.  The King James talks about “deceptive meat”.  The NASB as “deceptive food”.  That’s not really much different from KJV, just a little more modern with the idea of food than meat.

The Septuagint really gets into the paraphrasing.  Based on other verses I’ve seen I’m not sure if it’s really paraphrasing or just a totally different manuscript.  What’s interesting is the way in which it says that fancy food is part of a “false life”.

How many things in our life are part of a fantasy world that we want to be a part of but we never really will be.  I think of people who wear jerseys with the number of a famous athlete on it.  I think of people who wear monograms of different brands.  I think of people who consider themselves better because they have expensive taste and a deep wallet.  Even worse or those who have expensive taste with a shallow wallet.

So?  I guess it’s OK to want the filet mignon rather than the ground beef.  The question you need to ask yourself is, “Can I afford it?”  In some areas of life it won’t matter much but other areas I think God is really concerned about how we make our choices.