As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he

This is one of the most misquoted Bible verses, and is also usually taken out of context.    In this blog post, we take a look at what this verse actually says, and what it means in its context.

Here's the misquote verse in its context:

Do not eat the bread of a miser,
Nor desire his delicacies;
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.
(Proverbs 23:6-7 NKJV)

First, notice that it doesn’t say, “As a man thinks in his heart… ”, it says, “As he thinks in his heart…”

So, who is “he”? As the context makes clear, “he” is a “miser” (i.e. a stingy person) who happens to be your host.  Though “he” tells you to “eat and drink”, he doesn’t really mean it, because in his heart he is concerned about how much it cost him!  His internal thoughts reflect who he realise is i.e. “a miser”. This is all “as he thinks in his heart, so is he” means.  The NIV does a great job in translating this proverb contextually:

Do not eat the food of a begrudging host, 
do not crave his delicacies; 
for he is the kind of person 
who is always thinking about the cost. 
“Eat and drink,” he says to you, 
but his heart is not with you.
(Proverbs 23:6-7 NIV)

So, here is the simple lesson this proverb is teaching: if you know someone is a stingy person, don’t be deceived by their generous words and don’t take them up on their offer. In their heart, they are still stingy!