Proverbs 7:23 · World English Bible
Proverbs 7:23 Meaning Until an Arrow Strikes Through His Liver
Until an arrow strikes through his liver, as a bird hurries to the snare, and doesn’t know that it will cost his life.
What does Proverbs 7:23 mean?
The wound is not sent from outside; it is the cost the mind pays for believing the ego's promise, felt only after the choice is long made. This is how guilt operates, quietly and after the fact, so that the pain seems to arrive from nowhere and the mind never connects it to the yes it once gave.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Proverbs 7:23 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
The wound is not sent from outside; it is the cost the mind pays for believing the ego's promise, felt only after the choice is long made. This is how guilt operates, quietly and after the fact, so that the pain seems to arrive from nowhere and the mind never connects it to the yes it once gave. The hurrying bird is a mind rushing toward what it wants, blind to what the wanting will do to its own peace.
What it does not know is the whole of the matter. The trap threatens nothing real, no true life can be lost, yet the mind that forgets it is only dreaming will suffer the dream as though it were true.
Dart: the recoil of guilt, the self-inflicted pain that follows a mind's agreement with fear Bird: the mind in eager pursuit of desire, moving so fast toward the world that it cannot see the cost Snare: the ego's trap, the belief in separation that seems to capture a mind but holds only what agrees to be held
Christian Psychology lensGo deeper in the app
Christian Psychology lens
Live Proverbs 7:23 today
- When your mood drops for no clear reason this evening, trace it back a few hours instead of blaming the day. The yes you gave this morning is often sitting right at the end of that thread.
- Before saying the thing that would win the argument at dinner, ask what the room will feel like an hour later. The win and the cost arrive at different times, and only one of them shows up now.
- In a rush today, when you are hurrying toward something you want, take one look at what the hurry is costing: your attention, your patience, the person waiting on you. Then decide whether the thing is still worth it.
What am I hurrying toward without having counted what it takes from me?
The same truth in other traditions
Buddhism · Dhammapada
Actions ripen slowly, and the fruit arrives long after the planting. The pain that seems to come out of nowhere is usually something you set in motion and forgot.
Tao Te Ching 44
Chasing what you crave costs more than the thing is worth. Know when to stop and you keep the one thing that cannot be bought back, your own peace.
Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita
What tastes sweet in the grasping turns bitter in its result. The eager rush toward it is precisely what hides the cost.
Free · No account needed
Read all of Proverbs 7 through 17 lenses
Lensightful opens every verse of the Bible through the traditions you choose. Save readings, ask a follow-up question, and get one verse a day.
Get Lensightful on the App Store