And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
The placing of a blade against one's own neck is a figure for grave peril to life. One who is ruled by craving for food is therefore to hold appetite under strict restraint in eating, with special care when dining in the presence of a ruler. Rich dishes may please the taste, yet yielding to them to the injury of health perverts the entire being, and appetite is never to be indulged at the cost of health. The same figure meets a minister whose violent way of speaking is breaking down his health, for by that course he is as certainly bringing death upon himself as by turning a blade upon his own throat.
The placing of a blade against one's own neck is a figure for grave peril to life. One who is ruled by craving for food is therefore to hold appetite under strict restraint in eating, with special care when dining in the presence of a ruler. Rich dishes may please the taste, yet yielding to them to the injury of health perverts the entire being, and appetite is never to be indulged at the cost of health. The same figure meets a minister whose violent way of speaking is breaking down his health, for by that course he is as certainly bringing death upon himself as by turning a blade upon his own throat.