Proverbs 10
Butler1. A WISE son maketh a glad father :
But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
2. Treasures of wickedness profit nothing :
But righteousness delivereth from death.
3. The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish :
But he thrusteth away the desire of the wicked.
4. He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand :
But the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
5. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son : But he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.
6. Blessings are upon the head of the righteous :
But violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
7. The memory of the righteous is blessed But the name of the wicked shall rot.
8. The wise in heart will receive commandments :
But a prating fool shall fall.
9. He that walketh uprightly walketh surely : But he that perverteth his ways shall be known.
10. He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow :
But a prating fool shall fall.
11. The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life :
But violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
12. Hatred stirreth up strifes :
But love covereth all transgressions.
13. In the lips of him that hath discernment wisdom is found :
But a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.
14. Wise men lay up knowledge :
But the mouth of the foolish is a present destruction.
15. The rich man’s wealth is his strong city :
The destruction of the poor is their poverty.
16. The labour of the righteous tendeth to life ; The increase of the wicked to sin.
17. He is in the way of life that heedeth correction :
But he that forsaketh reproof erreth.
18. He that hideth hatred is of lying lips ;
And he that uttereth a slander is a fool.
19. In the multitude of words there wanteth not transgression :
But he that refraineth his lips doeth wisely.
20. The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver :
The heart of the wicked is little worth.
21. The lips of the righteous feed many :
But the foolish die for lack of understanding.
22. The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, And he addeth no sorrow therewith.
23. It is as sport to a fool to do wickedness :
And so is wisdom to a man of understanding.
24. The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him :
And the desire of the righteous shall be granted.
25. When the whirlwind passeth, the wicked is no more :
But the righteous is an everlasting foundation.
26. As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes,
So is the sluggard to them that send him.
27. The fear of the LORD prolongeth days :
But the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
28. The hope of the righteous shall be gladness :
But the expectation of the wicked shall perish.
29. The way of the LORD is a strong hold to the upright ;
But it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.
30. The righteous shall never be removed :
But the wicked shall not dwell in the land.
31. The mouth of the righteous bringeth forth wisdom :
But the froward tongue shall be cut off.
32. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable :
But the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.
HERE commences a distinct portion of the Book of Proverbs. It is specially attributed to Solomon, and extends unchanged in general character to chap. 22 : 16. Its special feature is that each proverb is complete in itself, having no intimate connection with what precedes or follows. Usually each proverb is made up of two propositions or affirmations, one over against the other, i.e., in antithetic relations.
1. Wisdom and folly are here, not in the intellectual sense merely, but in a moral also (as throughout this book); wisdom, an upright state of heart and course of life, controlled by the fear of God; folly, a wicked heart and life that casts off all fear of God and all due regard for man. It is assumed that the former insures prosperity; the latter, ruin—for this world primarily, and, by inference, for the world to come. The places assigned in this proverb to the father and the mother respectively were not named at random. It would not do nearly so well to say, “A wise son maketh a glad mother, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his father.” It is much more according to the facts of human nature as Solomon has it.
2. “Treasures of wickedness” are treasures ill-gotten, i.e., by oppression, fraud, theft, robbery. To say that such treasures profit nothing is the most effective thing that could be said, because men do not perpetrate such wickedness for its own sake, but for the sake of the gain it may bring. On the other hand, a righteous course of life will bring the utmost possible good; for what can be a greater good than to deliver from the greatest and worst of other human ills which the word death is used here to represent. The antithesis lies therefore between ill-gotten gain, absolutely good for nothing, worse than no gain at all, and a life true and righteous in this and all other respects which insures the best of earthly blessings. A similar sentiment appears in chap. 11:6. H. C.
Godliness may do a man good without gain, but worldly gain can do a man no good without godliness. Riches, joined with godliness and good conscience, are the good blessings of God, a means of good to ourselves, and of doing good unto others; but being severed from godliness and the true fear of God are rather occasion of evil than otherwise, rather an instrument of vice than any furtherance to virtue, a means to make our sins the greater here, and our condemnation the more grievous hereafter. Gataker.
Faith possesses thee of what thou hast not; covetousness dispossesses thee of what thou hast. Thou canst not serve God unless mammon serve thee. Quarles.—Three things earthly riches can never do: they can never satisfy Divine justice, they can never pacify Divine wrath, nor can they ever quiet a guilty conscience. And till these things are done man is undone. T. Brooks.
4. Diligent maketh rich. Excellence of every sort is invariably placed beyond the reach of indolence. It is the diligent hand that maketh rich—in self culture, growth in wisdom, and in business. Even when men are born to wealth and high position, any solid reputation which they may achieve is only attained by energetic application; for though an inheritance of acres may be bequeathed, an inheritance of knowledge cannot. Smiles.—“The hand of the diligent maketh rich,” is one truth; “the blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich,” is another. We should reverently admit and act on both C. Clemance.
Industry need not wish; and he that lives upon hopes will die fasting. There are no gains without pains, then help hands, for I have no lands, or if I have they are smartly taxed. He that hath a trade hath an estate, and he that hath a calling hath an office of profit and honor; but then the trade must be worked at and the calling followed, or neither the estate nor the office will enable us to pay our taxes. B. Franklin.
This rule applies alike to the business of life and the concerns of the soul. Diligence is necessary to the laying up of treasures, either within or beyond the reach of rust. Debts will rise above the gains, corruptions will gain ground on the graces, unless there be a watchful heart and a diligent hand. He who would gain in godliness must put his soul into the business. When all counts are closed, he who is rich in faith is the richest man. Arnot.
7. “Memory” and “name” are here equivalent terms, both referring to posthumous fame—what is thought, said, and felt of men after they are dead. The righteous man leaves a name fragrant with sweet odors, hallowed memories; but the name of the wicked, foul and loathsome during its swift decay, the living are in haste to forget and to bury that it pollute the atmosphere no longer. H. C.—“The memory of the righteous is blessed,” for the mind reverts to it with delight from the sight of the living evil in the world, sometimes even prefers this silent society to the living good. We can devoutly bless God that they were such, and that as such we have had the happiness to know them. Is it not a reasonable object of Christian desire to leave a memory that shall be “blessed?” Not a passion for vainglory, but a wish to be so associated with good imparted as to render that good the dearer and the more effectual; a wish to remain, as long as remembered, a motive, an argument, an incitement to all good to those who follow— thus to do good here after being gone hence. J. F.
Not in the future world alone do the works of the righteous follow them; for in this world they live also, and from this world new harvests following on will be reported in that from every generation. But the name of the wicked shall rot. And is there not a reverse curse for those of an opposite character, whose influence, alike immortal, by thought, word, and deed, sins on in like manner in the reproduction of successive harvests of evil? What shall be said of the authors of licentious but fascinating books, immortal by the combination of their genius with the flame of depraved passion, the fires of which it both feeds upon and kindles anew with fresh intensity? Into how many generations of minds may the seed thus sown go down, reproductive in every generation? Their works follow them, but they never rest from their labors. The evils let loose in human society are sure to come back to their masters. “Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment, and some they follow after.” G. B. C.
9. Men’s integrity will be their security. He that walks uprightly toward God and man is faithful to both; he that designs as he ought and means as he says, he walks surely, he is safe under a Divine protection and easy in a holy security. He goes on his way with an humble boldness, being well armed against the temptations of Satan, the troubles of the world, and the reproaches of men. He knows what ground he stands on, what guide he follows, what guard he is surrounded with, and what glory he is going to, and therefore proceeds with assurance and great peace. H.—Amid the perplexities which arise from the unexpected events of life we are not left without sufficient guidance; for although in particular instances the most reasonable calculations are baffled and the best plans subverted, yet there remains in our hands the immutable rule of moral rectitude, in an inflexible adherence to which we shall avoid what is chiefly to be dreaded in calamity, the dismal meanings of a wounded conscience. “He that walketh uprightly walketh surely,” even in the path of disaster. And while, on the one hand, he steadily pursues the track which common prudence marks out, and, on the other, listens with respectful attention to the dictates of honor and probity, he may without danger of enthusiasm ask and hope for the especial aids of Divine providence in overruling those events which lie beyond the reach of human agency. I. T
- “Winking with the eye” means artful, covert mischief. Such cunning, malicious plotting brings sorrow to others, while the babbling fool, always divulging his worst thoughts, brings not so much sorrow to others as ruin to himself. The former is the man to be feared and hated. The latter gets his own punishment without much help from the guardians of the public weal and the offices of justice. H. C.
11-21. We have here another very prominent lesson of this book, the regulation of the tongue and the mighty power of speech, whether for good or evil. The blessing which there is in fit and seasonable words is beautifully represented by a well of life, which issues forth its refreshing and salubrious waters. The mouth is that through which wisdom or its opposite passes in efflux, as touched upon in vs. 11, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21. T. C.
11. The righteous speaks words adapted to preserve life, he gives saving or salutary counsel; the wicked use deceit, in order to perpetrate injuries. M. S.—How industrious a good man is, by communicating his goodness, to do good with it. His mouth, the outlet of his mind, is a well of life, a constant spring whence issues good discourse for the edification of others. It is like a well of life that is pure and clean, not only not poisoned, but not muddied with any corrupt communication. H.
12. Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all transgressions. The antithesis here lies between the enkindling on the one hand and the allaying and quenching of strife on the other. The spirit of hate stands over against the spirit of love, the former firing up strife; the latter extinguishing or preventing it, putting the best construction they will bear upon things doubtful, and suppressing from view where it can be done wisely. Peter seems to have had this proverb in mind (1 Pet. 4:8). H. C.—The meaning here is obviously, as determined by the other clause, love covers, i.e., first hides, does not expose, and then forgives and forgets all sins. As such, it helps to determine the meaning of James 5:20; 1 Pet. 4:8, where the use of the word “charity” in the A. V. hinders the English reader from recognizing the identity. E. H. P.
The little that I have seen in the world, and know of the history of mankind, teaches me to look upon their errors in sorrow not in anger. When I take the history of one poor heart that has sinned and suffered, and represent to myself the struggles and temptations it has passed through; the brief pulsation of joy; the tears of regret; the feebleness of purpose; the scorn of the world that has little charity; the desolation of the soul’s sanctuary and threatening voices within; health gone, happiness gone, I would fain leave the erring soul of my fellow-man with Him from whose hands it came. Chalmers.
Love likes right well to praise openly; but it does not go to the house-top to proclaim offences. Its hand is slow to smite, and, if it must, it wounds tenderly. It can reprove, but gentle are its rebukes—it weeps while it warns, dropping a tear over a brother’s sins, and would rejoice if that tear washed them out. Its self-denying labors abound; ever afoot on errands of mercy, or on some emprise of philanthropy, it grudges no toil, if it only succeed in making one sad heart glad, or one happy heart still more happy. Traill.—Think how much love can bear! “Love suffereth long, and is kind.” We have but to remember what parents will bear from a wayward, wicked son. When promises are all broken, and compassion itself seems quenched in despair, the first sign of repentance or reform is hailed with hope, and the parental heart makes haste with its invitation, “Come home once more.” True to life, the dear old parable tells its story of Fatherhood waiting to bless the wandering, lost child—touching picture of what love can do and suffer. We cannot wonder that love is supreme in the Gospel, when we look upon this parabolic picture of the love of God. Stevens.—Love takes no satisfaction in the faults of others; dislikes to think evil of any, but prefers to believe good of all; and rejoices whenever truth triumphs over slander and falsehood. It never tattles, and never retaliates; it bears reproaches against itself, endures meekly the indignities that are put upon it, and hopes on, “even against hope,” that men will love the good and do the right. Such a love is greater than all knowledge, stronger than all faith. It is the one thing that shall never wear out nor exhaust itself. J. P. T.
14. Lay up. The point of the maxim is not that the wise man acquires knowledge, but that he is reticent, cautious, frugal in displaying it, storing what will endure and be precious, reserving what he has to say for the right time, place, and persons, as contrasted with the mouth of the foolish, ever giving immediate utterance to what destroys himself and others. E. H. P.
19. In many words there wants not sin. That flux of the tongue, that prattling and babbling disease, is very common; and hence so many impertinencies, yea, so many of these worse ills in their discourses, whispering about and inquiring and censuring this and that. And this draws men to speak many things that agree not with the rules of wisdom, and charity, and sincerity. He that refraineth his lips is wise. L.
20. The tongue utters words; the heart conceives them; so that tongue and heart have, in this passage, substantially the same thing in view. It is assumed here that the righteous utters that which is accordant with his character, and then his words are of much worth. But the conceptions of the wicked are worthless. M. S.—The proverb implies that the wicked man’s tongue is as his heart—bad, and of the least possible value. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” The comparison of the tongue of the just to choice silver is expressive, showing that its words are precious, fraught with the best influences. H. C.
21. The lips of the righteous feed many. Themselves satisfied from the Lord’s own hand, they will feed others. The Lord’s disciples are made mediators between the source of life and those that are perishing. He blesses, He breaks, He is the bread of life, but all the disciples stand round Him, getting from His hands, and giving to those who will receive. A Christian’s lips should keep knowledge; in the heart a precious store, through the lips a perennial flow for the feeding of many. Arnot
22. Sentiment: “God’s blessing enriches, and that without increasing sorrow.” The meaning is not that he who is enriched shall have no sorrows in the present life; but that sorrows are not of necessity increased by riches when it is Jehovah who bestows them. The prosperity of the mere worldling, procured by unlawful means, brings many sorrows with it. M. S.—He had said (v. 4), The hand of the diligent makes rich, as a means; but here he ascribes it to the blessing of the Lord; but that blessing is upon the hand of the diligent. It is thus in spiritual riches. Diligence in getting them is our duty, but God’s blessing and grace must have all the glory of that which is acquired. H.
The truth here is twofold. It means that God’s blessing gives material wealth; and also, that they are rich who have that blessing, although they get nothing more. His blessing makes rich. “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Here is a mixture prescribed by the All-wise, for satisfying a soul, and attaining success in life. “He addeth no sorrow with it.” The word seems to imply that there are two ways of acquiring wealth. Some people grow rich without God’s blessing, and some people grow rich by it. It would appear that the god of the world gives riches to his subjects sometimes, when neither giver nor getter owns the supremacy of the Almighty, and that God Himself gives riches to some who are His children. Wherein lies the difference, since both the godless and the godly have gotten wealth? It lies here: He addeth no sorrow with it, but that other lord does. . . . When you are permitted to obtain wealth on which you do not seek and do not get God’s blessing, that wealth becomes a sorrow. There is no more manifest mark of a righteous providence now seen protruding through into time than the sorrow that comes with ill-gotten wealth. Arnot.
Nothing that is without a man can make him rich or restful. The treasures which are kept in coffers are not real, but only those which are kept in the soul. Nothing which cannot enter into the substance of the life and character can satisfy us. That which we are makes us rich or poor, that which we own is a trifle. A. M. ——Happiness and comfort stream immediately from God Himself, as light issues from the sun, and sometimes looks and darts itself into the meanest corners, while it forbears to visit the largest and the noblest rooms. Every man is happy or miserable as the temper of his mind places him either directly under, or beside, the influences of the Divine nature; which enlighten and enliven the disposed mind with secret, ineffable joys, such as the vicious or unprepared mind is wholly unacquainted with. “We have nothing, and yet we possess all things,” says the apostle. And can a greater happiness be imagined than that which gives a man here all things in possession, together with a glorious eternity in reversion? In a word, it is not what a man has, but what he is which must make him happy. South.
It is not gold or silver; it is not land or houses: it is not a flourishing business or hoarded funds that constitute true riches. These things are haunted by meagre desires and distracting cares. The true riches are health, and a pure heart, and love of Christ, and love to man, and perfect trust in the sustaining providence of God, and a cheerful spirit, and a noble charity. And to all men alike, above all to men wearying themselves in the very fire for the unsatisfying and uncertain goods of earth, the blessing of the Lord, that maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it. Farrar.
24. The thing the wicked fear will surely befall him; the thing the righteous desire God will grant. The agency of God is involved in the last verb which is not in the passive form (“shall be granted”), but in the active; He (i.e., God) will grant. The worst fears of the wicked will be realized; the highest desires and anticipations of the righteous God will fulfil. What a contrast! H. C.——The desires of a righteous man and the desires of his God agree. God has a desire to thee, thou hast a desire to Him. God desires truth in the inward parts, and so dost thou with all thy heart. God desires mercy, and to show it to the needy; that is what thou also wantest and what thy soul craves at His hand. Seek, man; ask, knock, and do not be discouraged; the Lord will grant all thy desires. Bunyan.
26. The point common to these cases is discomfort, annoyance, vexation. The sluggard is a simple nuisance to those who employ and trust him. H. C.
27-30. These truths are confirmed by the nature of things and the positive appointments of Providence. In the nature of things men destroy themselves and shorten their days by many kinds of wickedness. By wars and desolations they unpeople whole countries; by private quarrels they bring each other to untimely ends; by capital crimes they cause themselves to be cut off by the hands of justice; by luxury and intemperance they destroy their bodies; by envy and malice they consume themselves in the midst of their iniquity. In like manner, according to the same tendency, by peace and charity men are preserved from destruction; by temperance their bodies are maintained in health; by quiet of conscience and satisfaction of mind new life is added to their spirits. S. Clarke.
27. Though the life of the upright be numbered only by days and the life of the wicked by years, the life of the upright is long, and the life of the wicked is short; for the one has been filled full with the blessings of Jehovah, while the other has fallen far short of any worthy goal. The days of those who fear the Lord shall be as years in their fruitful results; the years of the wicked shall be shortened, because each successive year will contain less and less of that which constitutes true life. H. C. T.
- “The way of the Lord is strength to the upright, but destruction to the workers of iniquity.” It is the same way which is strength to one man and ruin to another, and the moral nature of the man determines which it shall be to him. That is a penetrating word which goes deep down. The unknown thinkers, to whose keen insight into the facts of human life we are indebted for this Book of Proverbs, had pondered for many an hour over the perplexed and complicated fates of men, and they crystallized their reflections at last in this thought. They have in it struck upon a principle which explains a great many things, and teaches us a great many solemn lessons. The way of the Lord means not the road in which God prescribes that we should walk, but that road in which He Himself walks; or, in other words, the scene of the Divine action, the solemn footsteps of God through creation, providence, and history. His goings forth are from everlasting. His way is in the sea. His way is in the sanctuary. Modern language has a whole set of phrases which mean the same thing as the Jew meant by “the way of the Lord,” only that God is left out. They talk about the “current of events,” “the general tendency of things,” “the laws of human affairs,” and so on. I for my part prefer the old-fashioned “Hebraism.” To many modern thinkers the whole drift and tendency of human affairs affords no sign of a person directing these. They hear the clashing and grinding of opposing forces, the thunder as of falling avalanches and the moaning as of a homeless wind, but they hear the sound of no footfalls echoing down the ages. This ancient teacher had keener ears. Well for us if we share his faith and see in all the else distracting mysteries of life and history, “the way of the
Lord." But not only does the expression point to the operation of a personal Divine Will in human affairs, but it conceives of that operation as one, a uniform and consistent whole. However complicated and sometimes apparently contradictory the individual events were, there was a unity in them, and they all converged on one result. The writer does not speak of “ways” but of “the way,” as in a grand unity. It is all one continuous, connected, consistent mode of operation from beginning to end. The way of the Lord, says this old thinker, is hard to understand, very complicated, full of all manner of perplexities and difficulties, and yet on the whole the clear drift and tendency of the whole thing is discernible, and it is this: it is all on the side of good. Everything that is good and everything that does good is an ally of God’s, and may be sure of the Divine favor, and of the Divine blessing resting upon it. And just because that is so clear the other side is as true; the same way, the same set of facts, the same continuous stream of tendency, which is all with and for every form of good, is all against every form of evil. A. M.
31. The beauty and force of this proverb are heightened by the figure underlying it in the choice of its words. The mouth of the just bears (produces) wisdom as a tree bears fruit; but the perverse tongue shall be cut off like dead, worthless branches. H. C.