Proverbs 12

1. Whoso loveth correction loveth knowledge: But he that hateth reproof is brutish.

2. A good man shall obtain favour of the LORD:

But a man of wicked devices will he condemn.

3. A man shall not be established by wickedness:

But the root of the righteous shall never be moved.

4. A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband:

But she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

5. The thoughts of the righteous are just: But the counsels of the wicked are deceit.

6. The words of the wicked are of lying in wait for blood:

But the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.

7. The wicked are overthrown, and are not: But the house of the righteous shall stand.

8. A man shall be commended according to his wisdom:

But he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised.

9. Better is he that is lightly esteemed, and hath a servant,

Than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread.

10. A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast:

But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

11. He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread:

But he that followeth after vain persons is void of understanding.

12. The wicked desireth the net of evil men:

But the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit.

13. In the transgression of the lips is a snare to the evil man:

But the righteous shall come out of trouble.

14. A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth:

And the doings of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.

15. The way of the foolish is right in his own eyes:

But he that is wise hearkeneth unto counsel.

16. A fool’s vexation is presently known:

But a prudent man concealeth shame.

17. He that uttereth truth sheweth forth righteousness,

But a false witness deceit.

18. There is that speaketh rashly like the piercings of a sword:

But the tongue of the wise is health.

19. The lip of truth shall be established for ever:

3. In the figure underlying this proverb men are compared to trees. The righteous man gets well rooted, stands strong, thrives well, and is never moved; but the wicked never get a firm footing and rooting, but are blown down, torn up by the roots and left to rot. God is against them. H. C.

4. No ethical manual would be complete, unless it assigned to woman, as well as man, her right position in the social order. In her excellence is the crown and glory of a man’s life. No picture of ideal happiness is brighter than that of a home which is thus made perfect with the clear brightness of true union (5:15-20). The “prudent wife” is thought of as one of God’s best gifts (19:14), “building her house” (14:1) on the only true foundation. Her influence on her children is as great as that of their father, if not greater (1:8; 6:20). They owe what they have of goodness to her loving persuasion. E. H. P.

7. Wicked overthrown and are not. There is a hope that bad men will finally be themselves extirpated and literally perish. But nothing is really annihilated in them save the celestial possibilities. A living creature remains—a mind, a memory, a heart of passion, fears, irritability, will—all these remain; noth

But a lying tongue is but for a moment.

20. Deceit is in the heart of them that devise evil:

But to the counsellors of peace is joy.

21. There shall no mischief happen to the righteous:

But the wicked shall be filled with evil.

22. Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD: But they that deal truly are his delight.

23. A prudent man concealeth knowledge:

But the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness.

24. The hand of the diligent shall bear rule:

But the slothful shall be put under taskwork.

25. Heaviness in the heart of a man maketh it stoop;

But a good word maketh it glad.

26. The righteous is a guide to his neighbour:

But the way of the wicked causeth them to err.

27. The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting:

But the precious substance of men is to the diligent.

28. In the way of righteousness is life;

And in the pathway thereof there is no death.

ing is gone but the angel life that stood with them, and bound them all to God. What remains, remains; and, for aught that we can see, must remain; and there is the fatal, inevitable fact. H. B.

10. Regardeth; literally, “knoweth.” The words remind us that all true sympathy and care must grow out of knowledge. The righteous man tries to know the feelings and life even of the brute beast, and so comes to care for it. Tender mercies; better, “the feelings, the emotions,” all that should have led to mercy and pity toward man. The circle expands in the one case, narrows in the other. E. H. P.

11. The Hebrews were an agricultural people, subsisting from their soil. Their dense population demanded the best of tillage. This Solomon aimed to encourage. He who, instead of working his land, followed after idle men, out of business and doing nothing to purpose for the ends of life, would show himself without understanding, would play the fool, and would righteously come short of bread. Such men ought to go breadless. H. C.

14. Fruit of the mouth is what the mouth speaks. The supposition is that a righteous man speaks in harmony with his character.

This shall bring him abundant good. Also what he does, as well as says, will not be useless. The reward of his hands, i.e., the reward of what his hands have done, He (Jehovah) will return to him. M. S.—The lips that speak well are no less sure of reward than the hands that work well. To show this the former is put over against the latter—lips against hands—with perhaps a shade of preference for the lips as the more fruitful of good.

15. The gist of the proverb is that the way of the fool is so very right in his own eyes that he will not hearken to counsel. Hearkening to good counsel is the characteristic, not of the fool but of the wise. Self-conceit dooms a man to folly and to its consequent mischiefs.

18. The tongue of the wise gives healing; their words lovingly heal the very wounds which the babbling slanderer inflicts. There is a precious balm in such words. Wise and good men take care not merely that they wound no one’s feelings, but that they heal the wounds which they see inflicted by others. How much society owes to such healing words! H. C.—Use your gift of speech to give comfort, joy, cheer and hope to all about you. Use it to encourage the weary and disheartened, to warn those who are treading in paths of danger, to inspire the lethargic and indolent with high and holy motives, to kindle the fires of heavenly aspiration on cold heart-altars. J. R. M.

19. The law which binds us to veracity is the law of nature and the voice of God. It is the cement of the social edifice, the principle which unites the members of that body of which mankind consists; and if charity may be compared to the blood which circulates through the system, truth must be considered as the joints and ligaments which connect the respective parts. Intentional falsehood is, in every instance, a breach of this fundamental law, impairs the union, and is a violation of our duty, not merely in a private capacity, but as citizens of the world. By poisoning the stream of social intercourse at its source, by impairing the stock of public confidence, it tends to a dissolution of the whole body. Into the private intercourse of life, wherever it prevails, it infuses a mortal poison, robs it of its security, and converts it from an instrument of good into a snare. Where confidence ought to reign, it spreads suspicion and alarm; while, under the pretence of self-defence, it propagates itself. Artifice is opposed to artifice, falsehood is encountered by falsehood, till all the tender charities of life are violated. R.

Hall. — Veracity facilitates and simplifies every business and every intercourse. A host of useless words and precautionary forms are thereby dispensed with; words and response, summons and deed, follow each other in secure succession; mind and mind meet, recognize, and commune with each other; all good, fair deeds thrive in such secure, untroubled, spiritual communion; power meets power, will joins will, resolve follows resolve, and confidence bears on and raises all with unfaltering steadfastness; all the flowers of mind, science, art, religion, thrive in the pure, healthful air of truthfulness; the light of heaven is shed undimmed upon life, and warms and fertilizes every germinating plant. Colton.

As a test of character, truthfulness is pre-eminent; it is the basis of all true manhood. Truth scorns all disguises, shuns all devices, and never postures for advantage or effect. Its spirit pervades the closest relations and highest intercourse; its law holds the planets in their course; it is the presiding principle of every true and noble life. The stability of national credit, of law, of justice, of commerce, of society, and of life itself, is established and maintained on principles of truth. It is the upholding law of nature, the bond of society, the essence of creeds, the germ of religion. It maintains its sway throughout the universe, and circumscribes the whole round of life. H. Van Santvoord.—The love of truth is the foundation of all solid excellence. It gives stability to character and distinguishes firmness from obstinacy. It makes the man of principle. You may be distinguished in the world without it, but you never can have the approbation of your own hearts or the smile of God. You never can perfect and adorn your natures. J. H. T.

22. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. Falsehood has its deepest guilt and its certainty of punishment in this, that it crosses God’s will, contradicts His character, and is hateful to His feeling. The wise man does not charge it upon lying lips, as he might, that they are an injury to men; he strikes deeper and tells us the more alarming secret that they are abomination to the Lord. By the Gospel every moral obligation is traced up to its source in the mind of God; the duties of society are all duties first to the Creator; and the highest motive for the simplest act of justice is to honor God, or conformity to His will. And as this is the loftiest view of the subject, so we shall find it is the most practical. The mind is so constituted in itself, that it is impressed with a fresh and fearful sense of what a falsehood is, the moment it realizes that the falsehood is a contradiction of God. No matter how trivial the occasion, or how remote the matter of the lie may be from all the high concerns of heaven, it is told in the full presence and plain hearing of our Judge. All is open up to the Great White Throne, and the false tongue is speaking to its Maker. He hears it, and it is an abomination to Him. The lie may prosper for its purpose. The multitudinous waves of traffic roll on with their noise, and the good bargain, closed by the deceit, thrives without rebuke; the child escapes the punishment he deserved and forgets the sin; the slanderous speaker’s point tells, and his candidate goes in; the swift stream of social gossip and mirth makes no pause when the flippant or envious tongue insults the unseen Auditor who is listening; but He is listening, and after the lights are all out, the school-room locked, the election over, and the market still—the falsehood remains stamped in letters which some time or other will look intensely bright, as if they were written with fire because it was an abomination to the Lord F. D. H.

Make conscience of truth, not only in our words, but in all our actions; because those that deal truly and sincerely in all their dealings are His delight, and He is well pleased with them. We delight to converse with and make use of those that are honest, and that we may put a confidence in; such, therefore, let us be, that we may recommend ourselves to the favor both of God and man. H.

25. “Heaviness” is rather anxiety, fear, that which gives a sense of heaviness. Such a sense of dread, foreboding evil, depresses the heart, bows it down; but a cheering word gladens it. This “good word” may be either good tidings, or a word whose comfort is in its kindly tone and manner. At how little cost sometimes may great burdens of grief be lifted from sad hearts! H. C.—Sorrow of all kinds depresses, but solicitude is worst. Hence the saying it is not work but worry that kills men. The secret of health, success, happiness, and often of long life, is obedience to the apostolic direction, “In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer,” etc. (Phil. 4:6). Chambers.

Speak but a kind word, the work of a moment, and it shall cause the heavy heart to sing for joy; and gentle reproof or earnest persuasion, a mere fragment of thought and of time, may convert a sinner from the error of his way and save a soul from death. Gather up the fragments of influence, of time, of opportunity; and gather up the fragments of your worldly possessions that nothing be lost. For in the exercise of a praiseworthy and heaven-approved carefulness and economy and a conscientious expenditure, we should for the most part soon come to owe no man anything but love. R. T.

26. The righteous man shows his neighbor the way rightly; but the way pointed out by the wicked man leads him astray. The righteous man is a safe guide; the wicked man is not, but will lead you wrong. H. C.—Even men without principle will be restrained by the example of the good. When Lord Peterborough lodged for a season with Fenelon, the piety and virtue of the latter had such effect upon the nobleman that he exclaimed at parting, “If I stay here any longer I shall become a Christian in spite of myself.” It is thus that the example of a holy life or an evil life multiplies itself. We are addressed by it as imitative beings, breathing the atmosphere and catching up the opinions that surround us. Even while we gaze upon it we feel its transforming power. It is insensibly imprinting its image on our hearts. We become accustomed to it, and if it be hateful, gradually lose our repugnance to it. E. H. G.

27. The substance of a diligent man, though it be not great, perhaps, is yet precious. It comes from the blessing of God; he has comfort in it; it does him good and his family. It is his own daily bread, not bread out of other people’s mouths, and therefore he sees God gives it him in answer to his prayer. H.

28. In the way of righteousness is life; and . . . no death. “Life” in its highest and best sense, pure, perfect blessedness. No death is in that traveller’s path. It opens to a glorious immortality. H. C.—This is the sum and substance of the chapter, and a proper conclusion of all that we have been taught in the foregoing maxims of Divine philosophy—namely, that religion and a holy conversation are the only sure and infallible way to happiness. So excellent, and so far beyond every other scheme, is this “way of righteousness.” Wogan.