Posted by Jeff Short on January 31, 2018 · Leave a Comment
The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right.
– Proverbs 21:8
The word for
froward means crooked, or perverse. The word for
strange means guilty. The first phrase means the guilty man goes in a crooked way. The same idea is expressed of the evil man in Proverbs 2:15. The word for
pure means clean, or righteous. The word for
right means straight, or upright. The contrast is obvious. The guilty walk a crooked way while the innocent walk a straight path. The purpose of the proverb is to teach wisdom and discernment. Wisdom here teaches a tree is known by its fruits.
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Posted by Jeff Short on January 30, 2018 · Leave a Comment
The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them; because they refuse to do judgment.
– Proverbs 21:7
The word for
robbery means violence, or destruction. It refers to the various schemes by which they oppress, extort, and steal from others (Proverbs 1:11-14). The word for
judgment means a verdict, or sentence. It can be used in a legal sense to refer to the work of a judge or magistrate. We find just such a usage in Ecclesiastes 12:14. In a more general way, the word can refer to a person’s rights, i.e., property ownership, civil and criminal redress, due process of law, etc. By doing violence to a person, you are disregarding their rights and violating their just claims. The proverb means that those who do such violence and refuse justice will be destroyed. Wisdom teaches they shall be ensnared by their own ways (Proverbs 1:18-19; 10:6; 22:22-23).
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Posted by Jeff Short on January 29, 2018 · Leave a Comment
The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of that seek death.
– Proverbs 21:6
The wording of this proverb is difficult and interpretations vary. The first phrase clearly speaks of acquiring wealth through deceit. Such wealth is the ill-gotten gains we frequently speak of from Proverbs (Proverbs 10:2; 13:11; 20:14). The second phrase gives two consequences of profit by deception. Some like fleeting vapor for
vanity tossed to and fro. Wealth acquired through ill means does not last, or does not bring the satisfaction sought. The second consequence of ill-gotten gains is to be ensnared by death. This looks more to the judgment to come on the one who lies, cheats, and steals his way to riches.
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Posted by Jeff Short on January 28, 2018 · Leave a Comment
The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.
– Proverbs 21:5
The word for
thoughts means device, or plans. The plans of the
diligent, or determined, are in view. It is contrasted with
hasty in the second line, which means hurried. The word for
plenteousness means gain, or profit. The word for
want means lack, or poverty. Proverbs commends diligence and observes diligence being generally rewarded with gain (Proverbs 10:4; 13:4; 22:29; 27:23-27). From the different proverbs about diligence, we see the diligent make wise plans and work hard to execute those plans and generally make a gain.
By contrast, poverty is the gain of sluggards (Proverbs 10:4). This proverb does not mention the sluggard, but rather the hasty. Proverbs condemns haste as folly (Proverbs 14:29). Haste here contrasted with the plans of diligence suggests a haste to be rich, or the hatching of schemes for shortcuts to wealth. Wisdom condemns these schemes as having an evil eye (Proverbs 28:22). This proverb then contributes to the catalog of ways to poverty. Poverty can be reached through stingy greed (Proverbs 11:24), by talk without action (Proverbs 14:23), by gain through oppression (Proverbs 22:16), and here by haste (Proverbs 21:5).
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Posted by Jeff Short on January 26, 2018 · Leave a Comment
An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.
– Proverbs 21:4
The text of this proverb is difficult. The Hebrew words for tillage and lamp are only differentiated by vowel points. We can see the similarity even in the transliteration of each:
nir (tillage) and
ner (lamp). The Septuagint has
lampter (lamp, or lantern), and many translations have followed the Septuagint here and give
plowing as an alternative reading. Knox, translating from the Latin Vulgate, rendered it as “hopes.” This takes “lamp” as a figure, not of the conscience, but of outlook, which is reasonable. Interestingly, plowing can also be a figure for hope, or outlook, and Paul used it this way in 1 Corinthians 9:10. If outlook fits and makes sense of the verse, then it isn’t nearly as difficult as it first appears. Though if I were smarter and more educated, I’m sure I could find more difficulty.
The high look and proud heart refer to arrogance that persists in its own way rather than receiving instruction in the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 6:17; 8:13; 30:13). The proverb is denouncing the thoughts of the wicked. They are high thoughts of self-conceit that dismiss and despise the wisdom of God (Psalm 10:4). This is why all the plans, or hopes, and actions of the wicked are tainted and sinful (Proverbs 21:27).
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Posted by Jeff Short on January 25, 2018 · Leave a Comment
To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
– Proverbs 21:3
The word for
justice means rightness, or doing what is right by a standard of righteousness. The word for
judgment means a verdict, and so refers to our dealings with others being just dealings. The word for
sacrifice means slaughter, as in a ritual sacrifice for offering. The proverb says righteous conduct is better to Yahweh than religious acts. The proverb does not disparage religious acts, but rather wisely observes that religious acts without accompanying righteous life are hollow and hypocritical. Another way to see it is that no amount of religious piety can make up for unrighteousness in life (1 Samuel 15:22; Isaiah 58:1-14; Micah 6:6-8). This proverb is a thematic summary of what all proverbs are saying. People often approach Proverbs topically because it is easier to study the whole book that way. If you think about the various topics, i.e., marriage, children, wealth, parents, work, poverty, business, anger, speech, etc., you get a picture of wisdom that is righteousness in all of life. Men often make the mistake that pious observance of ritual without living in the way of the fear of the Lord is righteousness.
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Posted by Jeff Short on January 24, 2018 · Leave a Comment
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.
– Proverbs 21:2
This proverb is similar to Proverbs 16:2 (
see commentary). The word for
right means straight, or upright. It can have a moral tinge, but also gives the sense of being correct. The first phrase is a wisdom observance that men think the way they are going is correct. Unless a man is bent on deliberate self-destruction, he thinks the way he is going will lead to some happiness. The seventeenth century French mathematician Blaise Pascal put it this way: “All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.”[ref] Blaise Pascal,
Pascal’s Pensees, trans. W. F. Trotter (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1958), 113, #425.[/ref]
The proverb is a wisdom observation about our fallible self-knowledge, self-evaluation, and self-direction. Man is incompetent of himself, which is why we need wisdom and wise counsellors (Proverbs 11:14; 12:15; 15:22; 19:20-21). The word for pondereth means to balance, as in to measure by weight with a scale. The contrast of the second phrase with the first is that man follows his heart but only Yahweh truly knows the heart, or mind. Man cannot always accurately assess his motives and objectives, but God always knows what is in the deep, dark waters of our hearts (Proverbs 20:5).
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Posted by Jeff Short on January 23, 2018 · Leave a Comment
Introduction
Chapter 21 continues the Proverbs of Solomon, which form the largest section of this book and continues through the next chapter. The proverbs in this chapter touch on God’s sovereign omniscience, righteousness, justice, rewards, laziness, moderation, pride, and home life.
The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
– Proverbs 21:1
The phrase, rivers of water, refers to channels, or watercourses, like what might be dug for irrigation or drainage. A gardener, or farmer, digs such channels in order to direct the water where he wants it to go. The image is analogous to God’s control, even over kings. He turns the king’s heart to accomplish the purposes of his will. The word for heart has a range of meaning and Proverbs often uses it in a way comparable to our use of mind. The proverb does not speak to how God does this, but leaves that mysterious. Other proverbs speak to God determining outcomes even though men plan and act according to their own hearts (Proverbs 16:9, 33; 20:24).
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Posted by Jeff Short on January 21, 2018 · Leave a Comment
The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.
– Proverbs 20:30
Foolishness invites physical punishments and often requires them to be delivered from folly (Proverbs 7:22; 10:13; 17:10; 19:29; 26:3). The
inward parts of the belly refers to the inner being of man, and especially his conscience. The general tenor of Proverbs is that wisdom is imparted in a progressive way through words, instruction, reproof, the example of the rod, and the experience of the rod. The most obstinate will not receive any of these and turn from folly, and therefore ends in destruction (Proverbs 6:15; 15:10; 29:1). To put the proverb in modern terms: there is always a hard way to learn.
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Proverbs 21:8
Posted by Jeff Short on January 31, 2018 · Leave a Comment
The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right.
The word for froward means crooked, or perverse. The word for strange means guilty. The first phrase means the guilty man goes in a crooked way. The same idea is expressed of the evil man in Proverbs 2:15. The word for pure means clean, or righteous. The word for right means straight, or upright. The contrast is obvious. The guilty walk a crooked way while the innocent walk a straight path. The purpose of the proverb is to teach wisdom and discernment. Wisdom here teaches a tree is known by its fruits.– Proverbs 21:8
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