Posted by Jeff Short on February 8, 2017 · Leave a Comment
The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.
– Proverbs 10:21
The
righteous receive instruction and grow in wisdom. Because they have a store of wisdom, they also speak and give out wisdom (Proverbs 12:18; 15:4). The emphasis is usually placed on the life-giving nature of their instruction. Here it speaks of the abundance they have to give to others. The word for
feed indicates to tend a flock or put them to pasture. The word used for
fool here speaks of one who despises wisdom, mocks, and is quarrelsome. He stubbornly refuses wise instruction (Proverbs 1:7; 12:15). Because they have no store of wisdom, they cannot feed others as the righteous do and they starve themselves.
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Posted by Jeff Short on February 7, 2017 · Leave a Comment
The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.
– Proverbs 10:20
Solomon contrasts the
tongue of the just with the
heart of the wicked—righteous speech with the mind of the ungodly. A man’s speech is produced from the heart as if the heart were a treasure trove (Luke 6:45). Good treasure means good words and evil treasure means evil words.
Little worth indicates smallness. It is scarcity in the bad sense because the fool produces a multitude of words but scarcely any are good (Proverbs 15:28).
Choice silver is scarce in the good sense that makes it rare, valuable, and precious. It is also aesthetically pleasing, or pleasantly beautiful (Proverbs 25:11-12).
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Posted by Jeff Short on February 6, 2017 · Leave a Comment
In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
– Proverbs 10:19
Verses 19-21 deal with words, or our speech. This is one of the foremost themes throughout Proverbs. Wisdom affects what we say, the way we say it, when we say it, and how much we say. Kidner observed that three of the seven abominations in 6:16-19 have to do with sins with words. Here Solomon addresses the quantity of our words.
Multitude means abundance. Elsewhere, Solomon marks a fool by sheer quantity of words (Ecclesiastes 5:3; 10:14). Words aplenty means sins aplenty. The wise
refraineth, or withholds and restrains, their words. Seldom does our error lie in saying too little (James 1:19-20; Proverbs 17:27-28). Real wisdom discerns “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7).
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Posted by Jeff Short on February 5, 2017 · Leave a Comment
He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.
– Proverbs 10:18
Hatred can be hidden by flattery, inappropriate silence, or outright lies (Proverbs 26:24-25). Uttering a slander gives vent to the hatred rather than hiding it. Both are damaging and indicative of a fool (Proverbs 16:28).
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Posted by Jeff Short on February 4, 2017 · Leave a Comment
He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.
– Proverbs 10:17
Life in the Proverbs is a quality of life and not a quantity of life. Life also includes thoughts of the spiritual and the afterlife. The
way of life is to them who
keepeth instruction. Proverbs emphasizes the importance of hearing instruction but also the importance of retaining it (Proverbs 3:1-2, 18; 4:4, 13). The contrast is made between keeping and refusing, or forsaking, as the word indicates. To err is to go astray and we know it is ultimately to come to ruin (Proverbs 15:10; 29:1).
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Posted by Jeff Short on February 3, 2017 · Leave a Comment
The labor of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.
– Proverbs 10:16
Following verse 15 is a wise saying proving wealth and poverty are not the greatest factors and that life is more than physical. The wisdom worldview here is considering outcomes, or results. Regardless of what a person possesses and whether that would class him as poor or rich, he will use what he does have according to the character he also has.
Labor takes in both the work and the wage.
Fruit is the product or gain received. The
righteous and the
wicked both have gains in this proverb. The spiritual dynamic is contrasted by those gains being either to
life or
sin. Whatever profit the wicked receives becomes unprofitable because they only use it to fuel ongoing offense, as the word indicates.
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Posted by Jeff Short on February 2, 2017 · Leave a Comment
The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.
– Proverbs 10:15
There are some truths about life and reality that we simply have to face.
Wealth can be a defense and help to those who have it.
Poverty can be the vulnerability and isolation of those who suffer it. Solomon later warns we should not be hasty to decide wealth or poverty is better to have (Ecclesiastes 6:8, 12). Wisdom is discerning the world we actually live in and not the world we “imagine.” The world we live in is subject to vanity (Ecclesiastes 6:9) and there are realities about wealth and poverty we cannot escape (Proverbs 14:20; 18:23; 19:7; 22:7).
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Posted by Jeff Short on February 1, 2017 · Leave a Comment
Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.
– Proverbs 10:14
To
lay up means to hide or hoard. It isn’t a mere accumulation of knowledge here. It’s the picture of the wise householder Jesus painted (Matthew 13:52). Those who are wise know to take in knowledge and store it up to be used at the right time. This isn’t a utilitarian view of knowledge but rather a picture of discernment and discretion. The
foolish cannot store up knowledge because they speak more than they listen and readily devour foolishness (Proverbs 15:5, 14). Rather than storing up knowledge then, they are
near destruction (Proverbs 13:3; 18:7).
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Posted by Jeff Short on January 31, 2017 · Leave a Comment
In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.
– Proverbs 10:13
The word for
understanding means to separate mentally. We would refer to that as discernment—thinking through something and being able to make distinctions and determine whether good or bad. We might also think of it as insight. The one who has an understanding mind, or heart, will speak forth
wisdom (Proverbs 10:11, 21; 15:7). Jesus also taught in the Gospels that the source of our speech is our heart, or mind (Luke 6:45). The man
void of understanding does not discern and goes on in the way of folly. Because he will not receive instruction, he will come to the
rod of correction (Proverbs 7:22; 26:3; Psalm 32:8-9).
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Proverbs 10:21
Posted by Jeff Short on February 8, 2017 · Leave a Comment
The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.
The righteous receive instruction and grow in wisdom. Because they have a store of wisdom, they also speak and give out wisdom (Proverbs 12:18; 15:4). The emphasis is usually placed on the life-giving nature of their instruction. Here it speaks of the abundance they have to give to others. The word for feed indicates to tend a flock or put them to pasture. The word used for fool here speaks of one who despises wisdom, mocks, and is quarrelsome. He stubbornly refuses wise instruction (Proverbs 1:7; 12:15). Because they have no store of wisdom, they cannot feed others as the righteous do and they starve themselves.– Proverbs 10:21
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