1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold. 2 The rich and the poor have this in common, The Lord is the maker of them all. 3 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, But the simple pass on and are punished. 4 By humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches and honor and life. 5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; He who guards his soul will be far from them. 6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. 7 The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender. 8 He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow, And the rod of his anger will fail. 9 He who has a generous eye will be blessed, For he gives of his bread to the poor. 10 Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave; Yes, strife and reproach will cease. 11 He who loves purity of heart And has grace on his lips, The king will be his friend. 12 The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge, But He overthrows the words of the faithless. 13 The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets!” 14 The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit; He who is abhorred by the Lord will fall there. 15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him. 16 He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches, And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty. 17 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your heart to my knowledge; 18 For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; Let them all be fixed upon your lips, 19 So that your trust may be in the Lord; I have instructed you today, even you. 20 Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge, 21 That I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth, That you may answer words of truth To those who send to you? 22 Do not rob the poor because he is poor, Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate; 23 For the Lord will plead their cause, And plunder the soul of those who plunder them. 24 Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man do not go, 25 Lest you learn his ways And set a snare for your soul. 26 Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, One of those who is surety for debts; 27 If you have nothing with which to pay, Why should he take away your bed from under you? 28 Do not remove the ancient landmark Which your fathers have set. 29 Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men.
Commentary
Vs. 1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold.
Having a good name is to be chosen over merely having wealth and riches, for wealth and riches can be acquired by evil and unjust means, by exploitation and corruption etc., but a good name (i.e., having one’s person highly regarded in the sight of God and here by just men and women) can only come by living righteously and doing justly, by being a person who loves others and shows mercy. A good name then will carry and sustain you long after all the riches and wealth have failed.
Vs. 2 The rich and the poor have this in common, The Lord is the maker of them all.
In the Lord’s eyes all class distinctions end, for He has made us all, thus He shows partiality to no one (consider Acts 10:34-35).
Vs. 3 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, But the simple pass on and are punished.
A prudent person foresees evil coming, foresees that there will be judgment for the evil that is being done, and so instead of running with that crowd to his own ruin, a prudent man departs from that path and hides himself from that sinful, evil or unjust way of life, therefore he takes his refuge in Christ. The simple though confidently or worse boastfully continue on in their sinful and evil ways, and so they all will receive God’s wrath and punishment in the end.
Vs. 4 By humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches and honor and life.
Humility with the fear of the Lord is the pathway to riches, honor and life. For by humility one receives instruction from God’s Word, and by fear of the Lord one departs from evil. Thus, everyone who does so receives all the riches and honor and Spiritual life that the Lord Jesus Christ bestows on everyone who repents and believes in Him.
Vs. 5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; He who guards his soul will be far from them.
The way of the preserve (or crooked) is filled with thorns (i.e., It is a path is filled with lots of pain and sorrows, as well as snares, i.e., pitfalls and traps that take people down and ruin their reputations, persons, and lives), those then who keep their souls from the perverse ways and perverse morality of this world will keep their own souls from troubles.
Vs. 6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Here we are exhorted to take care in how we raise our children, for the sound morality and values that you instill in them when they are young, will preserve and keep them when they are old.
Vs. 7 The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.
Here we see the injustice of wealth being miss used by those who have it to rule over the poor. That said, a person can keep themselves from being a slave to others by not needlessly borrowing of funds. For again a borrow always becomes a servant to the lender.
Vs. 8 He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow, And the rod of his anger will fail.
Those who sow in sin will reap sorrow, and their wrath will have an end.
Vs. 9 He who has a generous eye will be blessed, For he gives of his bread to the poor.
Those who are generous towards the poor will always find God being generous with them.
Vs. 10 Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave; Yes, strife and reproach will cease.
Removing a scoffer restores peace amongst all those who are true sons and daughters of peace.
Vs. 11 He who loves purity of heart And has grace on his lips, The king will be his friend.
A just king loves those who are of a pure heart, who speak with grace on their lips, therefore he will be their friend. Now the King of all that is pure and true is Jesus, and He always speaks with grace and truth on His lips (John 1:12) therefore He is a friend of everyone who likewise does so.
Vs. 12 The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge, But He overthrows the words of the faithless.
It is from the Lord alone that truth proceeds, and He watches over and preserves all true knowledge of His Word, especially when it is expounded by faithful men, we see this in the words of His prophets, His preachers, and His teachers. However, when someone turns from Him, and twists and distorts His Words, He then overthrows theirs (Deut. 18:21-22).
Vs. 13 The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets!”
The lazy person will say just about anything to get out of work, here they go so far as to say that their life is in peril when no such threat exists.
Vs. 14 The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit; He who is abhorred by the Lord will fall there.
The mouth of an immoral women is not only seductive, but here we are warned that it is a deep pit from which men who yield to her do not return. Those men then whom the Lord abhors He delivers into her hand to let them fall by her to their own ruin. This is just one example of how God judges wicked men in this life and yet they do not perceive it happening to them.
Vs. 15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him.
Children are not obedient by nature; indeed foolishness (also rebellion and stubbornness) are found there, here we are expounded to use corporal punishment as the means to remove it from them when other means fail.
Vs. 16 He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches, And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.
Those who oppress the poor (i.e., exploit them) to increase their riches, are here assured that God who loves justice is storing up poverty for them (this can be either Spiritual poverty or literal poverty or both). Similarly, those who think they can get rich by giving gifts to rich will only find themselves being exploited and or taken advantage of by them.
Vs. 17-21 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your heart to my knowledge; 18 For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; Let them all be fixed upon your lips, 19 So that your trust may be in the Lord; I have instructed you today, even you. 20 Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge, 21 That I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth, That you may answer words of truth To those who send to you?
Heading God’s Word in these Proverbs is not only receiving His instruction for oneself, it is also putting one’s trust in Him, in His Word and His truths, which will preserve you and keep you from the many pitfalls and traps in this life. Such then is His counsels and knowledge that having them in one’s heart and life will not only preserve you, (and make you wise in understanding the Will of the Lord) but it will also make you a person from whom others can and will and will seek Godly counsel from you.
Vs. 22-23 Do not rob the poor because he is poor, Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate; 23 For the Lord will plead their cause, And plunder the soul of those who plunder them.
Here the Holy Scripture firmly forewarns not to take advantage of (i.e. rob) the poor because they are poor, (an example of this could be merchants who overcharge for their goods and services because they know the poor has no other options but to go to them), same with oppressing the afflicted (i.e. the vulnerable) at the gate (i.e. the place where justice was to be wielded) because they don’t have the influence, nor the power that wealth and privilege gives others to get justice for themselves. Therefore sadly they often become easy prey for evil, unscrupulous, and unjust men, (consider Isaiah 10:1-4 then the antithesis Isaiah 11:1-4). Nonetheless the Lord is their Defender, the Lord will always plead their cause, and as the Scripture promises, He will plunder the soul of those who plunder them.
Vs. 24-25 Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man do not go, 25 Lest you learn his ways And set a snare for your soul.
Staying clear of those who are given to anger, wrath, and fury is a good and sound way to keep oneself from being ensnared by the same.
Vs. 26-27 26 Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, One of those who is surety for debts; 27 If you have nothing with which to pay, Why should he take away your bed from under you?
Once again, we are warned about acting as a guarantor for another person’s debts, especially if we are not financially able to cover them without incurring financial hardships, or worse bankruptcy on ourselves. Because when debtors default, creditors don’t care that you thought you were being a stand-up guy for doing so, by acting as their guarantor, all they care about is getting repaid, and they will take whatever measures necessary to secure their loans repayment, even if it means bankrupting you and your family too.
Vs. 28 Do not remove the ancient landmark Which your fathers have set.
Here we are cautioned not to remove the ancient land mark which established the lands boundaries long ago. For these landmarks for Israel were boundaries that were set by God Himself for all the tribes of ancient Israel (see Joshua 13:8-21:45). Unfortunately, unscrupulous people would seek to enlarge their own land or territories by moving these markers that divided the land amongst the tribes’ inheritances in their own favor. Now Believers Bible Commentary wisely notes that there is a spiritual application here and that is seeking to alter the faith the was once and for all time delivered to the saints (Jude 3) which is something that must never be permitted or ever done.
Vs. 29 Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men.
Here we are encouraged to actively seek to be the best that we can be at whatever God has called us and gifted us to do. For truly those who excel at what they do will be both honored by man and rewarded by God.
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