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PROVERBS 22:1-29

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

1. Proverbs 10:1-22:16 forms a literary unit traditionally attributed to Solomon. They form a series of contrasting couplets (i.e., Hebrew parallelism).
     SPECIAL TOPIC: HEBREW POETRY
   
   
2. The best hermeneutical approach to contrasting couplets is to try to put what the figurative language expresses in your own words and then try to find parallel themes, first within Proverbs, then within Wisdom Literature, and then in other parts of the Bible. See Fee and Stuart, How To Read the Bible for All Its Worth, pp. 225-248.
   
   
3. Although there is no definite unifying theme in this section, it seems that warnings against the arrogance and greed of the wealthy is a recurrent emphasis, not only in this section, but throughout the book of Proverbs.
   
   
4. Proverbs 22:17-24:34 is another literary unit called "The Words of the Wise." It has much in common with the Egyptian wisdom of Amen-em-ope. Wisdom sayings were common throughout the ANE (see ANET 421-424).

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 22:1-16
 ¹A good name is to be more desired than great wealth,
 Favor is better than silver and gold.
 ²The rich and the poor have a common bond,
 The Lord is the maker of them all.
 ³The prudent sees the evil and hides himself,
 But the naive go on, and are punished for it.
 ⁴The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord
 Are riches, honor and life.
 ⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
 He who guards himself will be far from them.
 ⁶Train up a child in the way he should go,
 Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
 ⁷The rich rules over the poor,
 And the borrower becomes the lender's slave.
 ⁸He who sows iniquity will reap vanity,
 And the rod of his fury will perish.
 ⁹He who is generous will be blessed,
 For he gives some of his food to the poor.
 ¹⁰Drive out the scoffer, and contention will go out,
 Even strife and dishonor will cease.
 ¹¹He who loves purity of heart
 And whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend.
 ¹²The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge,
 But He overthrows the words of the treacherous man.
 ¹³The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside;
 I will be killed in the streets!"
 ¹⁴The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit;
 He who is cursed of the Lord will fall into it.
 ¹⁵Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
 The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.
 ¹⁶He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself
 Or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

22:1 "A good name is to be more desired than great wealth,
Favor is better than silver and gold"

This is synonymous parallelism. Although the ADJECTIVE "good" is not in the Hebrew text, it is obvious that one's reputation is the emphasis of this verse (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, p. 148, #3). Who we are is more important than what we have.

The term "favor" (BDB 373 II, KB 370-372) is a very common ADJECTIVE. It is best understood by comparing the other places where it is used (i.e., Prov. 3:4; 13:15). BDB lists three English equivalents: "pleasant," "agreeable," and "good," but here it is parallel to one's reputation.

22:2 "The rich and the poor have a common bond" The book of Ecclesiastes uses this same basic phrase but concludes by saying that both die. However, the emphasis here is the creation of all humans by YHWH (cf. Gen. 1:1,26,27). The implications of this unity of all mankind is spelled out rather strikingly in Job 31:15; 34:19; Prov. 14:31; 29:13. We are our brother's keeper because we all are brothers in the sense of creation (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 588-589, #3,b).

22:3 "The prudent sees the evil and hides himself,
But the naive go on, and are punished for it" This phrase is repeated almost exactly in Prov. 27:12. In this verse it is important to make sure of the definitions of the two main terms, "prudent" (BDB 791) and "naive" (BDB 834, KB 984).

1. "Prudent" is the term which was used of the serpent in Gen. 3:1. It is also used in the introduction to the book of Proverbs, Prov. 1:40. It refers to someone who uses thoughtfulness and wisdom in daily living, which comes from a knowledge of God's word.
2. The word "naive" implies one who is willfully untrained or ignorant. It is almost synonymous with the term "fool" (BDB 17). There is an interesting Spanish proverb that is similar to this. It reads, "The fool does in the end what the wise man does at the beginning."

22:4 "The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord
Are riches, honor and life" The NASB has "and" linking the two phrases of v. 4a, but it is quite possible to insert the linking VERB "is" and it may be that the best definition of "humility" (BDB 776, KB 855) is "the fear of the Lord" (cf. Prov. 1:7; NIDOTTE, vol. 2, p. 15). Humility is the willingness to take instruction from another human being (cf. Prov. 15:33; 18:12). The emphasis of this verse is that a spiritual person will reap physical rewards in this life (i.e., riches, honor, and a long life), which is traditional OT theology (i.e., "the two ways"). However, the book of Job and Ps. 73:7 must balance this concept.

The NOUN "reward" (BDB 784, KB 872) is related to the NOUN "heel" (only different vowel points, BDB 784). Here, it means "as a consequence of" or similar to our modern idiom "following closely on the heels of."

SPECIAL TOPIC: FEAR (OT)

22:5 "Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse" As in many of the Proverbs, there is some ambiguity in their proper translation (i.e., LXX has "thorns and snares," but the Peshitta has "snares and traps," REB). Some interpret this as "the plan of the perverse is to put thorns and snares in the way of others whom they are trying to trick." Another interpretation is to say that the thorns and snares are the results (i.e., cause and effect) that God puts in the life of the perverse (cf. Gal 6:7-9; also note Prov. 22:8).

The term "perverse" (BDB 786 I, KB 876 I; NIDOTTE, vol 3, pp. 511-512) means "crookedness" or "twisted" and is a play on the Hebrew word "righteousness," which comes from the concept of "straightness." All of the words for sin, both in Hebrew and Greek, mean a deviation from the standard, which is the nature and character of God.

SPECIAL TOPIC: RIGHTEOUSNESS

▣ "He who guards himself will be far from them" This is the one who gives thoughtful analysis to life in light of God's word and personal presence and then acts appropriately. It has the same general meaning as the word "prudent" (BDB 791) in v. 3.

22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go" This is a very well known verse especially for those parents who have tried to raise their children in the LORD, but whose children have rebelled. However, it is very important that we look at what this meant to the people to whom it was written.

1. The Qal IMPERATIVE "train" (BDB 335, KB 334) in other places in the Bible means "to dedicate something to God" (NIDOTTE, vol. 2, p. 200, #4); it could be the dedication of a house, or a wall, or a temple. Here, it speaks of training our children as an act of dedication to God.
2. There is some question as to what age is being referred to in the use of the word "child"; in later Judaism a girl became a woman at the age of twelve and a boy became responsible to the law at the age of thirteen. It does seem to say that at a very young age the patterns of our personalities and priorities are set. Modern psychology seems to be advocating that even before the age of two years old the personality patterns are in place. This verse seems to be an emphasis on the early home training, both religious and practical, which is so common in Proverbs.
3. The phrase "in the way" is literally "according to his way" (i.e., the child's). This has been interpreted in several ways.
   1. accentuate his strengths
   2. discipline in the areas of his self-centeredness
   3. build godly characteristics into his life at an early age
4. The concluding phrase of this verse is not a promise that if we teach a child about YHWH when he is young that even if he rebels he will someday come back to Him, but it is a promise that if we teach a child about God when he is young he will never depart from Him (UBS Handbook, p. 465). The problem with this statement in light of the modern condition of the church is that we don't have a verse (unless possibly Deut. 7:9, but still it is conditional) to give hope to parents who have tried to raise their children in the right way but, for whatever reason, have not proven successful. This verse cannot be proof texted as a hope for rebellious children who were raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, that one day they will return to Him, although we all hope that this is true, and sometimes it happens. This verse is emphasizing that early training in righteousness will reap consistency in the life of a child. This verse is positive, not negative in its focus! This verse is absent in the LXX but present in the Peshitta.

For a good brief discussion of this verse, see Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 287-288.

22:7 "The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower becomes the lender's slave" The rabbis make an important interpretive point here by saying that the word "rich" (BDB 799) is SINGULAR and the word "poor" (BDB 930) is PLURAL They infer from this that there are few who are rich and many who are poor and we would all agree with that. However, the thrust of this verse seems to be in the second part and is a warning against our borrowing too much money. Now, of course, in the original context it would not speak in exactly the same way as it does to a modern, capitalistic system. The wisdom is that we should not borrow from others because it tends to become economic slavery. I think this is a healthy balance and warning to the materialism and abuse of credit, which is so rampant in our country.

Israelites were not allowed to charge interest on loans to fellow Israelites (cf. Lev. 25:35-37; Deut. 23:19-20), but they could charge interest on loans to foreigners (cf. Deut. 23:19-20). Apparently the first law was not strictly enforced. The wealthy took the poor's

1. land
2. children
3. even himself

for payments due.

SPECIAL TOPIC: WEALTH

22:8 "He who sows iniquity will reap vanity,
And the rod of his fury will perish" This verse in the LXX seems to be the source of Paul's quote in 2 Cor. 9:7. It is even possible that it is the OT source for 2 Cor. 9:6, which is also a quote from the Proverb. The truth expressed here can also be seen in Job 34:11,25; Ps. 28:4; 62:12; Prov. 12:14; 24:12; Eccl. 12:14; Jer. 17:10; 32:19; Ezek. 33:20; Matt. 16:27; 25:31-46; Rom. 2:6; 14:12; 1 Cor. 3:8; 2 Cor. 5:10; Gal. 6:7-10; 2 Tim. 4:14; 1 Pet. 1:17; Rev. 2:23; 20:12; 22:12. It is a general truth of OT wisdom that would apply to several different areas of one's life.

The second phrase has been discussed in many ways. It seems to refer to a symbol of the wicked's rule over the poor and that one day oppressors will pass away. However, others have interpreted this as the judgment and punishment of God on the wicked as seen in the phrase, "the rod of his fury." This is an example of the truth that the Proverbs are general in nature. Not every oppressor is judged by God in this life, but many times, if you give an oppressor enough rope he will hang himself.

The UBS Text Project, p. 517, mentions a lexical alternative to "fury" or "wrath" as "of his work" (NEB), but gives the MT a "B" rating (some doubt).

1. "of his wrath" ‒ עברתו
2. "of his work" ‒ עבדתו

This is the common "R" - "D" confusion caused by the similarity of these consonants in Hebrew.

22:9 "He who is generous will be blessed,
For he gives some of his food to the poor" The word "generous" comes from the Hebrew phrase "a good eye" (BDB 373 II CONSTRUCT BDB 744) and the opposite imagery is "an evil eye" (cf. Prov. 23:6; 28;22). This ocular imagery was very important in the ANE. It can be seen clearly in Matt. 6:22,23.

Proverbs 22:9 also seems to be alluded to in 2 Cor. 9:6, but it must be remembered in this NT concept, that the blessings which God gives to the generous are not so that he can have more money for himself but that he will have more to share with the poor.

SPECIAL TOPIC: WEALTH

22:10 "Drive out the scoffer, and contention will go out,
Even strife and dishonor will cease" This is a general truth that one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. If we remove someone who has a bitter or bad attitude or who does not follow God's ways, all aspects of the community will improve.

▣ "strife" This NOUN (BDB 192) is from the root "to judge." Therefore, this verse is related to a court case.

1. judgment ‒ דין (BDB 192, KB 220)
2. strife ‒ מדון (BDB 193)

22:11 "He who loves purity of heart
And whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend" This verse can be understood in several different ways. Most English translations have been influenced by the LXX translation of this verse. The word "he" which begins v. 11 is understood in the LXX to refer to the king of v. 11b. This interpretation was followed by the Jewish commentator, Rashi, and the reformer, Luther.

However, it may mean that

1. an honest and tactful person easily makes friends, even in places of leadership, like the royal court
2. YHWH loves godly people (LXX, Peshitta, REB)

22:12 "The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge,
But He overthrows the words of the treacherous man" God is watching and judging, not only human motives and actions, but also speech. This may refer to

1. temporal judgment
2. a lawsuit (Arabic root)

SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE USED TO DESCRIBE GOD

SPECIAL TOPIC: HUMAN SPEECH

22:13 "The sluggard says, 'There is a lion outside;
I shall be slain in the streets'" This is similar to Prov. 26:13-16. In essence it is a humorous hyperbole. This is just a wild excuse for the sluggard not to go to work. The LXX seems to imply that he is making two excuses and the second one refers to thugs and murderers in the street who may kill him if he tries to walk to work. But, in context, it seems to refer to an imaginary lion that is loose in the village.

SPECIAL TOPIC: LIONS

22:14 "The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit" The idea of the word "mouth" (BDB 804, KB 914) seems to involve the sales pitch or allurement of an adulteress. A good example is Prov. 2:16-22; 7:13-20.

The PARTICIPLE "adulteress" (BDB 266, KB 267) means "strange woman" (cf. Prov. 2:16; 7:5). It may refer to a pagan prostitute, possibly one who is involved in local fertility worship. Knowing the historical setting of the struggle that the Israelite people had with Ba'al worship makes this a real probability.

SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANE

The MT has the Qal PASSIVE PARTICIPLE (BDB 276, KB 277) which denotes indignant or angry speech. It parallels "mouth" in line 1. The NASB, REB have the translation "cursed" which chooses the connotation of "denounce" or "curse" (KB 276).

22:15 "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of discipline will remove it far from him" This is one of many emphases in the book of Proverbs for the need of corporal punishment to train children (cf. Prov. 3:12; 13:24; 23:14; 29:15,17; also note Deut. 8:5; 2 Sam. 7:14). There is a quote by the Greek philosopher, Menander, which says, "He who is not flogged is not educated." This seems to be some of the emphasis of Prov. 22:6. See good article on "Education in the ANE," found in Roland deVaux, Ancient Israel, pp. 48-50.

Apparently "foolishness" in this context means "willful ignorance and selfishness." All of us have this problem because of our spiritual relationship to Adam (cf. Genesis 3; Rom. 3:9-18,23; Galatians 3).

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FALL

22:16 "He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself
Or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty" There are two major ways of interpreting this verse.

1. It is hard to bribe a rich person.
2. The exploitation of the poor will return to one's own head because there is always one who is more powerful and wealthy than you.

This entire section warns against the inappropriate use of wealth. There is an appropriate use which is not self-oriented but others-oriented. The Fall has made the first use far more common!

SPECIAL TOPIC: WEALTH

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 22:17-21
 ¹⁷Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
 And apply your mind to my knowledge;
 ¹⁸For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
 That they may be ready on your lips.
 ¹⁹So that your trust may be in the Lord,
 I have taught you today, even you.
 ²⁰Have I not written to you excellent things
 Of counsels and knowledge,
 ²¹To make you know the certainty of the words of truth
 That you may correctly answer him who sent you?

22:17 This starts a new literary unit that continues to 24:34. The writers are called "the wise" (i.e., sages at court).

Again, the emphasis is twofold.

1. hear
2. apply

▣ "mind" This is literally the word "heart" (BDB 524, KB 513). In v. 18, "within you" (BDB 105, KB 121) is a parallel. Here, it admonishes readers/hearers to think continually on "the words of the wise." This is similar to the imagery of Deut. 6:4-9.

SPECIAL TOPIC: HEART

22:18 These two lines of poetry reinforce the cause and effect nature of wisdom. To know is not enough. Wisdom is a life of godly choices.

The Hebrew CONJUNCTION (BDB 471) can mean "that," "when," or "because/since."

22:19 This verse emphasizes that true wisdom is linked to YHWH's self revelation.

1. through Moses
2. through the former prophets
3. through the later prophets
4. through the sages

All these sources of revelation are mentioned in Jer. 18:18. They form the divisions of the Hebrew Canon.

SPECIAL TOPIC: HEBREW CANON

▣ "your trust may be in the Lord" See Prov. 3:5.

The MT has "three times" (BDB 1026), but the Masoretic scholars suggested a change to "important matters" (the UBS Text Project, p. 521, gives this a "C" rating [considerable doubt]).

1. MT ‒ שׁלשׁום ("three times")
2. Qere ‒ שׁלישׁים ("important matters", BDB 1026 III)
3. NRSV, REB ‒ שׁלשׁים ‒ ("thirty", BDB 1026)
4. LXX ‒ שׁלשׁם ("three days ago")

22:21 In the first line the VERB "know" (BDB 393, KB 390, Hiphil INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT) has the connotation of "show" or "teach" (BDB 394, cf. Prov. 12:16; 22:19; NRSV, TEV, LXX).

SPECIAL TOPIC: KNOW

▣ In the first line there are two words translated "truth."

1. BDB 905 ‒ found only here
2. BDB 54 ‒ this NOUN appears in the second line

SPECIAL TOPIC: BELIEVE, TRUST, FAITH, AND FAITHFULNESS (OT)

▣ "to him who sent you" The question is to whom does this refer? It may be

1. the king, Prov. 14:35; 22:11 (i.e., a ruler seeking divine counsel)
2. a student (i.e., one seeking information)
3. a leader of a group of sages (i.e., a test)
4. a court case

The Jewish Study Bible, p. 1482, suggests this is a line from Amen-em-ope's prologue (i.e., a famous Egyptian sage).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 22:22-23
 ²²Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
 Or crush the afflicted at the gate;
 ²³For the Lord will plead their case
 And take the life of those who rob them.

22:22-23 These two verses go together. They bring up the recurrent theme of proper treatment of the poor by the wealthy (cf. Ps. 12:5; 35:10; 82:3; 140:12; Prov. 23:11; Jer. 51:36). YHWH cares for the poor, needy, powerless, and oppressed because He made them and loves them! Verse 23b speaks of a death sentence!

Proverbs 22:22-23 may refer to a court case occurring at the gate (see NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 946, #2).

22:22 "at the gate" The gate of ANE walled cities was the place of

1. commerce
2. justice
3. community information

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 22:24-25
 ²⁴Do not associate with a man given to anger;
 Or go with a hot-tempered man,
 ²⁵Or you will learn his ways
 And find a snare for yourself.

22:24-25 These two verses go together. They bring up the recurrent theme of warning about angry people (i.e., Prov. 29:22; and note 1 Cor. 15:33). We become like those who are our close friends (cf. Prov. 1:10-19; 14:17, 29).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 22:26-27
 ²⁶Do not be among those who give pledges,
 Among those who become guarantors for debts.
 ²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay,
 Why should he take your bed from under you?

22:26-27 These two verses go together. They address the issue of borrowing money or being a guarantor of another person's debt (cf. Prov. 6:1; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:7).

Often debt was secured by one's cloak which was used nightly as a sleeping bag. If the debtor failed, the guarantor had to give up his bed (NIDOTTE, vol. 2, p. 1130, #2).

The MT has the Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE "clap" (BDB 1075, KB 1785) plus the FEMININE NOUN (BDB 496, see #1,c, KB 491) which in this context, refers to a hand shake to secure a debt (cf. Prov. 6:1; 17:18; Job 17:3). Hand movements had several meanings in the OT.

1. applause ‒ 2 Kgs. 11:12; Ps. 47:1
   1. figurative of rivers ‒ Ps. 98:8
   2. figurative of trees ‒ Isa. 55:12
2. scorn ‒ Num. 24:10; Job 27:23; Ezek. 6:11; 21:17; 22:13; 25:6; Nah. 3:19
3. spread out in prayer ‒ Exod. 9:29,33; 1 Kgs. 8:38; Ps. 143:6; Lam. 1:17
4. silence ‒ Jdgs. 18:19; Job 21:5; 29:9; 40:4
5. repentance ‒ Prov. 30:32

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 22:28
 ²⁸Do not move the ancient boundary
 Which your fathers have set.

22:28 The land of a family was marked off by colored stones, usually white. To move those stones so as to give yourself more land was a sin against the God who gave those families the land (Deut. 19:14; 27:17; Josh. 12:19; Prov. 23:10). Every 50 years (i.e., the year of Jubilee, cf. Leviticus 25; 27) the land must be returned to the original owners. There is no record of Israel ever practicing this law, therefore, the need for this warning. For an example of the seriousness of this change, see Nehemiah 5.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL, II. C.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 22:29
 ²⁹Do you see a man skilled in his work?
 He will stand before kings;
 He will not stand before obscure men.

22:29 The ADJECTIVE "skilled" (BDB 555, KB 552, cf. Ezra 7:6) is from a root that means "speedy" (i.e., Isa. 16:5). Skilled people must hone their techniques and when they do that act again and again they become fast and proficient. This time spent to improve their skill means no time to fellowship with "obscure men" (BDB 365, KB 362; the root is the same as "darkness"; NIDOTTE, vol. 2, p. 314, #6). This ADJECTIVE appears only here.

Skilled workmen are sought after by kings!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. What great truth is expressed in v. 1?
2. List the benefits of "the fear of the Lord." Check parallel proverbs, starting with Prov. 1:7.
3. How has v. 6 been misinterpreted?
4. How is v. 8 related to Gal. 6:7-10?
5. Who is the subject of v. 11a?
6. Who is "the strange woman" of v. 14?
7. What is vv. 22-23 referring to?
8. Does Proverbs condemn
   1. loaning money
   2. borrowing money
   3. guaranteeing another person's loan
9. Why is v. 28 a violation against God?

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