Proverbs offers wisdom in the ways of behavior that lead to favor and success and blessing. It is about faithfulness and discipline and learning to apply this knowledge, this wisdom. The word often used for wisdom is “ḥokmâ (which) can refer to either practical skills of craftsmanship or the skills of sound judgment and discernment in navigating the situations of daily life.” 3 Those that find this wisdom are “the righteous” and they, in Proverbs 29:6 (LEB) “the righteous will sing and rejoice”. There are also those that are described as “evil”, “greedy” who in Proverbs 28:25 (LEB) “The greedy person will stir up strife”. The same word greedy here is translated “who broadens his throat” in Habakkuk 2:5 (LEB) “How much less the defiant; the arrogant, treacherous man? He who broadens his throat like Sheol, and who, like death, is not satisfied, and who gathers to himself all the nations, and harvested for himself all the peoples, will not succeed”. When these people speak, they often sound authoritative, as if they know what they are talking about because of their arrogance. For the righteous, this can be hard to bear, but we, in Proverbs 29:11 (LEB) “the wise holds back in quiet” and we trust God as in 1 Peter 5:6–7 (LEB) “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the right time, 7 casting all your cares on him, because he cares for you”.
A Man of Faithfulness Has Abundant Blessings
Proverbs 28:16–20
Showing Partiality is Not Good
He Who Trusts in the Lord Will be Enriched
Proverbs 28:25–28
Two types of people are described here in
Proverbs 28:25 (LEB) The greedy person will stir up strife, but he who trusts in Yahweh will be enriched.
First is the greedy where “Greedy is literally “enlarged throat” (Is 5:14) or appetite (Hab 2:5); see the Hebrew word nephesh”1 These are the ones that are “like death, is not satisfied” in
Habakkuk 2:5 (LEB) How much less the defiant; the arrogant, treacherous man? He who broadens his throat like Sheol, and who, like death, is not satisfied, and who gathers to himself all the nations, and harvested for himself all the peoples, will not succeed.
and second is “he who trusts in Yahweh” who “will be enriched” which is to “thrive, formally, grow fat, i.e., be in a healthy state as an extension of eating well and putting on a weight to give a sleek appearance (Dt 31:20+); (piel) give health (Pr 15:30+)2
By Justice a King Gives Stability to a Land
The Righteous Will Sing and Rejoice
Proverbs 29:6–10
Throughout Proverbs there is this contrast between “the righteous” and “the wicked” as in
Proverbs 29:6 (LEB) In transgression, an evil man is a snare, but the righteous will sing and rejoice.
The righteous are also called “the wise”, “the upright”, “the blameless”, “the upright”. These righteous are the ones that “will sing and rejoice”, that “know the case of the poor” that “turn away wrath”.
The wicked are also called “evil”, “men of scoffing”, “a foolish man”, “men of blood”. These wicked are the ones that are “a snare”, that don’t “understand”, that “set a city aflame”, where “there is rankling and ridicule, but there is no relief”, that hate “the blameless”, that “seek the life of the upright”.
It isn’t that difficult for us to identify people in the world that are “evil”, angry, bitter, abusive, but Jesus also warned that there would be those coming in the name of God, that we should “beware of false prophets” and that we would “recognize them by their fruits” in
Matthew 7:15–17 (LEB) “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inside are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits: they do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do they? 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit”.
The Wise Holds Back in Quiet
Proverbs 29:11–14
Here is a contrast between the wise and the fool in
Proverbs 29:11 (LEB) A fool gives all his breath, but the wise holds back in quiet.
or it says it this way in
Proverbs 10:19 (LEB) In many words, transgression is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is prudent.
Is anyone listening when you are talking or are you just talking to hear your own voice? Talking is for the purpose of communicating and the first and most important part of communicating is that the person you are talking to is listening. If you have their attention, honor them by speaking something that matters to them. Have you ever met someone and they unload their drama for the day? They are only interested in what is happening in their life.
But there is also another kind of conversation where they only tell you what you want to hear so they can get what they want. This mainly happens if you are in a position of some authority as in
Proverbs 29:12 (LEB) A ruler listening to a word of falsehood, all his officials are wicked.
It is important to recognize the truth and to treat even the poor with truthfulness as in
Proverbs 29:14 (LEB) A king who judges with truthfulness to the poor, his throne will be established forever.
Study Verses
- Proverbs 28:25–28 He Who Trusts in the Lord Will be Enriched
- Proverbs 29:6–10 The Righteous Will Sing and Rejoice
- Proverbs 29:11–14 The Wise Holds Back in Quiet
Today’s Reading
- Proverbs 28:16-28
- Proverbs 29:1-14
References
- 1. Stabnow, D. K. (2017). Proverbs. In E. A. Blum & T. Wax (Eds.), CSB Study Bible: Notes (p. 997). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
- 2. Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
- 3. Nettelhorst, R. P. (2014). Wisdom. D. Mangum, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, & R. Hurst (Eds.), Lexham Theological Wordbook. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.