We continue a series of bicolons of antithetical paralallisms. (There, doesn't that sound academic!?)
Proverbs 19:1, Perverse lips.
Better a poor man whose walk is blameless
than a fool whose lips are perverse.
Poverty and integrity are better than the life of the fool. As in many other places, folly is attached to quality of speech. Kidner points out that this verse "sharply exposes the false values behind the behaviour reported in verses 6 and 7." Proverbs 28:6 is a similar verse.
Proverbs 19:2, Knowledge over zeal
It is not good to have zeal without knowledge,
nor to be hasty and miss the way.
Knowledge and background information is important. Take time; be careful with decisions.
The Hebrew text begins this verse with "also", linking this proverb to the previous one (Kidner.)
Proverbs 19:3, Own folly ruins him ... but
A man's own folly ruins his life,
yet his heart rages against the LORD.
The fool does not see that he has created his own ruin and instead blames everything on God. (In the modern culture, the fool would blame his problem on others or "fate", bad luck.)
Proverbs 19:4, Wealth looks valuable
Wealth brings many friends,
but a poor man's friend deserts him.
Is wealth good? Here there is an observation thst wealth apparently brings friends. (But are they true friends? No suggestion otherwise is made. Alter says that this is a "disenchanted oberservation" more at home in Ecclesiastes.
Proverbs 19:5, Integrity
A false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who pours out lies will not go free.
Lies are punished. (Hopefully!? The Old Testament gives examples of apparent exceptions to this justice.)
Proverbs 19:6, Currying favor
Many curry favor with a ruler,
and everyone is the friend of a man who gives gifts.
Here is another verse on bribery on the apparent success of gifts and bribery. Compare this with verse 1.
Proverbs 19:7, The social attitudes of poverty
A poor man is shunned by all his relatives--
how much more do his friends avoid him!
Though he pursues them with pleading,
they are nowhere to be found.
This is a strangely doubled proverb on the impact of poverty, Alter says that the Hebrew text is confusing and is unusual in its length.
Proverbs 19:8, Seek wisdom
He who gets wisdom loves his own soul;
he who cherishes understanding prospers.
As stated in many other places, wisdom is promoted as very important and advantageous. See chapter 8, especially verses 35-36,
Proverbs 19:9, Justice
A false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who pours out lies will perish.
See verse 5.
Proverbs 19:10, Upside down
It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury-
how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!
This is one of a number of proverbs in which the societal image is upside down, in which one is expected to say, "No, life should not be this way!" In the society of a the ANE, princes were to be (honest) rulers and slaves (or servants) had their place. And so a fool should receive the penalty for their folly; they should not live in luxury! Similar upside-down proverbs (cited by Kidner) are Proverbs 11:22, 17:7, 26:1, 30:21-23.
Proverbs 19:11, Overlook slights
A man's wisdom gives him patience;
it is to his glory to overlook an offense.
It is a glory (Hebrew tipharah, literally "beautiful") to be wise enough to overlook an offense.
Proverbs 19:12, Seek the king's favor
A king's rage is like the roar of a lion,
but his favor is like dew on the grass.
There is a beautiful and somewhat dramatic transition between the fearsome specter of a lion roaring and the calming image of dew on the grass. The point is, which would you prefer?
Proverbs 19:13-14, Constant dripping
A foolish son is his father's ruin,
and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.
Houses and wealth are inherited from parents,
but a prudent wife is from the LORD.
Proverbs 27:15-16 expands on the "dripping" metaphor for a nagging wife. This is a vivid image understood by anyone who has listened in the night to a faucet that refuses to turn off, who has listened to the plunk-plunk-plunk of the water drops echoing in the sink.
In the next line the (male) writer recognizes that a prudent wife (see Proverbs 31:10-31) is indeed a gift from God and greatly to be appreciated.
Proverbs 19:15, Sleep then hunger
Laziness brings on deep sleep,
and the shiftless man goes hungry.
In much of life there is a considerable delay in actions (or lack of action) and their consequences. The person who stays in bed when they should be working may eventually go hungry. (See Proverbs 20:4.)
Proverbs 19:16, Obey instructions
He who obeys instructions guards his life,
but he who is contemptuous of his ways will die.
There are deadly consequences to ignoring instruction and warning. (It is not clear to me what it means to be contemptous of one's ways
Proverbs 19:17, Kind to the poor
He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD,
and he will reward him for what he has done.
Kidner points out that in the New Testament, Jesus gives the parable of the sheep and the goats, a parable that reflects this idea. The final statement in the parable (Matthew 25:40) says, in essence, that being kind to the poor and vulnerable is being kind to the Messiah King.
Proverbs 19:18, Do not be lazy in discipline
Discipline your son, for in that there is hope;
do not be a willing party to his death.
A parent learns that genuine love for children leads, occasionally, to stern discipline. Indeed, even in some situations with adults, there can be a certain cruelty is letting someone get away with their addictions or dysfunctions, without providing a caring confrontation.
Proverbs 19:19, Hot temper
A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty;
if you rescue him, you will have to do it again.
The hot-tempered person is often unwilling to learn -- and so rescuing them from a penalty may just lead to more problems. (There is a certain consistency in this verse with the previous -- one deals with an adult, the other a child.)
Proverbs 19:20, Advice
Listen to advice and accept instruction,
and in the end you will be wise.
A standard theme: pay attention to instruction!
Proverbs 19:21, Plans and results
Many are the plans in a man's heart,
but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
This verse on man's plans argues that the eventual outcome is in God's hands, and quite possibly, out of our hands. Both Alter and Kidner quote, here, the English proverb, "Man proposes but God disposes."
Proverbs 19:22, Unfailing love
What a man desires is unfailing love;
better to be poor than a liar.
Proverbs 19:23, Submission
The fear of the LORD leads to life:
Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.
Contentment and security is certainly a human desire; here, says the Teacher, it begins with submission to YHWH.
Proverbs 19:24, Hand in the dish
The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he will not even bring it back to his mouth!
This is one of my favorite pictures of laziness! The hyperbolic statement give the image of someone so lazy that when they are eating, they can't even bring their hand up to their mouth! (I would say more but it is not easy for me to type when I am in my lounge chair, covered by a blanket, refusing to sit at my desk.)
Proverbs 19:25, Flogging vs. rebuke
Flog a mocker, and the simple will learn prudence;
rebuke a discerning man, and he will gain knowledge.
A wise man picks up on a simple rebuke but it takes much more severe action to get the attention of a mocker. Kidner says, here, that there are three types of minds -- the one that is closed (resistant), the one that is empty (simple) and the one that is open (willing to learn.) Be the last one.
Proverbs 19:26, Shame and disgrace
He who robs his father and drives out his mother
is a son who brings shame and disgrace.
Oh, the pain of a child abusing his/her parents! And the disgrace to all. (As I type this, the father of the Oxford school shooter has just been sentenced to prison, following his son.)
Proverbs 19:27, Listen to instruction
Stop listening to instruction, my son,
and you will stray from the words of knowledge.
If one wants to stay on the straight path, one should keep listening to instruction and guidance. There is no time to stop. The two paths before one are described in Psalm 1.
Proverbs 19:28-29, Mockery
A corrupt witness mocks at justice,
and the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.
Penalties are prepared for mockers,
and beatings for the backs of fools.
The chapter ends with a warning about the penalties coming to fools. But the verse before it gives a vivid image of the wicked not just sipping at evil, but gulping it down!
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