We continue proverbs collected by Hezekiah.
Proverbs 29:1, Stubborn till the end
A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes
will suddenly be destroyed--without remedy.
It is important to listen to and evaluate criticism. Here the stubborn person refuses to acknowledge their stubbornness and eventually comes to ruin. (See Proverbs 1:24-33 for a description of those who stubbornly turn away from Wisdom.)
Proverbs 29:2, Rejoice or groan?
When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice;
when the wicked rule, the people groan.
This repeats the idea of 28:12. See also Proverbs 11:10 and Amos 5:13. All of society is affected by the general righteousness or unrighteousness, justice or injustice, of its leaders. (This is certainly true even in a democracy.)
Proverbs 29:3, Wisdom, not prostitutes
A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father,
but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.
A wise son brings joy to his father -- as many proverbs point out -- and one result of his wisdom is that he does not visit prostitutes! (Or stripclubs, etc., etc.) As Alter points out here, the advice is financial: the prostitutes will take all your money!
A somewhat similar proverb is 28:7 (although gluttony, not prostitutes, is the threat); see also 10:1.
Proverbs 29:4, Justice or greedy for bribes?
By justice a king gives a country stability,
but one who is greedy for bribes tears it down.
As in verse 2, justice gives stability, injustice brings chaos.
Proverbs 29:5, Deadly flattery
Whoever flatters his neighbor
is spreading a net for his feet.
Flattery is not good. But what is the net? Is a trap or snare? Or a safety net? In context, it seems to be a snare. (See also 28:23 and 27:5-6.) The snare shows up explicitly in the next verse.
Proverbs 29:6, Snared by sin
An evil man is snared by his own sin,
but a righteous one can sing and be glad.
There is a lot of peace that comes from honesty and righteousness. The evil person is always worried about getting caught or forgetting one of his lies.
Proverbs 29:7, No justice, no peace
The righteous care about justice for the poor,
but the wicked have no such concern.
Care for the poor. This instruction is repeated often in Proverbs.
Proverbs 29:8, Fan the flames
Mockers stir up a city,
but wise men turn away anger.
Mockers here cause division and anger. The wise learn to de-escalate and calm people down. (I live in a culture with a damaging emphasis on fearmongering. It is described by the first line of this proverb.)
The NIV dampens down the verb yafichu to "stir up" (a city) but the word is literally "set aflame" or (Alter) "fan the flames".
Proverbs 29:9, A fool in court
If a wise man goes to court with a fool,
the fool rages and scoffs, and there is no peace.
Why go to court? It is a waste of time with the fool.
Proverbs 29:10, Bloodthirsty
Bloodthirsty men hate a man of integrity
and seek to kill the upright.
It can apparently be dangerous to be upright and a man of integrity!
Proverbs 29:11, No self-control
A fool gives full vent to his anger,
but a wise man keeps himself under control.
Once again, self-control, especially control of the tongue is a characteristic of the wise man.
Proverbs 29:12, Corruption
If a ruler listens to lies,
all his officials become wicked.
Corruption descends from the top.
Proverbs 29:13, YHWH gave them eyes
The poor man and the oppressor have this in common:
The LORD gives sight to the eyes of both.
YHWH give eyes to the poor and the oppressor; He is creator of the rich and poor, Proverbs 22:2 and the small and great go into the grave together, Job 3:19. Since YHWH gives eyes to both poor man and oppressor then He also sees both. This then, is a warning for the oppressor.
Proverbs 29:14, Know justice, know peace
If a king judges the poor with fairness,
his throne will always be secure.
In verse 12, an evil ruler leads to evil leaders; here a just ruler leads to a stable kingdom.
Proverbs 29:15, Correct the child
The rod of correction imparts wisdom,
but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.
This is one of many proverbs that emphasize the necessity of disciplining children. (See verse 17, below, for another one.)
Proverbs 29:16, Living to see their downfall.
When the wicked thrive, so does sin,
but the righteous will see their downfall.
Eventually the righteous win out, says this proverb. I hope so. It takes a long time.
Proverbs 29:17, Disciplined delight
Discipline your son, and he will give you peace;
he will bring delight to your soul.
See verse 15. A disciplined child grows up to be a delight and a peacemaker for the home. Alter translates the last line as "...offer delicacies for you palate."
Proverbs 29:18, A visionary leader
Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint;
but blessed is he who keeps the law.
Revelation here means vision, leadership. It is necessary for a country.
Proverbs 29:19, Not just words
A servant cannot be corrected by mere words;
though he understands, he will not respond.
Is the servant the same, here, as a fool? The culture of the ANE concerns itself not only with training up children but also training up servants.
Proverbs 29:20, Speaks too quickly
Do you see a man who speaks in haste?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
This is one of a number of proverbs that claim (with a little hyperbole) that a certain characteristic is even worse that being a fool. Here the bad characteristic is hasty speech.
Proverbs 29:21, Don't pamper your servant!
If a man pampers his servant from youth,
he will bring grief in the end.
Here, again, training a servant is viewed in a manner similar to training a child (see verses 15 and 17.) Of course, this is all in the realm of the ANE culture, in which servants might grow up within the home of the rich family.
Proverbs 29:22, Hot temper
An angry man stirs up dissension,
and a hot-tempered one commits many sins.
As in verses 11 and 20, losing one's temper is evidence of foolishness and sinfulness. (See also 14:17, 15:18 and many other proverbs.)
Proverbs 29:23, Pride, again
A man's pride brings him low,
but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.
True humility is praised throughout Proverbs and (arrogant) pride is always condemned.
Proverbs 29:24, Accomplices
The accomplice of a thief is his own enemy;
he is put under oath and dare not testify.
The accomplice of a thief is trapped. He cannot testify without incriminating himself but lying under oath has its own dangers. (The dangers of accompanying lawbreakers is expanded on early in Proverbs, see 1:10-19.)
Proverbs 29:25-26, Who do you trust?
Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.
Many seek an audience with a ruler,
but it is from the LORD that man gets justice.
The person who trusts in YHWH is safe, both in front of the king or before any audience. (See Psalm 146:3. For a New Testament example of a Jew patiently trusting YHWH before a king, see Acts 24:25-27, where Paul speaks before Felix.)
Proverbs 29:27, Detest
The righteous detest the dishonest;
the wicked detest the upright.
The wicked are jealous of the success of the righteous -- and the righteous have contempt for the wicked.
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