Proverbs

CHAPTER 10

A wise son gives his father joy,

but a foolish son is a grief to his mother.^{* a}

but justice saves from death.^{* b}

but the craving of the wicked he thwarts.^*

but the busy hand brings riches.^c

a son who slumbers during harvest, a disgrace.

but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.^*

but the name of the wicked will rot.^*

but a babbling fool will be overthrown.^*

but one whose ways are crooked will fare badly.

but one who frankly reproves promotes peace.

but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

^d but love covers all offenses.^*

but a rod for the back of one without sense.^*

but the mouth of a fool is imminent ruin.

the ruin of the poor is their poverty.^*

the gains of the wicked, to futility.^{* e}

but whoever disregards reproof goes astray.^f

and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

but those who restrain their lips do well.^g

the heart of the wicked is of little worth.

but fools die for want of sense.^*

and no effort can substitute for it.^*

but wisdom is for the person of understanding.

but the desire of the just will be granted.

but the just are established forever.

are sluggards to those who send them.

but the years of the wicked are cut short.ⁱ

but the expectation of the wicked perishes.^*

downfall for evildoers.

but the wicked will not abide in the land.

but the perverse tongue will be cut off.

but the mouth of the wicked, perversion.^*

* [10:1–22:16] The Proverbs of Solomon are a collection of three hundred and seventy-five proverbs on a wide variety of subjects. No overall arrangement is discernible, but there are many clusters of sayings related by vocabulary and theme. One thread running through the whole is the relationship of the “son,” the disciple, to the parents, and its effect upon the house(hold). In chaps. 10–14 almost all the proverbs are antithetical; “the righteous” and “the wicked” (ethical), “the wise” and “the foolish” (sapiential), and “the devout, the pious” and “the irreverent” (religious). Chapters 15–22 have fewer sharp antitheses. The sayings are generally witty, often indirect, and are rich in irony and paradox.

* [10:1] The opening saying ties the whole collection to the first section, for “son,” “father,” and “mother” evoke the opening line of the first instruction, “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and reject not your mother’s teaching.” The son is the subject of parental exhortation throughout chaps. 1–9. This is the first of many sayings on domestic happiness or unhappiness, between parents and children (e.g., 15:20; 17:21) and between husband and wife (e.g., 12:4; 14:1). Founding or maintaining a household is an important metaphor in the book.

Adult children represented the family (headed by the oldest married male) to the outside world. Foolishness, i.e., malicious ignorance, brought dishonor to the parents and the family.

* [10:2] Death: untimely, premature, or sorrowful. The word “death” can have other overtones (see Wis 1:15).

* [10:3] The last of the three introductory sayings in the collection, which emphasize, respectively, the sapiential (v. 1), ethical (v. 2), and religious (v. 3) dimensions of wisdom. In this saying, God will not allow the appetite of the righteous to go unfulfilled. The appetite of hunger is singled out; it stands for all the appetites.

* [10:6] This saying, like several others in the chapter, plays on the different senses of the verb “to cover.” As in English, “to cover” can mean to fill (as in Is 60:2) and to conceal (as in Jb 16:18). Colon B can be read either “violence fills the mouth (= head) of the wicked” or “the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” The ambiguity is intentional; the proverb is meant to be read both ways.

* [10:7] The name of the righteous continues to be used after their death in blessings such as “May you be as blessed as Abraham,” but the wicked, being enemies of God, do not live on in anyone’s memory. Their names rot with their bodies.

* [10:8] The wise take in instruction from their teachers but those who expel or pour out folly through their words will themselves be expelled.

* [10:12] Love covers all offenses: a favorite maxim in the New Testament; cf. 1 Cor 13:7; Jas 5:20; 1 Pt 4:8. Cf. also Prv 17:9.

* [10:13] An unusual juxtaposition of “lips” and “back.” Those who have no wisdom on their lips (words) are fated to feel a punishing rod on their back.

* [10:15] An observation rather than a moral evaluation of wealth and poverty; but cf. 18:10–11.

* [10:16] Wages are a metaphor for reward and punishment. The Hebrew word does not mean “sin” here but falling short, a meaning that is frequent in Proverbs. Cf. Rom 6:21: “But what profit did you get then from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.”

* [10:21] The wise by their words maintain others in life whereas the foolish cannot keep themselves from sin that leads to premature death.

* [10:22] Human industry is futile without divine approval; cf. Ps 127:1–2; Mt 6:25–34.

* [10:28] The thought is elliptical. Joy comes from fulfillment of one’s plans, which the righteous can count on. The opposite of joy thus is not sadness but unfulfillment (“perishes”).

* [10:32] The word used for “favor” is favor shown by an authority (God or the king), not favor shown by a peer. A righteous person’s words create a climate of favor and acceptance, whereas crooked words will not gain acceptance. In Hebrew as in English, straight and crooked are metaphors for good and wicked.

a. [10:1] Prv 1:1; 15:20; 17:25; 19:13; 25:1; 29:15.

b. [10:2] Prv 11:4, 6.

c. [10:4] Prv 6:11; 12:24; 13:4; 20:13; 28:19.

d. [10:12] 1 Cor 13:4–7; 1 Pt 4:8.

e. [10:16] Prv 11:18–19.

f. [10:17] Prv 15:10.

g. [10:19] Prv 17:27; Sir 20:17; Jas 1:19.

h. [10:22] Sir 11:22.

i. [10:27] Prv 3:2; 4:10; 9:11; 14:27.