Commentary on Proverbs by Richard L. Schultz

Author:Richard L. Schultz [Burge, Gary M. and Andrew E. Hill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Bible Commentary/Old Testament, REL006050, REL006060
ISBN: 9781493424542
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2019-10-24T00:00:00+00:00

According to Proverbs 12:11, “Those who work their land”—like the figure in this wooden model, who is plowing with two oxen (Egypt, second millennium BC)—”will have abundant food.” [Copyright © Baker Photo Archive. Courtesy of the British Museum.]

Proverbs 12:8–12 focuses on work. One’s reputation should be derived from one’s prudence (12:8), not from one’s pretense (12:9). On the farm, righteousness expresses itself even in one’s treatment of animals (12:10) and wisdom in diligently tilling the field to produce plentiful crops (12:11). Metaphorically speaking, employing a wordplay connected to agriculture, the righteous person’s “root” yields fruit (12:12). An additional word repetition is suggestive: those who lack sound judgment (12:11b) will likely lack bread (12:9b). The wicked, however, are not content to “chase fantasies” (12:11b), preferring a “snare” to capture prey (12:12a; cf. KJV “net”; the NIV’s “stronghold” substitutes the object for the instrument—the meaning here is disputed).

Speech is the focus of the lengthy unit 12:13–23. Ironically connected to the preceding verse (12:12a), evil persons can themselves be “snared” (NIV “trapped”) by their own defiant utterances (12:13a), although one’s lips can bear good “fruit” as well (12:14a). The wise heed spoken advice, while fools think they need none (12:15). The shrewd also ignore an insult, while fools immediately respond by displaying their vexation (12:16; cf. 9:7). In a legal setting, honest rather than deceitful testimony is sought (12:17); both inside and outside the court, words can hurt or heal (12:18). Truth will ultimately prevail, much to the joy of those promoting peace, but lies will be exposed, as will the deceitful hearts that spawned them (12:19–20). Trouble will therefore overwhelm the wicked, while the righteous will be spared (12:21; cf. 22:8), because the Lord detests lying lips while approving of those who are trustworthy (12:22; cf. 12:2). Thus speech is a key area in which the wise and the foolish greatly differ. The wise do not tell all they know; the foolish loudly proclaim their folly (12:23, also 12:15–16).

Work’s reward is mentioned in passing in verse 14b; in verses 24–27, the contrast between the diligent and the lazy frames a brief unit. The diligent will rise to exercise authority over others or at least enjoy hearty meals, while the lazy will descend to conscripted labor or at least go hungry (12:24, 27). Verse 25 recalls another important power from the preceding section—the healing power of the tongue (cf. 12:18b). If one modifies the vowels of its first word, 12:26 affirms that “the righteous has an advantage over his neighbor” (Heim, 157), as illustrated in verse 27, since the righteous are, in Proverbs’ conceptual world, both wise and diligent. Verse 28 concludes the chapter, contrasting the “way of the wicked” (12:26) with the “way of righteousness” (12:28), which leads not simply to a long and full life but even to an unending life (literally “no death”; NIV “immortality”; see also Waltke 2004, 518).

13:1–25. Following an introductory proverb affirming the receptivity of the wise (13:1), Proverbs 13:2–6 briefly takes up themes of the previous

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