Deeper Commentary

Pro 10:1 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father; but a foolish son brings grief to his mother-
Although this is all inspired wisdom, Solomon does seem to have his mind on his own self-justification in the way he expresses it. All his many references to "David my father" suggest his spirituality was a living out of parental expectation. He had been called the "wise son" of David (1 Kings 5:7; 2 Chron. 2:12) even before David died, and he clearly wanted to live out that expectation by asking for wisdom and implying his father would've been so happy with him. Yet his heart was far from personal wisdom, as he later admits in Ecclesiastes.

He says that a wise son makes a glad father, so intent was he on living out his father’s expectations even after David’s death. Because of this he teaches that the King must always be right and be respected, whatever happens (Prov. 16:10-15). He saw himself as the Messianic King and therefore infallible. He again and again failed to realize the conditionality of all God has promised.

Pro 10:2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death-
"Treasures" is Heb. storehouses. Solomon built these for his horses and his wealth. We have a tendency to do the very thing we know is wrong, just as Solomon married Gentile women despite all his warnings against doing so. This is one window on the ability of religious people to be the worse hypocrites.

David appealed to God's righteousness for deliverance from the consequence of his sins (Ps. 71:2). This was appropriate, seeing that David had been saved from death by God's imputation of His righteousness to David (Ps. 32:1-4), by grace through faith; seeing David's sins left him with no righteousness of his own. And it was on this basis that David believed he would continue to be saved / delivered / rescued (s.w. Ps. 51:14 in the Bathsheba context). But Solomon failed to learn from his mother and father's experience of grace, teaching instead that personal righteousness is what saves (Prov. 10:2; 11:4,6).

Pro 10:3 Yahweh will not allow the soul of the righteous to go hungry, but He thrusts away the desire of the wicked-
In the court of Heaven, God “thrusteth away the desire of the wicked” (Prov. 10:3 RV)- as if their prayers are rejected there. And yet Solomon appears to simplistically assume that the righteous never suffer, which the book of Job and other scripture show quite simply not to be the case. It is however true that the righteous would not starve to death; God would always provide for them. And this should be of huge strength to us in our battle against the fears which arise from living in a materialistic society.

Pro 10:4 He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth-
Solomon repeatedly sees poverty as being the fault of the poor, and their refusal of his teaching of wisdom (s.w. Prov. 6:11; 10:4,15; 13:7,8,18,23; 24:34; 28:19; 31:7). Many of these passages are effectively mocking the poor, which Solomon condemns in Prov. 17:5. He fails to take his own wisdom, as we also see in his behaviour with foreign women. Again we see Solomon's works based approach to righteousness, and lack of grace; refusing to accept that we are all poor men before God, as David himself exemplified when he cried to God as a poor man (Ps. 34:6). But his much beloved father David was unashamed to say he was a materially "poor man" (1 Sam. 18:23); and Uriah, whom he wronged, is described also as a "poor man" (2 Sam. 12:1). The poor were to be defended and given to (Ps. 82:3), and the Bible is clear that poverty isn't necessarily a result of sin or unwisdom. But Solomon fails to appreciate this, so obsessed is he with works, and the idea that obedience to his anthology of Proverbs will make the poor prosperous, as if God's truth is a kind of wealth creation scheme. 

Pro 10:5 He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during the harvest is a son who causes shame-
Solomon contrasts wisdom with shame. But he goes too far in saying that the wise gather in harvest time; for that is what most people do, wise or unwise. He seems over enthusiastic to paint those without the wisdom he taught as lazy and shameful. But there are many who reject Divine wisdom who are zealous gatherers of their harvest, and hard workers. As noted elsewhere in Proverbs, it could be that the Lord's parable of the rich fool with great harvests is intended to correct some of these images. For He there presents the man with good harvests as foolish, and lacking wisdom; whereas Solomon claims that good harvests are the reward for the wise, and the foolish don't enjoy that.

Pro 10:6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked-
Solomon repeatedly condemns "the mouth of the wicked" (Prov. 10:6,11,32; 11:11; 12:6; 15:28; 19:28). All he says is true enough, but he clearly enough has in view how his father David had condemned the supporters of Saul and Absalom as having "the mouth of the wicked" (Ps. 109:2). And these were the groups who were threatening his power and throne. Solomon presents himself by implication as having the mouth of the just / righteous. And yet we must note that David too had spoken multiple words of deceit in relation to the murder of Uriah. Indeed the phrase is used in Is. 53:9 as if the Lord Jesus was the only man who didn't have a "mouth of deceit". Solomon like David was in denial of the fact that we all sin with our mouths, as James makes clear in James 3:1-3.

Pro 10:7 The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot-
The Hebrew idea of 'name' is of reputation, and that is demonstrated here by being paralleled with 'memory'. Who we are and what we spiritually achieve will be eternally remembered. Careers, attainment of wealth etc. will fade away [AV "rot"].

Pro 10:8 The wise in heart accept commandments, but a chattering fool will fall-
The same words are used about Moses receiving commandments on Sinai (Ex. 34:4). This is one of many times when the average Israelite was encouraged to rise up to the spirit of Moses. The contrast is between receiving God's word and thus getting into an upward spiral of spirituality; and talking so much that we don't receive God's words. That same tension is found in :14.

Pro 10:9 He who walks blamelessly walks surely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out-
Again Solomon presents life as polar opposites, with the righteous "blameless", walking surely on the path of righteousness; and the wicked whose ways are perverted. But this is not how spiritual reality is; nobody is blameless, the righteous don't walk surely all the time, but slip from the path as David did. And yet this doesn't make them perverts of the way. It was this overly simplistic view of things which led Solomon to assume himself to be a stellar example of spirituality, assured of acceptance with God; and thereby failing to appreciate that for all his wisdom and professed faith, his behaviour was disobedient and hypocritical. This led to him finally turning away from Yahweh. If he had maintained a more realistic and humble view of human spirituality, his own included, then he could have avoided this. 

Pro 10:10 One winking with the eye causes sorrow, and a chattering fool will fall-
The body language of sinners is commented upon several times in the Bible. This is the degree to which God observes human behaviour. And we have wonderful insights into that of the Lord Jesus; His eyes and hands are often as it were zoomed in upon in the Gospel records. Body language is indeed a "signal" of our innermost heart; and for the wicked, they yield all the members of their bodies to work unrighteousness (Rom. 6:19).

Pro 10:11 The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked-
See on :6. Solomon uses the figure of a well of living water to describe spiritual words and thinking (Prov. 10:11; 13:14; 14:27; 16:22). Yet this is the very figure which he uses concerning his worldly bride (Song of Solomon  4:15). It could be argued that this typifies the massive imputation of righteousness which the Lord Jesus grants to us, His worldly Gentile bride. But I would rather see it as an example of how he chose to justify his love for worldly women by as it were clothing those women in his own mind with the imagery of spirituality.

Pro 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all wrongs-
"Covers", not in the sense of turning a blind eye, but of forgiving just as God covers or deals with / atones [Heb. 'covers'] for sin. The "strife" is defined as that between brothers arising from lies (s.w. Prov. 6:19). This is true, and needs to be given its due weight by those who divide brethren in Christ. But Solomon also doubtless has in view the discord between him and his half brothers, who were contenders for his throne. He considers the cause of the divisions to be "lies", a slander campaign against him and his father; and even if there were truth in any of it, he orders it to be covered by love. But the division amongst David's sons was a direct fulfilment of Nathan's prediction of the consequence of David's sins associated with Bathsheba. But Solomon seeks to whitewash David, considering any friction arising from his father's sins as mere slander. He doesn't follow David in openly confessing sin and rejoicing in Divine grace.

Pro 10:13 Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has discernment, but a rod is for the back of him who is void of understanding-
LXX "He that brings forth wisdom from his lips smites the fool with a rod". Solomon has himself in view, but now instead of attributing wisdom to Divine inspiration, he starts to consider that it emanated from himself. When he died, the people complained that he had whipped [Heb. 'beaten'] them unreasonably (1 Kings 12:11). It was Solomon's false view of his wisdom which led him to do this. He assumed that he must be right, he was infallible, because of his possession of Divine truths. He justified indulging his natural human tendency to be overly harsh on others because he claimed he was the source of all wisdom. And again we see a parallel in fundamentalist Christian groups; where the more dogmatic are the claimants to possession of absolute truth about everything, the more they tend to abuse others and show no mercy to any who fail to attain to their supposed wisdom. 

Pro 10:14 Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near ruin-
"Knowledge" is presented as accumulating progressively, as a witness to the acceptability of the wise. But knowledge in this sense is not the basis of justification with God, contrary to what Solomon [and many fundamentalists] liked to think.

Pro 10:15 The rich man’s wealth is his fortified city; the destruction of the poor is their poverty-
This seems to reason as if wealth is a strong city to the wise and righteous of :14, and poverty is the fault of the poor, who are the foolish and wicked of :16. And yet there simply isn't such a direct correlation between wisdom and wealth for the believer; the book of Job and so much Biblical revelation make it clear that the poor are those who tend to respond more to the Gospel (Lk. 7:22). Solomon's choice of wisdom over wealth was indeed pleasing to God, and so he was given wealth by God. But that was a gift by grace. Yet it led Solomon to assume that his wisdom [which was anyway not his own, but God's gift to him] was the basis for his wealth; and that therefore possession of Divine wisdom meant wealth, and thereby poverty was a punishment of God upon the foolish. This is simply not the case.

Pro 10:16 The labour of the righteous leads to life; the increase of the wicked leads to sin-
"Life" and "sin" are placed in antithesis. We would rather read "death" instead of "sin", as death is the opposite of life. But sin can be put for death in that "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). But Solomon here veers towards belief in salvation by works, or "labour". Paul explains that this is simply not the case. "Life" is by grace, through faith and not of works (Rom. 4:6). But the wonder of grace was unknown to Solomon.

Pro 10:17 He is in the way of life who heeds correction, but he who forsakes reproof leads others astray-
This appears to be an out of context allusion to David's words in Ps. 38:14, reflecting on his sin with Bathsheba, and how he felt unable to give reproof to others: "Yes, I am as a man who doesn’t hear, in whose mouth are no reproofs". Solomon was obsessed with David his father, speaking hundreds of times of "David my father". But he failed to have his humility; he endlessly dishes out reproofs in Proverbs, indeed he sees his Proverbs as reproofs to people (e.g. Prov. 1:25; 6:23; 10:17; 12:1; 13:18; 15:5,31; 29:15); whereas David humbly felt unable to do so because of his awareness of his sins. And at the time David wrote the Proverbs, when he received wisdom at the start of his reign, he was sinning likewise [in essence] by marrying foreign women. See on Prov. 7:22.

Pro 10:18 He who hides hatred has lying lips; he who utters a slander is a fool-
Whether we speak the slander or think it and keep our mouth tactfully shut- it's all the same before God. Nicespeak and tact aren't the same as the true spirituality which includes the love which thinks no evil. See on :20. Perhaps Solomon has in view the "hatred" of his brother Amnon (2 Sam. 13:15). The word for "hatred" is used by David in the Psalms, about both the house of Saul and also Solomon's half brothers (see on Ps. 25:19; 103:9; 109:5). All these were contenders to Solomon's throne, and he appears to here condemn them as fools who shall therefore be condemned. This constant focus upon the judgment of others led Solomon to be quite unaware of his personal responsibility to judgment himself. 

Pro 10:19 In the multitude of words there is no lack of disobedience, but he who restrains his lips does wisely-
"The multitude of words" is a phrase quoted from Job 11:2, one of the scriptures which would have been available to Solomon. And the conclusion is that Job's multitude of words was not altogether right, and he would have been wiser to restrain his lips, as he himself realizes at the end.

Pro 10:20 The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth-
The tongue and the heart / mind are paralleled- thoughts are as bad as words. See on :18. I will suggest on :21 and :31 that the "tongue" effectively means 'the teaching'. Solomon's utilitarian attitude still comes through, in his description of the heart of the wicked as 'worth little', whereas the teaching of the righteous is precious as silver. A wicked heart is abomination to God, and not merely 'worth little'.

Pro 10:21 The lips of the righteous feed many, but the foolish die for lack of understanding-
"Feed" is the word for "pastors" in Jer. 12:10. The idea is that "the righteous" are those with "understanding", and it is this understanding which feeds and gives life to others. This is true enough; our sharing with others and influence upon them can indeed lead them to life and not to die eternally. But Solomon appears to again have his own self justification in view; for he considered that he was the preeminently righteous because he was the teacher of Israel, giving them the wisdom given him. But Solomon fell away from Yahweh, even though he says his wisdom remained with him (Ecc. 2:9), and he continued to teach others that wisdom to the end of his life (Ecc. 12:9). And so it was simply not true that teaching others makes a person righteous, as Solomon supposed often in Proverbs (e.g. Prov. 10:21).  .  

Pro 10:22 Yahweh’s blessing brings wealth, and He adds no trouble to it-
Again Solomon presents the advantage of accepting his wisdom as being in that it will give genuine wealth now. But that is not always the case, as so many Biblical characters came to realize. However we can read "The blessing of the Lord has nothing added to it by human toil" (Prov. 10:22 RVmg.). But just because we don’t have to do it, we do. This is the power of grace; it doesn’t force us to monotonous service, but should be a wellspring of fresh motivation, to do perhaps the same things with an ever fresh spirit.

Pro 10:23 It is a fool’s pleasure to do wickedness, but wisdom is a man of understanding’s pleasure-
Solomon sees wisdom as the way to wealth and "pleasure" in this life, and that is the basis for his appeal to men to be wise and accept his wisdom (Prov. 10:23). But David uses the word only of the "pleasure" of the future, restored Kingdom of God on earth (Ps. 126:2); whereas Solomon wanted it all now, just as the 'prosperity gospel' likewise does. And yet as he got older, Solomon realized that such "pleasure" from material things is not in fact pleasure, and he uses the word several times in Ecclesiastes of how pleasure in this life is vain (Ecc. 2:2; 7:3; 10:19). This approach is in fact a contradiction of his seeking after "pleasure" in Proverbs. He came to this nihilistic position because he failed to perceive that the true "pleasure" is not now, but in the future Kingdom.  

Pro 10:24 What the wicked fear will overtake them, but the desire of the righteous will be granted-
This is true in ultimate terms at the day of judgment. But that doesn't seem to be what Solomon has in view. He sees the whirlwind of judgment coming in this life (:25), because he had no clear view of the future Kingdom and judgment. But the book of Job ought to have led Solomon to a more subtle view of the difference between the wicked and the righteous. The thing righteous Job greatly feared came upon him (Job 3:25), as did the whirlwind of apparent judgment (:25). 

Pro 10:25 When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more; but the righteous stand firm forever-
'Have an eternal foundation'. Who we are now is the basis of who we will eternally be. Hence the supreme importance of character formation and personality developed in this life. See on :24; Ps. 35:5.

Pro 10:26 As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him-
The Proverbs contain repeated condemnation of laziness. Lack of a zealous work ethic is a rejection of wisdom, according to Solomon. As Solomon explains in Ecc. 1, he was an active person, not lazy by nature. And yet he lacked spirituality. He claimed that his service of God was due to his spirituality, but it was in reality merely a semblance of serving God when it was really just reinforcing his own personality type. His mocking of the "sluggard" or "lazy one" is so frequent (Prov. 6:6,9; 10:26; 13:4; 15:19; 19:24; 20:4; 21:25; 22:13; 24:30; 26:13-16). But it is a reflection of his own works-based approach to righteousness; the 'wise' "do" good things, and the wicked don't do enough good things. Personal spiritual mindedness and relationship with God are simply not emphasized.

Pro 10:27 The fear of Yahweh prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened-
Solomon claims that the righteous / wise live long lives, and therefore the unwise have shorter lives (Prov. 9:11; 10:27). This was the promise for obedience to the old covenant (s.w. Dt. 11:21). But it is not always the case, as Job learned (s.w. Job 29:18); righteous men like David and Hezekiah felt their days had been shortened (s.w. Ps. 89:45; 102:23). And it was so with the Lord Jesus. And faithful men often lament that the wicked seem to get long life, whilst the righteous don't. The answer to that conundrum is that final blessing of long life is at the resurrection, at the last day; and not in this life. But Solomon didn't see that; he thought that long life now was the only reward. He failed to perceive the real meaning of the Gospel of the Kingdom.   

Pro 10:28 The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish-
David's "hope / expectation" in the context of Ps. 62:5 was the continuation of his own kingdom, despite all the threats against it from the likes of Saul, Absalom and others who would usurp his Davidic kingship and kingdom. Solomon likely uses the word for "expectation" with the same subtext; that all opposition to him was based upon a false expectation which would be dashed by God (s.w. Prov. 10:28; 11:7,23; 23:18; 24:14).

Pro 10:29 The way of Yahweh is a stronghold to the upright, but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity-
The very process of walking in the right way, in the hour by hour business of spiritual life, indeed confirms us in that way. God's way is designed to confirm those who walk in it; and those who work iniquity are caused to stumble further by it into destruction. "The workers of iniquity" is a phrase repeatedly used by Solomon's father David concerning the supporters of Saul, and also those supporting David's half brothers- all of which were groups who were potential contenders for Solomon's throne. See notes on Ps. 5:5; 6:8; 14:4; 28:3; 36:12; 53:4; 59:2; 64:2; 92:7,9; 94:4,16; 101:8; 125:5; 141:4,9. So whilst Solomon speaks truly, so far as it goes, he uses language which subtly condemns his political opponents. Thus he harnessed God's truth towards his own self justification, as many do today.  

Pro 10:30 The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land-
David in his earlier Psalms exalts and boasts to God that his feet have not slipped, indeed he was overly confident that his feet would never slip / "be moved" (Ps. 17:5; 21:7; 55:22; 62:2,6; 125:1). His more mature reflection is that he had wrongly said "I shall never slip [AV "be moved"]" (Ps. 30:6), and his feet had indeed slipped, not least over the Bathsheba incident (Ps. 38:16; 94:18). Solomon didn't learn this lesson, for he likewise assumed that the righteous would never be moved / slip (Prov. 10:30), although he appears to accept that even a righteous man like his father had indeed slipped (Prov. 25:26). And Solomon himself did so, not learning the lesson from his father's mistaken assumption that the righteous can never slip.

"He will never be shaken" is spoken in Ps. 112:6 in the context of the outcome of the final judgment. Being unmoved or never shaken is a major theme of the Psalms of David. Human beings naturally seek for stability, but look for it in the wrong places, imagining that their idols shall never be shaken (s.w. Is. 40:20; 41:7). It is only the receipt of eternal salvation at the last day which means we shall never be moved; that is the only ultimate stability (Ps. 62:2,6 s.w.). Their stability will be associated with that of God's eternal Kingdom to be centered upon Zion (s.w. Ps. 125:1). For in secular life under the sun, the righteous do suffer and their lives are "shaken". Solomon's statements that the righteous shall never be shaken / moved (Prov. 10:30; 12:3) are only ultimately true in this sense; but whether he spoke them with that understanding is debatable.   

Pro 10:31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off-
This again is true as it stands, but Solomon puts all the focus upon holding true wisdom / teaching, and then teaching it. He sees this as the basis for being righteous. Solomon of course was the one who had the wisdom and taught it, so he is justifying himself as "righteous" thereby. But he was not a spiritual person, he lived otherwise to that wisdom, and fell away from his faith in Yahweh. The problem with holding and teaching Divine truth is that we are tempted to think that this thereby justifies us. But alone, it doesn't. See on :32.

Pro 10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked is perverse-
See on :6,31. Solomon again presents an overly simplistic position; the lips of the righteous are good, and those of the wicked are bad. But the reality is that righteous people say some bad things at times, and are saved by grace. James is far closer to spiritual reality when he writes that the tongue is an uncontrollable evil, and none of us succeed in not offending any by our words, and in this context of the tongue, "in many things we offend all" (James 3:2). The conclusion therefore is that we must cast ourselves upon God's grace. But this was something Solomon knew nothing about.