Deeper Commentary
Pro 14:1 Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears
it down with her own hands-
Solomon here continues the spirit of his mother's advice to him about a
good wife in Prov. 31; for the virtuous woman is pictures as building up the
house / family. Solomon repeats his mother's wisdom about women, whilst
disobeying it in practice, as noted througout Prov. 31. It is one thing to
discern and teach truth; but quite another to personalize it and live by it.
The very possession of that truth, and the experience of teaching it, can
lead us to disobey it because we assume that mere possession of it justifies
us.
Pro 14:2 He who walks in his uprightness fears Yahweh, but he who is
perverse in his ways despises Him-
The Hebrew for "perverse" is literally 'the one who turns aside',
implying they were once on the right path but had left it. It would seem
that Solomon has in view the house of Saul, who were potential contenders
for his throne.
Pro 14:3 The fool’s talk brings a rod to his back, but the lips of the
wise protect them-
Discipline and punishment of the unwise is a big theme in Solomon's
Proverbs. He took it to the extent of whipping his own people (1 Kings
12:11). This abusive attitude to people arose from his obsession with the
idea that he had wisdom, and people generally are fools, idiots, unwise-
and therefore he could abuse them. This abusive attitude to people is
another outcome of believing that mere possession of truths about God
justifies us, and declares all other people foolish, unwise and able to be
legitimately abused by us. In contrast, the heart of God (as of David)
bleeds for such people and wants to save them rather than gloat in their
unwisdom and punish them for it.
Pro 14:4 Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase is by the
strength of the ox-
This is a fair enough observation, but again Solomon falls into the
mindset of believing that blessing / increase comes about by strength and
hard work. Whereas the consistent Biblical message is that blessing is by
grace, and the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, as
Solomon later mused (Ecc. 9:11). Power and strength are of God, and from
nothing else.
Pro 14:5 A truthful witness will not lie, but a false witness pours out
lies-
This may sound like a pointless statement of the obvious an axiomatic.
But we likely need to read in an ellipsis; the truthful always
testify honestly, and liars always lie. But this is simply not
the case. Solomon utterly fails to recognize that human behaviour is a
jagged graph, good people sin, and bad people do good things; we are saved
not by consistent, stellar living before God, but by faith in His grace.
But he fails to perceive this, when he should have learnt it from his
father's experiences and his Psalms.
Pro 14:6 A scoffer seeks wisdom, and doesn’t find it, but knowledge comes
easily to a discerning person-
It is true that those who claim not to understand God's truth, or who
say it's too difficult to interpret, are in fact exercising their own
psychological agenda. Subconsciously they don't want to accept His truth,
and so they claim not to understand, or cite difficulties in
interpretation. Jn. 7:17 is relevant here: "If anyone wills to do His
will, he shall know of this teaching, whether it is of God, or I speak
from myself". He who wishes above all things to live God's life, to have
His Spirit, to live the life eternal with Him... they will intuitively
know whether the Lord's doctrine is right or not. This intuitive element
is in fact what leads to faith in the first place. There is a strong
tendency to talk this down, and assume that it is by intellectual process
that a person decides what is true or otherwise. But all appeal to
intellectual process alone to decide 'truth' is flawed. For we are talking
of spiritual things and not material. And legitimate intellectual process
varies between persons. They may come to different conclusions about the
same teaching which they analyze. And some are far more capable of
intellectual analysis than others. There has to be something beyond
intellectual process to decide truth. Here the Lord expresses this as a
willing to do God's will, a heart for God, a desire for eternity. In a
word, we must be open to the things of the Spirit. And then, the teachings
make sense and there is an intuitive congruence between them and our own
spirit.
Pro 14:7 Stay away from a foolish man, for you won’t find knowledge on his
lips-
This is true. There is no Old Testament concept of excommunication or
disfellowship of those who taught wrongly or were unwise; rather the
simple advice is to keep away from them and their teaching.
Pro 14:8 The wisdom of the prudent is to think about his way, but the
folly of fools is deceit-
The idea is that not examining our way is the same as foolish self
deceit. Self examination is a fundamental part of the way of life. But the
word for "deceit" is so often used by David in the Psalms about his
opponents, and their supporters and families were Solomon's opponents too.
And he writes them off as all fools who are self deceived.
Pro 14:9 Fools mock at making atonement for sins, but among the upright
there is good will-
AV "make a mock at sin", as if a lighthearted attitude to sin is the
way of foolishness. But equally, as NEV, the idea may be that fools have
no conscience about the seriousness of their sins, and their need for
atonement. The "upright" surely ought to be commended for making atonement
for their sins. But that is lacking in the parallelism. Solomon sees a
simplistic division between fools who sin, and the upright who don't sin.
When [as he should have learned from his father David's life], sin is to
be found in all. "There is good will" is hard to interpret. The sense may
be as in LXX "the houses of the just are acceptable", i.e. they need no
atonement, as far as Solomon wanted to see it. Or we may interpret with
GNB "Foolish people don't care if they sin, but good people want to be
forgiven"; in which case we are comforted that good people sin, the
difference is that they wish for atonement.
Pro 14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness and joy; he will not share
these with a stranger-
The implication is that the foolish wear their hearts on their sleeves
and share their feelings. But that is not necessarily foolish, but rather
a function of personality; some are wired to need to share their emotions,
others aren't. But Solomon as ever seeks to justify his own personality
type as the right and wise one; hence he commends industry and hard work,
because that was how he was wired himself. The lesson is to be aware that
spirituality is not about simply reinforcing our own native personality
type and wiring.
Pro 14:11 The house of the wicked will be overthrown, but the tent of the
upright will flourish-
Because the salvation of others is in our hands, both in and outside of
the ecclesia, we are held responsible for their eternal loss if we do not
minister to them. “Rescue those being led away to death [if we don’t, then
they will die]...if you say, “But we knew nothing about this”, does not he
who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards
your life [as you keep your brother’s life] know it? Will he not repay
each person according to what he has done? [at judgment day]” (Prov.
14:11,12 NIV).
Pro 14:12 There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it
leads to death-
Pro 14:13 Even in laughter the heart may be sorrowful, and mirth may end
in heaviness-
But in Ecclesiastes, Solomon gave his heart to mirth, to see if there
was wisdom to be found through this. He ended up re-learning the truth
that he had earlier presented as prepositional truth.
Despite recognizing that "even in mirth there is sorrow" and knowing that
fools love mirth (Ecc. 7:4), still Solomon wanted it and indulged that
desire (Ecc. 2:2). He rejected this wisdom and only came to agree with it
through doing just what Prov. 14:13 condemns (Ecc. 2:2). Another
example of this is in Prov. 5:4; 22:14 cp. Ecc. 7:26.
Pro 14:14 The unfaithful will be repaid for his own ways; likewise a good
man will be rewarded for his ways-
This is only finally true in the judgment of the last day, and the
eternal outcomes of our lives in God's future Kingdom on earth. But they
were things which Solomon didn't seem to factor in to his reasoning, as he
assumed he was the Messianic figure and his kingdom was God's. So we can
conclude that he assumes that the 'reward' for living is in this life. But
LXX introduces a more subtle difference between the faithful and
unfaithful: "A stout-hearted man shall be filled with his own ways; and a
good man with his own thoughts". This would emphasize the power of
spiritual mindedness over simply tramping on in our own ways.
Pro 14:15 A simple man believes everything, but the prudent man carefully
considers his ways-
Solomon suggests here that our "ways" are influenced by what we hear
in teaching from others. Believing everything is compared with self
examination. But Paul seems to quote the LXX of this verse in saying that
love believes everything (1 Cor. 13:7). This is another example of where
the New Testament subtly deconstructs, or adds nuance to, the otherwise
simplistic dualism found in Proverbs.
Pro 14:16 A wise man fears, and shuns evil, but the fool is hotheaded and
reckless-
Removing / shunning or departing from evil is a major theme of
Proverbs (Prov. 13:19; 14:16; 16:6,17). Solomon uses the same phrase in
Ecc. 11:10, but he gives the reason as being because youth is vanity; old
age will prove that there is no point in not departing from evil, and
going the way of evil, like going the way of righteousness, is all the
same vanity. This nihilistic approach is because Solomon failed to discern
that the end point of the path of righteousness, departing or removing our
foot from the way of evil, is the redemption of the body in God's future
Kingdom. But because he failed to understand that, he ends up concluding
as he gets older that the choice between evil and good is all the same
vain and meaningless. It is the hope of the resurrection of the body, the
reality of judgment to come and the future Kingdom of God, which make
morality of so much meaning today. We may also note again Solomon's overly
simplistic idea that if a man removes himself from evil, all will go
wonderfully for him in life. The same phrase is used of how Job removed
himself from, or "eschewed", evil; but his life was traumatic and without
all the blessings for wisdom which Solomon liked to imagine.
Pro 14:17 He who is quick to become angry will commit folly, and a crafty
man is hated-
The parallel is between those who are crafty to commit sin, doing so
quietly and discreetly; and those who sin openly because they have no self
control.
Pro 14:18 The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with
knowledge-
He saw his wisdom and knowledge as some sort of a reward in
themselves: “the prudent are crowned with knowledge”. This is of course
true in a sense, as all the Proverbs are. But Solomon surely had the idea
that he, who was so renowned for his knowledge, was somehow thereby
rewarded by having it. This assumption by Solomon was likely behind each
of the many references he makes to the value of wisdom and the blessedness
of the man who has it. It is rather like feeling that ‘we have the truth’
because somehow our correct understanding of doctrines is a reward for our
righteousness, and mere possession of doctrinal truth means that we are
acceptable to God.
Pro 14:19 The evil bow down before the good, and the wicked at the gates
of the righteous-
The "gates of the righteous" is specifically the gates of Zion (Ps.
118:20; Is. 26:2 s.w.). What Solomon says will only ultimately be true in
the future Kingdom, but he is implying that in his exaltation as the
Davidic king, he was declared as "good" and "righteous", and all his
opponents as evil and wicked. Self justification seems never far from
Solomon's thought and expression.
Pro 14:20 The poor person is shunned even by his own neighbour, but the
rich person has many friends-
Again Solomon implies that poverty is a sign of curse, and wealth is
a sign of blessing. But that is simply not how God works. Solomon was
given wealth by God, and he goes on to assume that this is a sign of
acceptability with Him, when it isn't. David laments how his friends
turned away from him and he was shunned by his neighbours, as a result of
his sin with Solomon's mother Bathsheba (Ps. 38:11; 88:18). The way
Solomon appears ignorant of this indicates the degree to which he had
whitewashed his parents, and considered the effects of that sin not to be
consequence for sin, but rather the unreasonable and wrong behaviour of
his own half brothers. And he believed they had been condemned for that
behaviour, as his Proverbs often allude to them.
Pro 14:21 He who despises his neighbour sins, but blessed is he who has
pity on the poor-
Solomon had not known need, neither material nor spiritual, and it
shows in his attitude to so obsessively forbidding the giving of
collateral to guarantee a loan. It makes hollow all Solomon's exhortations
to be generous to your poor neighbour and to be a brother in adversity to
your neighbour (Prov. 14:21; 17:17). Solomon is here reasoning from the
viewpoint of secular wisdom. The law of Moses didn't forbid giving or
taking collateral for loans, it accepted this would happen (Ex. 22:25-27).
But Solomon in the Proverbs is quite obsessed with forbidding it in very
strong terms (Prov. 6:1-3; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26; 27:13- all quite
some emphasis). Perhaps Solomon recalled some bad experience in his family
because of this. There is the otherwise curious statement in 1 Sam. 17:18
that David's brothers, Solomon's uncles, were to return a collateral.
Perhaps this ruined the family and Solomon's wisdom has some human element
in it, reflecting his own bad experiences in his family life. But there is
nothing wrong with giving or taking collateral for a loan; what is
condemned in God's law is the abuse of the debtor and the abuse of the
situation. Indeed David and Hezekiah ask God to be collateral for their
needs and debts in various ways (Ps. 119:122; Is. 38:14). And God gives
the Holy Spirit in our hearts as collateral on His debt, as He sees it, to
save us (2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5; Eph. 1:14); and in response we give our hearts
as a pledge to Him (Jer. 30:21 Heb.). So forbidding the practice seems out
of step with the spirit of grace. It would mean asking of God what we are
unprepared to do for others.
Pro 14:22 Don’t they go astray who plot evil? But love and faithfulness
belong to those who plan good-
"Plot evil" is the phrase used of Saul's plots against David (1 Sam.
23:9). Saul likely still had his supporters even in Solomon's time, and
Solomon came to the throne after period of continual attempts to
take the throne from the Davidic line through Absalom. And he uses his
Proverbs, true as they are, to do down any potential opposition, and to
present support of him as the only way to national peace and unity- an old
ploy.
Pro 14:23 In all hard work there is profit, but the talk of the lips leads
only to poverty-
Here again we see Solomon's works based attitude. He sees poverty as
the result of laziness, and profit / plenty coming from hard work (Prov.
14:23; 21:5). He fails to appreciate the wider narrative in spiritual
life. The good news is for the poor, which group may include the lazy. And
works will not save, and God's salvation is what is ultimately required by
man. But Solomon had no eternal perspective, because he thought his
kingdom was God's. And so as he got older and closer to death, he reasons
that the reality of death means that man has no profit or preeminence
(s.w. Ecc. 3:19). If he had accepted the Gospel of the future Kingdom of
God, he would have focused more upon salvation by grace through faith, and
less upon the supremacy of hard work and profit / preeminence in this
life.
Pro 14:24 The crown of the wise is their riches, but the folly of fools
crowns them with folly-
It was Solomon who was the king and wore the ultimate crown in his
society. And he implies that his fantastic riches were a result of his
wisdom, and that his pattern should be followed by others. But he fails to
remember that his desire for wisdom was recognized by God in that He gave
Solomon riches. Those riches were a gift from God, by grace, and not
acquired or generated by his own application of wisdom (1 Kings 3:13). He
therefore misused his possession of wisdom and experience of grace to
justify himself, and present himself as a self made man; when he was not
that at all.
Pro 14:25 A truthful witness saves souls, but a false witness is
deceitful-
Solomon has much to say about true and false witnesses (Prov. 6:19;
12:17; 14:5,25; 19:5,9,28; 21:28; 24:28; 25:18). Whilst his warnings are
true enough, he surely has an element of self justification in what he
writes. Because he was aware that his parents, David and Bathsheba, had
been accused of many things which had led to all the opposition against
David at the end of his reign, and which opposition Solomon had to contend
with in order to retain the throne for himself. David laments the false
witness of the house of Saul and his own sons, Solomon's half brothers
(Ps. 27:12; 35:11). The continual condemnation of false witnesses must be
understood in this context. Whilst it is all true so far as it goes,
Solomon is harnessing Divine truth to his own agenda of self
justification. And we who claim to hold His truths must take warning.
Pro 14:26 In the fear of Yahweh is a secure fortress, and He will be a
refuge for His children-
The secure fortress was Zion (Is. 32:18; Ps. 125:1 s.w.), "the
stronghold of Zion, the same is the city of David" (2 Sam. 5:7). Whilst
what Solomon says is true, and repeats the multiple cases of David in the
Psalms professing trust in Yahweh as his strong fortress, Solomon as ever
has his agenda of self justification; he saw his possession of Zion as a
sign that he feared Yahweh acceptably, and that his children would
continue the Davidic line of glory. But sacred space is not so ultimately
important to God. Possession of the literal stronghold of Zion was nothing
compared to trust in Yahweh.
Pro 14:27 The fear of Yahweh is a fountain of life, turning people from
the snares of death-
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 14:28 In the multitude of people is the king’s glory, but without
people the prince is nothing-
GNB "A king's greatness depends on how many people he rules; without
them he is nothing". Solomon is again justifying himself, for the people
at his time are described as very many at his time (1 Kings 4:20). Solomon
is harnessing Divine truth to his own agenda of self justification. And we
who claim to hold His truths must take warning.
Pro 14:29 He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has
a quick temper displays folly-
This is true, but there are several examples of David's quick temper.
We recall his furious desire to slay Nabal's family. But all the
historical weaknesses of David are passed over by Solomon. He seems to
have subconsciously whitewashed his father, and presents him elsewhere as
the glorious example of wisdom, and all his opponents as fools.
Pro 14:30 The life of the body is a heart at peace, but envy rots the
bones-
GNB "Peace of mind makes the body healthy, but jealousy is like a
cancer". Solomon has much to say about the evil of envy (e.g. Prov. 14:30;
23:17; 24:1,19; 27:4). But true as his condemnations of envy are, he
surely has in mind the way that Ephraim envied Judah, and envied his
throne (s.w. Is. 11:13). This all came to full term after his death, when
Ephraim departed from Judah under Jeroboam. Again, Solomon is harnessing
Divine truth to his own agenda of self justification. And we who claim to
hold His truths must take warning. But as he faced death, he came to
realize that all such envy is as nothing before the reality of death,
which he understood as the end of life, as he had assumed this life was
the time for reward and expresses no personal hope in a resurrection of
the body (Ecc. 4:4; 9:6).
Pro 14:31 He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he
who is kind to the needy honours Him-
Pro 14:32 The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the
righteous has a refuge-
"Brought down" is 'chased away', the language of Divine judgment at the
last day (Job 18:18; 20:8; Is. 13:14; 17:13). AV "hath hope in his
death". all this can be read as looking forward to the judgment of the
last day; but Solomon doesn't reason as if there is such a judgment. He
saw himself, armed with his Divine wisdom, as the ultimate judge of men,
and his kingdom as God's Kingdom with himself as the Messiah figure. So
whilst his words are recorded in such a way as to look ahead to the
future, I suggest this was not the position which he himself held. Rather
is he saying that the wicked are brought down in this life, and when faced
with violent death, as David was at times, God will deliver them- in this
life.
Pro 14:33 Wisdom remains in the heart of one who has understanding, and is
even made known in the inward part of fools-
Solomon later alludes to this in saying that although he cast off his
faith in Yahweh, and his heart turned aside to idols, his Divinely given
wisdom [in an intellectual sense] remained with him (Ecc. 2:9). He seems
to be saying that if one has wisdom, it will always remain in the heart,
and thereby justify a man. But this isn't the case; one can know Divine
truths and yet live otherwise, without at all personalizing them. And so
turn away from the true God, just as Solomon did. The last half of the
verse would simply be saying that fools don't get it, and never will,
hence GNB "fools know nothing about wisdom".
Pro 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any
people-
Israel were exalted under Solomon to the peak of their power and
extent. And he sees this as being due to "righteousness". But he himself
was far from righteousness, as were his people. Their exaltation was due
to the work done by David, and God's recognition of David. Material
blessing in secular terms is no guarantee of righteousness, nor is a lack
of such blessings a sign of sin; as the book of Job makes clear. But
Solomon sees only the immediate and the secular, and assumes that the
exaltation of Israel was because of their or his righteousness. But that
is simply not the case.
Pro 14:35 The king’s favour is toward a servant who deals wisely, but his
wrath is toward one who causes shame-
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