Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Proverbs 10:28-3
The Righteous Have A Joyful Hope, Are Secure In YHWH And Are Firmly Established. They Speak Wisely And Acceptably, Hate False Practises, And Walk Humbly And With Integrity. The Unrighteous Have No Solid Grounds For Hope, Are Without Security, Perverse Of Mouth And Tongue, Embrace False Practises, And Walk Arrogantly And Perversely (Proverbs 10:28 to Proverbs 11:3).
In this subsection we have a cameo of the lives of both the righteous and the unrighteous. The righteous look forward to a life of joyfulness (Proverbs 10:28), walk securely (Proverbs 10:29) and are firmly founded (Proverbs 10:30). They speak with the wisdom given to them by God (Proverbs 10:31), and speak acceptably (Proverbs 10:32), refuse to indulge in false business practises (Proverbs 11:1), and walk in humility and in integrity (Proverbs 11:2).
In contrast are the unrighteous. They have no solid grounds for hope (Proverbs 10:28), have no genuine grounds for security and are ever at the mercy of the winds of fortune (Proverbs 10:29). They speak perversely and with false wisdom (Proverbs 10:31), indulge in false business practises (Proverbs 11:1), walk arrogantly only to be humiliated (Proverbs 11:2), and will find that their unreliability and perverseness will destroy them (Proverbs 11:3).
The subsection may be presented chiastically as follows:
A The hope of the righteous will be (result in) joyfulness, but the expectation of the wicked will perish' (Proverbs 10:28).
B The way of YHWH is a fortress to the upright, but is frightening to the workers of iniquity (Proverbs 10:29).
C The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land (or ‘earth' (Proverbs 10:30).
D The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the tongue of the perverse will be cut out (Proverbs 10:31).
D The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse (Proverbs 10:32).
C A false balance is an abomination to YHWH, but a true weight is his delight (Proverbs 11:1).
B When pride comes, then comes shame, but with the humble is wisdom (Proverbs 11:2).
A The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perverseness of the treacherous will destroy them (Proverbs 11:3).
Note that in A the hope of the righteous results in joyfulness, (because the way of YHWH leads to joyfulness), but the hope of the unrighteous perishes, and in the parallel the integrity of the upright guides them (in the way that leads to joyfulness), whilst the perverseness of the treacherous destroys them. In B the way of YHWH upholds the upright, but frightens, or is ruinous for, workers of iniquity, and in the parallel the humble (and therefore upright) are upheld by God's wisdom, whilst the proud, who resist God's wisdom, come to shame. In C the righteous are firmly established and will never be removed, whilst the wicked will be removed, and in the parallel those who use false balances are an abomination to YHWH (and will therefore be cast out or cut off; compare Leviticus 18:27; Leviticus 18:29; Deuteronomy 18:12) whilst YHWH delights in those who use true weights (and He will therefore not cast them out. Their position is secure). The same words ‘abomination' and ‘delight' are found in Proverbs 11:20, where we read, ‘those who are perverse in heart, (and are thus of those who use false balances), are an abomination to YHWH, but such as are perfect in their way (and are thus of those who use true weights) are His delight'. Centrally in D the mouth and lips of the righteous are contrasted with the tongue and mouth of the perverse.
The hope of the righteous will be (result in) joyfulness,
But the expectation of the wicked will perish.'
In Proverbs 10:23 the fool obtained his laughter from his ill-doing, but it was a laughter which was short-lived until what he feared came upon him (Proverbs 10:24). But here the hope of the righteous is long lasting joyfulness and exuberance, for, unlike in the case of the evildoer, it will not perish. He has much to look forward to which is solid and permanent. His joy is of heart and soul and expresses itself exuberantly (Isaiah 55:12; contrast Jeremiah 50:11 where the exuberance of the unrighteous is temporary). Indeed, his joy is in God Whose wisdom he follows. As a consequence, in New Testament terms, he enjoys ‘joy unspeakable and full of glory' (1 Peter 1:8). In contrast is the expectation of the evildoer which is short-lived, for he has no real hope. Any hope he has will perish.
‘The way of YHWH is a fortress to the upright,
(or ‘YHWH is a stronghold to him whose way is upright').
But is frightening (or ‘ruinous') to the workers of iniquity.'
How we view this will depend on whether we take ‘way' as the subject of the sentence, or ‘YHWH'. Either is possible from the Hebrew text, and in the end both come to the same conclusion, security and peace for those who look to YHWH.
On the first view the stress is on ‘the way of YHWH'. It is being made clear that the way that Solomon is inculcating is not just some idealistic or philosophical way, it is the way of YHWH. This ‘way of YHWH' is the way of God's wisdom, the way of His truth, the way of His Torah, for Solomon's knowledge of wisdom teaching was firmly founded in the Torah of Moses (1 Kings 3:14). This is brought home in Proverbs 2:5 where Solomon stresses that what he is bringing them is God's wisdom given to men and that through it He is a ‘shield to those who walk uprightly'. In the Prologue this way is variously termed as ‘the path(s) of uprightness' (Proverbs 2:13; Proverbs 4:18), ‘the path(s) of life' (Proverbs 2:19; Proverbs 5:6), ‘the paths of the righteous' (Proverbs 2:20), ‘the way of wisdom' (Proverbs 4:11), ‘the way of life' (Proverbs 6:23), ‘the way of righteousness' (Proverbs 8:20), and ‘the way of understanding' (Proverbs 9:6). In Proverbs 10:17 it is ‘the way of life'. Those who walk in the way of YHWH (those who are straight and upright) are as safe as if they were in a strong fortress. While they walk in obedience to Him they have nothing to fear. And that way leads to a wholesome and fulfilled life. In contrast are the ‘workers of iniquity, for they hate that way, and ‘are frightened of it' or alternatively ‘find it ruinous'. Either way they hate it.
If YHWH is the subject of the sentence, which is very possible, then YHWH Himself is the Fortress of the Righteous, He Himself is their Security so that they have nothing to fear, whilst the unrighteous, far from feeling secure are rightly frightened of Him, not with the reverent fear of a man towards his father, but in the way of being terrified of a stern Judge. They have no relationship with God except as the accused.
‘The righteous will never be removed,
But the wicked will not dwell in the land (or ‘earth').
And because the upright are in the way of YHWH, which is their fortress, they know that they will never be moved. They have a permanent place under God's Kingly Rule in the land which He has given them (compare Proverbs 2:21). This is in contrast to the unrighteous who will have no permanent place in the land (or in the earth) (Proverbs 2:21). They will be cast out as an abomination. The warning of being cast out of the land was firmly given in Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 28:64.
The promise is general not specific. Some of the righteous were removed from the land (Daniel 1). But they nevertheless found that their refuge was with YHWH. What was being promised was their secure future. Not all the unrighteous were cast of the land, but they were nevertheless finally removed from it by death. They had no lasting hope.
‘The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,
But the tongue of the perverse shall be cut out.
As so often in Scripture, what men are is revealed by what they say. The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom and godliness, he encourages what is true and right, but the tongue of the unrighteous speaks perversely, because he is perverse, and it is thus fitted only to be cut out. The cutting out of the tongue was possibly a punishment often inflicted on someone who was seen to have spoken falsely against authority. But the idea here is that their ability to speak perverse things will be removed. At the Judgment they will have nothing to say.
‘The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable (delightful),
But the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.'
This proverb parallels Proverbs 10:31. The lips of the righteous produce wisdom because they know what is acceptable in the divine economy. They know what is acceptable to God, and that is what they speak. In contrast is the mouth of the wicked. That only knows what is perverse. It may have much worldly wisdom, but it has no true wisdom, for it fails to take God into account, often deliberately. Indeed it may deliberately speak against what is acceptable to God.
‘A false balance is an abomination to YHWH,
But a true weight is his delight.'
There is a verbal connection of this proverb with the previous one in the use of the word ‘acceptable/delight' (rason). In both cases YHWH shows favour because of what is fully acceptable in His eyes, whether it be true lips or true weights. The false balances speak to YHWH about their owner as loudly as the false tongue. Note how naturally Solomon includes the words ‘to YHWH'. A general wisdom teacher would have omitted it. But to Solomon all judgments had to be made in the light of YHWH.
There is a similar verbal connection with Proverbs 11:20 where the same words ‘abomination' and ‘delight' are found. There we read that, ‘those who are perverse in heart, (and are thus of those who use false balances), are an abomination to YHWH, but such as are perfect in their way (and are thus of those who use true weights) are His delight'. So the use of false balances and true weights are seen as revealing the hearts and moral worth of the users. This was recognised in the Torah which declared, ‘just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin shall you have. I am YHWH your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt' (Leviticus 19:36), and again, ‘you shall not have in your bag differing weights, a great and a small, you shall not have in your house differing measures, a great and a small, a perfect and just weight shall you have ---' (Deuteronomy 25:13)
So whilst at first sight this proverb might appear out of place, as a statement of business practise, a moment's consideration reveals that it is not. Solomon knew that YHWH was not concerned about weights and balances as such (accuracy was very difficult to obtain). What He was concerned about was the attitude of heart and mind that lay behind their use or misuse. Whereas in the previous proverb ‘the lips' and ‘the mouth' represented people, so here ‘the balance' and ‘the weight' represent people. So we could paraphrase this proverb as, ‘those who use a false balance are an abomination to YHWH, but those who use a true weight are His delight'. For the false balance represents the unrighteous who use false methods in business. They may do it by surreptitiously holding down the balances with their finger suggesting that they were giving due weight when they were not, or by deliberately having one pan heavier than the other, or by twisting the crossbow so as to affect the measurement. Or they may do it by deliberately using false or inaccurate weights. Compare the words of the Egyptian wisdom teacher Amenemope, ‘Do not lean on the scales or falsify the weights, do not damage the fractions of the measure'. Whichever way it was their balances, and therefore themselves, were an abomination to YHWH. The true weight represented those who sought to be scrupulously honest. They were seeking to utilise what they saw as an honest weight. Such people, and their weights, were a delight to YHWH.
We must remember that in those days weights were not exact. They would often be stones selected depending on their size, and then suitably shaped and marked as providing the approximate weight. Many such weights have been discovered, and they were rarely exactly the correct weight. Indeed in many cases there would have been no exact standard to measure them by. But there was nothing wrong in there being variances if an attempt was being made to use them genuinely (the owner would often genuinely have seen them as being of the correct weight). What constituted the crime was the misuse of them. So a man might knowingly have two differing weights marked the same, using one when buying and the other when selling, to his own advantage (Deuteronomy 25:13). Or he might knowingly use a lighter weight so as to make a large profit (compare Amos 8:5). It was such that was an abomination to YHWH.
In the same way the manufacturer of a set of balances would have great difficulty in ensuring that they balanced exactly. There would almost always be some slight deviation, and this as been demonstrated to have been up to as much as 6 per cent. The main issue was how the merchant dealt with that deviation when he knew of it (or even caused it by bending the crossbow). It was the dishonest merchant not the honest manufacturer who made them into ‘false balances', by not taking account of the discrepancy, although there would, of course, have been deliberately dishonest manufacturers. But the final determinant of their honesty or dishonesty was the user. He could take into account discrepancies, or use them to his own advantage.
The word ‘abomination' connects the verse back to Proverbs 10:30. Removal from the land was regularly seen in terms of the practising of abominations (compare Leviticus 18:27; Leviticus 18:29; Deuteronomy 18:9). So here the deliberate use of false balances is seen as so morally abhorrent that it justifies removal from the land, whereas the one who uses a true weight can be sure of his permanent acceptability.
‘When pride comes, then comes shame,
But with the humble (lowly) is wisdom.'
The unrighteous, the fool and the scorner (Proverbs 21:24) is now thought of in terms of pride and arrogance (compare Deuteronomy 17:12), whilst the righteous and wise is equated with the humble and the lowly (compare Micah 6:8). The proud and arrogant have a high opinion of themselves, and are high in their own estimation. They continually want their own way, and they are unwilling to be corrected (see Proverbs 13:18). But they await the judgment of YHWH and of men. For poverty and shame comes to him who refuses to be corrected (Proverbs 13:18). They will soon find themselves called on to give place and will be shamed (Luke 14:9). It is those who are of a humble and contrite spirit who are pleasing to YHWH (Isaiah 57:15), and will never be put to shame. Those who are proud and arrogant in their attitude towards God and man will soon be brought to shame, they will be dragged down from their high perch, for pride comes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18; Hosea 5:5). They will then truly discover that the way of YHWH is ruinous to the unrighteous (Proverbs 10:29). They will be shamed and humbled.
In contrast the humble (the wise and righteous and upright) show wisdom. They already see themselves as humble and lowly before God and men, and they take the lowest place (Luke 14:10). They have thus nowhere to fall. They are secure in YHWH (Proverbs 10:29).
‘The integrity of the upright will guide them,
But the perverseness of the treacherous will destroy them.'
The righteous and the unrighteous have now become the upright and the treacherous. The upright (the straight) will be guided by their integrity and loyalty to YHWH. Because they are true of heart it will prevent them from going astray. They thus have hope and look forward to the future with gladness (Proverbs 10:28). In contrast are the treacherous, those who are not straight and upright, for their very perverseness (twistedness, distortedness) will destroy them. As Proverbs 10:28 puts it, ‘The expectation of the unrighteous will perish'. The term rendered ‘treacherous', includes the idea of deceitfulness and its use may well have in mind the false balances spoken of in Proverbs 10:1.