Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Proverbs 10:9-21
The Righteous (The Wise) Walk Uprightly, Are A Wellspring Of Life To Others, Store Up Knowledge, Accept Correction, Think Before They Speak And Act As Shepherd To Many. The Unrighteous Pervert Their Ways, Wink With The Eye, Hide Their Violent Attitudes And Their Slander, Stir Up Trouble, Reject Correction, And Are Of Little Value (Proverbs 10:9).
In this subsection we learn of the virtues of the righteous and the wise in contrast with the follies of the unrighteous (the evildoers) and the foolish, as a consequence of which the unrighteous face certain judgment. The righteous walk uprightly (Proverbs 10:9), are a wellspring of life to others (Proverbs 10:11), try to maintain peace and harmony (Proverbs 10:12), speak wisely (Proverbs 10:13), store up true knowledge (the knowledge of God) (Proverbs 10:14), accept correction (Proverbs 10:17), think before they speak (Proverbs 10:19), and as a consequence act as shepherd to many (Proverbs 10:21). In contrast the foolish pervert their ways (Proverbs 10:9), wink with the eye (Proverbs 10:10), hide their violent attitudes and their slanders (Proverbs 10:11), stir up trouble (Proverbs 10:12) and reject correction (Proverbs 10:17. The result will be that they will be exposed (Proverbs 10:9), they will fall (Proverbs 10:10), they face imminent ruin (Proverbs 10:14), they are considered do be of little worth (Proverbs 10:20), and they face death (Proverbs 10:21)..
The subsection may be presented chiastically as follows:
A He who walks uprightly walks surely, but HE WHO PERVERTS HIS WAY WILL BE KNOWN (EXPOSED) (Proverbs 10:9).
B He who winks with the eye causes sorrow, but a FOOL OF LIPS will fall (Proverbs 10:10).
C The mouth of the righteous is a wellspring of life, but the MOUTH OF THE WICKED CONCEALS VIOLENCE (Proverbs 10:11).
D HATRED stirs up strifes, but love conceals all transgressions (Proverbs 10:12).
E On the lips of a discerning person wisdom is found, but A ROD IS FOR THE BACK of him who is void of understanding (Proverbs 10:13).
F Wise men STORE UP knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is imminent (approaching) RUIN (machitta) (Proverbs 10:14).
F The RICH MAN'S WEALTH is his fortress, poor men's poverty is their RUIN (machitta). The labour of the righteous tends to life, the PRODUCTION of the wicked, to sin (Proverbs 10:15).
E He is in the way of life who takes note of CORRECTION, but he wanders who forsakes reproof (Proverbs 10:17).
D He who hides HATRED with lying lips, and who utters a slander is a fool (Proverbs 10:18).
C In the MULTIPLYING OF WORDS there lacks not transgression, but he who REFRAINS HIS LIPS his lips does wisely (Proverbs 10:19).
B The TONGUE OF THE RIGHTEOUS is as choice silver, The heart of the wicked is of little worth (Proverbs 10:20).
A The lips of the righteous feed many, but the FOOLISH DIE FOR LACK OF UNDERSTANDING (Proverbs 10:21).
In A the one who perverts his way (and is therefore foolish) will be exposed, he will be shown for what he is by what happens to him, and in the parallel the foolish die for lack of understanding. In B the tongue of the righteous parallels the fool of lips. In C the mouth of the wicked conceals violence, and this contrasts in the parallel with the one who refrains his lips for a good reason. In D hatred is paralleled by hatred. In E the rod of correction contrasts with those who take note of correction. Centrally in F storing up parallels wealth and productivity, whilst ruin parallels ruin.
‘He who walks uprightly walks surely,
But he who perverts (makes crooked) his ways will be known (or ‘exposed').'
Walking uprightly (Proverbs 2:7; contrast Proverbs 2:13) and being perverse (Proverbs 2:12; Proverbs 2:15; Proverbs 3:32; Proverbs 6:14) and forsaking the paths of uprightness (Proverbs 2:13), were again two features of the Prologue. The one who walks uprightly (in integrity, blamelessly) can walk with confidence and sureness, and with no fear of being ‘found out'. He also knows that he will not trip up (contrast the fool in Proverbs 10:8). What he says will feed many (Proverbs 10:21) so that they too will walk in the way of the upright. But the one who turns from the straight way, choosing crooked paths (Proverbs 2:13), will eventually be exposed. The truth about him will become known to his undoing. He will be revealed as one who lacks understanding (Proverbs 10:21). Compare Proverbs 12:23 where ‘the heart of fools proclaims foolishness'.
‘He who (maliciously) winks with the eye causes sorrow,
But a loudmouthed fool will fall.'
Two types of waywardness are in mind here. The first is the waywardness of the smooth deceiver. He acts unkindly behind people's back. He is untrustworthy and smooth, saying one thing to one person, and another to another. This indeed was one of the signs of the ‘worthless man' (Proverbs 6:13). And in consequence he causes much sorrow. He brings much hurt on people.
The second is the waywardness of the loudmouthed fool (the ‘fool of lips', compare Proverbs 10:8 b). He may be more straightforward, but he is boastful and goes on his way heedlessly, not caring about his behaviour. And as a result he will trip up and fall. Both the deceitful and the heedless can cause much trouble. We are not to see here that the deceitful man gets away with it. The assumption is that because he causes sorrow he will in some way be brought to account, in the same way as the loudmouthed man. Alternately ‘fool of the lips' may here rather refer to making false or inaccurate statements (Proverbs 10:18), having a perverse mouth (Proverbs 6:12; Proverbs 6:17 a, Proverbs 6:19), thus providing a parallel with the deceitful winking eye (see Proverbs 6:12 b, Proverbs 6:13 a).
Note the connection between Proverbs 10:9. The one who deceitfully and maliciously winks with the eye does not walk uprightly, but rather perverts his ways.
The chiasmus draws attention to the parallel thoughts in Proverbs 10:18. ‘Winking eyes' and ‘lying lips' go along with each other (Proverbs 6:12; Proverbs 6:17), and if ‘fool of lips' is taken as indicating lying lips the parallel is even closer. Whilst those who wink their eyes as an indication of deceit, are in a very real sense slanderers.
The exact parallel of Proverbs 10:10 with Proverbs 10:8 has been seen by some as suspicious. And in fact LXX (the early Greek Old Testament) replaces it with, ‘a frank rebuke will make for peace' (or ‘he who reproves boldly is a peacemaker'), which contains the important lesson that open and honest criticism, in contrast to deceitfulness, will often solve issues. But this is an obvious change, whilst repetition is not uncommon in Proverbs, and both MT and the Targums support ‘a loudmouthed fool (a fool of the lips) will fall', which fits in adequately.
‘The mouth of the righteous is a wellspring of life,
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.'
The thought of ‘the fool of lips' (Proverbs 10:10 b) now leads into a proverb concerning the use of the mouth. The mouth of the righteous is a wellspring of life. It feeds and sustains people, and satisfies their deepest longings (their thirst). It produces life within them making them fruitful (one of the main uses of water was to water the crops and vegetation) and guides them into a wholesome life. It does good to all. It is like the Torah of YHWH (the law of God), it brings life wherever it goes (Psalms 1:2; Jeremiah 17:7; Joshua 1:8). The Wisdom of God could herself declare that, ‘all the words of my mouth are in righteousness, there is nothing crooked or perverse in them' (Proverbs 8:8). It is no coincidence that ‘the instruction (torah) of the wise' (Proverbs 13:14) and ‘the fear of YHWH' (Proverbs 14:27) will also be said to be ‘a wellspring of life', for the mouth of the righteous promulgates both. The idea of a wellspring is of plenty, and thus the righteous speak often of wisdom. They gush forth wisdom. They are in direct contrast with those of whom it is said ‘in the multiplying of words there lacks not transgression'.
Fruitful springs and gushing wells counted among the most precious things in life in the ancient world. They were places at which people gathered, and for which men fought. But they were limited to one place. On the other hand the mouth of the righteous goes about everywhere taking life wherever it goes. ‘Out of his innermost being flow rivers of living water' (John 7:38).
In contrast the mouth of the wrongdoer ‘conceals violent behaviour'. He ‘hides hatred by lying lips' (Proverbs 10:18). His mouth deceitfully conceals (as did the winking eye - Proverbs 10:10 a) his attempts to get his own way, by emotional bullying, by false presentation, or even by physical violence. He is always full of false explanations and is suave while trying to force things on people or obtain things from people for his own benefit. His multiplying of words does not lack transgression (Proverbs 10:19). Solomon might well have said, ‘beware of the mouth of the evildoer because you do not know what his aims are'.
‘Hatred stirs up strifes,
But love conceals all transgressions.
The mouth of the wicked concealing violence (Proverbs 10:11 b) links with this proverb, both in the strife that hatred stirs up, for it could only do that through the mouth, and in the thought of concealment. In Proverbs 6:12; Proverbs 6:14; Proverbs 6:19 it was the perverse mouth and heart of the worthless man which sowed discord among brothers, here it is the mouth of the hater which stirs up discord. And indeed hatred would be one of the mainsprings of the actions of the worthless man. The hater causes trouble wherever he goes, he is not happy until he has set people at each other's throats. He brings division and discord. When men hate they behave irrationally. Hatred consumes them and they become irresponsible. They become ‘fools'. Even when they speak fair words they are not to be believed (Proverbs 26:25), for hatred makes men lie and deceive (Proverbs 26:24; compare Proverbs 10:18). They ‘hide hatred with lying lips' (Proverbs 10:18).
But in stark contrast is love. Hatred conceals nothing, unless it is for a wrong purpose. But love conceals everything unless it is essential that it be brought out into the open. Love seeks to maintain peace, harmony and unity. And it does it, not by pretending that sin does not exist, but by determining not to bring it into prominence unnecessarily. It does not drag sins out into the open just for the sake of it, or in order to obtain vengeance. As Proverbs 11:13 declares, ‘He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter.' And in the words of James, citing this verse, we read ‘love covers a multitude of sins' (James 5:20), although, having said that, James has more specifically in mind that this will be by turning men from their sins, which is something which love also seeks to do. He has perceived a second application of these words, that love conceals transgressions by turning the heart of the transgressor into the right way.
The love that conceals all transgressions is the love that ‘endures long and is kind, does not envy, does not vaunt itself, is not puffed up. It does not behave itself in unseemly fashion, or seek its own way or benefit, or allow itself to be provoked, or take account of the evil of others unnecessarily. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endure all things. It never fails' (1 Corinthians 13:4 a).
It should, of course, be noted that, as James has pointed out, that same love will gently seek to make men aware individually of their sins, but it will do so for a good purpose, in a way that avoids causing strife, and preserves harmony. It will deal with such matters privately, only making them public where there is no option, and then only for a good purpose (Matthew 18:15).
‘On the lips of a discerning person wisdom is found,
But a rod is for the back of him who is void of understanding.'
This proverb continues the thought of the previous two proverbs. The lips of the righteous are a wellspring of life (Proverbs 10:11), precisely because the lips of the righteous are the lips of a discerning person, a man with insight, on whose lips are found wisdom. And while the hater speaks everywhere, deceiving and causing dissension, love speaks wisely seeking to avoid dissension, precisely because the one who loves is a wise and discerning person. Here is the explanation of the behaviour of the one who loves, he is a discerning person who has wisdom, and speaks accordingly. That, in Solomon's eyes, is the hallmark of the discerning person, he is wise in God's wisdom, and not lacking in understanding.
In contrast is the man who is void of understanding. He lacks a knowledge of the wisdom of God. For him the only hope is proper discipline, and in those days that meant the rod for the back. By that means hopefully he might be brought to his senses. He is in contrast with the one who is in the way of life who accepts correction (Proverbs 10:17). Because he lacks understanding such a man tries to dodge reproof (Proverbs 10:17). It should, however, be noted that Solomon elsewhere stresses that this use of the rod must be an act of love. It was to be a loving father who chastened his son with the rod when necessary (Proverbs 13:24), not a vengeful tyrant.
In those days when child psychology was unknown there were, in most families, few other methods of exerting discipline. For they enjoyed few pleasures to be withheld (compare Luke 15:29), and life was hard and chastening had to be swift. This advice has therefore served well through the ages. Today, if we are wise, we follow the same principle of the need for discipline, whilst happily at the same time being able to call on subtler and more time-consuming methods which would have been unavailable and impracticable in those days. Thus Solomon's method, as long as reasonably and fairly applied, was a correct one for those days, although clearly open to abuse. At my school I was brought up on the cane, and to be honest, I always preferred it to detention. Much depended on how it was used. (At my school each teacher had his cane but it was usually, although not always, used reasonably and fairly). It is not, however, something that I would recommend in the modern day except in extreme cases, and then only reasonably, for we have better methods of discipline. In most cases physical punishment is unnecessary, and with much use loses its efficacy.
‘Wise men store up knowledge,
But the mouth of the foolish is imminent (approaching) ruin.'
We now come to three verses which interplay with each other. They refer to ‘storing up' (Proverbs 10:14), ‘rich men's wealth' (Proverbs 10:15), ‘the labour of the righteous' (Proverbs 10:16) and in contrast the ‘productivity of the unrighteous'. This last leads to sin (Proverbs 10:16), and to destruction (Proverbs 10:14). But the wise man stores up ‘knowledge' (Proverbs 10:14), and therefore becomes truly wealthy (Proverbs 10:15), for the labour of the righteous tends to life (Proverbs 10:16). But we must recognise what is meant by knowledge. It does not mean ‘knowledge ‘ as modern man understands it, knowledge built up by means of a good education. In Proverbs knowledge is very much what is produced by the fear of YHWH (Proverbs 1:9), it is the knowledge of God and His ways (Proverbs 2:6). To hate knowledge is to not choose the fear of YHWH (Proverbs 1:29). Indeed the two are paralleled in Proverbs 2:6. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Proverbs 9:10). We shall henceforth refer to it as ‘true knowledge'.
Here then wise men seek out true knowledge (the knowledge of God). They treasure it, and apply it to their lives. They store it up for future use. And that is the reason that wisdom is on their discerning lips (Proverbs 10:13), that is why they have a love that covers transgressions (Proverbs 10:12), that is why their mouth is a wellspring of life (Proverbs 10:11), that is why they walk uprightly (Proverbs 10:9).
In contrast are the foolish. They reveal how foolish they are by what they say, and this is slowly bringing them to ruin, which is ever on the horizon waiting to descend (see Proverbs 1:24). There is hope for them if they respond to the rod, thus gaining understanding from their fathers and mothers and getting wisdom on their lips (Proverbs 10:13), but otherwise they let hatred take hold of them and cause dissension (Proverbs 10:12), they speak of violence and forceful behaviour (Proverbs 10:11), they are loudmouthed and deceitful (Proverbs 10:10), and they pervert their ways (Proverbs 10:9). Note how regularly the mouth and lips are mentioned or assumed in line with the words of this verse. And the consequence of what they say and do is that they will be found out (Proverbs 10:9), they will trip and fall (Proverbs 10:10,), and they will come to final destruction (Proverbs 10:14).
‘The rich man's wealth is his fortress,
The ruin (or ‘terror') of poor men is their poverty.'
At first sight this proverb appears to be saying that the rich man is hugely better off than poor men because his wealth acts as a fortress or fortified city which protects him from the ruin or terror that besets poor men through their poverty. And as a generalisation this would undoubtedly be true. Rich men are protected from many of the problems that beset the poor. But if it does mean this it goes contrary to the tenor of much of what Proverbs teaches. For elsewhere the teaching of Proverbs is that far from being protected by their riches, rich men are brought down by them.
For example, ‘there is who makes himself rich, yet has nothing, there is who makes himself poor, yet has great riches' (Proverbs 13:7). ‘Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death (Proverbs 11:4). ‘He who trusts in riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish as a green leaf' (Proverbs 11:28). And very pertinently, ‘the rich man's wealth is his fortress (fortified city), and a high wall in his own imagination ' (Proverbs 18:11). It will be noted that in this last case we have the very same words as are found in Proverbs 10:15 here, but with a derogatory meaning, for the indication in Proverbs 18:11 is that the idea that a rich man's riches are his fortress is an illusion. It is ‘in his own imagination'. Furthermore in Proverbs 18:10 Solomon had already declared, ‘the Name of YHWH is a strong tower, the righteous runs into it and is safe' (Proverbs 18:10), which contrasted with the rich man's wrongly held self confidence.
Now it is not unknown for proverbs to appear to contradict one another, for truth often has two sides, but it would be unusual (although not unknown) for it to do so in exactly the same words. However, there is the further point that if the proverb is merely teaching that the rich are better off than the poor it goes against the tenor of this whole chapter, the concentration of which is on the benefits accruing from wisdom, uprightness, and righteousness.
One way in which the idea that ‘the rich' are better off than the poor might be defended is by comparison with Proverbs 10:4, ‘he becomes poor who deals with a slack hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich (or ‘prosperous')', with the ‘rich' indicating those who have become prosperous through hard work, and the poor indicating those who have become poor through laziness or inefficiency. But that is not the impression given, and it would still mean that the first clause was cited in two places with two contradictory meanings. and it would still go against the tenor of the passage. The emphasis in Proverbs 10:4 is on the contrast between diligence and laziness, not on the contrast between rich man and the poor.
Two alternatives present themselves. The first is that its teaching is that neither the rich man nor poor men are secure from ruin, the rich man because his confidence is in the wrong place, being placed in uncertain riches, the poor because their poverty makes them vulnerable. In other words that it is basically saying that both the rich and the poor are in a sad situation because the only security that the rich man has is uncertain riches, whilst the poor men's problem lies in their poverty. This would then tie it in with the meaning in Proverbs 18:11. But even this might be cavilled against on the grounds that its teaching is that the poor as a class are in a hopeless situation, when elsewhere in Proverbs it is made clear that that is not the case. For example, ‘there is who makes himself poor, but has great riches' (Proverbs 13:7). ‘The rich man is wise in his own conceit, but the poor who has understanding searches him out' (Proverbs 28:11). And what is more the teaching of Proverbs concerning the poor concentrates mainly on how the better off are to be concerned for their needs (Proverbs 14:31; Proverbs 19:4; Proverbs 19:17; Proverbs 21:13; Proverbs 22:9; Proverbs 22:16; Proverbs 22:22; Proverbs 28:8; Proverbs 28:15; Proverbs 29:7; Proverbs 29:14). The exception is when speaking of those who have become poor through laziness (Proverbs 6:10; Proverbs 10:4).
The second alternative is to take ‘rich man' as the equivalent of ‘the righteous, the upright and the wise' (it follows immediately after the description of ‘wise men' and before a description of ‘the righteous'), and ‘poor men' as the equivalent of ‘the unrighteous, the wayward and the foolish' (it follows immediately after the mention of ‘the foolish' and before a description of ‘the wicked, the unrighteous'), by seeing them as descriptions of ‘richness' or ‘poverty' in wisdom and understanding.
If we were to take the verse standing on its own this might appear a little far fetched. But it does not stand on its own and indeed in this regard we need to remember that every mention of the riches previously in Proverbs has specifically had in mind those who sought and responded to God's wisdom, being rich in both wisdom and material goods (Proverbs 3:13; Proverbs 8:18; Proverbs 10:4). And we shortly learn that it is ‘the blessing of YHWH that makes rich' (Proverbs 10:22), and that ‘it is the way of YHWH' that is ‘a fortress to the upright' (Proverbs 10:29). Thus we are justified in seeing at this stage an equation in Solomon's mind between the rich and the wise, even if later on he recognises that there is another side to the story (Proverbs 11:4; Proverbs 11:28; Proverbs 18:11; Proverbs 28:11).
And this can be seen as supported by the fact that the previous verse speaks of knowledge being ‘stored up', thus making the wise ‘wealthy', and the following verse speaks of the labour of ‘the righteous' tending to ‘life', with life being the wealth of the righteous produced by the labour. (We should also note that in the chiasmus the three Proverbs 10:14 come together). As in Proverbs 10:4 it was ‘riches' that were produced by labour, riches are seen to equate to ‘life'. This interpretation would fit the verse firmly into its context, would make good sense, and would tie in with teaching elsewhere. If ‘the rich man' means first of all ‘the one who is rich in wisdom', and as a consequence became rich, so that ‘the rich man's wealth' is primarily in fact wisdom, and ‘poor men' means those who are lacking in wisdom, and have therefore been negligent and have become poor (Proverbs 6:9; Proverbs 10:4), so that the poor men's poverty lies in their not having had wisdom, the teaching of the verse is consonant with the whole passage, and with the Prologue. The essence of the verse is that richness in wisdom delivers, whilst lack of it (foolishness) leads to ‘ruin', the latter ‘ruin' tying in with what is said in the previous verse, ‘the mouth of the foolish is impending ruin'.
This interpretation can be seen as obtaining further support from verses such as ‘there is who makes himself poor yet has great riches' (Proverbs 13:7), and the probability that the riches in Proverbs 8:18 themselves have largely in mind what are the true riches, ‘yes, durable riches and righteousness'.
Its weakness lies in the fact that it is not obvious on the surface (unless, of course, we are holding in our minds what has previously been said in the Prologue); it makes a different use of the clause repeated in Proverbs 18:11 (although that might indicate an advance in Solomon's thought); and in the fact that there may be an intended parallel between folly leading to ruin, and poverty leading to ruin, the poverty arising through the folly of laziness (Proverbs 10:4). This latter could, however, be an argument both for and against (it equates folly with poverty). On the whole, therefore, this appears to be the best interpretation in context. Its strongest point is that it fits the tenor of the whole passage.
‘The labour of the righteous tends to life,
The productivity of the wicked, to sin.'
Solomon continues to think in terms of wealth and poverty. In Proverbs 10:4 diligent labour led to riches, here the diligent labour of the righteous leads to ‘life', a life of wellbeing and prosperity, which is therefore paralleled with riches. Note how ‘life' is contrasted, not with ‘death', but with ‘sin'. To ‘live' is to walk blamelessly. The righteous man thereby becomes ‘rich' because he has long life, prosperity, honour, and pleasant and peaceful ways (Proverbs 3:16). In contrast is the productivity of the unrighteous. Because of what he is, even his prosperity leads him into sin, and thence to trouble and destruction. Compare Proverbs 1:32, ‘the prosperity of fools will destroy them', and Proverbs 15:6 ‘the productivity of the unrighteous is trouble'. We can contrast how in Proverbs 3:14; Proverbs 8:19 the ‘productivity' of wisdom does the opposite. It is better than silver and gold.
The proverb is a reminder that it is not what we have and what we receive that determines what we are, it is how we use them. The righteous use their prosperity for good, the unrighteous use it for sin.
‘He is in the way of life who takes note of correction,
But he wanders who forsakes reproof.'
The question of chastening has already been introduced in Proverbs 10:13. There correction was for the one who was void of understanding, who did not have the discernment that resulted in enjoining wisdom. Here it is in order to assist the one who walks in ‘the way of life', so as to ensure that he remains true to God's wisdom. He will recognise in the correction the chastening of YHWH (Proverbs 3:11). For the one who has God's wisdom will welcome and respond to such correction, precisely because he does walk in the way of life and does not want to stray from it. He will know God in all his ways, receiving direction from Him (Proverbs 3:6). In contrast are those who reject reproof and forsake it (compare Proverbs 1:25; Proverbs 1:30). They despise the chastening of YHWH (Proverbs 3:11), will err and will wander in other paths.
Note the direct connection with Proverbs 10:16 in terms of ‘life', In Proverbs 10:16 the labour of the righteous tends to ‘life', for what he does will lead to peace and prosperity (compare Proverbs 3:16), and such a person, who is in ‘the way of life' will respond to correction by both YHWH and those whom He has put in responsibility over them (Proverbs 1:25; Proverbs 3:11).
The thought of the two ways comes directly from the Prologue where such an idea was a common feature (see Proverbs 2:13; Proverbs 2:15; Proverbs 2:18 b, Proverbs 2:19 b, Proverbs 2:20; Proverbs 4:11; Proverbs 4:14; Proverbs 4:18; Proverbs 4:26; Proverbs 5:6; Proverbs 5:21; Proverbs 7:25; Proverbs 7:27; Proverbs 8:20; Proverbs 9:6). Indeed YHWH's commandments, instruction (Torah) and reproof are there described as ‘the way of life' (Proverbs 6:23), so that those who do not walk in it are in the way of death (Proverbs 2:18; Proverbs 5:5; in both cases contrasted with the path(s) of life; Proverbs 7:27; Proverbs 9:18).
‘He who hides hatred with lying lips,
And who utters a slander is a fool.'
Prominent in the earlier verses have been ‘the fool of lips' (Proverbs 10:8; Proverbs 10:10), ‘the mouth of the wicked' (Proverbs 10:11) and ‘the mouth of the foolish' (Proverbs 10:14), whilst ‘hatred which stirs up strife (presumably verbally)' (Proverbs 10:12) is closely connected with the mouth of the wicked. This subject is therefore now taken up in more depth, and Proverbs 10:18 all deal with the theme. The chiasmus required reference to hatred at this point.
We have just seen that ‘the productivity of the unrighteous is sin' (Proverbs 10:16), and that the unrighteous ‘forsake reproof' and therefore ‘go astray' (Proverbs 10:17), and we are now given a striking example of this in the one who is filled with hate but disguises it behind lying lips, whilst indulging in slander. Like the one who winks with the eye (Proverbs 10:10) he is two-faced. The hatred in his heart comes out in his distorting of the truth in his accusations against others, in order to bring them into disrepute by lies and innuendoes. Such people hate the righteous and the wise, and do all that they can to disparage them. And yet at the same time such a man seeks to pretend that his cause is just, and that he is only concerned with truth. He is slippery tongued. But he is excluded from the presence of YHWH (Psalms 15:2).
We have already come across ‘a lying tongue' in Proverbs 6:17 as something that God abominates (compare Proverbs 12:22), along with ‘false witness' and the ‘sowing of discord between family members' (Proverbs 6:19), and now this is shown to be typical of the unrighteous and foolish. Foolishness is a theme of this chapter. Such people cause grief to their parents (Proverbs 10:1), are ‘fools of lips' who will trip up and fall (Proverbs 10:8; Proverbs 10:10) and bring impending destruction on themselves (Proverbs 10:14). And there is no one more typical of the fool than the slanderer who spreads lies and impugns the characters of others, thinking that he will not be caught out. Let him therefore recognise that he is a ‘fool', subject to the condemnation of fools. It is a call to ‘the fool' to listen to reproof (Proverbs 10:17) and think again.
It has been well pointed out that in the Hebrew text of this verse there are a proliferation of sibilant sounds in this verse which cannot be brought out in the English but deliberately give the impression of the whispered words being passed on by the slanderer.
‘In the multiplying of words there lacks not transgression,
But he who refrains his lips does wisely.'
Having given a particular example Solomon now extends the idea to all use of the lips. The foolish are free with their words. Possibly in mind here are the large number of words with which the slanderer will have sought to justify his position. But the thought now goes wider than that and is that all who constantly speak out and chatter away without thought, or even with predetermined malice, can be sure that they will transgress God's wisdom and God's Torah. They will come under condemnation. For as the Torah declared, ‘you shall not go up and down as a talebearer among your people' (Leviticus 19:16). The fact is that men are sinful and will soon reveal that sinfulness in what they say. As Solomon says elsewhere, ‘Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him' (Proverbs 29:20). While Jesus said, ‘Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). The point is that those who are not careful about what they say will soon find themselves saying what is against God's commandments.
In contrast is the wise man, the man of understanding. He gives thought before he speaks and is careful with his words. He ensures that he is expressing God's wisdom, and that nothing that he says can cause unnecessary offence or be construed as being false. He speaks up and shuts up. ‘God is in heaven and you are on the earth, therefore let your words be few' (Ecclesiastes 5:2). We are reminded here of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, ‘by your words you will be shown to be righteous, and by your words you will be condemned' (Matthew 12:37).
Both the Old and New Testaments lay great emphasis on the tongue and its dangers, and indeed so often that it would be impossible to list the references, but see e.g. Psalms 15:2; Psalms 34:13; Psalms 50:19; Psalms 101:5 a, Psalms 101:7 b; Isaiah 28:15; Isaiah 28:17; Zechariah 8:16; Matthew 12:34; Ephesians 4:25; Ephesians 4:29; Ephesians 5:4; Colossians 3:9; Jas 3:1-12; 1 Peter 3:10. For the tongue is the revealer of the heart.
The passage will now go on to illustrate this by contrasting the tongue and lips of the righteous, which are extremely valuable and fruitful, giving sustenance to many, with the worthless heart and lack of understanding of the unrighteous and foolish, which are of little value and result in death.
‘The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver,
The heart of the wicked is of little worth.'
In consequence of the righteous man restraining his tongue (Proverbs 10:19), when he does finally speak his tongue, and therefore what he says, ‘is as choice silver', silver from which the dross has been removed. The picture is apposite, for the righteous man only speaks when he has removed all the dross from what he has to say. His words are therefore pure silver. They are valuable and telling. He is always worth listening to.
In contrast the heart of the evildoer, and therefore what he says, is of little worth. The mouth of the evildoer has already been contrasted with the mouth of the righteous in Proverbs 10:11, where the mouth of the righteous was like a wellspring of life, whereas the mouth of the evildoer reveals the violence that is in his heart. Here it is being emphasised that what the evildoer says reveals what is in his heart. There is a play on words in that ‘tongue' is leb whereas ‘heart' is leson.
‘The lips of the righteous feed (shepherd) many,
But the foolish die for lack of understanding.
The subsection ends by indicating what the lips of the righteous achieve. They act as a shepherd to many, leading them and feeding them as they walk in the path of life. But, as we have seen, in order to do this the dross has had to be removed. It is because they speak sparingly that their words have such value. Nevertheless it is worth it because by doing so they bring God's wisdom home to men's hearts, and many are fed. In the words of Jesus to Peter, ‘Feed My sheep'. That is a command to us all.
In contrast are ‘the foolish'. This designation as a direct contrast with the righteous comes as something of a surprise for usually the righteous have been compared with the unrighteous (evildoers, the wicked) (Proverbs 10:2; Proverbs 10:6; Proverbs 10:11; Proverbs 10:16; Proverbs 10:20), and the foolish with the wise (Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 8:10; Proverbs 8:14). It is a reminder that the righteous are the wise, and the unrighteous are the foolish. Here the foolish have nothing to contribute to men, for they lack in understanding. In consequence they bring death on themselves by failing to feed on the words of the righteous. They thus have nothing to offer to others. They may have much to say. They may indeed speak many clever words. But their words are empty (Proverbs 10:20), because what men see as wisdom is foolishness with God (1 Corinthians 1:20).
It should, however, be noted that the foolish and those lacking in understanding are not just written off. Solomon's purpose is to face them up with their folly so that they might find wisdom and gain understanding (compare Proverbs 8:5; Proverbs 9:6).