Proverbs 22:22-29

TEXT Proverbs 22:22-29

22.

Rob not the poor, because he is poor;

Neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:

23.

For Jehovah will plead their cause,

And despoil of life those that despoil them.

24.

Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger;

And with a wrathful man thou shalt not go:

25.

Lest thou learn his ways,

And get a snare to thy soul.

26.

Be thou not one of them that strike hands,

Or of them that are sureties for debts.

27.

If thou has not wherewith to pay,

Why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

28.

Remove not the ancient landmark,

Which thy fathers have set.

29.

Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings;

He shall stand before mean men.

STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 22:22-29

1.

Why would people rob the poor (Proverbs 22:22)?

2.

What other passages besides Proverbs 22:23 show God's particular care for the unfortunate?

3.

Why should one become a close friend to the unfortunate (Proverbs 22:23)?

4.

What are other verses besides Proverbs 22:25 that indicate the power of evil influence?

5.

What is meant in Proverbs 22:26 by strike hands?

6.

How could one lose his bed (Proverbs 22:27)?

7.

What is meant by landmark (Proverbs 22:28)?

8.

What Bible character came to stand before the king because of diligence (Proverbs 22:29)?

9.

Why is meant by mean in Proverbs 22:29?

PARAPHRASE OF 22:22-29

22, 23

Don-'t rob the poor and sick! For the Lord is their defender. If you injure them He will punish You.

24, 25.

Keep away from angry, short-tempered men, lest you learn to be like them and endanger your soul.

26, 27.

Unless you have the extra cash on hand, don-'t countersign a note. Why risk everything you own? They-'ll even take your bed!

28.

Do not move the ancient boundary marks. That is stealing.

29.

Do you know a hard working man? He shall be successful and stand before kings!

COMMENTS ON 22:22-29

Proverbs 22:22. Both Old and New Testaments teach us to regard the unfortunate (Exodus 23:6; James 1:27). Yet they are often oppressed (Zechariah 7:10; Malachi 3:5;. In the gate was where legal matters were settled (their courthouse). Sometimes the poor have not gotten their proper treatment in courts because of the other side had the money to bribe those in charge.

Proverbs 22:23. In the absence of human defense God has promised to take up in their behalf and take away from those who took away from them. Other passages on the same subject: Psalms 12:5; Psalms 35:10; Psalms 68:5; Psalms 140:12; Proverbs 23:10-11. God saw that King Ahab was despoiled for the vineyard he took away from Naboth (1 Kings 21:1-14).

Proverbs 22:24. Of all the people in the world with which to make companions, what a poor companion an angry, wrathful man is! But some people are that way (quick-tempered, no judgment, etc.), and some make friends with them.

Proverbs 22:25. Like all companions, the close ties leave their influence (I. Cor. Proverbs 15:33). Thus, one who had been blessed with a good spirit and a calm, cool disposition begins flying off the handle and going into a senseless rage when everything doesn-'t go just right. Why? Because he has been around just such a man.

Proverbs 22:26. Being co-signer for another's debts is warned against several times in Proverbs (Proverbs 6:1-2; Proverbs 11:15; Proverbs 17:18; Proverbs 20:16).

Proverbs 22:27, How do you know at the time of obligating yourself whether you will be able at the time of need to put up the necessary money? You may have to get along without things that are necessary to your own life (like a bed).

Proverbs 22:28. Proverbs 23:10 also contains this prohibition. The original law behind this saying is in Deuteronomy 19:14: Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmark, which they of old time have set, in thine inheritance which thou shall inherit, in the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it. It was one of the twelve special curses to be pronounced from Mt. Ebal: Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor's landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen (Deuteronomy 27:17). This would be like removing steel stakes or buried rocks of surveyings today. It was even worse then because the official description of a property line is recorded at the courthouse today while in Bible days the landmark was all there was.

Proverbs 22:29. A person diligent in business is one who is ambitious, industrious, and aggressive. They are men of application, and they will be numbered among the great and the known. Their lifetimes will be spent in major, not minor, concerns. Joseph tended to every business assigned to him (Genesis 39:1-6; Genesis 39:21-23), and he stood before the Pharaoh (Genesis 41:39-44). David was diligent in caring for his father's sheep. In this he developed both skill and bravery in protecting them against ferocious animals, and this (together with his great faith in God) had much to do with his fighting and killing Goliath (1 Samuel 17:32-37). This led to his relationship with King Saul and the army (1 Samuel 18:2; 1 Samuel 18:5). Daniel was diligent in business (Daniel 6:4-5), and he was an important man in the administration of the following kings: Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Darius. The word mean in our verse means insignificant. Paul used the same word in referring to his native city Tarsus (Acts 21:39).

TEST QUESTIONS OVER 22:22-29

1.

What law has God issued concerning the unfortunate (Proverbs 22:22)?

2.

What does in the gate mean in Proverbs 22:22?

3.

What has God said concerning those who oppress the unfortunate (Proverbs 22:23)?

4.

What will happen to a person who makes an angry man his buddy (Proverbs 22:24-25)?

5.

What does Proverbs warn about being surety for another's debts (Proverbs 22:26)?

6.

Why was it even more serious then to remove the ancient landmarks than to remove surveyor items now (Proverbs 22:28)?

7.

What does mean mean in Proverbs 22:29?

8.

Cite Bible characters who were diligent in business and who stood before kings as a result (Proverbs 22:29).