Proverbs 24:23-34

TEXT Proverbs 24:23-34

23.

These also are sayings of the wise.

To have respect of persons in judgment is not good.

24.

He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous,

Peoples shall curse him, nations shall abhor him;

25.

But to them that rebuke him shall be delight,

And a good blessing shall come upon them.

26.

He kisseth the lips

Who giveth a right answer.

27.

Prepare thy work without,

And make it ready for thee in the field;
And afterwards build thy house.

28.

Be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause;

And deceive not with thy lips.

29.

Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me;

I will render to the man according to his work.

30.

I went by the field of the sluggard,

And by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

31.

And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns,

The face thereof was covered with nettles,
And the stone wall thereof was broken down.

32.

Then I beheld, and considered well;

I saw, and received instruction:

33.

Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to sleep;

34.

So shall thy poverty come as a robber,

And thy want as an armed man.

STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 24:23-34

1.

Does the opening statement of Proverbs 24:23 indicate some kind of change of authorship or material?

2.

What did the law of Moses say concerning respect of persons (Proverbs 24:23)?

3.

Have people sometimes been more righteous than their leaders (Proverbs 24:24)?

4.

What would be the problem of their rebuking a ruler (Proverbs 24:25)?

5.

Kisses whose lips (Proverbs 24:26)?

6.

Prepare what work without (Proverbs 24:27)?

7.

In Proverbs 24:28 don-'t deceive whom?

8.

Should we do to others as they have done to us (Proverbs 24:29)?

9.

Does Proverbs 24:30 imply that a sluggard is void of understanding?

10.

What two things reflected his laziness (Proverbs 24:31)?

11.

Proverbs 24:32 shows we can learn by the avenue of ........

12.

What does a sluggard enjoy doing (Proverbs 24:33)?

13.

Is it a shame to be poor under these conditions (Proverbs 24:34)?

PARAPHRASE OF 24:23-34

23-25.

It is wrong to sentence the poor, and let the rich go free. He who says to the wicked, You are innocent, shall be cursed by many people of many nations; but blessings shall be showered on those who rebuke sin fearlessly.

26.

It is an honor to receive a frank reply.

27.

Develop your business first before building your house.

28, 29.

Don-'t testify spitefully against an innocent neighbor. Why lie about him? Don-'t say, Now I can pay him back for all his meanness to me!

30-32.

I walked by the field of a certain lazy fellow and saw that it was overgrown with thorns, and covered with weeds; and its walls were broken down. Then, as I looked, I learned this lesson:

33, 34.

A little extra sleep, A little more slumber, A little folding of the hands to restmeans that poverty will break in upon you suddenly like a robber, and violently like a bandit.

COMMENTS ON 24:23-34

Proverbs 24:23. The opening statement indicates that the following verses form some kind of a section or collection of sayings included by Inspiration. We do not know to whom they belong as we do later groupings in Proverbs (See Proverbs 25:1) Proverbs 30:1; Proverbs 31:1). The Bible has much to say about conducting court: Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, not honor the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor (Leviticus 19:15); Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike (Deuteronomy 1:17); Thou shalt not wrest justice: thou shalt not respect persons; neither shalt thou take a bribe (Deuteronomy 16:19). See Proverbs 18:5; Proverbs 28:21 also.

Proverbs 24:24. Proverbs 24:24-26 are also talking of court cases. Through bribes, through respect of persons, through friendships and alliances, etc., justice sometimes gets perverted, and the guilty are freed. This verse says, Peoples shall curse him, nations shall abhor him. Isaiah 5:22-23 says, Woe unto them...that justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! And Proverbs 17:15 says, He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to Jehovah.

Proverbs 24:25. People can usually tell when a judge is bought off and when he deals straightforwardly with a guilty case. They want him to rebuke the wicked, for he has it coming, and only by this means can crime be held in check in society. It is evident that the people were glad when the priest Jehoiada put down the wicked usurper Athaliah: All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet (2 Chronicles 23:21).

Proverbs 24:26. A judge giving a proper sentence to the wicked is so in stride with the thoughts and feelings of the people as one who kisses another.

Proverbs 24:27. The Scriptures show that there is preparatory work to be done before the actual construction begins: Which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have wherewith to complete it? (Luke 14:28); And the king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with wrought stone. And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites did fashion them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house (1 Kings 5:17-18).

Proverbs 24:28. To do this would make one a false witness, one who lies. The 9th Commandment forbad this (Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, Exodus 20:16) as does Ephesians 4:25 (Putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor). Oh, how wicked to use one's lips purposely to deceive others, who will believe what is being said and which will result in needless grief, sorrow, and loss to the one being lied about! God did not give man the gift of speech for this purpose.

Proverbs 24:29. Far too many people when wronged respond with an immediate desire to get even; they can think only of retaliation. But the Bible brings out that God, the Judge, will bring any retaliation that is to be brought; consequently, He commands us not to take vengeance ourselves: Say not thou, I will recompense evil: Wait for Jehovah, and he will save thee (Proverbs 20:22); Render to no man evil for evil...Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord (Romans 12:17-19). Instead, Jesus-' rule was: All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them (Matthew 7:12).

Proverbs 24:30. There has always been, and there will probably always be, a certain percentage of lazy people. They are also said to be void of understanding; in other words, one with good understanding will not be a sluggard. Such a person has a field (for wheat or some other crop) or a vineyard (of grapes) not because he wants to farm, not to take care of, etc. He may have come into possession of such by inheritance rather than by purchase.

Proverbs 24:31. The sluggard did not plant a crop: thorns and nettles grew up and took over, and the stone wall around the vineyard to protect the vineyard was broken down here and there and had not been kept in a state of repair. Oh, the way that some people can neglect a place and let it run down! This condition existed because of a man's laziness.

Proverbs 24:32. Who could keep from noticing the sad condition of both field and wall? The writer says he looked on the situation, pondered over it, and learned from it. Observation is one of wise people's greatest teachers!

Proverbs 24:33. What did the onlooker learn? That a lazy person loves to sleep too much.

Proverbs 24:34. And he learned that such over-sleeping would result in a man's poverty. Robbers (armed men) usually had nothing, for they did not work, and what they got from robbing did not last them too long. Proverbs 6:10-11 contains the same material as Proverbs 24:33-34. It is a shame to be poor because of one's refusal to work.

TEST QUESTIONS OVER 24:23-34

1.

What are some other passages on showing respect of persons (Proverbs 24:23)?

2.

Why would anybody pronounce the wicked as righteous (Proverbs 24:24)?

3.

What is the people's attitude toward a judge who lets a wicked man go free (Proverbs 24:25)?

4.

What about his giving a right verdict (Proverbs 24:26)?

5.

Give a Biblical example of Proverbs 24:27.

6.

Cite a Bible statement about telling a lie on another person. (Proverbs 24:28).

7.

What does the Bible say about our taking vengeance on others (Proverbs 24:29)?

8.

Why might a sluggard even have a field or a vineyard (Proverbs 24:30-31)?

9.

What is evidence that the sluggard had not even bothered to plant a crop (Proverbs 24:31)?

10.

What is evidence that we cannot keep people from noticing our failures (Proverbs 24:32)?

11.

What did the sluggard do instead of work (Proverbs 24:33)?

12.

What other passage contains the same material as Proverbs 24:33-34?