Proverbs 25:20-28

TEXT Proverbs 25:20-28

20.

As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon soda,

So is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart,

21.

If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat;

And if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:

22.

For thou wilt heap coals of fire upon his head,

And Jehovah will reward thee.

23.

The north wind bringeth, forth rain;

So doth a backbiting tongue an angry countenance.

24.

It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop,

Than with a contentious woman in a wide house.

25.

As cold waters to a thirsty soul,

So is good news from a far country.

26.

As a troubled fountain, and a corrupted spring,

So is a righteous man that giveth way before the wicked.

27.

It is not good to eat much honey;

So for men to search out their own glory is grievous.

28.

He whose spirit is without restraint

Is like a city that is broken down and without walls.

STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 25:20-28

1.

Comment on the comparisons in Proverbs 25:20.

2.

Where in the New Testament is Proverbs 25:21 quoted?

3.

What is the meaning of Proverbs 25:22?

4.

What is a backsliding tongue (Proverbs 25:23)?

5.

What other verses in Proverbs are similar to Proverbs 25:24?

6.

What kind of news would they look forward to from a far country (Proverbs 25:25)?

7.

What is a troubled fountain (Proverbs 25:26)?

8.

Give an example of one searching out his own glory (Proverbs 25:27)?

9.

What virtue is lacking in one whose spirit is without restraint (Proverbs 25:28)?

PARAPHRASE OF 25:20-28

20.

Being happy-go-lucky around a person whose heart is heavy is as bad as stealing his jacket in cold weather, or rubbing salt in his wounds.

21, 22.

If your enemy is hungry, give him food! If he is thirsty, give him something to drink! This will make him feel ashamed of himself, and God will reward you.

23.

As surely as a wind from the north brings cold, just as surely a retort causes anger!

24.

It is better to live in a corner of an attic than in a beautiful home with a cranky, quarrelsome woman.

25.

Good news from far away is like cold water to the thirsty.

26.

If a godly man compromises with the wicked, it is like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring.

27.

Just as it is harmful to eat too much honey, so also it is bad for men to think about all the honors they deserve!

28.

A man without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls.

COMMENTS ON 25:20-28

Proverbs 25:20. In case of light sorrow of disappointments, we may sing with such a one to cheer him up and pep him up, but in case of extreme sorrow (.such as from death; we do not say to such a one, Come on, let's all gather around the piano and sing and have a good time. Festive singing would be as out of order under those conditions as taking away a needed garment in cold weather and would meet with emotional resistance similar to what happens when you pour vinegar upon soda, and the two boil up. Pulpit Commentary: The proverb gives three instances of what is wrong, incongruous, or unwise, the first two leading up to the third, which is the pith of the maxim.

Proverbs 25:21. Both Old and New Testaments teach that we should treat one who has not been good to us as we would a friend. Old Testament: If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again (Exodus 23:4); New Testament: Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you (Matthew 5:44). Our verse and the one following are quoted in Romans 12:20. If you, a godly person, are seeking to win an enemy through kindness, you may get nowhere by socially inviting him over for a meal. The matter may be different if he is hungry (without food) or if he is thirsty (without drink); help offered him in dire circumstances when he might well expect you to disregard his condition or inwardly rejoice over his plight will not be refused (a drowning man will grasp a rope thrown to him regardless of who is on the other end). By such means, Romans 12:21 shows, you may be able to overcome his evil done to you by your good done to him. How worthwhile! How both of you will rejoice!

Proverbs 25:22. Counseling a woman about her difficult husband, a preacher asked her if she had tried heaping colds of fire upon his head; she said, No, but I-'ve tried boiling water, and that didn-'t work. The woman missed the point of this statement. Clarke rightfully observes: Thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his headnot to consume, but to melt him into kindness, a metaphor taken from smelting metallic ores: -So artists melt the sullen ore of lead By heaping coals of fire upon its head.-' God has promised to reward such actions.

Proverbs 25:23. Rainfall in the north of Palestine is heavier than in the south, so a wind from that direction would bring moisture (or from the west, where the sea is, Luke 12:54) while one from the south (which is desert) would only bring parching weather (Luke 12:55). Just as surely will a tongue that bites a person behind his back arouse an angry countenance in the one so spoken of/against. Backbiting is serious: it is mentioned in Romans 1:30 among the awful sins of that chapter's long list; it is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12:20 as a part of church-trouble; Psalms 15:1-3 shows one must be free from it to dwell in God's tabernacle on His holy hill; and Psalms 101:5 says God will destroy one guilty of it.

Proverbs 25:24. The same is found, word for word, in Proverbs 21:9. Proverbs 21:19 agrees with the conclusion when it says, It is better to dwell in a desert land, Than with a contentious and fretful woman. Proverbs 19:13 says, The contentions of a wife are a continual dropping. If there is anything that will get a man or that is obnoxious to a man, it is the nagging and continual harpings of a woman. Moral: Women, don-'t do it! Girls, don-'t develop it! Boys, don-'t marry it! Married men, you have a problem!

Proverbs 25:25. In Bible days one received very little news from distant places (not like we do today). The welcomeness of a drink of cold water when thirsty and the refreshing relief it brings suggest that one's heart is refreshed or relieved (or both) from good news from relatives afar off, or in the case of kings good news from his army fighting afar off.

Proverbs 25:26. A drinking fountain whose waters have been riled up or a spring that has had something dead or putrid fall into it to corrupt it are examples of something once good and usable now hindered and hurt and no longer good. So is a righteous man who gets corrupted by wicked people. This can happen to men who go into politics, to men who become judges, to men who go into business pursuits, to young people who go to college, to preachers who go to work with certain congregations; in fact, to almost anybody.

Proverbs 25:27. Anything good to eat (like honey) can be overindulged in. The same warning with reference to honey, a delicacy to the ancients, was mentioned in Proverbs 25:16. And anything natural, like searching into one's ancestry if it was prominent or gloating over one's accomplishments, is not good but grievous. Nobody likes to see another stuck on himself. Romans 12:16 says, Be not wise in your own conceits. And Proverbs 27:2 says, Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; A stranger, and not thine own lips. An old saying: Self-brag stinks.

Proverbs 25:28. Another great verse on the need of self-control. A city broken down by some greater power and left without walls is weakened to the point of being defenseless against attack, and when a person has lost his sense of personal restraint or self-control, he/she is open to temptation's attack. You are responsible for saying, Yes, to God and, No, to Satan; God built this responsibility into you when He created you with the right of choice. Restrain yourself! We put bits in horse's mouths to restrain them; we build fences around livestock to restrain them; and God has commanded each of us to exercise self-control over selves. Paul said, I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected (1 Corinthians 9:27). James wrote, Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil (James 4:7). And Proverbs 16:32 praises self-control: He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; And he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city.

TEST QUESTIONS OVER 25:20-28

1.

What does Proverbs 25:20 mean, seeing that we sing songs at funerals?

2.

Is the setting of Proverbs 25:21 that of forcing ourselves socially upon one who does not like us, or what?

3.

Give an example of heaping coals of fire upon an enemy's head (Proverbs 25:22).

4.

Why did a north wind bring Palestinians rain (Proverbs 25:23)?

5.

What does the Bible say about a backbiting tongue (Proverbs 25:23)?

6.

What terrible situation is Proverbs 25:24 dealing with?

7.

How did good news from family or army from afar affect the recipient (Proverbs 25:25)?

8.

What kind of person is Proverbs 25:27 picturing?

9.

How is one without self-control like a city without walls (Proverbs 25:28)?