Chapter Nineteen

1–15. Proverbs of various content about wealth and poverty, about prudence and folly, and so forth. 16–29. Proverbs concerning almsgiving, education, and so forth.

Proverbs 19:1. Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than [a rich man] with deceitful lips and yet foolish. Proverbs 19:2. It is not good for a soul to lack knowledge, and whoever is hasty in his steps will stumble. Proverbs 19:3. A person’s folly twists his path, and his heart rages against the Lord. Proverbs 19:4. Wealth adds many friends, but the poor is abandoned even by his own friend. Proverbs 19:5. A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies will not escape. Proverbs 19:6. Many seek the favor of the generous, and everyone is a friend to one who gives gifts. Proverbs 19:7. All the brothers of a poor man hate him; still more do his friends keep away from him. He pursues them with words, but they are not there. Proverbs 19:8. Whoever acquires wisdom loves his own soul; he who guards understanding finds what is good. Proverbs 19:9. A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies will perish. Proverbs 19:10. Luxury is not fitting for a fool, much less is rule for a slave over princes. Proverbs 19:11. Prudence makes a person slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. Proverbs 19:12. The anger of a king is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass. Proverbs 19:13. A foolish son is the ruin of his father, and a quarrelsome wife is a leaking roof. Proverbs 19:14. House and wealth are inherited from parents, but a wise wife is from the Lord. Proverbs 19:15. Sloth plunges into drowsiness, and an idle soul will suffer hunger. V. 1 is almost word for word repeated in Prov 28:6—with the difference that in that latter place the second half of the verse has the word “rich”—ashir, not “fool”—kesil, as here. The context of the discourse corresponds only to the reading of Prov 28:6, which is why the reading of this place Prov 19:1 should be corrected in accordance with it, as the LXX, Vulgate, and Church Slavonic do. Vv. 2–3 emphasize the thought that well-being is possible for a person only through prudence and deliberation. V. 4, 6–7 note an always and everywhere existing phenomenon of life experience—the fact of universal bowing before wealth and the wealthy and contempt for the poor (see Prov 14:20). V. 5 contains an inserted thought about the criminality of false testimony (cf. Prov 6:19); the same also in v. 9. V. 10 has in mind not infrequent cases in the ancient and modern East of sudden elevation of a slave to the position of master; the Wise One condemns such a phenomenon not in itself, but to the extent that physical slavery can easily be combined with spiritual slavery, in particular with foolishness; the thought is that mastery of blessings—wealth, power, and the like—requires preparation in the form of education. Vv. 11–15 contain a series of practical observations from the realm of private, public, and political life.

Proverbs 19:16. Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his own soul; but he who disregards the path will die. Proverbs 19:17. Whoever is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his gift. Proverbs 19:18. Discipline your son while there is hope, and do not set your heart on his destruction. Proverbs 19:19. A hot-tempered person will pay the penalty; if you rescue him, you will have to do it again. Proverbs 19:20. Listen to counsel and accept discipline, so that you may become wise for the future. Proverbs 19:21. Many plans are in a person’s heart, but only the purpose of the Lord will be established. Proverbs 19:22. What a person desires is his kindness, and a poor person is better than a liar. Proverbs 19:23. The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it will rest satisfied; he will not be touched by harm. Proverbs 19:24. The lazy person buries his hand in the dish and does not bring it to his mouth. Proverbs 19:25. If you strike a mocker, the simple will become prudent; if you rebuke the wise, he will understand the instruction. Proverbs 19:26. He who brings ruin to his father and drives away his mother is a son who brings shame and disgrace. Proverbs 19:27. Cease, my son, listening to discipline if it leads you to stray from the words of knowledge. Proverbs 19:28. A corrupt witness mocks justice, and the mouth of the wicked swallows wrongdoing. Proverbs 19:29. Judgments are prepared for mockers, and beating for the backs of fools. At the head of all precepts is the keeping of the commandments of the law (of Moses), in which, according to the lawgiver himself (Deut 31:15), true life, true good, and salvation for a person are indicated (v. 16). The chief commandment, the chief virtue, is mercy and charity toward the poor, in which a person makes himself, as it were, a debtor to God Himself (v. 17, cf. Ps 40:1; Matt 10:42; Matt 25:40). Second in importance—after charity—is the duty of raising and educating children (vv. Prov 1:8-20), about which the Wise One speaks frequently in other places (Prov 13:25). In accordance with the spirit of antiquity and the Old Testament, in the system of education the Wise One permits corporal punishments, but warns parents against extremes and abuses in this regard (v. 18)—the Apostle does likewise (Eph 6:4); all the more insistent is the exhortation to children-pupils (v. 20). V. 21 directs the thought of a person striving to order his life by all means and measures toward the one Sovereign of the world and life—God: human plans, however carefully considered, are subject to change and instability; only the command of God is unchangeable and immutable, by which He governs all (cf. Num 23:19; Prov 16:1). V. 22 depicts the inner side of charity—the feeling of sincere kindness of the giver toward the poor, whereas above (v. 17) only the recompense for charity was mentioned. V. 23 again presents a reminder of the fundamental (in the Old Testament) virtue—the fear of God and its saving power for a person (cf. Prov 16:27). V. 24 is almost literally repeated below in Prov 26:15 (cf. Prov 12:27) and refers to the Eastern custom of not using forks and knives when eating. The concluding verses (25–29) speak of those morally incapable of receiving the teaching of wisdom and contain a warning against being led astray by their examples (v. 27).