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Wednesday 09/17/25
Thru the Bible: Proverbs 13
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Hope deferred makes the heart sick!
Proverbs 13:1-25,
“(1) A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. .”
The word “heeds” is not in the Hebrew, but is taken as the positive to which “hears not” or “doesn’t listen” is the corresponding negative. The word “heeds” is šāma‛ ָשַׁמע
(Shema) and it really is a very powerful word.
As you know, it is the title of both a fundamental Jewish prayer and liturgy, serving as a daily declaration of faith in the oneness of God and a core part of the morning and evening prayer services. It consists of three biblical passages and is recited to affirm a complete love for God. That is in keeping with the way the WORD shema is used here. It not only tells us that this son listens with interest and a desire to grow in obedience, it shows a deference for his father based upon a genuine, heart of respect for him.
It reminds me of Sunday’s message and what I told you at the end. If this remains the study of Pastor Mark alone it is all but worthless to you. You cannot be convicted of MY words. You have to study them out for yourselves. Hear from God yourselves and THEN your heart will respond to the engagement of your Father and respect for HIM, will cause you to own the truth yourself!
THAT is what this verse is saying!
“(2) A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth, but the soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence.”
The phrase “the fruit of” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the parallelism. The term “violence” is probably a metonymy of cause: “violence” represents what violence gains – ill-gotten gains resulting from violent crime. The wicked desire what does not belong to them.
The LXX (Septuagint) reads “the souls of the wicked perish untimely.” The Mazoretic Text makes sense as it stands.
“(3) He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.”
This can be from speaking when no words are necessary. Speaking when silence would be wise. Not being able to control your heart enough to measure your words. Or someone who actually takes pride in not restraining their lips. Of this later person the world is full! Social media has many posts of people, who take pride in claiming that they do not possess a filter. Their stories and rants are viewed as funny and as “just being honest”. However, what it really does is display a lack of control and is used as a defense mechanism to offend people with impunity.
Jesus said in Matthew 12:36-37,
“(36) I tell you that on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every WORTHLESS WORD they speak. (37) For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
The word “worthless word” most literally means “idle words”, which is to say words without work. In the context of Jesus’ statement these would be words which are empty because they are not backed by a life lived.
In the end, the idea of “worthless” or “idle words,” means insincere language. It is when a person speaks one thing and means another – a.k.a. a lie! While this is a fair step away from the point of this verse in Proverbs, it does serve to illustrate how important our words are.
“(4) The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.”
This is a problem with some of the Proverbs. They will sometimes lay down truths which in themselves may exemplify or be used for either good or evil.
A lazy person might have either good or bad desires and neither will be realized. The opposite is true of the diligent. There are many a career politician who have shown diligence, but only to satisfy self desires, so the principle is sound, but does not apply only to good.
“(5) A righteous man hates lying, but a wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame. (6) Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.”
The key words in verse 6 are “guards” and “overthrows”. The idea as presented can stand on its own, but many use statements like these as guarantees to “stand on in faith” and I don’t know that such is appropriate. While the righteous heart, actions and words of a person may, in the end, serve as a defense for a person – it may also be the very thing that condemns them. Jesus made it clear that those who are righteous may suffer by saying, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:10
“(7) There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; and one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.”
While on first glance at reading the New King James version of this verse it seems clear that this is a statement regarding the emptiness of material wealth and the value of spiritual and relational wealth – that is not what Solomon is actually saying. While that is A truth, it is not THE truth of this proverbial statement. These words are in the grammatical form of a Hitpolel which I will not get into but here it has the effect of expressing a reciprocal truth. So the verse should actually read like this,
“There is one who pretends to be rich and yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor and yet possesses great wealth.”
This literary and grammatical structure is designed to draw attention to the deceiving nature of appearances and the value of integrity over pretense.
It did not come naturally for me to find an illustration of this so that you could conceptualize it, but I think I have one.
You have a beggar on the street, and a rich man walks by possessing several hundred dollars in his pocket but looks at the poor man and rubs his pockets in a gesture so as to indicate that he has no money on him. In the other case, you can envision a young man who borrows a sports car from a relative to pick up a girl for a first day in order to impress. He pretends ownership when in fact, his car is both old and currently broken.
“(8) The ransom of a man’s life is his riches, but the poor does not hear rebuke.”
Now this is another grammar issue which affects the translated outcome of the verse. Read as it is here, its meaning seems a bit of a stretch or bad fit. It could mean that the rich are more prone to robbery or kidnapping and what they own will determine the amount demanded for their release, whereas the poor, if threatened, will not respond to the demands of their assailant since they have nothing with which to barter.
However, the secondary meaning is both more obvious and likely and that reads like this,
“The ransom of a person’s life is his wealth, thus the poor person has never heard a threat.” meaning that the poor are never kidnapped in the first place, since they are a pointless target.
The point of this proverb may be in encouraging people to not pursue riches because they come with risk. Or it could be a warning to the rich to not present themselves as such by flaunting their wealth so as to attract attention, because that attention may not always be good. If this last option is correct, then I would suggest that it should be read as a natural continuation of verse 7 since they fit very well together in making a more well rounded point.
Taken together they would say,
“There is one who pretends to be rich and yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor and yet possesses great wealth. The ransom of a person’s life is his wealth, thus the poor person has never heard a threat.”
To me, that is a complete thought and makes sense!
“(9) The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will be put out.”
The word “rejoices” makes its own sense, in that light is nearly always used symbolically for understanding OR a life lived in righteousness both of which causes rejoicing to the righteous person and the righteous observer. The opposite can be said rightly of the wicked.
The “light” of the wicked would be the “understanding” of the wicked or could represent the inward moral compass or inward desire of the wicked. Jesus employed the metaphorical used of “light” in a teaching about what people inwardly value and treasure in Matthew 6:19-24 which I believe has a direct correlation with this proverb. He said,
“(19) Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and devouring insect destroy and where thieves break in and steal. (20) But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and devouring insect do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.
(21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
(22) “The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.
(23) But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness.
If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
(24) “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Continuing on in Proverbs 13…
“(10) By pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised is wisdom.
(11) Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, but he who gathers by labor will increase.
(12) Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.”
Truer words have rarely been spoken.
“(13) He who despises the word will be destroyed, but he who fears the commandment will be rewarded. (14) The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death. (15) Good understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard. (16) Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool lays open his folly.”
“(17) A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a faithful ambassador brings health. (18) Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, but he who regards a rebuke will be honored.”
“(19) A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul, but it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil.”
“(20) He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.”
The same is taught by Paul using different words. He says, “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.“ – 1 Corinthians 15:33
“(21) Evil pursues sinners, but to the righteous, good shall be repaid.”
“(22) A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.”
It is unfortunate that these words could cause the poor man who loves both God and his grandchildren to be despondent. The idea is both cultural and spiritual.
Under the Old Covenant there were blessings of riches associated with being righteous, though even then, it was not always realized in a material fashion. Nevertheless, in ancient Israel leaving an inheritance for your grandchildren was seen as evidence of the blessings of God – presumably for being a good person. However, at least under the New Covenant such is not true regarding material blessings. To illustrate this we need look no further than the apostles all of which, so far as we have record, were no wealthy men and some had children so they presumably had grandchildren as well. Jesus Himself was not a wealthy man. So being the eldest son, and desiring to provide for His natural mother after His death and resurrection, gave Mary to John as his mother. This provision was more spiritual and relational, than monetary. No doubt she would be provided for, but more than that she would be loved, cherished and cared for!
Another inheritance which ALL good men leave for their children and their grandchildren is a life lived in righteousness, time invested in love and instruction and a good name. All of which are many times more valuable than material wealth!
“(23) Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor, and for lack of justice there is waste.
(24) He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
(25) The righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul, but the stomach of the wicked shall be in want.”
Blessings!
Tri
