Proverbs 10:1-16

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Let’s take our Bibles together and turn to the passage just read, Proverbs 10:1–16. We are continuing our series, “Fearing Deity & Defying Stupidity.” And today, we begin a new section in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 1–9 is a unit of text with a dramatic conclusion—the showdown between Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly in Proverbs 9. Proverbs 10:1 starts a second section of Proverbs that takes us all the way to Proverbs 22:16. This is what Hebrew scholar, Bruce Waltke, calls “Collection II” of Proverbs. It’s a collection of 375 proverbs.

And Collection II looks and feels different from Collection I. Each proverb (or verse or parallelism) feels like an island unto itself. Each verse feels like a self-contained unit. And you might think of this section as a randomly assembled bunch of sayings or aphorisms. 

But as we work verse by verse through these chapters, we may find that there is more intentionality and structure than first assumed. I know that’s the case with these first sixteen verses, as I’ll show in a minute.

I will say this. In this section of Proverbs, you will get a heavy dose of antithetical parallelism. We’ve grown accustomed to both synonymous and antithetical parallelism in Proverbs 1–9. And just as a review, synonymous parallelism looks like this. 

Proverbs 1:8 says, “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching.” The command to “hear” is parallel with the idea of “forsake not.” “Father” is parallel to “mother.” And “instruction” is parallel to “teaching.” So we have synonymously parallel ideas in this verse. And in Proverbs this feature is very prevalent. 

Well antithetical parallelism is similar. But the ideas conveyed by the two lines are not synonymous, they are contrastive. Here’s an example of this from the book of Psalms which also uses parallelism. Psalm 1:6 says, “for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” There’s thesis and antithesis. “The way of the wicked” is parallel with “the way of the righteous,” but they are not synonymous, they are contrastive. 

Here’s another example from Proverbs 15:1. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” “Soft answer” is contrasted with “harsh word.” It’s parallel, but it’s not synonymous parallelism, it’s antithetical parallelism. And “turns away wrath” is parallel to “stirs up anger.” That’s good Hebrew poetry right there.

In fact, C.S. Lewis said about Hebrew poetry that it’s a wonderful piece of God’s providence that the primary feature of Hebrew poetry, parallelism, can be translated and conveyed in other languages. That wouldn’t be true if the primary feature was rhyme or meter. 

All that to say this—starting in Proverbs 10:1, we’re going to get a heavy dose of antithetical parallelism. And you’re going to feel it pretty quickly. Solomon is going to make you feel it. 

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So let’s get into it. But first, write this down as the first point in your notes. 

The righteous obtain wealth honorably (10:1–5)

And you might respond to that by saying, “Not so, the wicked!” And that statement would be right. That’s part of the antithetical parallelism of this section. 

Verse 1 says this, 

1 The proverbs of Solomon. 

These are the words and sayings of Solomon, probably compiled and organized after his death. For more on that, see the introduction to Proverbs that I preached last October. 

A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother. 

Boy, that sounds familiar, doesn’t it? That sounds like Proverbs 1–9. Solomon is obsessed with passing on good wisdom to young men—a kind of wisdom that will bless both father and mother. I see this as a kind of theme verse for the entire second collection. 

But notice the way the antithetical parallelism is demonstrated. 

A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother. 

The “wise son” is parallel with the “foolish son.” The “father” is parallel with the “mother.” And “glad” is parallel with “sorrow.” But there’s a contrast. Proverbs 1:8 was synonymous. “Listen my son to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.” This is contrastive. 

A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother. 

And speaking of a “wise son,” a wise son works hard. Look at verse 2.

2 Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death.

Notice how the antithetical parallelism is inverted here. Solomon mentions the negative first and then the positive. 

2 Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death.

In terms of “treasures gained by wickedness,” think Ahab and his attempts to steal Naboth’s vineyard. Think Judas and his thirty pieces of silver. Think Jacob and his restless years of heel-grabbing. “Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit.”

To that you might say, “But Tony, sometimes treasures gained by wickedness do profit! Haven’t you ever heard of organized crime? Haven’t you ever heard of the Mafia?” Yes, but we aren’t dealing with absolutes here. We are dealing with truisms. That’s the nature of a proverb.

And yes, sometimes wickedness profits and the righteous die young. But all things being equal, and more often than not in our world, the opposite is true. Al Capone got sent to Alcatraz at age 33 and then died early at age 48 in Florida. Gangsters and Mafiosos get rich and die young. That’s normative for that world. Crooked accountants who cook the books typically end up in jail. Inside traders get caught. Crooked companies like Enron and WorldCom go belly-up. That doesn’t always happen. But it happens enough to substantiate the truism of this statement. 

2 Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, 

whereas… 

righteousness delivers from death.

Now don’t get hung up on that statement in verse 2, because Paul said that man’s righteousness won’t deliver us from death (cf. Rom 3:9–20). Solomon is not at war with Paul. They’re not talking about the same things. Solomon is talking about physical death. Paul is talking about spiritual death. We’ll discuss that more later. 

Solomon says in verse 3:

3 The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. 

4 A slack hand [Hebrew כַּף indicating the “palm of the hand”] causes poverty, but the hand [Hebrew יָד indicating the “elbow to fingertip”] of the diligent makes rich. 

Now this is a truism, truism, truism! More often than not, and all things being equal, hard work pays off. And the Lord himself (Yahweh) has hardwired our world to reward diligence, hard work, and righteous behavior, and punish laziness, wickedness, and idleness. Does that always manifest in our fallen world? No. But it does enough to get our attention. 

Just look at the benefits of the Protestant work ethic in the western world. Just look at America as an example. Our country has benefited from hard work, a righteous heritage, and ingenuity. Do we have our flaws and foibles? Yes, we do. Are those flaws the prism that we should view everything through? No, they’re not. 

And in the context of teaching our children a better way, which is what Solomon is doing here, should we teach them something different? Should we teach our children the way of communism or socialism? No thank you. Should we teach them the way of big government where the nanny state will take care of them and provide for their needs? No thank you. Margaret Thatcher said once that the trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.

Speaking of children. Look at verse 5.

5 He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. 

We might paraphrase this verse as follows: “Make hay while the sun shines.” That’s English for carpe diem. “Seize the day.” Don’t sleep the day away. Grandpa can take a nap in the middle of the day. He’s earned that right. But young men don’t sleep when there’s work to be done. 

I have a good friend in Illinois who’s a farmer. And he’s an extremely hard worker. He’s an extremely hard worker when it’s not planting or harvest time. And when it is planting or harvest time, he’s almost inaccessible. In fact, I really admire him, because when the rest of the farmers are working on Sundays trying to get the harvest in, he makes a point of getting to church and spending time with his family. I’ve heard him say before, “Six days a man works, and on the seventh he rests.” 

And if you live in an agricultural setting, you don’t sleep through the harvest, unless you want to starve. And a son who works hard and gets the job done is a blessing to his family. A son who mooches off his parents and lazily sleeps when he should be working is a shame. 

I’ve recently read several articles about thirty-something and even forty-something men who have been forcibly evicted from their parents’ homes. I remember several years ago reading something about this trend among Italian men particularly. Supposedly, there are men in Italy who continually refuse to work and insist on living with their parents. And there’s actually an Italian word for this now. It’s the word bamboccioni which means “spoilt big babies.” And these big babies refuse to leave home and instead sponge off their parents. Some even sue their parents to avoid eviction! Now that is a son who brings shame upon his house. That is a son who, verse 1, is a “sorrow to his mother.”

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Go ahead and write this down as #2. The righteous obtain wealth honorably. But also, 

The righteous employ speech judiciously (10:6–11)

Solomon says this in verse 6.

6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

The Hebrew word for “blessings” here is בְּרָכָה. It denotes, “the filling of a person with the potency to reproduce life, to produce wealth, and to overcome enemies.”

To have “blessings” on the head means that God has favored you. And those blessings are spread from person to person. In our world, #blessed means something like God has favored me with riches and talent, so let me brag about it and rub it in your face. But blessings from God were meant to be shared with others. That’s the nature of financial wealth. That’s the nature of knowledge, learning, and wisdom. If you are blessed with that, share it with others. 

And here’s the contrast, “But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” A wicked man has a wicked mouth that is deceitfully hiding violence. Your attachment to him won’t lead to reciprocal blessings. It will lead to your demise.

Look at verse 7.

7 The memory of the righteous is a blessing, 

There’s that word בְּרָכָה again. Now the blessing moves to others who remember you. If you are a righteous person, then you are blessed by God and you pass that blessing on to others. 

but the name of the wicked will rot.

Michael V. Fox writes, “Everyone’s corpse rots, but in the case of the evildoer, even the intangible and potentially enduring name putrefies.” 

Some parents and grandparents leave a positive, lasting memory with you. Some pastors you remember fondly. Others leave a legacy of rot. You loathe them, and you can’t forget about them fast enough. Some spiritual leaders are like that. Some political leaders are like that. Oftentimes it takes a few years or even a generation to sort out the good ones from the bad ones. 

Look at verse 8.

8 The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin. 

The righteous control and use speech judiciously. Not so the wicked! “The babbling fool will come to ruin.” Notice the statement about teachability at the beginning of verse 8. We talked about that last week.

8 The wise of heart will receive commandments,

This is the opposite of him who is “wise in his own eyes” (3:7; 26:12). That’s a big theme throughout Proverbs. There’s the teachable and the unteachable. There’s the wise and the foolish. The wise person is teachable. The fool on the other hand prattles on and on uncontrollably instead of listening and being teachable. He is a babbling fool who comes to ruin.

Look at verse 9. 

9 Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways [Hebrew: plural of דֶּרֶךְ] crooked will be found out. 

The word for “integrity” is the Hebrew תֹּם, which means “blamelessness” or “innocence.” It’s cognate to the word תָּמִים, which was used to describe the animals without blemish that were used as sacrifices for the Lord (e.g. Exod 12:5; Lev 1:3; 3:6; Num 6:14; 29:8). 

The English word “integrity” is a fascinating word too. It derives from the word “integer” which means number, or “whole number” as opposed to a fraction. And the idea behind the word is that the person is whole and complete. He is an integer. He is single-minded. He or she is non-duplicitous. That person, the person of integrity, will walk securely. 

That person can sleep with a clear conscience. That person doesn’t have to keep peaking over his shoulder to see if he’s been found out. That person doesn’t have to worry about the IRS auditing his taxes. 

But… not so the wicked! Look at the end of verse 9. 

but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out. 

If not in this life, then in the life after. 

10 Whoever winks the eye causes trouble, and a babbling fool will come to ruin. 

Now here, in verse 10, is a rare example of synonymous parallelism in this sea of antithetical parallelism. Neither of these two things is positive. Both involve negative agents—you’ve got the troublemaker and the fool. The troublemaker winks. And the fool babbles. The righteous does neither. 

Now winking in our American context is a playful gesture. But it wasn’t playful in Solomon’s context. It was deceptive. It was a sly and malevolent gesture. And the heart behind a person who uses that body language is wicked. The troublemaker thrives on troublemaking. He gets a twisted kick out of seeing other people’s lives ruined. And he is unaware of how his own ways bring trouble to himself. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” Hosea 8:7 says that those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind. There is still cause and effect in this world. 

And here’s the positive side of that cause and effect. Look at verse 11.

11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,

Have you ever been around someone who just oozes Holy Spirit wisdom? I’ve had the privilege of knowing many people like that in my life. People who I would just sit silent before, because I didn’t want to interrupt their wisdom with my silliness. And I could tell, even when I was a kid, this person is full of wisdom. This person is full of life. This person is a fountain that is gushing out blessing upon my life. 

But then there are other people. Look at the end of verse 11.

but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. 

There are those whose mouths are a fountain of life. But then there are the other people. You feel like you need to take a shower after speaking with some people. They just make you feel dirty and used and manipulated. Sometimes you can feel the anger and spite oozing out from them. 

I’ve often wondered, Lord why did you give us mouths? Why do you allow humans to speak? Because it’s a mixed bag. Why couldn’t we be like whales that just kind of groan towards one another? Wouldn’t that have been better?

I actually think that the faculty of speech is one of the things that differentiates humans from the other mammals on the planet. Only humans can really communicate with others of their species. And sometimes, it’s Proverbs 10:11a, and sometimes it’s Proverbs 10:11b. Sometimes it’s… 

 11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, 

And sometimes it’s…

but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. 

That’s the dilemma. That’s the predicament we find ourselves in as humans. We’re not whales. We’re not dogs or cats or pigeons. We’re image-bearers. God speaks, and we speak. And God would have us, as ambassadors for him, use our mouths for good and not for evil. God would have us tame our tongues and use them to gush forth a fountain of life. 

I’ve prayed for that for myself. The Lord knows I’ve used my mouth for the wrong things in my life. I’ve made a lot of mistakes with this tongue. And I want to employ speech judiciously in the years that I have left in order to honor him. 

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Finally, write this down as #3. The righteous obtain wealth honorably. The righteous employ speech judiciously. And also,

3) The righteous walk securely (10:12–16)

Solomon says in verse 12, 

12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

Now if that verse sounds familiar, it’s because both Peter and James allude to it in the NT (cf. 1 Pet 4:8; Jas 5:20). It’s not just us who benefit from the ancient wisdom of the Hebrews. James and Peter did too, and they incorporated it into their understanding and defense of the gospel. 

13 On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense. 

There’s our old friend חָכְמָה “wisdom” in verse 13. This is the first occurrence of this word since Lady Wisdom gave her clarion call in chapter 9. In many ways wisdom takes a back seat to righteousness in chapter 10. I see righteousness as the key theme in this chapter. 

But just so you know, wisdom is never far removed from righteousness, and righteousness is never far removed from wisdom. They work in concert together. There’s no such thing to the ancient Hebrews as righteousness without wisdom or wisdom without righteousness.

Speaking of wisdom, verse 14 says, 

14 The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near. 

To “lay up” knowledge doesn’t mean to acquire it for the sake of acquiring it. This concept has the idea of selective speech. A wise person doesn’t always show off his knowledge. A wise person isn’t always relating his resume to other people. He “lays it up.” He waits for the proper time. 

Fools, on the other hand, blather. Fools volunteer their opinions. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. And the mouth of a fool brings ruin near. 

Look at verse 15.

15 A rich man’s wealth is his strong city; the poverty of the poor is their ruin. 

Now this is a tricky verse, so let’s be careful with this one. One of the things that we see in the Proverbs is that money can be both positive and negative. It’s morally neutral. Wisdom is always positive. So is righteousness. But money and wealth can be either positive or negative. In fact half of the ten occurrences of the Hebrew word for wealth (הוֹן) are used positively, and the other half are used negatively (i.e. don’t trust in it).

And the positives that money can provide are clearly presented in Proverbs. 

15 A rich man’s wealth is his strong city; the poverty of the poor is their ruin. 

There’s truth in that statement. And maybe you feel like this is stated rather crassly. But it’s true that wealth can offer security. Wealth can offer strength. And poverty can bring a level of vulnerability and weakness. Michael V. Fox says it this way, “It is a simple fact of life that wealth provides a measure of protection, while poverty leaves one vulnerable to danger.”

But wealth can also be a false kind of security. And Proverbs is clear about that elsewhere. And we need to be on guard against this. One of the themes running through this particular section of Proverbs is that righteous, hard work leads to financial benefit, which leads to wealth, which then leads to security. And as a principle of human life, that’s correct. But we know all too well that wealth can also lead to a false since of security, especially wealth that is obtained immorally. 

And that’s why Solomon quickly qualifies this statement with verse 16.

16 The wage of the righteous leads to life, the gain of the wicked to sin. 

What good is wealth, as a strong city, if it’s obtained through wickedness. That’s going to foster sin. That’s going to cause you to sleep restlessly with an uneasy conscience. That gain is not worth the pain. 

A righteous path, on the other hand, leads to life. Even if you are without wealth… even if you lose your wealth… you can still have a life worth living.

 In the book of Proverbs, there are four categories. There’s 1) the righteous rich, 2) the unrighteous rich, 3) the righteous poor, and 4) the unrighteous poor. The righteous rich earn their wealth honorably and give their wealth to others generously. The unrighteous rich earn their wealth dishonorably and are stingy towards others. The righteous poor fear God, work hard, and make do with what they’ve been given. They know that their greater treasures await them in eternity. The unrighteous poor are lazy, vengeful, and sometimes violent. They blame others for their circumstances and play the victim card to their own advantage. 

In our world today, where most of us honestly are middle class to rich, we like to assign blame to people based on their status. The rich are evil. The poor are evil. The rich are inherently righteous. The poor are inherently righteous. We do the same thing with race, by the way. We label, we stigmatize, we cancel, and we blame shift. 

But the Bible doesn’t do that. The Bible doesn’t allow for quick and easy generalizations about a person’s integrity based on race or socioeconomics. Integrity isn’t derived from race or socioeconomics; integrity is derived from a life that is characterized by the fear of the Lord. And those who fear God and live according to his principles, as a truism, they will dwell securely. They will live lives of wisdom, understanding, success, and even “love” (look again at verse 12). 

For those who don’t fear God… for the fool… there is hatred, strife, ruin, poverty, sin, and a rod of correction! So, says Solomon, to his son, in 10:1–16… Be righteous in your work ethic. Be righteous with your speech. And be wise with your finances. Why? Because…

A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother. 

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I’ll close with this. Like I said, when I read over Proverbs 10, the resounding refrain and key word in this chapter is the Hebrew צַדִּיק, which means “righteous.” That word and its cognate show up six times in this passage. And it’s clear that Solomon wants his son to live a life of righteousness. 

The problem with that, as we see in the NT, is that our righteousness might help us prevent premature death in this world, but it won’t save us from eternal death. Paul makes that clear. Our righteousness just doesn’t get the job done in that regard. And Paul, actually quoting the OT in Romans 3 says, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Rom 3:10–12; Ps 14:1–3). 

To that you might say, “Thanks a lot, Pastor Tony. You spent the last 40 minutes telling us to be righteous from the book of Proverbs, and now you tell us we’re doomed and can’t do it. That’s just great!”

Well, listen. Don’t be discouraged. There’s hope for us as NT Christians. I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again. I’m glad Proverbs is in the Bible, but I’m also glad that Proverbs isn’t the only book of the Bible! If people just read and obeyed Proverbs, they would lead a perfectly good life, and then go straight to hell after they die. 

What Paul tells us in the NT, and what Jesus tells us in the NT too, is that the eternal righteousness that we need to please God and enter into eternity is a borrowed righteousness. Here’s the theological word, it’s an imputed righteousness. It’s imputed to us by faith in the Son of God who lived a perfectly righteous life and died for us on the cross. 

And here’s the really exciting thing. You might think, “O, my righteousness is from Christ, so I don’t need to try to be righteous or live a righteous life at all.” No, that’s exactly the wrong thing that God wants you to think! 

He wants you instead to think, “Christ Jesus is my righteousness. He did what I cannot. And so, I’m going to spend the rest of my days imitating him and following him and manifesting his holy righteousness through the power of his Holy Spirit that he deposited inside of me. 

In that way, I think we read the book of Proverbs backwards. We read it, after embracing Christ and after we are endowed with his righteousness, and then we can seek to be obedient to this OT text. 

Taught by Tony Caffey

Senior Pastor of Verse By Verse Fellowship

Proverbs