Proverbs

Proverbs 10

32 verses · Wisdom · Old Testament

1The proverbs of Solomon.

A wise son makes a glad father; but a foolish son brings grief to his mother. 2Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death. 3Yahweh will not allow the soul of the righteous to go hungry, but he thrusts away the desire of the wicked. 4He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth. 5He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during the harvest is a son who causes shame. 6Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked. 7The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot. 8The wise in heart accept commandments, but a chattering fool will fall. 9He who walks blamelessly walks surely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out. 10One winking with the eye causes sorrow, but a chattering fool will fall. 11The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked. 12Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all wrongs. 13Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has discernment, but a rod is for the back of him who is void of understanding. 14Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near ruin. 15The rich man’s wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty. 16The labor of the righteous leads to life. The increase of the wicked leads to sin. 17He is in the way of life who heeds correction, but he who forsakes reproof leads others astray. 18He who hides hatred has lying lips. He who utters a slander is a fool. 19In the multitude of words there is no lack of disobedience, but he who restrains his lips does wisely. 20The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth. 21The lips of the righteous feed many, but the foolish die for lack of understanding. 22Yahweh’s blessing brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it. 23It is a fool’s pleasure to do wickedness, but wisdom is a man of understanding’s pleasure. 24What the wicked fear, will overtake them, but the desire of the righteous will be granted. 25When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more; but the righteous stand firm forever. 26As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him. 27The fear of Yahweh prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. 28The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish. 29The way of Yahweh is a stronghold to the upright, but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity. 30The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land. 31The mouth of the righteous produces wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off. 32The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked is perverse.

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What others are saying

4 commentators · 121 notes on this chapter

Matthew HenryEnglish Puritan / Nonconformist · 1708–171426

Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.

Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.

v. 1

Solomon, speaking to us as unto children, observes here how much the comfort of parents, natural, political, and ecclesiastical, depends upon the good behaviour of those under their charge, as a reason, 1. Why parents should be careful to give their children…

v. 2–3

These two verses speak to the same purport, and the latter may be the reason of the former. 1. That wealth which men get unjustly will do them no good, because God will blast it: Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, Pro 10:2. The treasures of wicked…

v. 4

We are here told, 1. Who those are who, though rich, are in a fair way to become poor - those who deal with a slack hand, who are careless and remiss in their business, and never mind which end goes foremost, nor ever set their hands vigorously to their work…

John GillParticular Baptist / High Calvinist · 1746–176332

The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.

Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.

v. 1

The proverbs of Solomon,.... This title is repeated from Proverbs 1:1; and very properly stands here; since here begin those pithy sentences of Solomon, which bear the name of proverbs; the preceding chapters being a sort of preface or introduction to them…

v. 2

Treasures of wickedness profit nothing,.... By which are meant either a large abundance of riches in general, which for the most part are enjoyed by wicked men, and abused to wicked purposes, Proverbs 11:4; or an affluence of them, obtained in a wicked way…

v. 3

The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish,.... Or to perish by famine: not but that good men may be afflicted with it, as Jacob and his sons were, when the famine was in Egypt and in other lands; and as the apostles, particularly the…

Keil & DelitzschGerman Lutheran, conservative-critical · 1861–187532

The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.

Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.

v. 1

In the introduction, chap. 1-9, there are larger sections of interconnected thoughts having one common aim. Even in Prov 6:1-19 there are manifestly three proverbial discourses distinguished from one another, shorter indeed, yet containing one fundamental…

v. 2

There follows now a series of proverbs which place possessions and goods under a moral-religious point of view: Treasures of wickedness bring no profit; But righteousness delivers from death. The lxx and Aquila translate ἀνόμους (ἀσεβεῖς). הועיל (to…

v. 3

Another proverb, the members of which stand in chiastic relation to those of the preceding: Jahve does not suffer the soul of the righteous to hunger; But the craving of the godless He disappointeth. The thought is the same as Pro 13:25. There, as also at Pro…

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownScottish Presbyterian / Reformed · 187131

The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.

Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.

v. 2

Treasures . . . nothing--that is, Ill-gotten gains give no true happiness (compare Pro 4:17; Mat 6:19). righteousness--especially beneficence (Psa 112:9). death--the greatest of all evils.

v. 3

(Compare Psa 37:16-20). The last clause is better: "He will repel the greedy desires of the wicked."

v. 4

slack--literally, "deceitful," failing of its purpose (compare Hos 7:16). maketh rich--(compare Pro 10:22).

World English Bible — Public domain