Proverbs

Proverbs 24

34 verses · Wisdom · Old Testament

1Don’t be envious of evil men, neither desire to be with them; 2for their hearts plot violence and their lips talk about mischief. 3Through wisdom a house is built; by understanding it is established; 4by knowledge the rooms are filled with all rare and beautiful treasure. 5A wise man has great power; and a knowledgeable man increases strength; 6for by wise guidance you wage your war; and victory is in many advisors. 7Wisdom is too high for a fool. He doesn’t open his mouth in the gate. 8One who plots to do evil will be called a schemer. 9The schemes of folly are sin. The mocker is detested by men. 10If you falter in the time of trouble, your strength is small. 11Rescue those who are being led away to death! Indeed, hold back those who are staggering to the slaughter! 12If you say, “Behold, we didn’t know this,” doesn’t he who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, doesn’t he know it? Shall he not render to every man according to his work? 13My son, eat honey, for it is good, the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste; 14so you shall know wisdom to be to your soul. If you have found it, then there will be a reward: Your hope will not be cut off. 15Don’t lay in wait, wicked man, against the habitation of the righteous. Don’t destroy his resting place; 16for a righteous man falls seven times and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity. 17Don’t rejoice when your enemy falls. Don’t let your heart be glad when he is overthrown, 18lest Yahweh see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him. 19Don’t fret yourself because of evildoers, neither be envious of the wicked; 20for there will be no reward to the evil man. The lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out. 21My son, fear Yahweh and the king. Don’t join those who are rebellious; 22for their calamity will rise suddenly. Who knows what destruction may come from them both?

23These also are sayings of the wise.

To show partiality in judgment is not good. 24He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,” peoples will curse him, and nations will abhor him— 25but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a rich blessing will come on them. 26An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips. 27Prepare your work outside, and get your fields ready. Afterwards, build your house. 28Don’t be a witness against your neighbor without cause. Don’t deceive with your lips. 29Don’t say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will repay the man according to his work.” 30I went by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding: 31Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. 32Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction: 33a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, 34so your poverty will come as a robber and your want as an armed man.

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What others are saying

4 commentators · 92 notes on this chapter

Matthew HenryEnglish Puritan / Nonconformist · 1708–171413

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. 3–6

We are tempted to envy those that grow rich, and raise their estates and families, by such unjust courses as our consciences will by no means suffer us to use. But, to set aside that temptation, Solomon here shows that a man, with prudent management, may…

v. 7–9

Here is the description, 1. Of a weak man: Wisdom is too high for him; he thinks it so, and therefore, despairing to attain it, he will take no pains in the pursuit of it, but sit down content without it. And really it is so; he has not capacity for it, and…

v. 10

Note, 1. In the day of adversity we are apt to faint, to droop and be discouraged, to desist from our work, and to despair of relief. Our spirits sink, and then our hands hang down and our knees grow feeble, and we become unfit for anything. And often those…

John GillParticular Baptist / High Calvinist · 1746–176334

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

Be not thou envious against evil men,.... Or, "men of evil" (b). Such who are addicted to evil, and given up to it, whose principles and practices are bad; such as are before described in the preceding chapter; gluttons and drunkards, men given to women and…

v. 2

For their heart studieth destruction,.... To others; to good men, that separate from them, and reprove them, or are in their way; or any ways hinder them in the prosecution of their wicked designs; as Haman's heart studied the destruction of the Jews: or…

v. 3

Through wisdom is a house builded,.... A family is built up, furnished and supplied with the necessaries and conveniences of life, and brought into flourishing and prosperous circumstances, by wise and prudent management, by diligence and industry, through…

Keil & DelitzschGerman Lutheran, conservative-critical · 1861–187519

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. 1–2

After this divergence (in Pro 23:29-35) from the usual form of the proverb, there is now a return to the tetrastich: 1 Envy not evil men, And desire not to have intercourse with them. 2 For their heart thinketh of violence, And their lips speak mischief. The…

v. 3–4

The warning against fellowship with the godless is followed by the praise of wisdom, which is rooted in the fear of God. 3 By wisdom is the house builded, And by understanding is it established. 4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled With all manner…

v. 5–6

The praise of wisdom is continued: it brings blessings in the time of peace, and gives the victory in war. 5 A wise man is full of strength; And a man of understanding showeth great power. 6 For with wise counsel shalt thou carry on successful war; And safety…

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownScottish Presbyterian / Reformed · 187126

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

studieth--meditateth. talk . . . mischief--Their expressed purposes are to do evil.

v. 3

(Compare Pro 14:1; Isa 54:14). house--including the family.

v. 4

by knowledge . . . riches-- (Pro 8:18; Pro 21:20).

World English Bible — Public domain