12 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but he who hates reproof is stupid.
2 A good man obtains favor from the Lord,
but a man of evil devices he condemns.
3 No one is established by wickedness,
but the root of the righteous will never be moved.
4 An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,
but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.
5 The thoughts of the righteous are just;
the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.
6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
but the mouth of the upright delivers them.
7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more,
but the house of the righteous will stand.
8 A man is commended according to his good sense,
but one of twisted mind is despised.
9 Better to be lowly and have a servant
than to play the great man and lack bread.
10 Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast,
but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
11 Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,
but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.
12 Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers,
but the root of the righteous bears fruit.
13 An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips,1
but the righteous escapes from trouble.
14 From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good,
and the work of a man’s hand comes back to him.
15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
but a wise man listens to advice.
16 The vexation of a fool is known at once,
but the prudent ignores an insult.
17 Whoever speaks2 the truth gives honest evidence,
but a false witness utters deceit.
18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
19 Truthful lips endure forever,
but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
20 Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil,
but those who plan peace have joy.
21 No ill befalls the righteous,
but the wicked are filled with trouble.
22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
but those who act faithfully are his delight.
23 A prudent man conceals knowledge,
but the heart of fools proclaims folly.
24 The hand of the diligent will rule,
while the slothful will be put to forced labor.
25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down,
but a good word makes him glad.
26 One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor,3
but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
27 Whoever is slothful will not roast his game,
but the diligent man will get precious wealth.4
28 In the path of righteousness is life,
and in its pathway there is no death.
Section Overview
Within the larger setting of Proverbs 10–15, this is the third and final chapter focused on the contrast between the “righteous” and the “wicked.” The next three chapters turn to wise/foolish and wisdom/folly contrasts (chs. 13–15). Even though the vocabulary changes, the purpose of all six chapters is to reinforce consistent patterns God has designed for our character and conduct within the created order (cf. Response section).
Chapter 12 moves through a range of topics centered largely on work, speech, truth and falsehood, and the consequences and ends of righteousness and wickedness. Furthermore, the chapter begins with a contrast between the desires of “love” and “hate” (v. 1), which sets the stage for several more sayings about our desires and emotions, such as anxiety, gladness, and satisfaction.
Section Outline
II.A. Solomon’s Intro to Wisdom: Contrasts of the Wise-Righteous and Wicked-Fools (10:1–15:33)
1. Righteous or Wicked (10:1–12:28) . . .
n. Two Kinds: Desires, Works, Words, and Women (12:1–7)
o. Wisdom and Righteousness: At Work and in the Community (12:8–14)
p. From Wisdom to Folly: Our Words and Devices (12:15–23)
q. Concluding Visions of Righteousness in Our Work (12:24–28)
Response
Reason and Desire
The Introduction observed that over half of the sayings in chapters 1–9 speak to sexuality and desire. The chapters use these topics to speak more broadly about the role of desire alongside “reason” on the path to either wisdom and righteousness or folly and wickedness.
Chapters 10–29, on the other hand, while interested in the full range of human experience, are concerned with diligence and sloth more than anything else. This makes sense, after all, as most of the six-day work week of an ancient Israelite was spent laboring for food, clothing, and security. Things are not much different for us, even with our two-day weekends of extravagant leisure and fun.
The first allusion to work speaks to our attitude and character. More specifically, the wise and righteous laborer will be characterized by humility, conscientiousness, and mercy (12:9–10). These same virtues appeared already in 3:27–32. The law of Moses also shares the concern for the health of working animals (12:10; cf. Ex. 23:5; Deut. 25:4). Work must not be reduced to profit, as it so often is today. When we labor, we are meant continually to orient our desires and attitudes to the well-being of the people, places, and animals around us.
Second, meaningful work must fight against irresponsible distraction. Proverbs 12:11 could be loosely rendered, “One who serves the land will be satisfied, but one who chases vanity has no heart.” The word “heart” here not only speaks of our idea of “sense” but also captures the orientation of desire at the center of our being. If we cannot direct our desires and focus them toward responsible labor, we are foolish and will fail to be satisfied.
Third, chapter 12 orients us to the inseparable connections between character, speech, and work (v. 14). The things we say and do are the truest sign of the orientation of our hearts/desires (cf. vv. 1, 2, 9). And thus it follows naturally that good character and rightly ordered desires manifest themselves in diligent and careful work and thoughtful words (vv. 24, 27).
Today we live in a world in which we expect work to serve us, to give us identity or happiness or wealth to spend on our pleasures. But in Proverbs labor is a matter of grateful stewardship of God’s creation: people, communities, animals, and nature. The final vision of work is one that looks outward to the needs and flourishing of things around us, in which we find true prosperity and satisfaction.
Truth and Deception
This chapter also brings into sharp relief the contrast between truth and falsehood as they bear their fruits in society. Anyone who has visited a dentist or mechanic—or a car dealer!—knows firsthand the value of honest relationships in the public arena. Do I need this part? This service? These treatments? Is this a fair price? Who can I trust? And who is reliable?
Proverbs addresses these universal realities by reminding us that truth and falsehood will always play themselves out both in the life of the individual and in the public square. Therefore, while there are exceptions to this pattern in a fallen world, Proverbs teaches that dishonesty tends to lead to individual loss and to harming the cohesiveness and health of the community. This same principle is taught in Proverbs’ instructions on just and unjust (unequal) weights and measures (11:1; 16:11; 20:10, 23). In biblical narrative, Jacob’s deceitful dealings with his father and Esau (Genesis 25; 27) and with his uncle Laban (Genesis 29; 31)—not to mention Laban with Jacob—undermine trust and family solidarity, creating fear and animosity that lasts into future generations.
The acts of deceit in Proverbs 12 not only corrupt and compromise justice in the legal courts (v. 17) but also rob the human heart of the joy that arises from honest dealings (v. 20). This contrast between honesty and joy and dishonesty and misery serves as a reminder that matters of justice and honesty have deeper roots in the order of creation. Physical blessing and suffering in Proverbs arise from acts of virtue and vice that go against the grain of God’s moral framework.
Marital infidelity might be the most obvious and painful example of the damage caused by dishonesty; no other relationship shares the same level of intimacy. Betrayal here cuts deeper than anywhere else. This is arguably why Proverbs, the Pentateuch, and the Prophets all so frequently use marriage as a symbol of covenant fidelity—they are both judicial matters worthy of divine judgment (cf. 2:16–17; 5:1–7:27). Israel’s unfaithfulness is akin to a bride who has run away to love another, attempting to hide her sins from the good and faithful bridegroom. Thus from marriage, the marketplace, and legal courts to the divine covenants, justice is a necessary and essential part of life and flourishing.
Consequences and the Shape of Creation
These reflections on justice lead us to say more about the role and nature of consequences in this chapter, specifically as they relate to the created order. Whence does the idea of justice come? And on what grounds do we believe in accounting for things done, whether right or wrong?
When we turn these questions to chapter 12 (and most of Proverbs), we hear again and again what sounds like a naïve confidence that the righteous will flourish and the wicked will suffer judgment. We see, for example, that our works and character are subject to divine favor and condemnation (vv. 2, 22, 28), public favor and condemnation (vv. 8, 24), natural suffering or flourishing (vv. 11, 13, 14, 19, 21, 27), and firm or else crumbling foundations (vv. 3, 7). None of these things is rationally or ethically questionable—in fact, most of us agree that such ends are good and proper. And yet these sayings raise two difficult questions. Why do we agree on these things so readily? And why do we meet so many exceptions to these outcomes in daily life?
The first question is best answered by appealing to the theology of the created order (cf. Introduction; comments on 3:19–20; 8:1–36). God has made all things orderly, whether in nature, beauty, society, or ethics. That divinely constituted order is evident to us in all we see and in the way in which our own consciences convict us (cf. Rom. 1:19–20).
But the second question is answered by the fall that has occurred in the world (Genesis 3). The human fall did not destroy the created order, but it has in countless ways distorted it and clouded our way to it (Rom. 1:21–23).
Thus, while the West evinces an increasing diversity of views about what is right and wrong, we can see that a deeper sense of justice, right, wrong, and consequences has in no way been lost. This is, after all, often described as the age of social justice.
If we follow Paul’s line of reasoning in Romans 1, we see that humans since the fall have been in the habit of redefining right and wrong in terms of the warped desires of their hearts. Ideas of justice follow from the objects of one’s love. Thus if one loves pleasures and self above all else, that person will seek to create a world that provides desired freedom and crucifies those that stand in one’s way—distorted justice.
Especially in Proverbs 10–15 the sages train us to renew our confidence in the created, just order and God’s intention to recompense our race in some final way. This should not lead us to think that Proverbs is naïve about reality. Proverbs 16–30, in fact, will present an increasing number of circumstances that acknowledge the exceptions we meet in life—the fact that disordered human desire disorders human forms of justice as well. And yet, trained in the assurance of God’s good order, we stand in a place to confront the exceptions that will always be a part of our world. Both of these perspectives are a necessary part of what it means to be wise.
One more point is necessary as we think about wisdom and Jesus. As is often recognized, Jesus’ death pays, or atones, for the rebellion and sin of his people. But it is far less often emphasized that Jesus’ Easter resurrection in a new-creation body begins the work of reestablishing the created order (Rom. 6:5–11; 1 Cor. 15:20–24; Col. 1:15–24). What has become distorted in the balance of justice in our world will soon be made whole and right in Christ. And our insight into these truths comes through the wisdom given in Jesus (Eph. 1:8–9; Col. 1:9, 28; 2:3).Proverbs 12
Proverbs 13