14 14:1 The wisest of women builds her house,
but folly with her own hands tears it down.
2 14:2 Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord,
but he who is devious in his ways despises him.
3 14:3 By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back,1
but the lips of the wise will preserve them.
4 14:4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
5 14:5 A faithful witness does not lie,
but a false witness breathes out lies.
6 14:6 A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain,
but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding.
7 14:7 Leave the presence of a fool,
for there you do not meet words of knowledge.
8 14:8 The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,
but the folly of fools is deceiving.
9 14:9 Fools mock at the guilt offering,
but the upright enjoy acceptance.2
10 14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness,
and no stranger shares its joy.
11 14:11 The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
but the tent of the upright will flourish.
12 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.3
13 14:13 Even in laughter the heart may ache,
and the end of joy may be grief.
14 14:14 The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways,
and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.
15 14:15 The simple believes everything,
but the prudent gives thought to his steps.
16 14:16 One who is wise is cautious4 and turns away from evil,
but a fool is reckless and careless.
17 14:17 A man of quick temper acts foolishly,
and a man of evil devices is hated.
18 14:18 The simple inherit folly,
but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
19 14:19 The evil bow down before the good,
the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
20 14:20 The poor is disliked even by his neighbor,
but the rich has many friends.
21 14:21 Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner,
but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.
22 14:22 Do they not go astray who devise evil?
Those who devise good meet5 steadfast love and faithfulness.
23 14:23 In all toil there is profit,
but mere talk tends only to poverty.
24 14:24 The crown of the wise is their wealth,
but the folly of fools brings folly.
25 14:25 A truthful witness saves lives,
but one who breathes out lies is deceitful.
26 14:26 In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence,
and his children will have a refuge.
27 14:27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.
28 14:28 In a multitude of people is the glory of a king,
but without people a prince is ruined.
29 14:29 Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding,
but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
30 14:30 A tranquil6 heart gives life to the flesh,
but envy7 makes the bones rot.
31 14:31 Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker,
but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
32 14:32 The wicked is overthrown through his evildoing,
but the righteous finds refuge in his death.
33 14:33 Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding,
but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.8
34 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a reproach to any people.
35 14:35 A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor,
but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.
Response
Humanity United and Interdependent
This chapter reinforces Proverbs’ deeply held interest in linking together the themes of house-building, kingdom building, and world building (cf. 14:1). One point of this linkage is to show that the ethics that apply at one level of society apply to all levels of society, yet without losing the significance of each community and its unique place. The moral order of human life is grounded in created order, and that means that ethics has its life in the particularities of local, social lives.
Another result of this linkage of themes is that it provides a view into the unavoidable and God-ordained interdependency of every human being at every level of society. Most people can appreciate this truth on the economic level. People are needed to run corporations and governments, to manage sub-level organizations, to do the hardcore, hands-on dirty work day to day, to pay taxes, and to buy the products and use the services created by firms and governments—not to mention countless other critical pieces and people in the process.
But Proverbs is equally interested in linkages of identity, the way people come to discover themselves as individual image bearers of God, with unique gifts and roles and yet each also a part of the others. The NT is laden with metaphors and sayings about this mystery of the one and the many: body, spiritual house, and kingdom of priests, not to mention Jesus’ prayer, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one” (John 17:22).
Unity and Loneliness
Man’s way of sharing identities with others goes hand in hand with the pictures of isolation, suffering, and loneliness in this chapter. For example, Proverbs 14:20 reflects on the way social structures—in this case poverty—inevitably leave people estranged from others.
The saying in verse 10, meanwhile, moves inward, exploring the way people experience solitude emotionally and existentially. To be sure, people can and do empathize with one another, but that can never fully overcome that sense that a person alone feels and experiences his or her life. These thoughts are memorably expressed at greater length in Ecclesiastes 4:9–10: “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!”
Job’s story is also a paradigm for the pain of abandonment of friends, family, servants, and everyone who lives in his community, young and old (Job 19:13–19). The book of Psalms expresses this lonely sentiment often. Many psalms lament the betrayal of the “close” and “familiar friend” (Pss. 41:9; 55:13; cf. 69:8; 142:4), as well as of one’s own family members (Ps. 27:10). Psalm 88 may be the most extreme expression of isolation: “You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness” (Ps. 88:18).
Just as Scripture sympathizes with us in our experiences of isolation and despair, it also labors to redeem us from the state of suffering. Even the dark tone in Ecclesiastes offers a sense of hope. “Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Eccles. 4:11–12).
Jesus Embodies Our Isolation
Jesus’ own experience walks through these same paths in Proverbs. Although accompanied by his disciples in public ministry, Jesus is abandoned by them in the garden of Gethsemane and at the sentencing of the Jews and Pilate. In the midst of his loneliness Jesus is abandoned by the Father. Instinctually he calls out the words of a lament psalm, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps. 22:1). But lament psalms often contain some of the strongest expressions of trust even in the midst of suffering and pain, so it is unsurprising that Jesus uses the words of another lament psalm as his last: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46; cf. Ps. 31:5).
As the resurrection unfolds into the NT church, we witness the beginning of the full restoration of community and the hope of the elect, who will live in perpetual unity when God restores his kingdom.Proverbs 14
Proverbs 15
Or In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride
Hebrew but among the upright is acceptance
Hebrew ways of death
Or fears [the Lord]
Or show
Or healing
Or jealousy
Or Wisdom rests quietly in the heart of a man of understanding, but makes itself known in the midst of fools
14:1–2 There is little question that these verses repeat major themes from chapters 1–9 and set them at the head of three chapters that share a consistent focus on the parallel between Yahweh’s house (the world) and the king’s house (a nation). (Cf. Response section.)
Unfortunately, many translations reduce “wisest of women” to “wise woman” (14:1). The superlative noun in the ESV stays closer to the original Hebrew, which recognizes the strength that lies in human freedom and power to either create or destroy families and culture. And so as in chapters 1–9 we find ourselves at the decision between the paths of wisdom and folly—of making and dissembling.
Proverbs 14:2 is a neat parallel to the first saying, equating the fear of Yahweh and upright living with the wise woman’s house, on the one hand, and the God hater with the destructive fool, on the other. This resituates the saying about the woman within the broader cosmic order of chapters 1–9.
14:3–9 A weaving pattern in the sayings holds the topics in this cluster together. Apart from 14:4, 8, these sayings all address speech. Only verses 4–5, moreover, do not specifically mention wisdom and/or folly (but cf. v. 4 below). Following the woman of folly in verse 1, verse 3 links foolish speech with a public beating (“a rod for his back”). Similarly, the “wisest of women” in verse 1 now parallels the “wise” ones in verse 3 who “preserve” themselves. This guarding or keeping is left vague, though, in comparing 12:6, it seems to indicate life and safety.
Proverbs 14:4 stands apart in some ways, but its message is easily applied to the surrounding context. In other words, the agricultural metaphor makes a point that would be quite obvious in the ancient world, so it seems quite likely that the saying is meant to speak more broadly to the wisdom that knows that good and necessary things come at a cost: one who desires abundant crops must accept messy mangers.
Verse 5–7 contain a trio of speech sayings. Verse 5 makes a basic point about the power of honesty and falsehood. The strength of the saying lies less in the observation than in its verbal phrase “breathes out lies,” which evokes both visual and auditory senses. The imagery fits the pattern of the picture of a public beating in verse 3 and dirty and clean stables in verse 4. Rather basic points are conveyed with new and unusual metaphors, which makes them catch our attention and stick in our memory (cf. v. 25).
Verses 6–7 depict several scenarios that illustrate the path to wisdom and its barriers. Simply put, one should seek to be discerning rather than a cynic and a skeptic; one ought to seek also the company of those who do the same.
Verse 8 expands on the paths of wisdom and folly in verse 7, showing wise people to be humble and self-critical. Humility consistently distinguishes the wise from the foolish (e.g., 12:15; 26:5).
Proverbs 14:9 contrasts the fool and the “upright.” The Hebrew root translated “scoffers” in verse 6 is “mock” here—yet another example of creative wordplay uniting this cluster and the chapter. Similarly, the word “[up]right” appears in verses 2, 9, 11, and 12. Verse 9 combines language of holiness (contrition and offerings) with wisdom and folly. In the context of chapters 10–15 we see Proverbs continually tying together wisdom and folly (i.e., wise or foolish house-building) and righteousness and wickedness (i.e., morality) in the fabric of the created order.
14:10–14 These sayings can be grouped by the repetition of the word “heart” (Hb. leb; 14:10, 13, 14). The emphasis on the heart coincides with the exploration of the mysterious inner life of our hopes and desires.
Verse 10 is a contemplative saying, provoking a world of ideas rather than teaching a moral or practical lesson (cf. vv. 4, 13). The verse could be translated, “The heart knows the bitterness of life, and its joy no stranger can share.” This brief soliloquy is one of only a few sayings about loneliness in Proverbs (cf. Response section).
Verse 11 echoes the image of two women and two houses in verse 1, only now in terms of the houses of the wicked and the “upright” (cf. comment on 14:3–9 [at v. 9] for discussion of wisdom/folly and righteous/wicked).
Verses 12–13 both reflect on the deceptiveness of appearances (e.g., books and their covers; cf. 13:7). The first saying (14:12) essentially restates the observation in verses 8, 16. Not only are we (humans) prone to self-deception, but we often cannot tell when our best thinking is leading down a path toward “death.” Similar to verse 10, verse 13 is a contemplative saying about the deceptiveness of emotions, which can often mask their opposites, both within us and within others.
Verse 14 closes the group with a typical saying about consequences we will face for our actions and character. The “backslider in heart” is a reminder that the Hebrew word for “heart” can speak to emotions (cf. vv. 10, 13) and is the word that most often captures the core of our identity—our “guts.” And so the “heart” also captures our truest character, actions, thought, and belief (or unbelief).
14:15–18 This group is enclosed by the repetition of “simple” and “prudent” in verses 15 and 18. Furthermore, “prudent” (Hb. ʿarum) also appears in verse 8, a close variant of verse 15. Prudence and wisdom are virtual synonyms in most of Proverbs.
The two central sayings (vv. 16–17) form a pair that contrasts the “fool,” who is “reckless and careless,” and the “man of quick temper” to the thoughtful person who “turns away from evil” (v. 16). The ESV “cautious” renders the Hebrew yaraʾ, usually translated fear (cf. ESV mg.; cf. also 1:7). Used in this context this word echoes the familiar refrain in Ecclesiastes about fearing God (or Yahweh) and “turning from evil” (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3; 28:28; Eccles. 12:13; cf. Pss. 34:14; 37:27). As the “fear of the Lord” appears in Proverbs 14:2, 26, 27, fear in verse 16 (“cautious”) echoes broader wisdom themes in the chapter. In any case, the reader comes away from this pair (vv. 16–17) with a palpable sense of the fool’s haste and impatience in life in contrast to the steady focused life of the wise/righteous.
Taken together, these sayings are like four sides of a square, offering several perspectives on the same themes and dispositions. The person who remains calm, self-aware, and thoughtful will attain favor and gain a blessing in the end.
14:19–22 These sayings concern the varieties of people in the community, whether friends and neighbors or the poor and needy. The repetition of the keywords “good” and “evil” in verses 19 and 22 helps congeal this section as a cluster.
Verse 19 imagines the “evil” and the “wicked” bowing before the “good” and the “righteous.” The saying is one of several proverbs in this chapter that speak to the contrast between the communities of the righteous/wicked (good/evil) and the consequences awaiting them (cf. vv. 11, 14, 22, 32, 34).
Proverbs views the poor through a broad range of perspectives, from victims deserving compassion to sluggards and wicked people suffering the fate of their ways. Verse 20 is an observation somewhere between these extremes; it is simply a fact of life that the poor repel others while the rich attract them (cf. 13:23; 19:4). Having many friends, of course, comes with its own risks (18:24), especially when accompanied by wealth (13:8).
Proverbs 14:21–22 balances the sad realities of verse 20, starting with an admonition for the “blessed” to care for a fellow human regardless of wealth or standing in life. Verse 22 turns the whole picture around with the observation that doing “good” is more valuable than wealth—not to mention far more in one’s control.
14:23–27 The section outline labeled this section “Work, Wealth, Religion.” It is easy to appreciate the way these sayings overlap with the reflections on wealth and neighbors in the previous string of sayings. The opening saying here (v. 23) contrasts painful labor with “mere talk”—literally, “words on the lips.” The word for “toil,” alternatively translated “pain,” is combined with speech again in 15:1 (there translated “harsh word”). This reinforces the network of major themes and keywords that bind together chapters 14–16.
Proverbs 14:24 shows off a bit of poetic flare. The first line paints a visually captivating picture of “wealth” being worn as the “crown of the wise.” This is contrasted to an image that playfully combines two synonyms to the effect of something like “folly, fools, folly.” The contrast is fine regalia fit for royalty versus utter nonsense.
Verse 25 is close to verse 5; both speak to honesty and make use of the verbal phrase “breathes out lies” (cf. 6:19; 12:17). Commenting on this phrase, Heim suggests that it was probably a common idiom that captured the dishonest person’s mere “air of sincerity.” Heim continues, “It is the witness’s deliberate attempt to persuade his audience of his sincerity and conviction by means of the tone in his voice . . . that exposes his lies.” Proverbs 14:25 is the most severe in terms of the consequences of taking and saving “lives.”
The verse pair in verses 26–27 closes this grouping with two of the sixteen instances of the “fear of the Lord”—standard shorthand for godly thoughts, words, and deeds. Verse 26 imagines this godly posture as a “strong confidence” and “refuge” (cf. 19:23). The Lord’s strong foundation is central to Israel’s story (Deut. 33:27) and repeated endlessly throughout the Psalter (e.g., Pss. 9:9; 14:6; 46:1; 61:4; 62:8; 115:11, 13). Proverbs 14:27 extends this same confidence to “life” and protection from the “snares of death.” The life/death pattern points back to verse 25.
14:28–35 The chapter closes with a relatively long chain of sayings about rulers, people, and nations. It is little coincidence that these sayings follow the two refrains of the “fear of the Lord” in verses 26–27. Chapters 15–16 share a similar focus on kings, nations, and peoples, coupled with a consistent emphasis on the “fear of the Lord” (15:16, 33; 16:6). While many readers (and scholars) believe that Proverbs is arranged randomly, the presence of patterns like this speaks against such an approach.
The first saying (v. 28) makes a somewhat humorous observation: a people without a leader is not a nation, and someone with a royal title is nothing without loyal followers. Proverbs 30:24–31 offers a far more sophisticated and critical view on these matters.
None of the sayings at the center of this cluster (14:29–33) speaks directly to kings, nations, or empires. Nevertheless, the sayings clearly address the peace and order of a community and have been situated between two sets of sayings about leaders and nations. Thus it is more than appropriate to read these proverbs as comments regarding the local dynamics of life characterizing the people under the king. Social order in Proverbs sits consistently within the larger spheres of national and creational order.
As a prime example, verse 29 contrasts the wisdom characterizing a patient disposition with the folly of a “hasty temper.” Proverbs elsewhere offers us terrifying images of kings quick to anger and violence (e.g., 16:32; 19:12; 20:2).
The lesson in 14:30 runs in the same stream of thought as does verse 29. A patient, quieted spirit is better than “envy,” which only “makes the bones rot.” These painful images reach back to the metaphor of a brutal public beating in verse 3.
Verse 31 equates the oppression of the poor with contempt for their Maker—appealing to the idea of human dignity based on man’s being made in the image of God. The repeated variant in 17:5 uses this same term to link moral actions to the broader work of creation in which they find their meaning: moral order is rooted in created order. To put this in the context of the parable of the Samaritan in Luke’s Gospel, one might say that morality—doing what is right—is grounded in mercy applied to a particular need in a particular place, as on the roadside (Luke 10:29–37).
Proverbs 14:32–35 forms a cluster alternating between sayings about wisdom and folly and about righteousness and wickedness. The first saying in verse 32 reaches back to the same language of a “refuge” in verses 26–27. All three verses paint scenes of withering death over against rootedness and thriving. One might wonder at the exact meaning of “finds refuge in his death.” And this wondering is probably the point—not to isolate a single meaning but to provoke readers to an array of veiled but certain hopes awaiting the wise and the righteous in the future.
Verses 33–34 form a pair that arcs the full spectrum from an individual’s deepest desires (v. 33) to the broadest scope of national and public life (v. 34). Verse 33 places the origin of all human action in the “heart.” This is the fifth occurrence of the word “heart” in chapter 14, and the term appears nine more times in chapter 15—the most of any chapter in Proverbs. As noted above, chapters 14–16; 22–24 share an emphasis on kings and nations, and it is not coincidental that chapters 22–24 share a similar emphasis on royalty and the “heart.” As goes the individual heart, so goes the nation.
Proverbs 14:35 picks up on the spectrum of the smallest to greatest in the previous verse pair to illustrate the interdependence between the least and the most powerful citizens of a nation. Kings, that is, are reliant on loyal and trustworthy servants, and those in power always check the work of servants (cf. 13:17; 25:13; 29:14). The health of the nation depends on both—and on everyone in between (cf. Rom. 13:1–7; 1 Pet. 2:13–14).