22:1–4 As noted in the section outline, these four sayings envision the many realms in which wisdom is active in life: reputation, character, actions, worldview, and religion. Threaded throughout these sayings we hear a question regarding how social status and wealth are to be achieved and accumulated.

Although it is somewhat lost on us today, the tradition within the church has viewed the mature Christian disciple as a person with all of life in balance: work, rest, leisure, sexuality, eating and drinking, friendship, and spirituality. Coming at this matter largely through riches, these sayings look for balance in a variety of related attitudes and behaviors (cf. James 2).

The opening saying in Proverbs 22:1 elevates the value of a good reputation over raw wealth. Of course wealth sometimes implies a good reputation—it certainly equates to being known in the world, though often not in a good way. This is where our instincts often mislead us, a fact evidenced by how we spend our time, money, and energy on wealth, comfort, and celebrity rather than on faith, contentment, and maturity. According to Proverbs, those people truly deserving of respect—and the kind of people we should seek to become—are measured by character and moral actions day in and day out. It should not be overlooked that when Paul set up the first churches in his ministry he took great care to focus on the reputation of those who served and led (e.g., 1 Tim. 3:2–7; 5:10; 6:18; Titus 1:6–8; 3:8).

Proverbs 22:2 expands the topic of wealth in verse 1 to connect it to poverty and generosity. The chapter will address poverty four more times. Verse 2 places material goods in the broadest perspective, reminding us that Yahweh is the creator of everyone on the economic spectrum of society. This means we are all equal bearers of his image and entitled to the love and respect belonging to a creature of God (cf. Prov. 29:13; cf. Response section).

Proverbs 22:3 contrasts the patience of the “prudent” to the recklessness of the “simple.” The saying may be a commentary on verse 2. After all, Proverbs is eminently aware of our impulsive drive to satisfy desires for things like wealth in haste and at great personal risk (7:7; 14:15–16; 20:21; 27:12; 28:22). Those who are wise maintain constant attentiveness, being always on the lookout to avoid danger and to corral desire (cf. 25:28).

Proverbs 22:4 closes this first group with a paradox: if one really desires wealth and the blessing of Yahweh, he must seek humility first. Here, as throughout the book of Proverbs, the way of the cross is anticipated: to go up to life and joy one must first go down into humility and death (cf. Phil. 2:5–11).

22:5–6 This pair of sayings returns to the common theme of ways and paths that has dominated other parts of Proverbs, especially chapters 1–9. Proverbs 22:3 encouraged the virtue of situational awareness. Now in verse 5 that lesson is applied to the behavior of the “crooked” (or “twisted”), who walk into “thorns and snares.” The ability to keep our head on straight in this world is easier said than done, which is why Proverbs emphasizes the challenge so vividly. A straight path requires concentration, resolve, restraint, accountability, and grace.

A straight life also depends on authority. Verse 6 shifts the lesson in verse 5 to responsibilities of parents: if children are to avoid the dangers and calamities in this world, mothers and fathers must set them on a straight course from the beginning. Even the casual observer of parenting trends in our day cannot help but notice a culture bending over backward to affirm and praise children and to flatten distinctions between adults and children. Every child is a winner and worthy of honors. All the while strict discipline has become a taboo. But Proverbs avoids the false dilemmas and oversimplifications of parenting today. In truth, children require praise, love, rewards, and instruction just as much as warnings, discipline, and, when appropriate, shame.

22:7–9 These three proverbs are like a commentary at the intersections of wealth and poverty and political power and individual generosity. Verse 7 starts with a summary of power dynamics in the real world: the “rich rules over the poor,” and the “borrower” stands under the “lender.” This is a situation we accept all too easily as inevitable. Verse 8 seems to anticipate this with its warning that unjust rule will eventually “fail.” As at many places in Proverbs, here we are left to wonder how and when unjust powers will be judged. Is this a promise of Yahweh’s future judgment? Or is it a warning that human courts will punish the unjust? Perhaps the ambiguity on this question is intentional, keeping both possibilities in play—if human courts do not catch someone, Yahweh will! The righteous put greater confidence in the latter rather than the former.

Verse 9 turns the scene in a totally new direction. Rather than getting waylaid with questions about justice, we ought to respond now with compassion and generosity, for love overcomes sin and injustice (cf.v. 10:12; 17:9; 1 Pet. 4:8). Proverbs encourages us not to sit in our homes and complain about political authorities when we have the power to love our neighbor always before us (cf. Response section).

22:10–16 We have arrived at the final seven sayings in the longest collection in Proverbs (10:1–22:16). The material from 22:17 through chapter 30 will grow increasingly complex and even shocking. As for this final volley of seven sayings, they stand as a warning against a host of loosely related vices.

Proverbs 22:10–11 are the only sayings in this group with any kind of positive tone, and both seem to be addressed to rulers. The first (v. 10) is similar to 20:26: maintaining just and peaceful kingdoms requires kings to silence or dispose of noisy and contentious people. The lesson can also be applied to our individual lives, as Jesus does when he warns, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matt. 16:6; cf. 1 Cor. 15:33). Proverbs 22:11 is clearly an application at this personal level; pure hearts and gracious speech will win the king’s favor (so also the favor of the Lord; Ps. 101:6).

Proverbs 22:12 elevates the scene in the previous verses to the level of Yahweh’s sovereign “eyes” and judgments. The metaphor of “the eyes of the Lord” appears in 5:21; 15:3 and elsewhere in the OT (e.g., Deut. 11:12; Job 31:4; Ps. 139:15–16; Zech. 4:10). Personifying God in this way gives a sharp sense of intimacy and particularity in God’s judgments. It is not only that God knows everything in some abstract way, but that he is present and attentive in this world around us.

The sluggard’s fear of the lion in Proverbs 22:13 is a variant of 26:13. Both sayings mock the highly imaginative ways in which we make excuses and rationalize our slothfulness. Sloth is any effort to avoid what needs to be done, whether by passive inaction or else busying ourselves with anything but the right thing. Wild as the image of the lion is (being killed in broad daylight is an extremely unlikely scenario), it is nevertheless true that our fears tend to keep us from doing the right things at the right time, even fears as absurd as that of a ravenous beast outside our door.

Proverbs 22:14 is also a variant of sayings found in similar forms throughout the book (cf. 2:16; 5:3; 7:5; 23:27; cf. Eccles. 7:26). Here the temptress’s words are compared to a trap we fall into as we pursue seemingly insatiable desire. This verse is distinct from other variants listed above in how it targets the harlot’s speech, not just her looks or sexuality. The familiar dialogue between Eve and the Serpent in Genesis 3 remind us of the ways in which well-chosen words can lead us astray. We are often victims of our own human languages.

The saying about parental discipline in Proverbs 22:15 is another proverb with many variants (e.g., 13:24; 19:18; 23:13–14; 29:15). It also picks up on the exhortation in 22:6. Both sayings resound like echoes from chapters 1–9, reminding the son (and the reader) of the parents’ urgent appeals to get wisdom (cf. Response section). Heim has pointed out that the repeated themes of women and parental instruction in 22:5, 14–15 not only tie the verses to chapters 1–9 but do so at a point of transition to a new section, giving unity to the whole book.161

Proverbs 22:16 closes this section with one of many warnings and exhortations about the obligation of the wealthy toward the poor.

22:17–19 These proverbs introduce two sets of “sayings of the wise,” which culminate in 24:34. The formal introduction to “thirty sayings” is delayed until 22:20. Several parts of this opening salvo invite further attention.

First, the sayings open with the invitation to “Incline your ear” and “heart” to “knowledge” and wisdom. The language resembles distinctly the parental admonitions in 2:2; 4:4, 20; 5:1. After the hundreds of sayings in chapters 10–22, we are again reminded of the tradition that hands wisdom down to the next generation. Further, the reminder comes with the same urgency with which the parents appealed to their son in chapters 1–9.

Second, 22:18 draws on the urgency of the verb “keep” in places like 7:1, 2, 5. But as observed in the comments on chapters 1–9, the language of “teaching,” “heart,” “ears,” and “keeping” are drawn conspicuously from the instruction in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is the only book in the Pentateuch to use the word “teach,” and the verb “to keep” is used a staggering sixty-five times—six times in Deuteronomy 4 and five times each in Deuteronomy 6; 11—the three chapters that most emphasize the role of parents in passing down Moses’ instructions to the next generation. Proverbs is part of a long, filial responsibility belonging to parents (cf. Response section for further discussion).

Finally, we hear the promise that this wisdom will lead us to “trust in the Lord.” This reminds us of the famous call to “trust in the Lord with all your heart” (Prov. 3:5) and the husband who trusts in his wise wife (31:11). Wisdom leads to security and confidence in God and others who are wise.

22:20–21 After the forceful appeal in 22:17–19, we arrive at the proper introduction to the “thirty sayings” that follow. Close observation, however, reveals that there are actually more than thirty sayings. Most scholars count forty sayings between 22:17 and 24:22. There are no open-and-shut solutions to this problem. Perhaps the additional ten sayings are meant to illustrate the way in which moral instruction is an ongoing necessity arising from changing times and changing circumstances: thirty becomes forty in the need of changing circumstances. Whatever the reason for the expanded number, we need not assume it is due to sloppy editing. Those behind the book of Proverbs took great care in the process of editing and shaping this material. This is especially true of chapters 25–26, as we will see below.

We also find a unique emphasis on social relations in these two verses. So far as we can tell, the text imagines that a student has been sent to an anonymous teacher for instruction. The teacher offers a group of collected sayings, which he expects to be confirmed by the examination of the sending community (22:21). As emphasized in the Introduction and often throughout the Comments on chapters 1–9, wisdom is a form of tradition, a kind of social process of developing wisdom, filtering out what is wrong in favor of what is most helpful.

The NT reveals a remarkable emphasis on tradition and following the example of those who taught us the gospel: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). This is not a blind, cultish obedience. The author of Hebrews exhorts us to “imitate” our “leaders” while warning us not to “be led away by diverse and strange teachings” (Heb. 13:7–9). Wisdom follows not merely tradition but a tradition that conforms to God’s wisdom as revealed in Christ.

22:22–25 These verses offer two warnings against greed and anger. The greed in Proverbs 22:22–23 is set in the context of taking advantage of the poor. The reminder that “the Lord will plead their cause” resembles verse 2, in which the rich and poor have equal dignity before their creator. The Law and the Prophets often measure virtue by the treatment of the poor (cf. Ex. 23:6; Lev. 19:13; Zech. 7:10; Mal. 3:5)—a habit repeated by James (James 1:9–11, 27; 5:1–7).

The community that bears the responsibility of passing down wisdom in Proverbs 22:20–21 is now contrasted to the community whose tradition is one of anger and wrath (vv. 24–25). People of folly and vice are to be avoided (cf. 13:20) because good and bad traditions have a way of drawing in others.

22:26–29 This chapter closes in the middle of this group of forty sayings. Proverbs 22:26–28 target unwise and manipulative practices in the marketplace. The first set of practices in verses 26–27 addresses “pledges” and “security” (basically, collateral for a loan)—a favorite topic of the sages (cf. 6:1–15; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16). While the text does not forbid the practice of collateral, it does lead the wise person to guard against it cautiously. To lose one’s “bed,” or most basic possession, may indicate that one’s desperation has overwhelmed good judgment.

Proverbs 22:29 highlights the rewards of skill or habituation—long obedience in the same direction, arriving at excellence in one’s craft. Skill results from practice, fortitude, and devotion. Perhaps this verse reflects on Bezalel, Oholiab, and all those “wise of heart and understanding” (AT) who constructed the first tabernacle in the wilderness (Ex. 36:1–2).