Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20111023.htm
THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Proverbs: Motivating Teens And Adults To Align With God's Fixed Moral Order
Part III: Solomon's Proverbs Reflecting God's Fixed Moral Order For Blessing, Proverbs 10:1-22:16
A. Contrasting Wise, Righteous Living With Foolish, Wicked Living, Proverbs 10:1-15:33
8. Studying Proverbs 11:19-27
- Introduction
- Solomon's actual proverbs hop from one subject to another, likely "to force readers to grapple with and meditate on the thoughts of one verse before moving on to the next," Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 925.
- We thus focus on each one to draw out its deeper insight that Proverbs 1:5-6 implies exists (as follows):
- Studying Proverbs 11:19-27.
- Proverbs 11:19 adds that the righteous back in verse 18 (ken = "thus" in reference to what is stated before, B. D. B., A Hebr.-Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 485) who gain by mere sowing versus working tend toward life, but the wicked pursues (radap, Ibid., p. 922; Kittel, Biblia Hebraica, p. 168) to his death. The effects of only being upright tend toward a long life where the hard work of the wicked only lead to early death.
- Proverbs 11:20 claims that those with a twisted, devious (eqish, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 786) heart are an abomination to Jahweh, but those whose way is sound, marked by integrity (temim, Ibid., p. 1071) are His delight. It is always best to keep a clear conscience before God and man so as to gain God's blessing.
- Proverbs 11:21 asserts that lit. "hand to hand," (yad leyad), an idiom meaning "surely" (Ibid., B. D. B., p. 391), the wicked will not be free from punishment (naqah , Ibid., p. 667), but the offspring (zera', Ibid., p. 282-283; ESV) of the righteous ones will escape, be delivered (malat, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 572). Even the children of the righteous escape judgment in court and from God, where the wicked gets one no mercy!
- Proverbs 11:22 claims as a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman (NIV, ESV) who turns aside (sor, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 693) from discretion (ta'am, Ibid., p. 381). The ring is defiled by attachment to the pig's snout and by the snout's also foraging about in the dirt. Indiscretion in a beautiful woman leaves her prey to being polluted by all sorts of evil men who lust after her, making her undesirable for marriage!
- Proverbs 11:23 claims the thing wished, desired (ta'avah, Ibid., p. 16) by the righteous ends only in wholesome good (tob, Kittel, p. 1168, 2 at Gen. 1:31), but the hope of what is expected gain (tiqvah, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 876 as in Proverbs 10:28) of the wicked ends only in wrath in judgment, punishment. There is a huge contrast between the way righteousness leads to sure blessings and wickedness to sure judgment.
- Proverbs 11:24 holds that one man gives freely (lit. "scatters," [pazar, Ibid., p. 808]) of his wealth yet he grows all the wealthier, while another withholds (hasak , Ibid., p. 362) what is justly due another (yosher, Ibid., p. 449) and surely (ak, Ibid., p. 36; Ibid., Kittel) tends toward poverty (mahsor , Ibid., p. 341). Due to God's oversight, those who use their wealth with liberality toward the needy are even more blessed of the Lord, where those who wrongly hoard it when they have the power to help others tend toward poverty as God disciplines them for their lovelessness, cf. 1 John 3:17-18.
- Proverbs 11:25 teaches that a financially liberal, giving person (nephesh-berakah, Ibid., p. 139) will be made to grow fat [fig. for prosperity, tedushan, Pual intensive passive, Ibid., p. 206], and he who causes others to drink to the fill (Hiphil active causative of ravah, Ibid., p. 924) will himself (emphatic pronoun "he" written in addition to the verb, Ibid., Kittel) be caused (Ibid., B. D. B., using the Hophal passive causative) to be satisfied with drink. Liberality makes the giver prosper, and aggressive liberality will lead to the giver himself being caused to be abundantly gratified possibly both by responses of grateful recipients as well as by the Lord's reward of reimbursement for his giving, cf. 2 Corinthians 9:6-10.
- Proverbs 11:26 claims the merchant who withholds selling (in the context) his grain apparently to raise the price for enhanced profit will have his customers who need the grain for their food curse him, but the man who causes his needy customers to be able to afford so as to buy his grain will see them lay their hands on his head to bless him (Hiphil act. causative stem of shabar, Ibid., p. 991). Liberality is good for business!
- Proverbs 11:27 asserts that he who diligently looks for (shahar, Ibid., p. 1007) wholesome good (tob, Ibid., p. 375) seeks acceptance, favor from others (rason , Ibid., p. 953), but evil, calamity (ra'ah, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 949) comes to him who resorts to or seeks after (darash, Ibid., p. 205) it. The level of upright wholesomeness we seek in life directly affects the level of favor we gain from others.
Lesson Application: May we align with God's fixed moral order in each of these realms for blessing.