Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Wisdom is Built on the Word, Proverbs 14:1-5

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Proverbs 14:1–5

[1] The wisest of women builds her house,

but folly with her own hands tears it down.

[2] Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord,

but he who is devious in his ways despises him.

[3] By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back,

but the lips of the wise will preserve them.

[4] Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,

but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.

[5] A faithful witness does not lie,

but a false witness breathes out lies. (ESV)

Wisdom is Built on the Word

v.1 This verse begins a trio of verses linked by the word "wisdom" in the first half of verse one and "wise people" in the last half of verse three. In the center lies one who "fears the Lord," connecting Divine Wisdom to the fear of God, the beginning of Wisdom. In the ancient world, the home was the focus of a woman's vocation. "building her house" includes all the duties of caring for her family: raising children, domestic duties, and so forth. The wise woman includes in these duties raising her children in saving faith, building her faith house on the solid rock to endure for generations, strengthened and preserved by the Lord God. The foolish woman does not, and her house is torn asunder by her own doing.

v.2 This second verse of the trio explains the motivation behind one's behavior. The fear of the Lord that is, repentance induced by the mirror of the Law and the faith generated upon receiving the Gospel for the solution to the problem of sin, motivates the Wise individual to live according to God's Word. The individual who acts in the opposite manner lacks faith and despises God's Word, leading to unrepentant sinful behavior that is incapable of receiving the Gospel because he does not realize he needs it, having justified his behavior in his own sight.

v.3 The first half of this verse is understood to mean that a fool suffers the consequences of his own actions. The Hebrew, according to commentators, literally says, "the fool's mouth wields a branch," as in a whip used to inflict pain. Like other proverbs of this type, the person on the receiving end of this whipping is not specified, leading us to infer that both the person receiving this fool's tongue lashing is harmed, as well as the fool himself. Conversely, the Wise can protect himself from the words of others and, at the same time, protect the fool from harming himself with his own foolish words. The wise person's speech is shaped by God's Word, and we indeed learn and inwardly digest the Word of God, then repeat those words in our own speech. God's word is useful for the formation of a Wise person, guards, edifies, and produces joyful thanksgiving (Ephesians 5:19-20; Colossians 3:15-17).

v.4 When one has no ox, one does not have to fill the feed trough. But the farmer also does not have the means to fill the manger. With oxen to aid in his work, he can reap a large harvest which will more than offset the cost of the oxen’s upkeep. This is a proverb cautioning against short-sighted handling of one’s money and resources. It is also a proverb cautioning against spiritual short-sightedness: we can become so preoccupied with indifferent things (like what color to paint the bathroom walls, for example) that we lose sight of the things that are essential: gathering around Word and Sacrament.

v.5 This is a proverb warning the Wise to not be deceived by someone to whom lying comes as naturally as breathing.