Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Wise Ways to Live I, Proverbs 13:1-6

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Proverbs 13:1–6

[1] A wise son hears his father’s instruction,

but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

[2] From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good,

but the desire of the treacherous is for violence.

[3] Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life;

he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

[4] The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,

while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

[5] The righteous hates falsehood,

but the wicked brings shame and disgrace.

[6] Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless,

but sin overthrows the wicked. (ESV)

Third Use of the Law: Wise Ways to Live I

v.1 With this verse, Solomon returns to the theme that opened the Book of Proverbs: A wise son listens to his father's teaching and internalizes it. The word translated "hears" in Hebrew implies a richer meaning than simply listening. A wise son not only listens but is also the product of the father's instruction. This proverb is as much about the father's responsibility to teach as it is for the son to hear his words.

In the second line, a scoffer does not listen to a reprimand. No mere rebuke, this reprimand carries the weight of passionate anger expressed by shouting. A mocker does not respect any kind of correction, no matter how forcefully it is expressed. He does not listen to rebuke regardless of its origin—human or divine.

v.2 The next two proverbs are connected by the word “mouth,” and the next three by the words “desire” and “craves,” with the sense of satisfying an appetite. In this first proverb of the mouth, a man's mouth produces fruit with which he feeds himself. The treacherous and deceitful man also has an appetite but is not fed. He hungers only for violence. The wise person who merely speaks and produces fruit is fed well. The man who stops to think before speaking or acting feeds himself with his prudence. In contrast, the man of violence acts on impulse, which is frequently destructive both to his neighbor and himself.

v.3 The wise man maintains control over his mouth. Sometimes it is wise to remain silent. On the other hand, a foolish person feels a constant need to speak and thus reveals his foolishness to others, which leads to his own ruin.

v.4 A lazy man has a desire or craving, in the sense of an appetite, but takes no action to satisfy that desire. One who is wise not only works for his desire but does so with diligence and obtains not only satisfaction but a surplus. This is a metaphor for seeking and obtaining Divine Wisdom. In the temporal world, Divine Wisdom serves the righteous man well and has rewards that serve not only his earthly existence but extend to benefits in the life of the world to come.

v.5 This is a proverb about attitudes. The righteous man's attitude protects him from humiliation while the wicked man achieves disgrace. Does he bring disgrace upon his own head or the head of others? Like many of the proverbs of this nature we have seen, it can mean both at once. The wise man learns to not only avoid wickedness but to avoid the company of wicked men, lest their wickedness rubs off on them, influencing their behavior (2 Corinthians 6:14; 1 Corinthians 15:33).

v.6 Righteousness is imputed to the Christian by faith (Genesis 15:6; Isaiah 53:11). God's gift of righteousness guards the wise man of integrity. The wicked unbeliever has no such gift, having rejected it, and builds his corruption like the believer builds his righteousness (Proverbs 1:3; 2:9; 8:18, 20; Matthew 6:33; Romans 3:18-20).