The Wise and the Foolish, the Upright and the Wicked

READING THE BOOK OF PROVERBS

PART VII

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Proverbs 10:1-12:15

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The second collection within the Book of Proverbs spans 10:1-22:16.  These sayings mostly follow an antithetical couplet format; the second line repeats the theme of the first line, but in reversed terms.  10:1 is a fine example:

A wise son makes a happy father,

But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

–R. B. Y. Scott’s translation

A germane note in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014) summarizes the essence of Proverbs 10:1-22:16 thusly:

…the wise are versed in applying secular wisdom as well as religious virtues, while righteousness is solely a religious value.

–1453

Of course!  Biblically, righteousness is right relationship with God, self, others, and all of creation.  By definition, righteousness is a religious value, not a secular one.

Many of the proverbs in 10:1-12:15 are simplistic and overly optimistic.  O reader, consider 11:21, for example:

Be assured of this–the evil man shall not go free,

It is the company of good men that will be victorious.

–R. B. Y. Scott’s translation

Given that this verse predates the concept of reward and punishment in the afterlife in Jewish theology (see 11:7), these words apply to this life.  Yet good people have often gone to defeat.  Proverbs 12:1 could fit neatly inside the mouths of Job’s alleged friends.

On the other hand, I cannot argue with many other sayings.  10:11 comes to my mind immediately:

The speech of a good man is a well of life,

But the mouth of the wicked uncovers [his] violence.

–R. B. Y. Scott’s translation

Historical accounts and current events confirm the truth of that saying.  Likewise, I refer you, O reader to another verse:

The virtue of good men keeps them on the right road,

But a wicked man falls by his own wickedness.

–Proverbs 11:5, R. B. Y. Scott’s translation

The Book of Proverbs indicates a grasp of mutuality, a Biblical virtue:

A generous man grows fat,

And he who waters [another’s garden] will have his own garden watered.

–Proverbs 11:25, R. B. Y. Scott’s translation

Context is crucial, as always.  So is bringing irrelevant and contrary assumptions to the text.  Recall, O reader, that, in the Bible, well-being comes from God.  Therefore, one may suffer for obeying divine commandments, but one retains one’s well-being from God.  Persecutors are powerless to deprive anyone of such well-being.

We, with that truth in mind, turn to yet another verse:

A man cannot make himself secure by wickedness,

Nor can the good man’s roots be disturbed,

–Proverbs 12:3, R. B. Y. Scott’s translation

Proverbs 12:3 sounds much like Psalm 1, in which the scoffers find stability in the wrong place and the righteous find stability in God.  The first variety of stability will falter; the second will not.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 19, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN HINES, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN PLESSINGTON, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1679

THE FEAST OF SAINT JÓZEF PUCHALA, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC FRANCISCAN FRIAR, PRIEST, AND MARTYR, 1943

THE FEAST OF LEMUEL HAINES, FIRST ORDAINED AFRICAN-AMERICAN MINISTER

THE FEAST OF SAINT POEMEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINTS JOHN THE DWARF AND ARSENIUS THE GREAT, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS

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