Proverbs Challenge – Chapter 19

The Fear of the Lord Leads to Life

19 Better is the poor who walks in his integrity
Than one who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge,
And he sins who hastens with his feet.

The foolishness of a man twists his way,
And his heart frets against the Lord.

Wealth makes many friends,
But the poor is separated from his friend.

A false witness will not go unpunished,
And he who speaks lies will not escape.

Many entreat the favor of the nobility,
And every man is a friend to one who gives gifts.
All the brothers of the poor hate him;
How much more do his friends go far from him!
He may pursue them with words, yet they [a]abandon him.

He who gets [b]wisdom loves his own soul;
He who keeps understanding will find good.

A false witness will not go unpunished,
And he who speaks lies shall perish.

10 Luxury is not fitting for a fool,
Much less for a servant to rule over princes.

11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger,
And his glory is to overlook a transgression.

12 The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion,
But his favor is like dew on the grass.

13 A foolish son is the ruin of his father,
And the contentions of a wife are a continual [c]dripping.

14 Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers,
But a prudent wife is from the Lord.

15 Laziness casts one into a deep sleep,
And an idle person will suffer hunger.

16 He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul,
But he who [d]is careless of his ways will die.

17 He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord,
And He will pay back what he has given.

18 Chasten your son while there is hope,
And do not set your heart [e]on his destruction.

19 A man of great wrath will suffer punishment;
For if you rescue him, you will have to do it again.

20 Listen to counsel and receive instruction,
That you may be wise in your latter days.

21 There are many plans in a man’s heart,
Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.

22 What is desired in a man is [f]kindness,
And a poor man is better than a liar.

23 The fear of the Lord leads to life,
And he who has it will abide in satisfaction;
He will not be visited with evil.

24 A lazy man buries his hand in the [g]bowl,
And will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

25 Strike a scoffer, and the simple will become wary;
Rebuke one who has understanding, and he will discern knowledge.

26 He who mistreats his father and chases away his mother
Is a son who causes shame and brings reproach.

27 Cease listening to instruction, my son,
And you will stray from the words of knowledge.

28 A [h]disreputable witness scorns justice,
And the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.

29 Judgments are prepared for scoffers,
And beatings for the backs of fools.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 19:7 Lit. are not
  2. Proverbs 19:8 Lit. heart
  3. Proverbs 19:13 Irritation
  4. Proverbs 19:16 Is reckless, lit. despises
  5. Proverbs 19:18 Lit. to put him to death; a Jewish tradition on his crying
  6. Proverbs 19:22 Lit. lovingkindness
  7. Proverbs 19:24 LXX, Syr. bosom; Tg., Vg. armpit
  8. Proverbs 19:28 Lit. witness of Belial, worthless witness

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This Post Has 9 Comments

  1. Odogun Oluwaseun Morrison

    In proverbs 19 one would understand that even family members tend to respect more and associate more often with the ones who have done well for themselves financially. The poor among them tends to get scorned rather than loved and helped. The world is an “every man for himself” kind of place, and people give out their love and friendship based upon success. But the poor should be treated as equally valuable, especially among family. It is one thing to deal with sin issues that make a person poor, and it is another just to not like a person anymore because they have found calamity not of their own making. Some just don’t possess the talents or skills that will make them wealthy in this life, and this doesn’t make them worth any less. After all, some of the most important jobs don’t make people rich. The poor and less regarded desire friends and family, but too often they vanish.

  2. Odedairo Oladele Omotayo

    Proverbs 19 does not seem to have any overarching theme. While some verses use antithetical parallelism (e.g vv. 4, 12, 14, 21), the majority of sayings employ synthetic or synonymous parallelism. In terms of structure, some of the verses are linked by catchwords.
    V. 4 makes a realistic observation about wealth and poverty: “Wealth makes many friends, But a poor man loses his last friend.” It is interesting that vv. 6-7 echoes this saying, “Many court the favor of a great man, And all are the friends of a dispenser of gifts. All the brothers of a poor man despise him; How much more is he shunned by his friends…” The topic is discussed in Ben Sira too; see 13:21, “A rich man beginning to fall is held up of his friends: but a poor man being down is thrust also away by his friends,” and 13:23, “When a rich man speaketh, every man holdeth his tongue, and, look, what poor man speak, they say, What fellow is this? And if he stumble, they will help to overthrow him.” Thus, according to both Proverbs and Ben Sira, the rich seem to be on an upward spiral while the poor are trapped in a downward spiral.
    V. 11 speaks about “letting things go”: “A man shows intelligence by his forebearance; It is his glory when he overlooks an offense.” Prov. 17:9 has a similar message, “He who seeks love overlooks faults, But he who harps on a matter alienates his friend.”
    Verse 13 speaks about disappointing family members: “A stupid son is a calamity to his father; The nagging of a wife is like the endless dripping of water.” Other proverbs also deal with the disappointing son. For example, 10:1 says, “A wise son brings joy to his father; A dull son is his mother’s sorrow,” and 17:25 says, “A stupid son is vexation for his father And a heartache for the woman who bore him.” Some verses speak about a bickering wife as well. For example, 21:29 emphatically states, “It is better to live in the desert Than with a contentious, vexatious wife.
    Verse 14 also speaks about the decent wife, “Property and riches are bequeathed by fathers, But an efficient wife comes from the LORD.” While finding a good wife might seem as if it were left to chance, this verse says it is in the hands of God.
    V. 15 speaks about laziness: “Laziness induces sleep, And a negligent person will go hungry.” A verse with a similar meaning is 20:13, “Do not love sleep lest you be impoverished; Keep your eyes open and you will have plenty of food.” Indeed, 21:25 warns how laziness can lead to death, “”The craving of a lazy man kills him, For his hands refuse to work.”
    V. 17 speaks about how one who gives charity will be paid back by God: “He who is generous to the poor makes a loan to the LORD; He will repay him his due.” Why is this so? One’s treatment of the poor seems to be related to one’s treatment of God. For example, 14:31 says, “He who withholds what is due to the poor affronts his Maker; He who shows pity for the needy honors Him.” Indeed, it seems as if God plans for the rich to meet the poor: “Rich man and poor man meet; The LORD made them both” (22:2).
    Verse 18 speaks about physically hitting one’s son: “Discipline your son while there is still hope, And do not set your heart on his destruction.”
    Verse 21 speaks about God’s control of man’s future: “Many designs are in a man’s mind, But it is the LORD’s plan that is accomplished.

  3. ADEOSUN OLUGBEMI OLAGOKE

    Proverb 19
    God begin here with the fact that integrity is an important factor to God not minding our status in life,vs 2 talks about the importance of knowledge to the human heart(Hosea 4:6 said that my people perish for lack of knowledge.
    Vs our stupidity makes us corrupt our ways and leave the way of God.
    It went on in vs4 that when you are rich,you will have plenty friends,but being poor will make you have fewer friends.
    Vs5 the one who lies and the one who give false witness will not go on punish.
    Vs6, when you give gift and when you are in high position in life many will be your friend.
    Vs7poverty makes one lonely
    Vs8 getting wisdom shows one values his soul. Again reference to verse 5 in verse 9 .it proceed to tells more about the fool and servants, a kings favour is better than his wrath,a stupid son makes the parent unhappy and it relate it to wife contention,a good wife is from God,and keeping Gods commandments is preserving one’s soul,
    Vs 17,when you pity the poor you are lending to God,and God will reward you back,is good to caution ones child while there is hope,getting angry easily will make one suffer slots,an appeal to listen to advice and takes to instruction,vs 27 tell us to stop paying attention to instructions that make a man go against the way of God.

  4. Imion immaculate osereme

    We see here in both instances someone who loves to receive things that they have not worked to get. They think this prince may give them a position in government. In the second instance, every man means it is the world’s way to enjoy free gifts.
    Generosity or bribery could be the issue here.
    Proverbs 19:7 “All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth [them with] words, [yet] they [are] wanting [to him].”
    In verse 7, we see that they feel like since he is poor, there is no way to make anything off of him; and so they stop going around him thinking he might want something they have. He begs them to come back, but they don’t listen, because they think if they do come back, they will have to help him. This is a sorry lot that will not help their brother.
    This goes hand in hand with verse four where we said: This literally means that wealth adds new friends while poverty alienates existing friends who grow weary of the demands of the poor.
    Proverbs 19:8 “He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good.”A person who seeks wisdom seeks God. We know that wisdom is a gift from God. Truly all Christians should pray to receive wisdom. In the second part of this, I see someone who looks for good. A person who understands is not always looking for the dark side of life.

  5. Imion Angela Ofure

    V. 4 makes an observation about wealth and poverty while 6-7 says something similar. People do not appreciate the poor man even his family. The rich seems to get richer whike the poor gets poorer.
    V. 11 speaks about “letting things go”, this “wisdom teaching” is actually found as a command in Lev. 19:18 but with words similar: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your fellow as yourself: I am the LORD.”
    V. 13 speaks about disappointing family members: Other proverbs chapters also deal with the disappointing son. For example, 10:1 says, “A wise son brings joy to his father; A dull son is his mother’s sorrow,” and 17:25 says, “A stupid son is vexation for his father And a heartache for the woman who bore him.” Some verses speak about a bickering wife as well. For example, 21:29 emphatically states, “It is better to live in the desert Than with a contentious, vexatious wife.” Yet, our v. 14 also speaks about the decent wife, “Property and riches are bequeathed by fathers, But an efficient wife comes from the LORD.” While finding a good wife might seem like luck but it is in the hands of God.
    V. 15 speaks about laziness: A verse with a similar meaning is 20:13, “Do not love sleep lest you be impoverished; Keep your eyes open and you will have plenty of food.” Indeed, 21:25 warns how laziness can lead to death, “”The craving of a lazy man kills him, For his hands refuse to work.”

  6. Adefuwa Adedokunola E.

    Better is the poor man who walks in his integrity than one who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

    Wise people know the relative value of things. The Pharisees failed here. When Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath, they ignored the astonishing healing to complain about Jesus’ working. Not knowing the heart of God, they evaluated relative worth wrongly. “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others (Luke 12:42).”

  7. Akinsehinwa Queen

    Chapter 19
    It is better for to acquire knowledge so we wont miss our steps in life.some people are in our live just because of what we have to offer and believe me when there are nothing again they will go. The rich will have so many friends compare to the poor but only wisdom can help us from those kind of people.
    Following God’s instructions will make us leave and spare our life. It is good to give to the poor because it’s more acceptable.
    Alot of people are been controlled by things they see and hear in this world that we are which is leading to destruction. There are many distractions out there but the fear of the Lord will make evil depart from us not not go astray.

  8. Gbadebo Toluwalope

    Proverbs Chapter 19
    The first few verses shows us the difference between wealth and poverty and also the attitude of people towards both parties, no matter how foolish a wealthy person is, people would always want to associate with them and leave the poor separated but wealth can only be kept through having wisdom. Another verse also says helping the poor means lending unto the lord which he would return in multiple folds. This verse means that our God is gracious and filled with mercy.
    The fear of the lord lead to life and satisfies the heart

  9. Gbadebo omotolani Esther

    It tells us the difference between the wealthy and the poor, the wise and the foolish, they all have a reward to gain, we should seek God so he can lead us in life

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