Proverbs 13:1-25
13 A wise son heeds his father’s instruction,
But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
2A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth,
But the soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence.
3He who guards his mouth preserves his life,
But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.
4The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing;
But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.
5A righteous man hates lying,
But a wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame.
6Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless,
But wickedness overthrows the sinner.
7There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing;
And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.
8The ransom of a man’s life is his riches,
But the poor does not hear rebuke.
9The light of the righteous rejoices,
But the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
10By pride comes nothing but strife,
But with the well-advised is wisdom.
11Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished,
But he who gathers by labor will increase.
12Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
13He who despises the word will be destroyed,
But he who fears the commandment will be rewarded.
14The law of the wise is a fountain of life,
To turn one away from the snares of death.
15Good understanding gains favor,
But the way of the unfaithful is hard.
16Every prudent man acts with knowledge,
But a fool lays open his folly.
17A wicked messenger falls into trouble,
But a faithful ambassador brings health.
18Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction,
But he who regards a rebuke will be honored.
19A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul,
But it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil.
20He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will be destroyed.
21Evil pursues sinners,
But to the righteous, good shall be repaid.
22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,
But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
23Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor,
And for lack of justice there is waste.
24He who spares his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
25The righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul,
But the stomach of the wicked shall be in want.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Proverbs 13:1-25
13:1. Verses 1–3 each refer to talking. A wise son (cf. 10:1) is receptive to parental instruction (cf. comments on 12:1). The word heeds, though not in the Hebrew, is implied. The opposite of a wise, teachable son is a mocker (cf. 14:6; 15:12; 17:5; 19:29; 21:11; 22:10; 24:9; 30:17) who refuses to listen to and profit from a rebuke (see comments on 1:23).
13:2. The first clause in this verse is similar to 12:14a. The fruit of one’s lips is his talk, here referring obviously to a righteous person. By speaking positively and helping others with one’s words (cf. 12:18b) he in turn is blessed. What he gives he receives. The unfaithful (lit., “treacherous”) desire not to help others but to harm them, by violent words and deeds. (Cf. “craves” in 13:4.)
13:3. Being careful about what one says helps keep him out of trouble (cf. 14:3; 21:23). But speaking rashly (hastily and thoughtlessly; cf. 12:18) brings on trouble (cf. ruin in 10:8, 14) to the one who speaks and to others. By his reckless words he makes promises he can’t keep, divulges private information, offends, or misrepresents. People learn not to depend on what he says and do not want to be around him. He may also suffer physically or financially.
13:4. A lazy person (on sluggard see comments on 6:6) has desires (craves refers to a deep-seated physical drive or appetite; cf. “craving” in 13:2), but his desires are not satisfied because he is not willing to work. However, diligence (see comments on 12:24) enables a person to be satisfied (cf. 11:23).
13:5. As stated in 8:13, fearing the Lord involves hating what God hates. Since He hates falsehood (12:22), so do the righteous. Lying degrades and leads to mistrust and injustice. The wicked, however, by preferring falsehood, bring shame (lit., “cause a stink”) and disgrace on others and themselves.
13:6. Again righteous, wise living guards or protects a person (cf. v. 3; 2:11; 4:6; also note 12:21). On integrity see comments on 11:3. Wicked, unwise living offers no protection to the sinner. He is easily overthrown.
13:7. Pretends refers to an adopted lifestyle rather than to playacting. A person may be rich in material goods but have nothing socially or spiritually. Conversely another person may be poor materially but rich spiritually.
13:8. The words riches and poor tie this verse with the previous one. A man of wealth may need to use his money to buy himself out of trouble (ransom his life) but a poor person is not threatened with kidnapping or theft. Being poor has at least one advantage.
13:9. A light and a lamp, common metaphors (cf. 6:23; 20:20; 21:4; 24:20; Job 18:5–6; Ps. 119:105), refer here to physical life. If a lamp in a Near Eastern tent went out at night, the surroundings were pitch dark, mindful of the darkness of death. The righteous will have a long life, but the wicked will die early.
13:10. Pride (zāḏôn, from zîḏ, “to boil”; cf. 11:2) means an unyielding arrogance. Such an inflated, know-it-all view of oneself leads to quarreling, in contrast with a humble, wise spirit that makes one willing to learn and take advice (cf. 12:15; see “quarreling” in the chart “Words and Speaking in Proverbs,” near 6:17–19).
13:11. Dishonest money, gained illegitimately (cf. “ill-gotten treasures,” 10:2), does not last (cf. 10:2; 13:22; 23:5). On the other hand money can grow by being accumulated honestly little by little.
13:12. It is good for a person to have hope, but if it is not fulfilled for a long time (deferred means “put off or long drawn out”) then he experiences disappointment (his heart becomes sick). But when a hope is fulfilled (cf. vv. 4, 19), a person is refreshed. The gratification of hope gives encouragement like a tree that gives life (cf. tree of life in 3:18; 11:30; 15:4).
13:13. Despising parental or other instruction results in a person having to make a “payment” of guilt and punishment. But respecting such instruction to the point of following it results in the “reward” of blessing. Scorns translates bûz (“to despise, hold in contempt, or ridicule”; cf. 14:21 and see comments on 1:7).
13:14. Being taught by and heeding a wise person is as refreshing and life-sustaining as a fountain of life (10:11; 14:27; 16:22). Along with the benefit of wise teaching is another aspect: it protects from the snares of death (an identical statement is made in 14:27b). Wisdom may help keep a person from a premature death (cf. 1:32–33; 2:11; 4:20–22; 8:35–36), pictured here as an animal trap that ensnares suddenly. With the second line of 13:14 being a dependent clause, this verse has synthetic parallelism (see “Literary Style” in the Introduction) rather than the antithetic parallelism of most of the verses in chapters 10–15.
13:15. Good understanding translates śēḵel ṭôḇ which the NIV renders “good name” in 3:4 (see comments there). In 3:4 and 13:15 these Hebrew words are associated with favor (ḥēn, “grace or graciousness”). By contrast, the life of the unfaithful (lit., “treacherous”) is hard. The Hebrew for “hard” (’êṯān) means “ever-flowing” like a river (Ps. 74:15), “enduring” like a nation (Jer. 5:15), or “long established” like leaders (Job 12:19). Perhaps in Proverbs 13:15 it refers to the calloused, ongoing conduct of the wicked, who are so entrenched in their ways that they find it difficult to turn from them.
13:16. Normally a person’s conduct is consistent with his character (cf. 4:23–24). One who has knowledge shows prudence (‘ārûm, “shrewd” in a good sense; see comments on 12:23; cf. 12:16), but a fool (kesîl; see comments on 1:7) exposes his folly (cf. 12:23b) “like a peddler who openly spreads his wares before the gaze of all men” (Crawford H. Toy, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Proverbs, p. 273).
13:17. Whereas an unreliable messenger gets into trouble (perhaps by his laziness; cf. 10:26; or his foolish conduct; cf. 26:6) and is therefore disappointing, a reliable messenger brings healing, that is, he contributes to the welfare of those for whom he works.
13:18. Ignoring discipline (mûsār, “moral discipline or correction”; cf. 1:2) results in poverty and shame because a person without self-discipline is lazy and others are ashamed of him. But heeding correction (i.e., reasoning or arguing) results in honor. Openness to taking advice is mentioned frequently in Proverbs (e.g., 12:1; 13:1, 13).
13:19. The word fools unites verses 19 and 20 though the subject matter of these verses differs. Verse 19a, like verse 12b, speaks of the satisfaction and joy that come when a hope or dream is realized. Fools on the other hand continue on in their sin. This implies that their hopes are not fulfilled.
13:20. One way to become wise is to associate with wise people, including companions and teachers. Conversely to associate with fools brings problems. The Hebrew words for companion (rō‘eh) and suffers harm (yērôa‘) sound a bit alike. The influence of good and bad associations is a common theme in Proverbs (1:10–11; 2:12; 4:14–17; 16:29; 22:24–25; 23:20–21; 28:7).
13:21. Verses 21–23 refer to poverty and prosperity. Trouble comes to the sinnerlike an animal chasing him; he can’t escape. One such problem is hunger, mentioned in verse 25. Righteous people, however, who in Proverbs are equated with the wise and the diligent, enjoy good things in life, another frequent theme in Proverbs (3:2; 8:18; 10:6, 22; 21:21; 28:25). These statements in 13:21 are generally true, though exceptions could be cited.
13:22. A morally good man is so blessed that he can help his grandchildren by including them in his will. But any wealth a sinner may acquire is lost and eventually passes into the hands of the righteous. Perhaps this comes about by the sinner’s foolish and unwise handling of his funds.
13:23. A poor man may, by his labor, produce enough food to feed himself (cf. 12:11a), but without protection from injustice he may lose it. Verse 22 of chapter 13 speaks of a sinner losing his money; verse 23 speaks of those who suffer at the hands of such sinners.
13:24. Verses 24–25 and 14:1–4 speak of various home scenes. A loving parent inflicts temporary discomfort on his children (by spanking with a rod) to spare them the long-range disaster of an undisciplined life. Refusal to discipline one’s child when he needs it shows that a parent’s genuine love and concern are questionable. Other verses in Proverbs on child discipline are 19:18; 22:15; 23:13–14; 29:15, 17. God also disciplines His own (cf. 3:11–12; Heb. 12:6).
13:25. God supplies the physical needs of the righteous.
God in all His holiness is only your creator until you accept Him. After you accept Him, He becomes your God, your Father, your creator. He will cleanse you of your sins and accept you into the kingdom of His heaven and hear your prayers.
Love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. Also, love your neighbor as you love yourself.
God is testing us every day and has given us the right to make our own choices. Do you know which ones are the right choices in God’s mind?
Fear God, love God, honor God, and trust God with all your heart, mind and soul and you will receive and experience the joy of the promises of God’s blessings in His time. And always remember to ask the Father for His help and guidance in all things.
Prayer: Father blessed is your Holy name. We are grateful for Your Son our risen Christ and Your Spirit. We praise You for the opportunity to glorify Your Son and live with Him forever. We also praise you for the opportunity to be able to choose Jesus as our Lord and Savior and to be elect children of Yours. We praise you for the laws You have set down to teach us, to keep our lives in harmony, to learn how to treat others and how to live within your boundaries. Please bless those who have read this article for they too are seeking Your righteous truth, love, wisdom and understanding.
Father, I pray these brothers and sisters have or will come to realize that Your existence is a treasure of grace and love that You have for all Your elect children.
May God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and Christianity be our guiding lights for eternity. Let it be Your will Lord not mine. Please come Lord Jesus.
I pray in Jesus sweet name and to His glory through the power of The Holy Spirit,
Amen.
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