Proverbs 12

Anyone who loves being corrected loves knowledge, but anyone who hates being corrected is stupid.

1Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.

Note"Instruction" and "reproof" translate two Hebrew words for correction: *musar*, the whole business of training someone by discipline, and *tokhachath*, being told plainly that you are wrong. "Brutish" in 1611 English did not mean cruel; it meant animal-like, a creature that cannot reason. The insult is about dullness, not violence.

2A good person receives the LORD's favor, but the LORD condemns a person who schemes to do evil.

2A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.

3No one can build a secure life on doing wrong, but a person who does right is rooted too deeply to be pulled up.

3A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

Note"The righteous" and "the wicked" are the standing pair of categories the book of Proverbs works with throughout. The Hebrew words describe conduct rather than feeling: the *tsaddiq* is the person who deals straight with others, the *rasha* the person who deals crookedly. "Established" and "not be moved" borrow the language of a building set on a foundation and a tree fixed by its roots.

4A wife of strong character is a crown on her husband's head, but a wife who brings shame is like rot in his bones.

4A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

Note"A virtuous woman" translates *eshet chayil*, literally "a woman of strength", the same phrase that opens the portrait in Proverbs 31. *Chayil* is used elsewhere of an army's might or a man's wealth and competence; it is not narrowly about chastity. A crown was worn in public, so a wife of that stamp raises her husband's standing where everyone can see it; "rottenness in his bones" is the opposite image, a wasting disease at work out of sight, inside him.

5The plans that good people make are fair, but the advice that wicked people give is a trick.

5The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.

6The words of wicked people are an ambush, waiting to shed blood, but what honest people say rescues them.

6The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.

Note"To lie in wait for blood" is the language of highway ambush, and it is probably not only a figure of speech: false testimony in a capital case could get an innocent man executed. The second line answers it in the same courtroom setting, honest speech is what gets the intended victims out alive.

7Wicked people are knocked down and gone, but the household of good people keeps standing.

7The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand.

Note"House" here means the household (the family, its dependants and its property, continuing across generations), not the building.

8People praise a person for his good sense, but a person with a twisted mind is looked down on.

8A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised.

9It is better to be thought little of and still have a servant than to act important and have nothing to eat.

9He that is despised, and hath a servant, is better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread.

NoteThe servant is a household slave or hired worker; owning one marked a man as modestly secure rather than rich. The saying contrasts real means with an empty show of status. The Hebrew of the first phrase is disputed: it can mean "a man of no reputation who has a servant," or, read slightly differently, "a man of no reputation who works for himself." "Lacketh bread" means goes without food in general; bread stands for the whole diet.

10A good person looks after the needs of his animals, but even the kindest acts of wicked people turn out cruel.

10A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Note"Regardeth the life" translates a phrase meaning knows what his animal needs, the working animals a farmer depended on. "Tender mercies" in 1611 English meant compassion or kindly feelings; the point is that even what passes for kindness in a cruel person comes out cruel.

11Whoever works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases after empty, worthless things has no sense.

11He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.

Note"Vain persons" translates a word meaning empty or worthless things. Hebrew allows either reading (chasing worthless pursuits, or keeping company with worthless people) and translators have gone both ways.

12Wicked people crave what evil men catch in their traps, but the roots of good people keep bearing fruit.

12The wicked desireth the net of evil men: but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit.

NoteThis is one of the most obscure verses in the book; the Hebrew is broken enough that no translation is confident. The word rendered "net" can mean a hunter's net, plunder taken in one, or a stronghold, and the verb in the first line has no object in the Hebrew. Compare other translations and you will find them differing sharply here.

13An evil person gets caught by his own sinful words, but a good person gets out of trouble.

13The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.

Note"Transgression of his lips" means the offense committed by what he says. The image is a bird or animal walking into a trap it set off itself.

14A person is filled with good things by the words he speaks, and the work of his hands comes back to him.

14A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.

Note"The fruit of his mouth" is a standing Hebrew idiom: words yield a crop the speaker later has to eat, as a tree yields fruit. "Recompence" means the return or payment owed for work done.

15A fool thinks his own way is right, but a wise person listens to advice.

15The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

NoteA "fool" in Proverbs is not someone of low intelligence. The word describes a settled disposition, a person who will not be told anything, who has closed the question of whether he might be wrong.

16A fool shows his anger the moment he feels it, but a careful person lets an insult go by.

16A fool’s wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame.

Note"Presently" in 1611 English meant immediately, on the spot, not "soon" or "at present." "Covereth shame" means passes over an insult without showing it landed.

17A person who tells the truth says what is right, but a lying witness says what is false.

17He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.

NoteThe vocabulary here is from a law court. "Sheweth forth righteousness" means gives testimony that produces a just verdict, and "a false witness" is a specific legal offense, one the law of Moses treated with great severity.

18Some people's words stab like a sword, but the words of the wise bring healing.

18There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.

Note"There is that speaketh" is old English for "there are people who speak." The Hebrew verb suggests blurting out words rashly, without weighing them. "Health" in 1611 English meant healing, a cure applied to a wound, answering the sword-thrust in the first line.

19Truthful lips last forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

19The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

20There is deceit in the hearts of people who plan evil, but people who work for peace have joy.

20Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace is joy.

Note"Imagine evil" does not mean picture it in the mind; in 1611 English "imagine" meant to plot or scheme, the word used in law for premeditating a crime. "Counsellors of peace" are those who give advice aimed at *shalom*, not merely absence of conflict but everyone's welfare and wholeness.

21No harm comes to a person who does right, but wicked people are loaded down with trouble.

21There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.

Note"Evil" in the first line means harm or misfortune, not moral wrongdoing, the sense in which we still speak of an accident as a bad thing. "Mischief" in 1611 English likewise meant serious injury or calamity, not petty naughtiness.

22The LORD hates lying lips, but people who act honestly are his delight.

22Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.

23A wise person keeps what he knows to himself, but the heart of a fool shouts out its foolishness.

23A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness.

Note"Prudent" translates a word for shrewdness, practical cunning, which Proverbs treats as a virtue when it is honest. The "heart" in Hebrew is the seat of thinking and deciding rather than of feeling; it is closer to what we mean by the mind, and it carries that sense throughout this chapter.

24Hard workers end up in charge, but lazy people end up doing forced labor.

24The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.

Note"Under tribute" means put to forced labor. The Hebrew word *mas* refers to conscripted work gangs, the corvée that kings imposed on subject populations and that Israel itself endured in Egypt. The contrast is between running a work force and being drafted into one.

25Worry weighs a person's heart down, but a kind word makes it glad.

25Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.

Note"Heaviness" here is anxiety or dread, and "maketh it stoop" pictures the weight physically bowing a person down. The two lines turn on that image: a word from someone else lifts what worry pressed flat.

26A person who does right stands above his neighbor, but the way wicked people take leads them astray.

26The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour: but the way of the wicked seduceth them.

NoteThe Hebrew of the first line is uncertain and translators divide over it. The same consonants can be read as "the righteous is a guide to his neighbour," "the righteous is better than his neighbour," or "the righteous scouts out his way": that is, is careful whom he takes up with. The King James chose the comparison; other versions choose otherwise.

27A lazy man does not even roast the game he hunted, but a hard worker treats what he has as valuable.

27The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.

NoteThe verb in the first line occurs almost nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible and its meaning is unknown; guesses include "roast," "start up" (as in flushing out game), and "catch." So the line may say the lazy man never cooks what he caught, or never catches it at all. The second line is also strained in Hebrew; "substance" means property or wealth.

28Life is found on the path of doing right, and along that path there is no death.

28In the way of righteousness is life: and in the pathway thereof there is no death.

NoteThe final phrase is textually disputed. The traditional Hebrew reading is *al-mavet*, "no death," which the King James follows; many manuscripts and versions read *el-mavet*, "to death," making the second line describe a different path that leads to dying, which is why modern translations often print the opposite of what the King James has here.