Proverbs 13

A wise son listens when his father corrects him, but a person who mocks will not listen to any correction at all.

1A wise son heareth his father’s instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke.

Note"Instruction" here translates a Hebrew word (musar) that covers the whole range from teaching and advice to correction and punishment; in Proverbs a father's musar is the household's training of a son. The "scorner" or mocker is a stock character in this book: not simply a rude person but someone who has made a settled habit of refusing correction, and who is treated as harder to help than a plain fool. In the Hebrew the first line has no verb at all (literally "a wise son, a father's instruction"), so translators supply "listens to" or "heeds."

2A person enjoys good things because of what he says, but those who break faith have an appetite for violence.

2A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence.

Note"The fruit of his mouth" is a standard Hebrew image: words are treated like a crop, and what a person says produces a harvest he later has to eat. The second line uses the Hebrew word nephesh, often translated "soul" but meaning here the appetite or craving, the throat that wants food. So the two halves are matched: one person eats good things, the other has a hunger for violence.

3The person who watches what he says protects his own life, but the one who talks without care brings ruin on himself.

3He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.

4The lazy person wants things and gets nothing, but the person who works hard is fully satisfied.

4The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

NoteAgain nephesh, the appetite. "Made fat" is a compliment in an agricultural society where food supply was uncertain: to be fat was to be well fed, prosperous, and doing well, not overweight in the modern sense.

5A person who does what is right hates lies, but a wicked person brings disgrace on himself and ends up ashamed.

5A righteous man hateth lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame.

Note"Righteous" and "wicked" run through Proverbs as two standing categories of person rather than as verdicts on single acts; the righteous is the one who lives straight with God and neighbor, the wicked the one who does not. The Hebrew of the second line is blunt: the wicked man causes a stink and brings disgrace.

6Doing right guards the person who lives with integrity, but doing wrong tears the sinner down.

6Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner.

7One person acts rich but owns nothing; another acts poor but has great wealth.

7There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.

NoteThe Hebrew verbs are reflexive ("makes himself rich," "makes himself poor") and the proverb does not say why. It can be read as two poses (the man who displays wealth he does not have, and the man who hides wealth he does have), and readers in antiquity took it both ways.

8A rich man's money may be the price that buys back his life, but a poor man never even hears a threat.

8The ransom of a man’s life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.

NoteKidnapping for ransom, and fines paid to escape a legal penalty, were both realities; a wealthy man's money could buy his life back. The second line is compressed and disputed. The Hebrew word can mean either "rebuke" or "threat": either the poor man is never threatened because he has nothing worth extorting, or he never hears the warnings the rich man's money buys him. The proverb leaves it open which is the advantage and which the loss.

9The light of a person who does right shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is put out.

9The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.

NoteA lamp burning in the house was the ordinary sign that a household was alive and occupied; "putting out someone's lamp" is a Hebrew way of speaking about a family line coming to an end. The verb in the first line is unusual: it says the light of the righteous "rejoices," i.e. burns cheerfully or brightly.

10Quarrels come only from pride, but wisdom belongs to those who take advice.

10Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.

11Money that came out of nothing shrinks away, but what a person earns by steady work keeps growing.

11Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "vanity" (hebel) means vapor or breath, wealth that came out of nothing, whether by fraud, gambling or a windfall. The contrast is with gathering "by hand," a little at a time, which is what "steady work" renders.

12Hope that keeps being put off makes the heart sick, but a longing that comes true is a tree of life.

12Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

Note"A tree of life" is a fixed image in Proverbs for something that gives strength and vitality to the person who has it. The phrase recalls the tree in the garden of Genesis, but here it works as a comparison, not a claim about that tree.

13Whoever treats a word of instruction with scorn will pay for it, but whoever respects a command is rewarded.

13Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.

Note"Fears" in Hebrew idiom covers respect and serious regard, not fright; to fear a command is to treat it as carrying real weight. "The word" and "the commandment" here most naturally mean the teaching a wise person or parent gives, the same instruction verse 1 spoke of.

14What a wise person teaches is a fountain of life, turning people away from the traps that lead to death.

14The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

Note"Law" translates torah, which means teaching or direction generally, not statute law. A fountain, a spring of running water rather than a well, was the difference between life and death in a dry country. "Snares" are the traps a hunter sets for birds and small game: hidden, and sprung before the animal knows it.

15Good sense wins people's goodwill, but the road taken by those who break faith is hard.

15Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.

Note"Favour" (Hebrew hen) is the goodwill and acceptance other people extend to you. The second line is genuinely uncertain: the Hebrew word for "hard" ('êthan) normally means enduring or permanent, and could mean either that the treacherous person's road is rough going, or that it is unchanging and never lets him off it. Some ancient translations read a different word here altogether.

16Every sensible person acts on what he knows, but a fool puts his foolishness on display.

16Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly.

17A messenger who cannot be trusted falls into trouble, but a trustworthy envoy brings healing.

17A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.

NoteIn a world with no postal service, rulers and households did business through messengers who carried words, money and agreements in person, and everything depended on the messenger repeating the message faithfully. "Brings healing" means he heals the situation, the business between the two parties comes out whole.

18Poverty and shame come to the person who refuses correction, but the person who takes correction seriously is honored.

18Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.

19Getting what you have longed for is sweet, but fools find the thought of turning away from evil disgusting.

19The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.

NoteThe word behind "disgusting" is the strong Hebrew term for something ritually or morally repellent, the reaction of physical revulsion. The two halves sit side by side without a connecting word, and the join is left for the reader: getting what you want is sweet, and that is exactly why fools will not give up what they want even when it is evil.

20Spend your time with wise people and you will become wise, but the friend of fools comes to ruin.

20He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

21Trouble chases sinners down, but good things are paid back to those who do right.

21Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed.

22A good man leaves property to his grandchildren, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the person who does right.

22A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

NoteIn Israel a family's inheritance was chiefly land, and keeping it in the family across generations was what secured descendants a place to live and farm; to leave an inheritance to grandchildren is to have held the land through your own lifetime. "Laid up" is the language of storing grain or treasure, the sinner does the saving, someone else does the eating.

23The plowed field of a poor man can grow plenty of food, but it is swept away where there is no justice.

23Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.

NoteOne of the most obscure verses in the book. The Hebrew word rendered "plowed field" means broken ground, land newly cleared or lying fallow, poor land a poor man works. The second line says literally "swept away for lack of justice," and "justice" (mishpat) can mean either legal fairness (the poor man's crop is seized by those with power) or good judgment (it is lost through his own mismanagement). Both readings are old.

24The man who holds back the rod hates his son, but the man who loves his son corrects him without delay.

24He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

NoteThe rod is a stick, the same word used for a shepherd's staff and for a ruler's scepter; it stands for corrective discipline of a child, which in this culture included physical punishment. The King James "betimes" means early or promptly; the Hebrew verb suggests seeking someone out at dawn, hence both "early" and "diligently."

25A person who does right eats until he is content, but the stomach of the wicked goes empty.

25The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.