Proverbs 17

1 Better to eat a dry crust of bread with peace of mind than have a banquet in a house full of trouble.

2 A shrewd servant will gain authority over a master's worthless son and receive a part of the inheritance.

3 Gold and silver are tested by fire, and a person's heart is tested by the Lord.

4 Evil people listen to evil ideas, and liars listen to lies.

5 If you make fun of poor people, you insult the God who made them. You will be punished if you take pleasure in someone's misfortune.

6 Grandparents are proud of their grandchildren, just as children are proud of their parents.

7 Respected people do not tell lies, and fools have nothing worthwhile to say.

8 Some people think a bribe works like magic; they believe it can do anything.

9 If you want people to like you, forgive them when they wrong you. Remembering wrongs can break up a friendship.

10 An intelligent person learns more from one rebuke than a fool learns from being beaten a hundred times.

11 Death will come like a cruel messenger to wicked people who are always stirring up trouble.

12 It is better to meet a mother bear robbed of her cubs than to meet some fool busy with a stupid project.

13 If you repay good with evil, you will never get evil out of your house.

14 The start of an argument is like the first break in a dam; stop it before it goes any further.

15 Condemning the innocent or letting the wicked go - both are hateful to the Lord.

16 It does a fool no good to spend money on an education, because he has no common sense.

17 Friends always show their love. What are relatives for if not to share trouble? ¹

18 Only someone with no sense would promise to be responsible for someone else's debts.

19 To like sin is to like making trouble. If you brag all the time, you are asking for trouble.

20 Anyone who thinks and speaks evil can expect to find nothing good - only disaster.

21 There is nothing but sadness and sorrow for parents whose children do foolish things.

22 Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time.

23 Corrupt judges accept secret bribes, and then justice is not done.

24 An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions.

25 Foolish children bring grief to their fathers and bitter regrets to their mothers.

26 It is not right to make an innocent person pay a fine; justice is perverted when good people are punished.

27 Those who are sure of themselves do not talk all the time. People who stay calm have real insight.

28 After all, even fools may be thought wise and intelligent if they stay quiet and keep their mouths shut. ²

Proverbs 17 Commentary

Chapter 17

Verse 1 These words recommend family love and peace, as needful for the comfort of human life. Verse 2 . The wise servant is more deserving, and more likely to appear one of the family, than a profligate son. Verse 3 . God tries the heart by affliction. He thus has often shown the sin remaining in the heart of the believer. Verse 4 . Flatterers, especially false teachers, are welcome to those that live in sin. Verse 5 . Those that laugh at poverty, treat God's providence and precepts with contempt. Verse 6 . It is an honour to children to have wise and godly parents continued to them, even after they are grown up and settled in the world. Verse 7 . A fool, in Solomon's Proverbs, signifies a wicked man, whom excellent speech does not become, because his conversation contradicts it. Verse 8 . Those who set their hearts upon money, will do any thing for it. What influence should the gifts of God have on our hearts! Verse 9 . The way to preserve peace is to make the best of every thing; not to notice what has been said or done against ourselves. Verse 10 . A gentle reproof will enter, not only into the head, but into the heart of a wise man. Verse 11 . Satan, and the messengers of Satan, shall be let loose upon an evil man. Verse 12 . Let us watch over our own passions, and avoid the company of furious men. Verse 13 . To render evil for good is devilish. He that does so, brings a curse upon his family. Verse 14 . What danger there is in the beginning of strife! Resist its earliest display; and leave it off, if it were possible, before you begin. Verse 15 . It is an offence to God to acquit the guilty, or to condemn those who are not guilty. Verse 16 . Man's neglect of God's favour and his own interest is very absurd. Verse 17 . No change of outward circumstances should abate our affection for our friends or relatives. But no friend, except Christ, deserves unlimited confidence. In Him this text did receive, and still receives its most glorious fulfilment. Verse 18 . Let not any wrong their families. Yet Christ's becoming Surety for men, was a glorious display of Divine wisdom; for he was able to discharge the bond. Verse 19 . If we would keep a clear conscience and a quiet mind, we must shun all excitements to anger. And a man who affects a style of living above his means, goes the way to ruin. Verse 20 . There is nothing got by ill designs. And many have paid dear for an unbridled tongue. Verse 21 . This speaks very plainly what many wise and good men feel very strongly, how grievous it is to have a foolish, wicked child. Verse 22 . It is great mercy that God gives us leave to be cheerful, and cause to be cheerful, if by his grace he gives us hearts to be cheerful. Verse 23 . The wicked are ready to part with their money, though loved, that they may not suffer for their crimes. Verse 24 . The prudent man keeps the word of God continually in view. But the foolish man cannot fix his thoughts, nor pursue any purpose with steadiness. Verse 25 . Wicked children despise the authority of their father, and the tenderness of their mother. Verse 26 . It is very wrong to find fault ( proverbs 17:27-28 ) wise man, by the good temper of his mind, and by the good government of his tongue. He is careful when he does speak, to speak to the purpose. God knows his heart, and the folly that is bound there; therefore he cannot be deceived in his judgment as men may be.

Cross References

• 1. +217.17Ben Sira 6.7-10.
• 2. +217.28Ben Sira 20.5.

Footnotes

• [a]. brag . . . time; [or] make a show of your wealth.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 7

This chapter gives an account of some buildings of Solomon for himself, 1Ki 7:1-12; and of other things for the use of the temple; of two pillars of brass, 1Ki 7:13-22; of the molten sea, 1Ki 7:23-26; and of ten bases, and ten layers on them, 1Ki 7:27-39; with other utensils and ornaments, 1Ki 7:40-51.