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Texts -- Proverbs 12:1-24 (NET)

Context
12:1 The one who loves discipline loves knowledge , but the one who hates reproof is stupid . 12:2 A good person obtains favor from the Lord, but the Lord condemns a person with wicked schemes . 12:3 No one can be established through wickedness , but a righteous root cannot be moved . 12:4 A noble wife is the crown of her husband , but the wife who acts shamefully is like rottenness in his bones . 12:5 The plans of the righteous are just ; the counsels of the wicked are deceitful . 12:6 The words of the wicked lie in wait to shed innocent blood , but the words of the upright will deliver them. 12:7 The wicked are overthrown and perish , but the righteous household will stand . 12:8 A person is praised in accordance with his wisdom , but the one who has a twisted mind is despised . 12:9 Better is a person of humble standing who nevertheless has a servant , than one who pretends to be somebody important yet has no food . 12:10 A righteous person cares for the life of his animal , but even the most compassionate acts of the wicked are cruel . 12:11 The one who works his field will have plenty of food , but whoever chases daydreams lacks wisdom . 12:12 The wicked person desires a stronghold , but the righteous root endures . 12:13 The evil person is ensnared by the transgression of his speech , but the righteous person escapes out of trouble . 12:14 A person will be satisfied with good from the fruit of his words , and the work of his hands will be rendered to him. 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own opinion , but the one who listens to advice is wise . 12:16 A fool’s annoyance is known at once , but the prudent overlooks an insult . 12:17 The faithful witness tells what is right , but a false witness speaks deceit . 12:18 Speaking recklessly is like the thrusts of a sword , but the words of the wise bring healing . 12:19 The one who tells the truth will endure forever , but the one who lies will last only for a moment . 12:20 Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil , but those who promote peace have joy . 12:21 The righteous do not encounter any harm , but the wicked are filled with calamity . 12:22 The Lord abhors a person who lies , but those who deal truthfully are his delight . 12:23 The shrewd person conceals knowledge , but foolish people publicize folly . 12:24 The diligent person will rule , but the slothful will become a slave .

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Sword

    [ebd] of the Hebrew was pointed, sometimes two-edged, was worn in a sheath, and suspended from the girdle (Ex. 32:27; 1 Sam. 31:4; 1 Chr. 21:27; Ps. 149:6: Prov. 5:4; Ezek. 16:40; 21:3-5). It is a symbol of divine chastisement (De...

  • Speaking

    [nave] SPEAKING. Evil Ex. 22:28; Job 19:18; Psa. 10:7, 8; Psa. 12:3, 4; Psa. 34:13; Psa. 35:21; Psa. 41:5-9; Psa. 52:2-4; Psa. 59:12; Psa. 64:2-5; Psa. 69:12, 26; Psa. 70:3; Psa. 102:8; Psa. 106:33; Psa. 119:23; Psa. 120:1-7; Psa...

  • ROOT

    [isbe] ROOT - root (shoresh; rhiza): Frequently mentioned in the Old Testament and New Testament, but almost always in a figurative sense, e.g. "root of the righteous" (Prov 12:3,12); "root that beareth gall" (Dt 29:18); "Their roo...

  • Poetry

    [ebd] has been well defined as "the measured language of emotion." Hebrew poetry deals almost exclusively with the great question of man's relation to God. "Guilt, condemnation, punishment, pardon, redemption, repentance are the a...

  • PRUDENCE; PRUDENT

    [isbe] PRUDENCE; PRUDENT - proo'-dens, proo'-dent: In the Old Testament "prudence" is the translation of `ormah (Prov 8:12); also in the King James Version of sekhel (2 Ch 2:12, the Revised Version (British and American) "discretio...

  • PROVIDENCE, 1

    [isbe] PROVIDENCE, 1 - prov'-i-dens: I. PROVIDENCE DEFINED II. DIFFERENT SPHERES OF PROVIDENTIAL ACTIVITY DISTINGUISHED III. BIBLICAL PRESENTATION OF THE DOCTRINE OF PROVIDENCE 1. Divine Providence in the Old Testament Scriptures (...

  • POOR

    [isbe] POOR - poor ('ebhyon, dal, `ani, rush; ptochos): I. In the Old Testament. The poor have great prominence in the Bible; it is said, indeed, that there should be no poor among the Hebrews because Yahweh should so greatly bless...

  • MERCY; MERCIFUL

    [isbe] MERCY; MERCIFUL - mur'-si, mur'-si-fool (checedh, racham, chanan; eleos, eleeo, oiktirmos): "Mercy" is a distinctive Bible word characterizing God as revealed to men. In the Old Testament it is most often the translation of ...

  • LIP

    [isbe] LIP - (saphah, sepheth, "lip," "language," "speech," "talk" (also "rim," "border," "shore," "bank," etc.), sapham, "(upper) lip," "moustache," "beard"; cheilos, "lip" (also once, "shore" in the quotation Heb 11:12 = Gen 22:1...

  • JUDGE

    [isbe] JUDGE - juj (shopheT; New Testament dikastes, krites): In the early patriarchal times the heads of families and the elders of the tribes were the judges (compare Gen 38:24), and their authority was based on custom. In the wi...

  • IMAGINE

    [isbe] IMAGINE - i-maj'-in (chashabh; meletao): The word most frequently translated "to imagine" in the Old Testament, only in the King James Version and the English Revised Version, not in the American Standard Revised Version, is...

  • HEALTH

    [isbe] HEALTH - helth (shalom, yeshu`ah, 'arukhah; riph'uth, 'arukhah; soteria, hugiaino): Shalom is part of the formal salutation still common in Palestine. In this sense it is used in Gen 43:28; 2 Sam 20:9; the stem word means "p...

  • GOOD

    [isbe] GOOD - good (Tobh, Tubh, yaTabh; agathos, agathon, kalos, kalon): In English "good" is used in various senses, most of which are represented in the Bible. (1) In the Old Testament the commonest word is Tobh, occurring very f...

  • FOOL; FOLLY

    [isbe] FOOL; FOLLY - fool nabhal, 'ewil, kecil, cakhal and forms; aphron, aphrosune, moros): I. In the Old Testament. 1. General: Taking the words generally, apart from the Wisdom literature, we find nabhal frequently translated "f...

  • ESTEEM

    [isbe] ESTEEM - es-tem' (chashabh; hegeomai): "To esteem" means sometimes simply "to think" or "reckon"; in other connections it means "to regard as honorable" or "valuable." We have examples of both senses in the Bible. The word m...

  • CRUEL; CRUELTY

    [isbe] CRUEL; CRUELTY - kroo'-el, kroo'-el-ti 'akhzar, "harsh," "fierce," chamac, "violence"): There are various uses of the word "cruel" in the Old Testament: (a) "the cruel (deadly) venom of asps" (Dt 32:33); (b) spoken of men of...

  • CROWN

    [isbe] CROWN - kroun: The word crown in the Old Testament is a translation of five different Hebrew words, and in the New Testament of two Greek words. These express the several meanings, and must be examined to ascertain the same....

  • CONCEAL

    [isbe] CONCEAL - kon-sel' (parakalupto): Found but once in the New Testament (Lk 9:45). The primary meaning is to cover by hanging something in front of the object hidden. The purpose of the one concealing is made prominent. There ...

  • COMMEND

    [isbe] COMMEND - ko-mend': (1) For paratithemi (Lk 23:46), translating the Hebrew paqadh (Ps 31:5), in the dying words of Jesus: "Into thy hands I commend my Spirit." the King James Version in Psalms has the more general word "comm...

  • BONE; BONES

    [isbe] BONE; BONES - bon (`etsem, `otsem; Aramaic gerem, by extension used for "bony frame," "body," "strength," Ps 35:10; "the whole man"; Lk 24:39, "flesh and bones = the solid and tangible framework of the body; figuratively the...

Arts

Questions

  • The passage in Proverbs is quoted in Hebrews chapter 12, so I think I would begin my study there, which should encompass the entire book of Hebrews. I have written a number of messages on the subject of suffering, and I'll gi...
  • I assume by your question you are referring to living with someone outside of the marriage bond. Living with someone of the opposite sex exposes both parties to sexual temptation and relationships which are strictly forbidden...
  • God forbids it (Ecc. 7:9; Matt. 5:22; Rom. 12:19); it is a characteristic of fools and a work of the flesh (Gal. 5:20; Prov. 12:16; Prov. 14:29; Prov. 27:3; Ecc. 7:9). Anger is connected with pride, cruelty, clamorous and evi...
  • God forbids it (Ecc. 7:9; Matt. 5:22; Rom. 12:19); it is a characteristic of fools and a work of the flesh (Gal. 5:20; Prov. 12:16; Prov. 14:29; Prov. 27:3; Ecc. 7:9). Anger is connected with pride, cruelty, clamorous and evi...
  • God gives joy and Christ was appointed to give it, since the Gospels, which treat of him, are the "good tidings" (Ecc. 2:26; Is. 61:3; Luke 2:10,11) and God's Word affords joy (Neh. 8:12; Jer. 15:16). Joy is promised to saint...

Sermon Illustrations

Proverbs 12:15; Snowstorm

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Ruth carried out Naomi's instructions exactly, further demonstrating her loyal love to her mother-in-law, and encouraged Boaz to pursue the possibility of marriage (vv. 6-9)."Note that the threshingfloor was a public place an...
  • Proverbs claims to be a compendium of the wise sayings of several different individuals.4Solomon originated some of them (10:1-22:16 and chs. 25-29 definitely, and probably chs. 1-9 as well).5Unnamed wise men (sages) wrote ot...
  • The Book of Proverbs contains no history. It is purely didactic. It is a book of explicit instruction. Like the other Old Testament wisdom books, Job and Ecclesiastes, it does not contain references to Israel's laws, rituals,...
  • I. Discourses on wisdom chs. 1-9A. Introduction to the book 1:1-71. The title of the book 1:12. The purpose of the book 1:2-63. The thesis of the book 1:7B. Instruction for young people 1:8-7:271. Warning against consorting w...
  • Verse one introduces both the book as a whole and chapters 1-9 in particular. The Book of Proverbs is a collection of at least five separate groups of proverbs. There are those that Solomon spoke and or wrote (possibly chs. 1...
  • Chapters 1-9, as we have seen, contain discourses that Solomon evidently wrote urging his sons to choose the way of wisdom for their lives.92At 10:1 we begin the part of the book that sets forth what the wise way is in a vari...
  • 12:6 The words of the wicked, particularly their false accusations, are an ambush, but the words of the upright are straightforward and sincere (cf. 1:18).10712:9 A better translation is, "Better is a man of humble standing w...
  • 12:16 A prudent person "ignores an insult"(RSV). The insult is dishonor to himself or herself. A fool's reaction is "like an injured animal and so his opponent knows that he has been wounded."11012:18 Thoughtless or critical ...
  • There is a shift in emphasis in Solomon's anthology here. Pleasing God (cf. Col. 1:10; 1 John 3:22) becomes a greater factor in the proverbs that follow whereas those in chapters 10-15 had living successfully more in view. Ne...
  • As was true in the chapter 10-15 section, this one (16:1-22:16) also becomes more difficult to outline as it ends because there are fewer groupings of proverbs.19:7 The first part of this verse is hyperbole (overstatement to ...
  • A third major section of the Book of Proverbs begins with 22:17. This is clear from several indicators. The proverbs lengthen out again from the typical one verse couplet that characterizes 10:1-26:16 (cf. chs. 1-9). The phra...
  • We return now to the proverbs of Solomon (cf. 1:1-22:16). Chapters 25-26 contain proverbs that are mainly comparisons. The key words in these chapters are "like . . . so."Chapter 27 is a mixture of comparative and antithetica...
  • 25:1 A group of scholars who served during King Hezekiah's reign (715-686 B.C.) added more of Solomon's 3,000 proverbs (1 Kings 4:32) to the former collection (1:1-22:16). These men lived about 250 years after Solomon. Solomo...
  • Chapters 30 and 31 form a distinct section in Proverbs because neither Solomon (1:1-22:16; chs. 25-29) nor the unnamed sages (22:17-24:34) wrote them. Two other wise men whose names the text records did. Some expositors specu...
  • We have read much in Proverbs already about unwise women. Solomon personified both wisdom and folly as women (chs. 8-9). Perhaps God wanted us to finish reading this book assured that women are not essentially evil or foolish...
  • The quality of wisdom that Proverbs presents is much more than the ability to apply knowledge to various situations in life effectively. It also involves submission to the way of God that is the order of life God has revealed...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Whose loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish. 2. A good man obtaineth favour of the Lord: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn. 3. A man shall not he established by wickedness; but t...
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