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Texts -- Proverbs 17:1-24 (NET)

Context
17:1 Better is a dry crust of bread where there is quietness than a house full of feasting with strife . 17:2 A servant who acts wisely will rule over an heir who behaves shamefully , and will share the inheritance along with the relatives . 17:3 The crucible is for refining silver and the furnace is for gold , likewise the Lord tests hearts . 17:4 One who acts wickedly pays attention to evil counsel ; a liar listens to a malicious tongue . 17:5 The one who mocks the poor insults his Creator ; whoever rejoices over disaster will not go unpunished . 17:6 Grandchildren are like a crown to the elderly , and the glory of children is their parents . 17:7 Excessive speech is not becoming for a fool ; how much less are lies for a ruler ! 17:8 A bribe works like a charm for the one who offers it; in whatever he does he succeeds . 17:9 The one who forgives an offense seeks love , but whoever repeats a matter separates close friends . 17:10 A rebuke makes a greater impression on a discerning person than a hundred blows on a fool . 17:11 An evil person seeks only rebellion , and so a cruel messenger will be sent against him. 17:12 It is better for a person to meet a mother bear being robbed of her cubs , than to encounter a fool in his folly . 17:13 As for the one who repays evil for good , evil will not leave his house . 17:14 Starting a quarrel is like letting out water ; stop it before strife breaks out ! 17:15 The one who acquits the guilty and the one who condemns the innocent – both of them are an abomination to the Lord . 17:16 Of what use is money in the hand of a fool , since he has no intention of acquiring wisdom ? 17:17 A friend loves at all times , and a relative is born to help in adversity . 17:18 The one who lacks wisdom strikes hands in pledge, and puts up financial security for his neighbor . 17:19 The one who loves a quarrel loves transgression ; whoever builds his gate high seeks destruction . 17:20 The one who has a perverse heart does not find good , and the one who is deceitful in speech falls into trouble . 17:21 Whoever brings a fool into the world does so to his grief , and the father of a fool has no joy . 17:22 A cheerful heart brings good healing , but a crushed spirit dries up the bones . 17:23 A wicked person receives a bribe secretly to pervert the ways of justice . 17:24 Wisdom is directly in front of the discerning person, but the eyes of a fool run to the ends of the earth .

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Proverbs 17:1

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • 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...
  • These proverbs are more difficult to group together under a general heading because there are fewer common ideas that tie them together.14:1 This verse makes better sense if for "house"we read "household."14:3 The antecedent ...
  • 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...
  • 17:8 The owner of the bribe is the person who gives it. A bribe is an effective tool. It works like a charm. This proverb is not advocating bribery, only acknowledging that money talks. God's view of bribery becomes clear in ...
  • 18:1 Evidently the intent is, "He who separates himself [from other people]"does so because he wants his own way and does not want others to restrain him. Such an approach runs counter to sound wisdom because we all need inpu...
  • 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...
  • 22:22-23 Note the chiastic structure in these four lines that unifies the thought of the passage: violence, litigation, litigation, violence. God will avenge the poor on those who oppress them.22:24-25 The writer gave a reaso...
  • 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...
  • 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...
  • 5:18-19 The Israelites were deliberately sinning. They had not innocently fallen into sin, but they were pursuing it willfully. Rather than fleeing from it, they were holding it to themselves. Even worse, they were doing so i...
  • This final stanza gives the explanation for the Servant's submissive suffering for sinners and so completes the song.53:10 The apparent miscarriage of justice just described (v. 9) would not be what it would appear to be. It ...
  • 13:4 Yahweh had been Israel's God since the Israelites had lived in Egypt.83He had commanded the Israelites not to acknowledge any gods beside Himself because He was the only God who could save them (cf. Deut. 11:28; 32:17; J...
  • 5:38 Retaliation was common in the ancient Near East. Frequently it led to vendettas in which escalating vengeance continued for generations. Israel's "law of retaliation"(Lat. lex talionis) limited retaliation to no more tha...
  • Since they considered themselves to be rich but were spiritually poor Jesus urged them to "buy,"implying self-sacrifice, the things they really needed (cf. Isa. 55:1). Instead of real gold they should buy "gold refined by fir...
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