Proverbschapter 14
35 verses · KJVProverbs book hub →
A.The Wise Woman Builds; a Way That Seemeth Right Ends in Deathvv. 1-18
Proverbs 14:1-2
Every wise woman buildeth her house: The chapter opens where the acrostic of chapter 31 will end, on a woman building a house, and the same hands that build can pull it down with folly. Walking uprightly and fearing the Lord stand as the same act seen from two sides, and Henry ties the pair together as the working proof of the fear of the Lord named at 1:7. The foolish woman's ruin is domestic and immediate, a house undone by its own occupant rather than by an enemy outside it.
Voices on this verse, 2What preachers and commentators have said about Proverbs 14:1, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:1
“Every wise woman buildeth her house,.... Not only by her fruitfulness, as Leah and Rachel built up the house of Israel; but by her good housewifery, prudent economy; looking well to the ways of her household; guiding the affairs of her house with discretion; keeping all things in a good decorum; and bringing up her children in virtue, and in the fear and admonition of the Lord.”
Proverbs 14:1
“Every wise woman - literally, Wise women. The fullest recognition that has as yet met us of the importance of woman, for good or evil, in all human society.”
Proverbs 14:3-5
In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: A proud mouth is its own rod, striking the fool who carries it, while the wise are kept safe by the very lips that other men fear. The empty stall between the two proverbs of pride and profit belongs together by an older logic: a clean crib means no working ox and no increase, so the mess an ox makes is the price of the harvest it brings. The chapter closes the group on a faithful witness against a false one, the same integrity that keeps the wise now guarding the courtroom.
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:3, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:3
“What judgment harder than that of our hearts, whereby each one stands convicted and accuses himself of the injury that he has wrongfully done against his brother? This the Scriptures speak of very plainly, saying, "Out of the mouth of fools there is a rod for wrongdoing." Folly, then, is condemned because it causes wrongdoing. Ought we not rather to avoid this, than death, or loss, or want, or exile or sickness? Who would not think some blemish of body or loss of inheritance far less than some blemish of soul or loss of reputation?”
Ambrose of Milan· fourth century· On the Duties of the Clergy 3.4.24patristic
Voices on this verse, 2What preachers and commentators have said about Proverbs 14:4, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:4
“Where no oxen are the crib is clean,.... Or "empty" (z), so Jarchi and Aben Ezra. Oxen were used in Judea in several parts of husbandry; in ploughing the land, bringing home the corn, and in threshing or treading it out, Deu 22:”
Proverbs 14:4
“But much increase is by the strength of the ox - The ox is the most profitable of all the beasts used in husbandry. Except merely for speed, he is almost in every respect superior to the horse. 1. He is longer lived. 2. Scarcely liable to any diseases. 3. He is steady, and always pulls fair in his gears. 4. He lives, fattens, and maintains his strength on what a horse will not eat, and therefore is supported on one third the cost. 5. His manure is more profitable.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Voices on this verse, 2What preachers and commentators have said about Proverbs 14:5, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:5
“These things we have said concerning those that in truth have been martyrs for Christ, but not concerning false martyrs, concerning whom the oracle speaks, "The name of the ungodly is extinguished." For "a faithful witness will not lie, but an unjust witness inflames lies." For he that departs this life in his testimony without lying, for the sake of the truth, is a faithful martyr, worthy to be believed in such things wherein he strove for the word of truth by his own blood. .”
Apostolic Constitutions· fourth century· CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLESpatristic
Proverbs 14:5
“A faithful witness, &c.--one tested to be such. utter lies--or, "breathe out lies"--that is, habitually lies (Pr 6:19; compare Ac 9:1). Or the sense is, that habitual truthfulness, or lying, will be evinced in witness-bearing.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Proverbs 14:6-9
A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: A scorner seeks wisdom the way a thief seeks daylight, wanting the reputation without the discipline, and finds nothing because the search itself is dishonest, while knowledge comes easily to the man who actually wants to understand. Departing from a foolish man's company is itself an act of wisdom, since his lips carry no knowledge worth the risk of staying near them. The cluster lands on the chapter's hardest line: fools make a mock at sin, treating guilt itself as a joke, while among the righteous favour is the settled state sin can never counterfeit.
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:6, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:6
“The mocker seeks wisdom, etc. Caiaphas, who said to the Lord, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ"; because he sought badly, he did not deserve to find what he sought. But the disciples, who humbly submitted to …”
Bede· eighth century· Commentary on Proverbspatristic
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:7, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:7
“When thou perceivest not - the lips of knowledge - Instead of דעת daath, knowledge, several MSS. have שקר sheker, a lie. How this reading came I cannot conjecture. The meaning of the adage is plain: Never associate with a vain, empty fellow, when thou perceivest he can neither convey nor receive instruction.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:8, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:8
“Is to understand his way - Instead of הבין habin, to understand, הכין hachin, to Direct his way, is found in one MS. It makes a very good sense.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:9, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:9
“Fools make a mock - The verb in the Heb. is singular, the noun plural. The King James Version assumes that the number is altered to individualize the application of the maxim. Others translate it: “Sin mocks the fools who are its victims,” i. e., disappoints and ruins them; or, “A sin-offering does but mock the worshippers when they are willfully wicked:” they expect to gain God’s favor, and do not gain it. So taken it becomes parallel to Pro 15:8; Pro 21:7.”
Proverbs 14:10
The heart knoweth his own bitterness: Every heart carries a bitterness and a joy that belong to it alone, and no stranger, however close, can fully enter either one. Gill reads the verse against easy comfort offered from outside, since grief and gladness both have an interior the nearest friend can only stand beside. The proverb does not counsel isolation; it names a limit built into being human.
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:10, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:10
“The heart knoweth his own bitterness,.... Or "the bitterness of his soul" (l), the distress of his conscience, the anguish of his mind; the heart of man only knows the whole of it; something of it may be known to others by his looks, his words, and gestures, but not all of it; see 1Co 2:10; bitterness of soul often arises from outward troubles, pains, and diseases of body, losses, crosses, and disappointments, 1Sa 1:”
Proverbs 14:11
The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: The wicked man builds a house, solid and permanent by every outward sign, and it is overthrown; the upright man pitches only a tent, temporary by its own name, and it flourishes. Henry draws the contrast on purpose: the proverb measures endurance by the builder's standing with God rather than by the building's material. A tabernacle that lasts outlives a house that does not.
Proverbs 14:12-13
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man: , but the end thereof are the ways of death: the book repeats this sentence word for word at 16:25, a doubling that states the danger twice because self-deceived confidence is the hardest error to catch from inside. The verse warns against trusting a feeling of rightness in place of the fear of the Lord that opened the book. Verse 13 extends the same warning to pleasure: even in laughter the heart can be sorrowful, and mirth can end in heaviness the laughing face never showed.
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:12, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:12
“We read in Proverbs, "There is a way that seems just to men, yet the end of it leads to the depths of hades." You see, ignorance is also clearly condemned in this text, since man thinks otherwise and he falls into hades, seemingly having the truth. "There are many thoughts," he says, "in the heart of man." But still, it is not his will, which is uncertain and doubtful and changeable, that prevails but the counsel of God.”
Jerome· fifth century· Against the Pelagians 1.39patristic
Proverbs 14:14
The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: The backslider gets exactly what he chose, filled with his own ways rather than punished by some foreign judgment, and the sentence lets his own path be his sentence. Against him stands the good man, satisfied from himself, at rest in a character built by obedience rather than dependent on what others give him. Wesley reads both halves as the same law working in opposite directions, a man reaping the field he actually planted.
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:14, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:14
“The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways - 1. Who is the backslider? סוג sug. 1. The man who once walked in the ways of religion, but has withdrawn from them. 2. The man who once fought manfully against the world, the devil, and the flesh; but has retreated from the battle, or joined the enemy. 3. The man who once belonged to the congregation of the saints, but is now removed from them, and is set down in the synagogue of Satan. 2. But who is the backslider in Heart?”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Proverbs 14:15-16
The simple believeth every word: The simple believes every word offered him, an open door with no guard at it, while the prudent man looks well to his own going and tests the ground before he steps. The same contrast runs into fear: the wise man fears and departs from evil, cautious of what could ruin him, and the fool rages ahead in a confidence that has never once been earned. Clarke notes that the fool's confidence is the more dangerous of the two failures, since it feels like courage while it functions like blindness.
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:16, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:16
“The fear of God is Deoj [in Greek]. But if fear is perturbation of mind, as some will have it that fear is perturbation of mind, yet all fear is not perturbation. Superstition is indeed perturbation of mind; being the fear of demons, that produce and are subject to the excitement of passion. On the other hand, consequently, the fear of God, who is not subject to perturbation, is free of perturbation. For it is not God, but failing away from God, that the man is terrified for.”
Clement of Alexandria· third century· The Stromata Book 2patristic
Proverbs 14:17-18
He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: A man soon angry acts before he thinks and calls it strength, and a man of wicked devices earns hatred by the same haste turned deliberate. Folly is the simple man's inheritance, passed down by neglect rather than chosen outright, while knowledge is the crown the prudent actually work to wear. Gill sets the two pairs side by side as the book's ordinary lesson: what a man does not resist he inherits, and what he does not pursue he never wears.
Voices on this verse, 2What preachers and commentators have said about Proverbs 14:17, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:17
“He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly,.... A man that is quick and short, of a hasty spirit, and presently discovers anger and resentment in his face; he says and does many foolish things, which he afterwards is sorry for, and repents, and is ashamed of; and he is to be pitied and forgiven; and a man of wicked devices is hated; one that hides his anger, covers his resentment, contrives schemes to revenge himself, and waits an opportunity to put them in execution, is justly hateful to God and men.”
Proverbs 14:17
“He . . . angry--literally, "short of anger" (compare Pr 14:29, opposite idea). man . . . hated--that is, the deliberate evildoer is more hated than the rash.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:18, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:18
“The simple inherit folly,.... It is natural and hereditary to them, they are born like wild asses colts; the foolish sayings and proverbs, customs and practices, of their ancestors, though they have been demonstrated to be mere folly, yet these, their posterity, approve them; they love, like, and retain them as their patrimony, Job 11:”
B.Righteousness Exalteth a Nationvv. 19-35
Proverbs 14:19-21
The evil bow before the good: and the wicked wait at the gates of the righteous, a reversal the proverb states plainly though the world often runs the other way in the meantime. The chapter's cluster on poverty opens here without softening it: the poor is hated even of his own neighbour, while the rich collects friends by the simple gravity of having something to give. Despising a neighbour is named sin outright, and mercy toward the poor is named happiness outright, so the two verses that follow are not observation only but instruction.
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:19, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:19
“The evil bow before the good - They are almost constrained to show them respect; and the wicked, who have wasted their substance with riotous living, bow before the gates of the righteous - of benevolent men - begging a morsel of bread.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Proverbs 14:22-25
Do they not err that devise evil?: Those who devise evil err by the plainest definition, while mercy and truth belong to those who devise good, the same word, devise, used of a plan that can run toward ruin or toward kindness. Labour turns to profit and idle talk turns to poverty, and riches sit as the wise man's crown while folly is all the fool ever wears. The witness pair closes the group by echoing verse 5: a true witness delivers souls, and a deceitful witness speaks nothing but lies, the same integrity tested now in a courtroom rather than a conversation.
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:23, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:23
“Another brother spoke with the same Theodore, and he began to talk about matters of which he had no experience. Theodore said to him, 'You've not yet found a ship to sail in, nor put your luggage aboard, nor put out to sea, and you're …”
Desert Fathers· fifth century· The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monkspatristic
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:24, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:24
“But the foolishness of fools is folly - The Targum reads, The honor of fools is folly. The fool, from his foolishness, produces acts of folly. This appears to be the meaning.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Voices on this verse, 2What preachers and commentators have said about Proverbs 14:25, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:25
“A faithful witness delivers souls, etc. Christ, who is the faithful witness, liberates souls, as we read in the Apocalypse; and, as the Apostle says, he testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate (I Tim. VI). The devil, who rightly is called the deceitful, proclaims …”
Bede· eighth century· Commentary on Proverbspatristic
Proverbs 14:25
“In the second clause, “destroyeth life” might have been expected as the antithesis to “delivereth souls.” But what worse could be said? “A deceitful witness speaketh lies.” All destruction is implied in falsehood.”
Proverbs 14:26-27
In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: The fear of the Lord returns as the book's own motto, now given its reward: strong confidence and a place of refuge that reaches to the children of the man who fears him. It is a fountain of life, active rather than passive, drawing a man away from the snares of death before he ever meets them. Bridges reads the two verses as one promise stated twice, first as shelter and then as escape.
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:26, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:26
“In the way of God fear produces strength; as Solomon witnesses, who says, "In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence." For 'strong confidence' is said 'to be in the fear of the Lord,' in that, in truth, our mind so much the more valorously sets at nought all the terrors of temporal vicissitudes, the more thoroughly that it submits itself in fear to the Author of those same temporal things.”
Gregory the Dialogist· seventh century· Morals on the Book of Job, Book 5.33patristic
Voices on this verse, 2What preachers and commentators have said about Proverbs 14:27, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:27
“The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, etc. This then is the hope of those who fear the Lord, that turning away from the ruin of death, they may merit to come to Him who says, I am the way, and the …”
Bede· eighth century· Commentary on Proverbspatristic
Proverbs 14:27
“The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life - מקור חיים mekor chaiyim, the vein of lives. Another allusion to the great aorta which carries the blood from the heart to all the extremities of the body. Of this phrase, and the tree of lives, Solomon is particularly fond. See on Pro 4:23 (note); Pro 10:12 (note).”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Proverbs 14:28-30
In the multitude of people is the king’s honour: A king's honour is counted in people rather than territory, so an empty land is a prince's ruin even where his throne still stands. Patience is named great understanding and haste is named folly's own promotion, the same contrast the chapter has already drawn between the wise and the confident fool. A sound heart gives life to the whole body, while envy works the opposite way, rotting the bones of the very man it burns in.
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:28, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:28
“A protest against the false ideal of national greatness to which Eastern kings, for the most part, have bowed down. Not conquest, or pomp, or gorgeous array, but a happy and numerous people form the true glory of a king. The word translated “prince” is of doubtful meaning; but the translation is supported by the Septuagint, Vulg, and most commentators.”
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:29, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:29
“That is hasty of spirit - קצר רוח ketsar ruach, “the short of spirit;” one that is easily irritated; and, being in a passion, he is agitated so as to be literally short of breath. Here put in opposition to ארך אפים erech appayim, long of nostrils; see on Pro 14:17 (note); and of the same import with St. Paul’s μακροθυμια, longsuffering, longmindedness. See on Eph 4:2 (note).”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Voices on this verse, 2What preachers and commentators have said about Proverbs 14:30, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:30
While all our actions should be free from hidden malevolence, this is particularly the case in the selection of a bishop, whose life is the pattern for all his flock. Calm and pacific judgment is called for if you are to prefer to all his fellows a man who will be elected by all and who will heal all dissension. "The gentle man is the physician of the heart." In the gospel the Lord declared himself the physician of the heart when he said, "They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick."
Ambrose of Milan· fourth century· LETTER 63:46patristic
Proverbs 14:30
“A sound heart is the life of the flesh - A healthy state of the blood, and a proper circulation of that stream of life, is the grand cause, in the hand of God, of health and longevity. If the heart be diseased, life cannot be long continued.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Proverbs 14:31
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: The poor-and-oppressor thread that opened at verse 20 reaches its point here: to oppress the poor is to reproach the God who made him, since the insult lands past the poor man onto his Maker. Mercy toward the poor is named honour toward the same Maker, so the two halves of the verse are one theology stated as two actions. Henry reads the verse as the book's clearest statement that how a man treats the poor is how he actually regards God.
Proverbs 14:32-33
The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: The wicked man is driven away by his own wickedness rather than by an outside hand, while the righteous keeps hope even at death, the one place the wicked man's confidence cannot follow him. Wisdom rests quietly in the heart of a man who understands it, content to be possessed rather than displayed. Among fools it works the other way, made known because a fool cannot help but show what little he has.
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:32, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:32
“The wicked is driven away in his wickedness - He does not leave life cheerfully. Poor soul! Thou hast no hope in the other world, and thou leavest the present with the utmost regret! Thou wilt not go off; but God will drive thee. But the righteous hath hope in his death - He rejoiceth to depart and be with Christ: to him death is gain; he is not reluctant to go - he flies at the call of God.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:33, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:33
Omit “that which is.” “Wisdom” is the subject of both clauses. She is “made nown,” i. e., by the very force of contrast, in the midst of fools; or she is reserved and reticent in the one, noisy and boastful in the other. The Septuagint and some other versions get over the difficulty, by reading “Wisdom is not made known.”
Proverbs 14:34-35
Righteousness exalteth a nation: , but sin is a reproach to any people closes the chapter on its public turn, moving the fear of the Lord from one man's house to a whole nation's standing. Henry applies it directly to any government resting on righteousness rather than on power alone, a verse the histories of Israel and Judah illustrate both ways. The closing proverb narrows the same principle to one court: a king favours the wise servant and turns his wrath on the one who brings him shame.
Voices on this verse, 2What preachers and commentators have said about Proverbs 14:34, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:34
“Righteousness exalteth a nation,.... Administered by the government, and exercised by subjects towards one another; doing justice between man and man: this exalts a nation, as it did the people of Israel, while practised among them; this sets a people above their neighbours, and high in the esteem of God and men; and is attended with privileges and blessings, which make a nation great and honourable. Some understand this of aims deeds, or beneficence to the poor; which, both in the Hebrew and Greek languages, is called righteousness; See Gill on Mat 6:”
Proverbs 14:34
“But sin is a reproach to any people - I am satisfied this is not the sense of the original, וחסד לאמים חטאת vechesed leummim chattath; which would be better rendered, And mercy is a sin-offering for the people. The Vulgate has, Miseros autem facit populos peccatum, “sin makes the people wretched.” Ελασσονουσι δε φυλας ἁμαρτιαι; “But sins lessen the tribes.” - Septuagint. So also the Syriac and Arabic. The plain meaning of the original seems to be, A national disposition to mercy appears in the sight of God as a continual sin-offering.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Voices on this verse, 1What a preacher or commentator has said about Proverbs 14:35, in their own words.
Proverbs 14:35
“His wrath will fall upon the useless. He indeed about whom the same says: And cast the useless servant into the outer darkness (Ibid.)”
Bede· eighth century· Commentary on Proverbspatristic
Where the chapter sits
Proverbs 14 falls in Solomon's proverbs proper (chapters 10–24). Short antithetical and synonymous couplets; the core of the book's gnomic register. Ch 22:17–24:34 labeled ''words of the wise''.
Before it: Sayings of Solomon: long discourses, chapters 1–9. After it: Hezekiah's men: Solomon's proverbs copied, chapters 25–29.
The whole shape of Proverbs→Key words
The Hebrew words this chapter turns on, by how often it uses them. Each one opens its word study.
| Word | What it means | Verses |
|---|---|---|
| אִוֶּלֶתʼivveleth7 times, as וְ֝אִוֶּ֗לֶת, וְאִוֶּ֖לֶת, אִוֶּ֑לֶת | folly | 1, 8, 17, 18 and 2 more |
| דֶּרֶךְderek5 times, as דְּרָכָ֣יו, דַּרְכּ֑וֹ, דֶּ֣רֶךְ | way | 2, 8, 12, 14 |
| כְּסִילkᵉçîyl5 times, as כְּסִ֑יל, כְּסִילִ֣ים, וּ֝כְסִ֗יל | fool | 7, 8, 16, 24 and 1 more |
| לֵבlêb5 times, as לֵ֗ב, לֵ֑ב, לֵ֣ב | heart | 10, 13, 14, 30 and 1 more |
| חָכָםchâkâm4 times, as חַכְמ֣וֹת, חֲ֝כָמִ֗ים, חָכָ֣ם | wise | 1, 3, 16, 24 |
| בִּיןbîyn4 times, as לְנָב֣וֹן, הָבִ֣ין, יָבִ֥ין | to understand | 6, 8, 15, 33 |
Cross references
The 8 chapters this one speaks with, most first. Open a row for the verses it shares.
Proverbs 128 verses
Proverbs 14:22
Proverbs 12:2A good man obtaineth favour of the Lord: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.Proverbs 14:3
Proverbs 12:6The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.Proverbs 14:11
Proverbs 12:7The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand.Proverbs 14:14
Proverbs 12:14A 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.Proverbs 14:12
Proverbs 12:15The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.Proverbs 14:33
Proverbs 12:16A fool’s wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame.- Read Proverbs 12: 2 more there →
Proverbs 194 verses
Proverbs 14:20
Proverbs 19:4Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour.Proverbs 14:5
Proverbs 19:5A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.Proverbs 14:21
Proverbs 19:17He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.Proverbs 14:26
Proverbs 19:23The fear of the Lord tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.- Read Proverbs 19 →
Proverbs 283 verses
Proverbs 14:2
Proverbs 28:6Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich.Proverbs 14:23
Proverbs 28:19He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.Proverbs 14:21
Proverbs 28:27He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.- Read Proverbs 28 →
Proverbs 133 verses
Proverbs 14:27
Proverbs 13:14The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.Proverbs 14:7
Proverbs 13:20He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.Proverbs 14:4
Proverbs 13:23Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.- Read Proverbs 13 →
The rest of the chapters this one speaks with, 4 of them, for a reader following a thread past the four above
- Proverbs 33 verses
- Proverbs 223 verses
- James 12 verses
- Ecclesiastes 72 verses
Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.
The world behind itThe place, the time and the people around this chapter, for a reader who wants the setting.
The world behind this chapter
Proverbs 14The history
"Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox" is the sharpest farming line in the book. A clean stall means no animal to feed, no dung to shovel, and no crop worth speaking of, because one man with a hoe could not break the ground a yoke of oxen could. The proverb prices the mess against the harvest.
The witness sayings assume the Israelite court. Cases were heard in the open at the gate before the elders, two witnesses were needed to convict, and there was no police force gathering evidence, the whole system stood or fell on people telling the truth in front of neighbours. A false witness in a capital case could get a man stoned, and the Law ordered that the liar receive the penalty he had tried to inflict.
"In the multitude of people is the king's honour: but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince." Ancient kings measured themselves in population, because people meant soldiers, labourers, and taxes. A depopulated province was a defeated one, whatever the palace looked like.
"Every wise woman buildeth her house" uses "house" the way Israel usually did, the household and its line, not the walls. A woman who managed the stores, the weaving, the children, and the standing of the family in town was literally building it.
What it meant to them
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" was aimed at hearers who trusted their own read on a situation. The proverb does not say the way looks wicked; it says it looks right.
And the chapter grounds public policy in the same soil: "he that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker." How a town treated its poorest was treated as a statement about God, not about economics.
Sources cited
- Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
Connections
Where this chapter reaches into the rest of Scripture, with the verse each connection stands on.
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Proverbs 14. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on 15 works. Open for the list.
This page draws on Adam Clarke; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan; Apostolic Constitutions, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 2; Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book 5.33; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871); Jerome, Against the Pelagians 1.39; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.