Proverbschapter 15
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Summary
Chapter summary
'A soft answer turneth away wrath; but a grievous word stirreth up anger.' The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, keeping watch upon the evil and the good: Sheol and Abaddon are before Jehovah, how much more the hearts of men. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. 'The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Jehovah; but the prayer of the upright is his delight.' Before honor goeth humility.
Context
Poetry · Solomon, Agur, Lemuel — Proverbs overview
- A. 1–17 A Soft Answer Turneth Away Wrath
- B. 18–33 Before Honor Goeth Humility
The outline
A.A Soft Answer Turneth Away Wrathvv. 1 to 17
Read vv. 1 to 17 →B.Before Honor Goeth Humilityvv. 18 to 33
Read vv. 18 to 33 →
The world behind this chapter
Proverbs 15The history
"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD" cuts against the assumption of the whole ancient world. Everywhere around Israel, offerings were a transaction: the god was fed and housed, and in return he was expected to perform. This line says the offering can be rejected outright because of the man carrying it — and that "the prayer of the upright is his delight," with no animal mentioned at all.
"Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith" compares the two ends of the Israelite menu. Ordinary meals were bread, olives, and whatever greens were in season; meat appeared at festivals and for guests. A stall-fed ox was the top of the range — an animal kept in and fattened, killed only for something enormous.
"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance… he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast" is spoken to people for whom a feast was a rare, dated, remembered event. Saying that a settled heart is like having one every day was a large claim.
"Hell and destruction are before the LORD" uses Sheol, the grave, the place Israel pictured as the deepest and least reachable spot in the universe. If God sees to the bottom of that, the proverb says, he certainly sees the hearts of men.
What it meant to them
The opening line — "a soft answer turneth away wrath" — was survival advice in villages where a quarrel between two families could run for a generation and end in blood.
Running through the chapter is a claim that would have unsettled the first hearers: God is auditing the inside, not the paperwork. The right animal on the altar with the wrong life behind it was worse than nothing.
Sources cited
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
- Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Proverbs 15. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
Connections from this chapter
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.