Proverbschapter 21
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Speaks with:Proverbs 19×7Proverbs 13×4Proverbs 16×3Proverbs 10×3Proverbs 21×3Proverbs 18×3
Summary
Chapter summary
'The king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the watercourses: he turneth it whithersoever he will.' To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice. Better to dwell in a corner of the housetop than with a contentious woman in a wide house (said twice more before the book ends). 'Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry, but shall not be heard.' The horse is prepared against the day of battle; 'but victory is of Jehovah.'
Context
Poetry · Solomon, Agur, Lemuel — Proverbs overview
- A. 1–16 The King's Heart Is a Watercourse in Jehovah's Hand
- B. 17–31 The Horse Is Prepared, but Victory Is of Jehovah
The outline
A.The King's Heart Is a Watercourse in Jehovah's Handvv. 1 to 16
Read vv. 1 to 16 →B.The Horse Is Prepared, but Victory Is of Jehovahvv. 17 to 31
Read vv. 17 to 31 →
The world behind this chapter
Proverbs 21The history
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will." The image is irrigation. In Egypt and Mesopotamia, and in the watered gardens of a royal estate, a man opened and closed channels with his foot or a hoe and sent the water where he wanted it. A king looks like the least steerable force in the world; the proverb says he is a channel.
"It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house." The flat roof was usable space — people slept, dried figs, and sat there in the evening, and a small shelter could be built in one corner. The proverb prefers that corner to a share of the main rooms.
"There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up." Oil was wealth you could store: pressed from olives in autumn, kept in jars, used for food, light, medicine, and trade. A wise household ended the year with jars still full.
"The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD." Solomon's Israel had chariot forces and horse trade on a scale the country had never seen. The proverb does not tell anyone to skip the preparation; it tells them where the outcome is decided.
What it meant to them
"To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice" repeats a theme the prophets would later shout. The sacrificial system was Israel's daily religious life, and the proverb ranks honest dealing above it.
For first hearers under a strong monarchy, the opening verse was strangely comforting. Whatever the palace decided this year, the channel was in another hand.
Sources cited
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
- Kenneth A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Proverbs 21. 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 Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.