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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Proverbs 20

Proverbs 20: wine a mocker, who can say his heart is clean, and divers weights

General context

Wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging, and whoever is deceived by it is not wise. The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion. The sluggard will not plow because of the cold and so begs in harvest. Counsel in the heart is like deep water, and a man of understanding draws it out. Most men proclaim their own goodness, but a faithful man who can find? The just man walks in his integrity and his children are blessed after him. A king on the throne of judgment scatters evil with his eyes. Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? Divers weights and measures are abomination to the Lord. The Lord made both the hearing ear and the seeing eye. Love not sleep, lest poverty come. The buyer says, It is naught, it is naught, and boasts when he has gone. Bread of deceit is sweet, but afterwards the mouth is filled with gravel. Whoever curses father or mother, his lamp shall be put out. Say not, I will recompense evil, but wait on the Lord. Divers weights are abomination, and a false balance is not good. Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man understand his own way? A wise king scatters the wicked and brings the wheel over them. The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching the inward parts. Mercy and truth preserve the king. The glory of young men is their strength, the beauty of old men the gray head. The blueness of a wound cleanses away evil, and so do stripes the inward parts.

Cited passages: Proverbs 20:1, Proverbs 20:2, Proverbs 20:3, Proverbs 20:4, Proverbs 20:5, Proverbs 20:6, Proverbs 20:7, Proverbs 20:8, Proverbs 20:9, Proverbs 20:10, Proverbs 20:11, Proverbs 20:12, Proverbs 20:13, Proverbs 20:14, Proverbs 20:15, Proverbs 20:16, Proverbs 20:17, Proverbs 20:18, Proverbs 20:19, Proverbs 20:20, Proverbs 20:21, Proverbs 20:22, Proverbs 20:23, Proverbs 20:24, Proverbs 20:25, Proverbs 20:26, Proverbs 20:27, Proverbs 20:28, Proverbs 20:29, Proverbs 20:30

Proverbs 20 (KJV)

1Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

2The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.

3It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.

4The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.

5Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.

6Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?

7The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.

8A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.

9Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?

10Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord.

11Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

12The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them.

13Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

14It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.

15There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

16Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.

17Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.

18Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.

19He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.

20Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

21An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.

22Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.

23Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good.

24Man’s goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?

25It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.

26A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.

27The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

28Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.

29The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.

30The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.

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Historical context

No heading; no king, buyer or person is named. The Lord is named in verses 10, 12, 22, 23, 24 and 27. The king appears four times (verses 2, 8, 26 and 28) as a general figure who judges, scatters the wicked and is preserved by mercy and truth; no reign is described. Dishonest weights are condemned twice in the same chapter, verses 10 and 23, as they were at 11:1 and 16:11. The buyer's words in verse 14 are quoted speech given to a type, and the saying reports his boast after the sale without naming any goods. Verse 16 pairs surety "for a stranger" with a pledge "for a strange woman", and the chapter does not explain the second phrase. Verse 25 speaks of devouring "that which is holy" and of vows, without naming any offering or place. Verse 9 asks who can say his heart is clean and gives no answer. Verse 30 states that a wound's bruising and stripes cleanse evil; the text presents this as a saying, not as a command to strike anyone. The lion image for the king in verse 2 repeats 19:12, and "Say not thou" in verse 22 is echoed at 24:29.

Cited passages: Proverbs 20:10, Proverbs 20:27, Proverbs 20:8, Proverbs 20:28, Proverbs 20:23, Proverbs 11:1, Proverbs 16:11, Proverbs 20:14, Proverbs 20:16, Proverbs 20:25, Proverbs 20:9, Proverbs 20:30, Proverbs 19:12, Proverbs 24:29

Literary context

Questions carry much of this chapter: "a faithful man who can find?" (verse 6), "Who can say, I have made my heart clean" (verse 9), "how can a man then understand his own way?" (verse 24). Quoted speech appears twice, the buyer's "It is naught, it is naught" and the sentence the reader is told not to say, "I will recompense evil". The weights saying is given at verse 10 and again at verse 23, and the king sayings are spaced through the chapter at verses 2, 8, 26 and 28, so that both themes return rather than cluster. Eyes and seeing recur: the king scatters evil "with his eyes" (verse 8), the Lord made "the seeing eye" (verse 12), and the sleeper is told "open thine eyes" (verse 13). The phrase "the inward parts of the belly" ends both verse 27, where the Lord's candle searches them, and verse 30, where stripes cleanse them. Verse 17 turns sweetness into gravel, as 5:3 and 4 turned honeycomb into wormwood. The sluggard of verse 4 is drawn by season, cold at plowing time and begging at harvest, matching the ant's summer and harvest in 6:8. Verse 1 opens on wine that deceives, and verse 29 sets the strength of young men beside the gray head of old men.

Cited passages: Proverbs 20:6, Proverbs 20:9, Proverbs 20:24, Proverbs 20:14, Proverbs 20:22, Proverbs 20:10, Proverbs 20:23, Proverbs 20:8, Proverbs 20:12, Proverbs 20:13, Proverbs 20:27, Proverbs 20:30, Proverbs 20:17, Proverbs 5:4, Proverbs 20:4, Proverbs 6:8, Proverbs 20:29

Key moments

  1. Wine is a mocker (Proverbs 20:1). Wine and strong drink are said to deceive, and the one deceived is not wise.
  2. The sluggard will not plow (Proverbs 20:4). The sluggard avoids plowing in the cold and begs at harvest.
  3. Who can say? (Proverbs 20:9). The chapter asks who can claim a clean heart and purity from sin.
  4. It is naught, saith the buyer (Proverbs 20:14). A buyer belittles the goods, then boasts once he has gone.
  5. Bread of deceit (Proverbs 20:17). Bread of deceit tastes sweet, but afterwards the mouth is filled with gravel.
  6. Wait on the Lord (Proverbs 20:22). The reader is told not to say he will repay evil but to wait on the Lord.
  7. The candle of the Lord (Proverbs 20:27). The spirit of man is called the Lord's candle searching the inward parts.

For reflection

Verse 9 asks who can say he has made his heart clean, and verse 7 says the just man walks in his integrity. How does the chapter expect a reader to walk in integrity while conceding that no one can call his own heart clean?