Proverbs 22

General context

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches. The rich and poor meet together, and the Lord is the maker of them all. A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself; the simple pass on and are punished. By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honour and life. The reader is told to train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. He that has a bountiful eye is blessed, for he gives bread to the poor. The slothful man says there is a lion outside and he will be slain in the streets. Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, and the rod of correction drives it away. He that oppresses the poor to increase his riches, and he that gives to the rich, shall come to want. At verse 17 the voice changes: "Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge." The speaker says it is pleasant to keep them, that the hearer's trust may be in the Lord, and asks whether he has not written excellent things so that the hearer may know the certainty of the words of truth. Commands follow: rob not the poor because he is poor, nor oppress the afflicted in the gate, for the Lord will plead their cause; make no friendship with an angry man, lest you learn his ways; be not surety for debts, or your bed may be taken from under you; remove not the ancient landmark set by your fathers. The chapter ends by asking whether the reader sees a man diligent in his business, who shall stand before kings.

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

Proverbs 22 (KJV)

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Historical context

The chapter falls into two parts of different origin as the text itself marks them. Verses 1 to 16 continue the sayings headed "The proverbs of Solomon" at 10:1. Verse 17 opens with a call to "hear the words of the wise" and "my knowledge", and from there a first-person speaker addresses the reader as "thou", says "I have made known to thee this day" and "Have not I written to thee". The speaker is not named, and the text does not say whether "the wise" are one person or many, or who "them that send unto thee" in verse 21 are. The Lord is named in verses 2, 4, 12, 14, 19 and 23. Verse 14 speaks of "strange women" in the plural, and verse 13 quotes the slothful man's excuse as his own words. Verse 22 sets the oppression of the afflicted "in the gate", and verse 28 refers to a landmark "which thy fathers have set"; neither place nor fathers are identified. The saying about training a child (verse 6) states an outcome, "he will not depart from it", without qualification. Verse 27 assumes that a bed can be taken from a debtor who cannot pay; no law is cited. The "kings" of verse 29 are unnamed.

Cited passages: Proverbs 10:1, Proverbs 22:17, Proverbs 22:19, Proverbs 22:20, Proverbs 22:21, Proverbs 22:2, Proverbs 22:23, Proverbs 22:14, Proverbs 22:13, Proverbs 22:22, Proverbs 22:28, Proverbs 22:6, Proverbs 22:27, Proverbs 22:29

Literary context

The first sixteen verses mix forms: "rather to be chosen than" (verse 1), a command with its result (verse 6), quoted speech (verse 13), and verse 16, which yokes two different men, the oppressor and the giver to the rich, to one fate. The rich and the poor run through this part, meeting together in verse 2, ruling and serving in verse 7, receiving bread in verse 9, and closing it in verse 16, so that verses 2 and 16 frame the section with the same pair. The child appears twice, trained in verse 6 and corrected with the rod in verse 15. From verse 17 the writing changes to sustained address: an appeal to the ear and heart, a purpose ("That thy trust may be in the Lord"), a rhetorical question about what has been written, and then commands each backed by a reason, "For the Lord will plead their cause", "Lest thou learn his ways", "why should he take away thy bed". This is the manner of chapters 1 to 9 rather than of the short sayings, and it continues into chapters 23 and 24. The last verse turns to observation, "Seest thou a man diligent in his business?", a form that returns in the field scene of 24:30 to 34.

Cited passages: Proverbs 22:1, Proverbs 22:6, Proverbs 22:13, Proverbs 22:16, Proverbs 22:2, Proverbs 22:7, Proverbs 22:9, Proverbs 22:15, Proverbs 22:17, Proverbs 22:19, Proverbs 22:20, Proverbs 22:23, Proverbs 22:25, Proverbs 22:27, Proverbs 22:29, Proverbs 24:30

Key moments

1. A good name (Proverbs 22:1). A good name is to be chosen over great riches, and loving favour over silver and gold.
2. Rich and poor meet (Proverbs 22:2). The rich and the poor meet together, and the Lord made them all.
3. Train up a child (Proverbs 22:6). A child trained in the way he should go will not depart from it when old.
4. A lion without (Proverbs 22:13). The slothful man claims there is a lion outside and he would be slain in the streets.
5. The words of the wise (Proverbs 22:17). A new voice calls the reader to hear the words of the wise.
6. Rob not the poor (Proverbs 22:22). The reader is told not to rob the poor or oppress the afflicted in the gate.
7. The ancient landmark (Proverbs 22:28). The landmark set by the fathers is not to be removed.

For reflection

Verse 2 says the rich and poor meet together and the Lord made them all, and verse 7 says the rich rules over the poor and the borrower serves the lender. What does it do to a reader to hold both of those as sayings from the same collection?