1–10. Against non-peacefulness, passion for disputes and other manifestations of inhumane and reckless mood. 11–17. Seven parables that teach primarily hope in God and humility as the paths leading to true wisdom. 18–22. Against the passion for litigation and abuse of the gift of speech. 23–25. O different types love.
Proverbs 18:1. The wayward seeks whims, rebels against everything smart.:
Proverbs 18:2. A fool does not like knowledge, but only to show his mind.
Proverbs 18:3. With the advent of the wicked comes contempt, and with dishonor comes reproach.
Proverbs 18:4. The words of the mouth of men are deep waters; the source of wisdom is a flowing stream.
Proverbs 18:5. It is not good to show partiality to the wicked in order to overthrow the righteous in judgment.
Proverbs 18:6. The mouth of a fool goes into quarrel, and his words cause beatings.
Proverbs 18:7. The tongue of a fool is his ruin, and his mouth is a snare for his soul.
Proverbs 18:8. The lazy will be cast down by fear, but the souls of women will starve.]
Proverbs 18:9. The words of the earphone are like treats, and they enter the inside of the womb.
Proverbs 18:10. He who is negligent in his work is a brother to a spendthrift.
The selfish isolation of a wayward person is condemned, depriving him of the opportunity to hear and implement any useful advice (v. 1-2), with a remark about the shame of ungodliness in general (v. 3). Then a deep look is established at the inner nature of human speech, mainly a wise man: his speech, before pronouncing, is formed in the depths of his soul, like water hidden in the bowels of the earth: the depth and deliberation of the content, the abundance of valuable thoughts and the life-givingness of the speech of the wise - these are the points of comparison her with spring water (v. 4. Sn. Proverbs 20.5; Ecclesiastes 7.24). Of the individual maxims, here, first of all, any partiality in court is condemned (v. 5): even Moses set his goal among Biblical Israel to eliminate this evil (Lev. 19:15; Deut. 10.17). Then - against the abuse of the gift of speech, characteristic of the foolish and reckless (v. 6-7), against slander, laziness, wastefulness (8-10).
Proverbs 18:11. The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous flee into it and are safe.
Proverbs 18:12. The rich man's estate is his strong city, and like a high fence in his imagination.
Proverbs 18:13. Before a fall, the heart of man is lifted up, and humility precedes glory.
Proverbs 18:14. Whoever gives an answer without listening is stupid, and shame on him.
Proverbs 18:15. The spirit of man endures his infirmities; and a stricken spirit, who can sustain it?
Proverbs 18:16. The heart of the wise acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
Proverbs 18:17. A gift to a man gives him space and will lead him to the nobles.
On the one hand, it points to the unshakable stronghold of the name of Jehovah, as an undoubted stronghold for those who hope in Him (v. 11), on the other hand, to the deceit, the illusory hopes of the rich for the help of wealth (v. 12); if Proverbs 10:15 speaks of that haughty high self-importance which the possession of wealth inspires in God, as opposed to the oppressed state of the spirit of the poor, here (v. 12; Heb. 11) speaks of the worthlessness of the hopes of the rich man, as a fact of experience - Synod and Archimandrite Macarius - Heb. bemasquito- in his mind. Accepted text LXX and Vulg. do not hold this value). Art. 13 sn. Proverbs 16:18 and Proverbs 15:33. Specified in Art. 14 The sign of a fool - the manner of answering without listening to the question - was considered by the Hebrew sages to be very typical of a stupid and uneducated person, while the opposite property was recognized as a sign of a learned and wise (Sir 11.8; Mishnah, Avot, V, 7). According to Art. 15 the spirit of a person can be a source of strength, courage for the whole being of a person, but also - in despondency - a source of weakness (according to the Heb. t. in the first half of the verse ruach, "spirit", husband. r., and in the second - female). In Art. 16 (Heb. 15) is an indication that the teaching of wisdom, first of all, the Torah itself, was always taught orally, and the measure of teaching his wisdom depended on the degree of attention of the student (cf. Proverbs 15.31; Avot VI, 5). Art. 17 marks a typical feature of Eastern mores, according to which without a gift one can neither present oneself to a higher person, nor win a case in court (cf. Proverbs 19.8).
Proverbs 18:18. The first in his lawsuit is right, but his opponent comes and examines him.
Proverbs 18:19. The lot stops disputes and decides between the strong.
Proverbs 18:20. A embittered brother is more impregnable than a strong city, and quarrels are like the bars of a castle.
Proverbs 18:21. From the fruit of a man's mouth his belly is filled; he is satisfied with the work of his mouth.
Proverbs 18:22. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat of its fruits.
Art. 18 apparently contains advice to the judge not to be deceived by the testimony of one of the litigants (cf. Avot I, 8-9). According to Art. 19 in disputes and lawsuits, with no other way out, the decisive means was the lot (cf. Proverbs 16:33). The meaning of Art. 20 (Heb., LXX., Vulg. - 19 st.) Heb. t. and Russian. (Synod. And archim. Macarius) - “brother, embittered (“ treason ”, according to the archim. Macarius), is inaccessible than a strong city“ than that of LXX (αδελφός ὺπο βοη βοηθούμενος, ὠς - (frater; qui adjuvatur a fratre, gnasi civrtas firma), and in the Slavs: "we help brother from brother, like a city is firm and high." Although the image of a fortified city is more commonly meant to mean something protective, giving a safe refuge to those who seek it, and therefore the meaning given by LXX, Vulg., glories, but the context of the speech of this place - v. 18-19, cf. the second half of Art. 20 - speaks in favor of Heb. -Russian reading. Art. 21 sn. Proverbs 12.14:13.2. Art. 22. About the importance of the tongue, sometimes beneficial, sometimes disastrous (cf. Sir 38.20-22), the Apostle James speaks in a similar way, but in much more detail (James 3.5-9).
Proverbs 18:23. Whoever finds a [good] wife, he has found good and received grace from the Lord. - [Whoever casts out a good wife, he casts out happiness, and whoever has an adulteress is foolish and impious.]
Proverbs 18:24. The beggar speaks pleadingly, but the rich man answers rudely.
Proverbs 18:25. Whoever wants to have friends must be friendly himself; and there is a friend who is more attached than a brother.
The wise one speaks here of various types of love and affection, and, above all, recognizes the possession of a good wife as a great gift of God and happiness for a person (v. 23, cf. Proverbs 31.10 ff., Sir 26.1 ff.); then, meaning in a negative way to express the debt of love and mercy to the needy, depicts the humbly praying figure of the beggar on the one hand, and the rude arrogance and hardness of the rich man on the other (v. 24, sn. Proverbs 14.21:17.5); finally, he speaks of ideal friendly love, capable of surpassing the power of brotherly love (v. 25).
18:1 The Hebrew text in this case is difficult to translate. The second part of the verse indicates that an unfriendly person is always greedy.
18:3 Recklessness and unrighteousness entail the contempt of society and the loss of dignity.
18:4 The words of the mouth of men are deep waters. This phrase can be interpreted in different ways: either - the words of an ordinary person are not completely clear, or - the words of a sage contain deep thoughts. Such a duality of meaning could have been deliberately incorporated into the text by the author in order to make it as capacious as possible.
18:7 for the soul. Those. for life.
18:9 The sinful nature of man is also revealed in the fact that it sometimes gives him pleasure to listen to gossip.
18:10 See 6:9-11.
18:11 The name of the Lord. The name is not a simple designation, but a reflection of all personality traits. The name of God is the Lord, the Savior of His people (see Ex. 3:13-15; 15:1-3).
the righteous... is safe. The security of the righteous rests on his faith in God as Savior.
18:12 This verse is in clear contrast to v. 10 (see Luke 12:13-21; cf. 10:15). Here, in a hidden form, a warning is expressed against excessive hopes in the power of wealth.
18:15 A healthy and strong spirit is a guarantee of human health and strength.
18:17 The gift in question is not necessarily a bribe (17.8&N).
18:18 This verse is practical wisdom given as advice on how to seek the truth in a controversial matter.
18:19 lot. See 16:33&N. In Old Testament times, lots were sometimes cast to make decisions, thereby relying on the will of God.
18:20 Embittered brother. An embittered person withdraws into himself and becomes impregnable, thereby making reconciliation difficult.
18:21 From the fruit of a man's mouth. See 12:14; 13.2 and com.
his belly is filled. Apparently, this is a metaphor for the creative properties of wise speech, which serves to establish fruitful relationships between people.
18:23 See 12.4; 19.14 and com.
grace from the Lord. See 8:35, where wisdom is spoken of in the same way.
18:25 Translation of the Hebrew text is difficult. A more likely translation of the first part of the verse (NIV): "He who loves large companies may be ruined in life." In this case, there is a contrast between two kinds of friendship: superficial (causing problems) and deep.
The sage asked the student:
What is the most terrible tragedy of human life?
Perhaps the fact that a person does not find answers to their questions? the student asked.
No, - answered the sage, - that he does not find questions to which answers should be sought.
What is more important
Three wise men argued about what is more important for a person - his past, present or future. One of them said:
My past makes me who I am. I know what I have learned in the past. I believe in myself because I was good at the things that I used to take on. I like people with whom I used to feel good, or similar to them. I look at you now, see your smiles and wait for your objections, because we have already argued more than once, and I already know that you are not used to agreeing with something without objection.
And it is impossible to agree with this, - said another, - if you were right, a person would be doomed, like a spider, to sit day after day in the web of his habits. Man makes his future. It does not matter what I know and can do now - I will learn what I need in the future. My idea of what I want to be in two years is much more real than my memory of what I was two years ago, because my actions now depend not on what I was, but on what I'm going to become. I like people who are different from those I knew before. And the conversation with you is interesting because I look forward to an exciting struggle and unexpected turns of thought here.
You completely lost sight of, - intervened a third, - that the past and the future exist only in our thoughts. The past is no more. There is no future yet. And regardless of whether you remember the past or dream about the future, you act only in the present. Only in the present you can change something in your life - neither the past nor the future is subject to us. Only in the present can one be happy: memories of past happiness are sad, the expectation of future happiness is disturbing.
What is the difference?
One wise man, speaking to the audience, told them an anecdote. The entire audience shook with laughter.
A few minutes later he told the people the same anecdote again. Only a few people smiled.
The sage told the same joke a third time, but no one laughed.
The wise old man smiled and said, "You can't laugh at the same joke all the time... So why do you allow yourself to cry over the same thing all the time?"
two angels
There were two angels in heaven. One always rested on a cloud, while the other flew from earth to God.
The resting angel asked another:
Why are you flying back and forth?
I carry messages to God that begin - "God help me..."
Why do you always rest?
I have to carry to the Lord messages that begin - "Thank you, Lord ..."
Who are you?
At the American Kennedy Airport, a journalist conducted a survey on the topic:
"What do you think is the most disgusting thing in the world?"
People answered differently: war, poverty, betrayal, illness..
At that time, the Zen monk Seung Sahn was in the hall. The journalist, seeing the Buddhist attire, asked the monk a question. And the monk asked a counter question:
I am John Smith.
No, it's a name, but who are you?
I am a TV reporter for such and such a company ..
No. This is a profession, but who are you?
I am human after all!
No, this is your biological species, but who are you? ..
The reporter finally understood what the monk meant and froze with his mouth open, as he could not say anything.
The monk remarked:
This is the most disgusting thing in the world - not knowing who you are.
Two families
Two different families live in neighboring houses .. Some quarrel all the time, others always have silence and mutual understanding.
Once, envious of the peace in the neighboring family, the wife says to her husband:
- Go to the neighbors and see what they do, that they are always doing well.
He went, hid and watched. She sees a woman washing the floors in the house, suddenly something distracted her, and she ran to the kitchen. At this time, her husband had to urgently go to the house. He did not notice the bucket of water, hooked it and the water spilled.
Then the wife came, apologizes to her husband, says:
"I'm sorry dear, it's my fault.
- No, I'm sorry, it's my fault.
The man got upset and went home. At home, the wife asks:
- Well, did you look?
- Well?
- Got it! We have EVERYONE RIGHT, and they have EVERYONE to blame.
The price of resentment and anger
Why are you angry and offended? Isn't it better to calm down and forgive? - asked the Teacher.
And why should I do him a favor and forgive him, he is ... - the student wanted to justify himself.
Forgive me for interrupting you,” Master said. - Let me ask you two questions, and then I will answer all your "how" and "why."
The student nodded in the affirmative.
Do you feel good when you get angry and offended? - asked the Teacher.
No, of course not,” the student replied.
So who are you doing a favor when, thanks to gentleness, calmness and forgiveness, you do yourself good?
But tell me, how can you not be offended? It's so difficult.
You must understand that every time you want to hit someone with a whip of condemnation or resentment, you will hit yourself first when you swing.
The Secret of Marriage
An elderly couple who lived together for 60 years was asked:
How did you manage to live together for so long?
You see, we were born and raised in those times when broken things were fixed, not thrown away.
Who is rich
A man bought himself a new house - large and beautiful, with a large fruit-bearing garden. And nearby, in an old house, lived an envious neighbor who constantly tried to spoil his mood: either he would throw garbage under the gate, or he would do some other nasty things.
One day a man woke up good mood, went out onto the porch, and there - a bucket of slop. He took a bucket, poured out the slop, cleaned the bucket to a shine, collected the largest, ripest and most delicious apples into it and went to a neighbor.
The neighbor, hearing a knock on the door, gloatingly thought: “Finally, I got it!”. He opens the door in the hope of a scandal, and the man handed him a bucket of apples and said:
Whoever is rich, he shares it!
What life are you choosing?
When God created man, he asked him what he wanted to be.
The man was still young and inexperienced, and therefore, at such a question, he was somewhat confused and said: “I don’t know.”
Then God took the man by the hand and led him to the sea. Bringing him to the shore, God showed him the shells lying at the bottom of the sea, and said:
If you want, you can choose the life of a shell for yourself - you will be at the very bottom, among millions of people like you, and your food will be only that which will carry you over. Your day today will be similar to yesterday, and your whole life will pass without risk and upheaval. Neither victory nor defeat will excite you. All the time you will lie at the bottom, only opening and closing the doors. And so from morning to evening: open, close, open, close.
Showing man the life of a shell, God led the man to the mountains. And there, high in the mountains, he pointed out to him the eagle's nest.
But if you want, you can choose this life for yourself. You can soar as high as you want, you can live as you want, you can reach the highest high peaks and on these peaks you will meet only a few like you. You yourself will determine where and how you fly, and the price of all this will be that nothing will ever get you just like that. You will go every day in search of food and get it with sweat and blood. You can choose this life too if you want.
And since then, people have appeared in the world who have chosen the life of a shell for themselves, and only a few who have chosen the life of an eagle for themselves.
Prov. 18:1-2. Selfishness, inherent in a wayward person, prompts him only to fulfill his own whims, sometimes stupid (verse 1); "everything clever" here can be understood in the sense of "sound judgment" " useful advice"such" wayward "is derisively rejected (Heb. laag, translated in verse 1 as rises, in other places it is rendered in the sense of" scoff, "swear", 1:26; 17:5; 30:17). Verse 2, as it were continues the meaning of the previous one: "Rebellion" against clever advice is stupid, and a stupid person has two misfortunes: a mind that is closed to knowledge, and a mouth, on the contrary, that rarely closes, because one really wants to show one's mind to a stupid person.
Prov. 18:3. Impiety of any kind causes contempt among those around, a wicked person cannot avoid dishonor, and with it reproach.
Prov. 18:4. The problem of "words that come out of the mouth of men" is treated in verses 4:6-8, 20-21. in verse 4 they are compared with "deep waters" - probably because they arise in the depths of the human soul, which are not always unambiguous and may carry some secret, deep meaning. In the second part of the verse, it is implied that when spoken by a wise man, the words themselves become a source of wisdom; Solomon compares them to a life-giving flowing stream.
Prov. 18:5. About the harm of perjury in court in favor of the ungodly. Moses drew attention to the need to eliminate this evil (Lev. 19:15; compare Prov. 17:15; 23:26; 24:23; 28:21).
Prov. 18:6-8. Thoughtless words spoken by a foolish person lead to quarrels and can turn into disaster (here "beating") for himself (verse 6). Variation of the same thought in verse 7. Death may mean misfortune here; the mouth of a fool sets a trap for himself. The gossip-carrier's words (verse 8) are likened to "delicacy" in the sense that gossip lovers take pleasure in listening to gossip, which they remember and savor like delicious food that is pleasing to their "wombs."
Prov. 18:9. If the lazy and negligent in work achieves little with his labor, then the spender does not enjoy the fruits of his labor for long, because he does not own them for long.
Prov. 18:10-11. The theme of these parables is true and imagined refuge. The righteous has the true, resorting to the name of Jehovah, that is, entrusting himself to the Lord (verse 10). This shelter is compared to a strong tower: he who takes refuge in it is safe. Not the rich who rely on the strong city he owns (cf. 10:15).
Although wealth is preferable to poverty, it cannot be as sure a security as the Lord. That is why the high fence around the city is only an imaginary protection in case of misfortune. As well as the estate (property, money) is by no means the key to solving all the problems that arise in life.
Prov. 18:12-14. A high opinion of oneself, pride, ultimately leads a person to a fall, while humility is often the key to his subsequent exaltation (verse 12). The one who has a ready answer to everything (verse 13), even to the question or opinion of the interlocutor, not listened to the end, is stupid, Solomon notes.
The ancient Hebrew sages, experts in the Torah, saw in such behavior evidence of a small mind and ignorance. They themselves always carefully listened to the interlocutor and gave the answer, carefully considering it. The circumstance referred to in verse 14 has long been confirmed by physicians: a man of strong spirit can overcome physical illness; on the contrary, doctors will not always help the downhearted.
Prov. 18:15. The wise in heart seeks to acquire knowledge. The second sentence of this verse refers to the oral teaching of wisdom (Torah in the first place) in Hebrew schools (compare 15:31). The measure of wisdom acquired by a student depended on how attentively he listened to the teacher.
Prov. 18:16. What is being said here is feature ancient Eastern life: it was impossible to appear (for one reason or another) before a nobleman without a gift. This gift was akin to a bribe, although, perhaps, it was not of such an obvious nature. The offer of a gift, or a bribe, is not approved here, but is only stated as something that was accepted.
Prov. 18:17-19. These parables are about disputes and lawsuits that are decided in court. Verse 17 sounds like advice to the judge to listen to both sides of the conflict before deciding on their dispute. In verse 18, there is a reference to one of the ways of solving litigations known in the Bible: lots were thrown, which ended disputes (compare 6:33; interpretation on Esther 3:7; Acts 1:26), in verse 19, the rationale for the need for one way or another to end the conflict as soon as possible: to restore relations between two brothers (whether relatives by blood or fellow tribesmen), one of whom is embittered, believing himself to be the offended party, is no less difficult than to take possession of an impregnable city.
Prov. 18:20-21. The fruit of a man's mouth and the product of it are his words (compare 12:14; 13:2). While positive and encouraging, they can also serve his own good. And in their own power (in the power of language) - death and life. For example, false testimony in court could threaten someone with death. "Lovers of the tongue" are called in verse 21 people who are intemperate in their tongues (compare 10:19; 18:2; 20:19); Solomon warns them that they themselves will suffer from their tongue (taste of its fruit).
Prov. 18:22. Having a good wife is seen as a grace from the Lord.
Prov. 18:23. Mercy to the needy was revered by the ancient Jews as a duty and a high moral dignity. Here his absence is condemned.
Prov. 18:24. This parable is very consonant with the rule, the observance of which seemed very important to the ancient Jews: "Treat others the way you want to be treated." The idea is expressed that there is a friend who is closer to a person than his blood brother.
Oh, these words that can hurt to the core! And there are words that can ease our pain.
What happened
Last week, I went to the front desk at my doctor's office. “Here is your direction to blood analysis,” - said the receptionist. But these words of hers, though simple and casual, were spoken in such a pleasant and delightful tone.
I smiled: "Thanks!"
Her reaction surprised me.
“Why did you say that? she asked. - This is the sweetest thing anyone has said to me lately.”
What? I gave her a simple, ordinary compliment, and it touched her. Can our words have such power?
I think yes. When my husband returned home that evening, I, as usual, hugged him, and after a light kiss, I said: “Do you know how long I waited for you to come home?”
He picked me up and twirled me around, saying: "It's so cute."
Theory proven
So, my theory is proven. Spoken words are like a fishing line. Throw it in and you're sure to pull something out.
And that something depends on us. Caring words produce pleasing results. Conversely, harsh words hurt the heart.
Here is what L. Tomlin once said: “Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.”
But the opposite is also true: people have a strong need for encouragement. They strive to feel significant, valued, and accepted. Our words can meet this need.
And it's easy. positive and good words always available. And the even better news is that our words are the beginning of the love God has commanded us to share with others...even strangers.
The real test
I decided to use this approach with phone salespeople. Whenever they called me, I always chose my words carefully.
I picked up the phone. “Did you say your name is Mary? I asked. - You know, Mary, it's clear from your voice that you - good man. I'm sorry that I can't buy what you offer. But I will pray to God that He will bring success into your life. Good?"
Usually the answer is silence. But one woman seemed to be touched by these words, because her voice trembled and she answered: "Thanks. I needed to hear this today.”
We all have this power. These sounds that come from our mouths are called words matter. They can change attitude. Transform negative into positive. And bring some joy into a dull life.
No wonder God said:
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat of its fruits.” (Prov. 18:22)
And when we proclaim life to other people, the beauty is that what we say also comes back to us with positive, pleasant and joyful feelings that make our soul happy.
Enjoy this feeling as you think about:
- Words are free.
- They require little effort.
- They are always available.
- They can be chosen with love.
- They can turn life around.
- They can calm anger.
Speaking tender and sincere words is like drawing a multi-colored rainbow in the gray sky of someone's life.
