World English Bible
- A good name is more desirable than great riches, and loving favor is better than silver and gold.
- The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is the maker of them all.
- A prudent man sees danger and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
- The result of humility and the fear of the LORD is wealth, honor, and life.
- Thorns and snares are in the path of the wicked; whoever guards his soul stays far from them.
- Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
- The rich rule over the poor. The borrower is servant to the lender.
- He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
- He who has a generous eye will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.
- Drive out the mocker, and strife will go out; yes, quarrels and insults will stop.
- He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king’s friend.
- The LORD’s eyes watch over knowledge, but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.
- The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!”
- The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit. He who is under the LORD’s wrath will fall into it.
- Folly is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
- Whoever oppresses the poor for his own increase and whoever gives to the rich, both come to poverty.
- Turn your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Apply your heart to my teaching.
- For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.
- I teach you today, even you, so that your trust may be in the LORD.
- Haven’t I written to you thirty excellent things of counsel and knowledge,
- To teach you truth, reliable words, to give sound answers to the ones who sent you?
- Don’t exploit the poor because he is poor; and don’t crush the needy in court;
- for the LORD will plead their case, and plunder the life of those who plunder them.
- Don’t befriend a hot-tempered man. Don’t associate with one who harbors anger,
- lest you learn his ways and ensnare your soul.
- Don’t you be one of those who strike hands, of those who are collateral for debts.
- If you don’t have means to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you?
- Don’t move the ancient boundary stone which your fathers have set up.
- Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve kings. He won’t serve obscure men.
Proverbs 22 opens with a startling choice: a good name or great riches. In the ancient world, a “name” was more than reputation. It was the moral shape of a life, carried in the memory of one’s family and community. Wealth could be seized, but a faithful name became a form of inheritance.
This points quietly toward Christ. Though rich, he became poor for our sake, choosing obedience over earthly possession; therefore, the Father gave him “the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:9, New International Version; see also 2 Corinthians 8:9). The gospel fulfills the chapter’s opening wisdom: true honor is found not by grasping, but by giving oneself away.
Verse 9 literally speaks of a “good eye.” In Hebrew thought, the eye is not merely a window receiving images; it is a moral organ. Two people may look upon the same poor neighbor, yet only one truly sees.
Generosity begins before the hand opens. It begins when the eye stops measuring another person’s usefulness. The poor are not interruptions in the story of the prosperous. Rich and poor “meet together” because the Lord made them both. Beneath every social rank is the deeper equality of creaturehood.
This is why exploiting the poor in court is so serious. The city gate was Israel’s courtroom, and the needy often arrived without influence or patronage. Yet verse 23 declares that the Lord himself will “plead their case.” God becomes the advocate of those who cannot afford one—and he plunders the plunderer. Divine justice answers oppression in its own vocabulary.
Verses 17–21 begin a new collection. The debated Hebrew word shalishim may mean “thirty sayings,” and this section has notable similarities to the Egyptian Instruction of Amenemope. This need not weaken our confidence in Scripture. It reveals a God whose truth leaves fingerprints beyond Israel and who gathers human wisdom into covenant faithfulness. As Augustine observed, truth found among the nations may be received like Israel receiving Egyptian gold—provided it is placed in the service of God.
The goal of these sayings is not mere competence. Verse 19 gives their center: “so that your trust may be in the LORD.” Biblical wisdom is not learning how to control life; it is learning whom to trust when life cannot be controlled.
Consider the ancient boundary stone of verse 28. Moving it quietly enlarged one field while erasing another family’s inheritance. Across the ancient Near East, boundary markers carried solemn legal and sometimes religious force. To move one was to rewrite history for personal gain. We still move boundary stones whenever we profit by making another person’s claim, labor, suffering, or story invisible.
Today, ask: Whom have my eyes failed to see? What boundary have I shifted for my own comfort?
Deuteronomy 19:14; Psalm 72:12–14; James 2:1–7; Philippians 2:5–11.
Suggested hymn: “All My Hope on God Is Founded.”
Lord of rich and poor, give me a good eye, a humble heart, and a trustworthy name. Show me where I have ignored the vulnerable or moved boundaries for my advantage. Teach me wisdom that does not seek control, but rests in you. Form in me the self-giving mind of Christ. Amen.