Brit-Am/Hebrew Nations Notes and Commentary
Proverbs 17:
1 Better is dried-up bread if contentment is with it,
than a house full of feasting with strife.
Try not to quarrel. It is not worth it. Many couples argue over money. We are being warned not to.
2 A slave who acts well will rule over a child who causes shame,
and will share the inheritance amongst the family members.
No matter what your station do what you can as well as you can.
Sooner or later your efforts will be requited for the better.
3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
but the LORD will be testing the heart.
We are sometimes put to the test for our own good.
4 An evildoer hearkens to wicked lips;
Falsehood feeds on a pernicious tongue.
In general avoid Conspiracy Theories and the like. This does not mean letting oneself be mislead by the mainstream media. It is all a question of emphasis and agenda.
5 Those who mock the poor revile their Maker;
those who are glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
Do not look down at others who are less fortunate than yourself. Try not to think badly of others. At the least do not wish them ill.
6 A crown for the aged are grandchildren,
and the glory of children are their forebears.
We should strengthen ourselves in our families. Those who still can bear children should endeavor to do so.
7 Fine speech is not becoming to an ingrate;
still less is false speech to a benefactor.
Someone who has money, power, or influence should stand by their word.
8 A precious stone is a bribe in the eyes of its owners;
wherever it turns it succeeds.
9 One who conceals an affront fosters friendship,
but one who dwells on disputes will alienate a friend.
If you heard something offensive about oneself or about others it may be better to ignore it. Do not take offence where offence may not have been intended. People sometimes say things they do not mean. Even if someone did intend to make offence perhaps you can live with it? Maybe treating the matter with good humor is the wisest strategy?
10 A rebuke strikes deeper into a discerning person
than a hundred blows into a fool.
The Hebrew may be translated more literally as saying:
It is preferable to rebuke one of discernment
than hit a fool a hundred times over.
We should learn to deal with criticism in a constructive way.
We should try to listen to what others say about us even when it is not pleasant.
We should perhaps consider these words of adversity as warning message from heaven and correct what can be corrected while we can.
These matters are easier said than done but deserve to be kept in mind.
A balance is also necessary: Sometimes we are better off ignoring bad things said about us; on other occasions we may need to answer back vigorously to them.
We at Brit-Am have had some experience with these matters. At different times we have probably done all the right things as well as many of the wrong ones (or vice versa).
11 Evil people seek only rebellion,
but a cruel messenger will be sent against them.
Brit-Am Version:
The rebellious seeks only the evil
But a cruel angel will be sent against them.
Mestudat David:
They who speak only badly about God, seek a bad end for themself in this world.
Rashi says that someone of a contrary nature and habit will constantly seek out the bad aspects.
They will always look for opportunities to do evil or find the bad in others.
12 Better to meet a she-bear robbed of its cubs
than to confront a fool immersed in folly.
cf. Biblical Bears
http://lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=876
Extracts:
Ephraim (Genesis 48) was leader of the Ephraimites, the most warlike of the twelve tribes of Israel. Their land was bordered on the east by the Jordan River, on the west by the Mediterranean Sea. (The last grizzly in the state of Utah, trapped and shot by a sheepherder in 1923, was an 1,100-pound, 9' 11" livestock killer known as "Old Ephraim.")
Moses gave the land of Canaan to Caleb (Numbers 13-14), who was the leader of the tribe of Judah. "Old Caleb," the grizzly, was anointed custodian of the American West, the Garden of the World, the new Promised Land, "which floweth with milk and honey."
13 Evil will not depart from the house
of one who returns evil for good.
This can happen. It may be that we have been helped by others and did not appreciate it at the time.
Later circumstances change and we react in a misguided manner towards those we should have been grateful towards.
We should keep our eyes open, be aware of what is happening and act as we feel God would want us to.
14 The beginning of strife is like letting out water;
so stop before the quarrel breaks out.
Opening a sluice to let water out is irreversible. The water cannot be held back.
Cease the unpleasantry before it begins.
15 One who justifies the wicked and one who condemns the righteous
are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
We must be fair.
Even when someone on our own side is in the wrong we must own up to it.
It is better to say nothing than to say something that is wrong.
16 Why should fools have a price in hand
to buy wisdom, when they have no mind to learn?
Metsudat David applies this verse to someone who pays money to learn Torah but does not intended to observe it.
17 A friend loves at all times,
and kinsfolk are born to share adversity.
We should appreciate those whoa re positive towards us.
We should also try and establish an ongoing connection with our kinsfolk.
18 It is senseless to give a pledge,
to become surety for a neighbour.
19 One who loves transgression loves strife;
one who builds a high threshold invites calamity.
a high threshold. The Commentators say this refers to they who are proud and place themselves too high.
calamity. In Hebrew "shever" i.e. breakage.
We should be open to others and not consider ourselves overduly of importance.
20 The crooked of mind do not prosper,
and the perverse of tongue fall into calamity.
We should try to think straight and not mislead others.
It sometimes happens that we give the wrong impression. With a little foresight this may often be avoided.
21 The one who begets a fool gets trouble;
the parent of a fool has no joy.
We should try to be an honor to our ancestors.
22 A cheerful heart is a good medicine,
but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.
Be happy. Read the Bible and pray and an inner happiness shall suffuse you. This will radiate outwards.
People feel it.
18 It is senseless to give a pledge,
to become surety for a neighbor.
In the same way as we should not be mean and selfish but generous and helpful to others we should still be careful.
Proverbs here may be understood to inform us that someone who tends in the opposite direction is may also be criminally irresponsible. We should be careful not to harm ourselves and/or our family by being to trusting or too needlessly generous.
19 One who loves transgression loves strife;
one who builds a high threshold invites broken bones.
We should avoid superfluous arguments even when we are in the right.
The second part of the verse may alternately be translated (in the light of the Commentators) as saying,
# One who open wides his mouth [in pride or argumentation] invites disaster. #
20 The crooked of mind do not prosper,
and the perverse of tongue fall into calamity.
21 The one who begets a fool gets trouble;
the parent of a fool has no joy.
We should endeavor to live in such a way as to do credit to our ancestors. If they were better than us we should live up to them. If they were worse than we are, then perhaps the particular task of our own existence requires us to make better a little of what they did not?
22 A cheerful heart is a good medicine,
but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.
Avoid depression. It is counter-productive. Sometimes it is a subconscious excuse to do less than can be done.
Think positively and well. Be happy. Be pleasant to other people. It pays off and also helps yourself feel better.
Even if you do not feel cheerful if you act as though you are you will feel that way.
23 The wicked accept a concealed bribe
to pervert the ways of justice.
This applies at the simple straightforward level. Public officials etc often do take bribes and pervert justice.
A more literal translation runs thusly:
A bribe is taken from the breast of the wicked to divert the ways of justice.
At the general level wicked people in the Media and Academia pervert the truth (or disregard it) in order to serve their own interests.
Rashi has a more optimistic explanation. Rashi says that God receives in secret (from the breast of) words of submission and placation from the wicked. This results in the sentence of the wicked being changed from bad to good.
In other words a bad person can repent. His repentance will be accepted by the Almighty.
It may be that otherwise the wicked person was about to be punished severely. Through repentance he will have been saved.
It is as if the Divine Judge Above has accepted his contrition as a bribe!
Whatever it is called, the bottom line is that it works.
Proverbs 17:
24 The discerning person looks to wisdom,
but the eyes of a fool to the ends of the earth.
This verse may be translated from the Hebrew as saying:
WISDOM IS BEFORE ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS BUT THE IN THE EYES OF THE FOOL IT IS AT THE END OF THE EARTH.
This is how the Rabbinical Commentators understood it.
Rashi says that one who has understanding will achieve wisdom by learning what needs to be learnt by steady gradual progression.The fool will consider it too difficult for him.
Metsudat takes a similar view. He says that one who has understanding will learn wisdom from those around him. The fool will imagine that wisdom is only available from very wise men who live too far away.
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Proverbs 17: 25. Are the TTs too Sure of Themselves??
Proverbs 17:
25 Foolish children are a grief to their father
and bitterness to her who bore them.
The Hebrew may be rendered more literally as:
A cause of anger to his father is a foolish child.
and embitterment to her who bore him.
The words translated as foolish is "casil". This connotes over-confidence.
S. R. Hirsch is quoted (by Matityahu Clark) as defining casil or "CeSeL" as being "stubborn and foolish".
It is from the root "CeSeL" whiuch can connote trust and certainty as in Psalm 78:7 "... so that they should set their hope in God", where the expression "their hope" is "cislam" meaning their trust and certainty.
In this case it is positive and desirable.
This quality however when misapplied becomes conceit, folly, and foolishness.
Someone who is too sure of themselves may automatically be classifiable as fools.
Someone who is too sure of themselves may automatically be classifiable as fools.
Isaiah 10:13 describes the stars of the heavens as "cislehem" of the Babylonians. They trusted in stars. In our days this would be the equivalent of over-reliance on science, the laws of nature, and false rationality.
Rashi applies this verse (Proverbs 17:25) to King Jeroboam who lead the revolt of the Ten Tribes against Rehoboam son of Solomon.
Jeroboam caused Our Father, the Almighty, to be angry against HIS people.
He caused embitterment to the Community of Israel who had borne him.
It will be remembered that Jeroboam set up 2 golden calves one in Dan and the other in Beth-el.
He prevented the Israelites from going up to Jerusalem at the time of annual pilgrimage.
Jeroboam was from the Tribe of Ephraim. He became the first king of the separated Ten Tribes after they separated from Judah.
In a sense Jeroboam gave exp[ression to those he ruled over.
Perhaps the Ten Tribes are too sure of themselves for their own good?
cf.
1-Kings 12:
26 Then Jeroboam said to himself, 'Now the kingdom may well revert to the house of David. 27 If this people continues to go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, the heart of this people will turn again to their master, King Rehoboam of Judah; they will kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.' 28 So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. He said to the people. 'You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.' 29 He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one at Bethel and before the other as far as Dan. 31 He also made Houses [of worship] on High Places, and appointed priests from among the fringes of the people, who were not Levites.
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Proverbs 17: 26-28. Keep Calm in an Emergency and Silence is Golden
26 To impose a fine on the innocent is not right,
or to flog the noble for their integrity.
Alternative translation:
# Also to punish the righteous is not good; to strike the generous due to their honesty. #
The Commentators (Metsudot) opine that this refers to evil people who resent goodness in others.
Another possibility is that:
In general it may be said that in our public and private life we should avoid penalizing those who have acted correctly
just because others have not.
27 One who spares words is knowledgeable;
one who is cool in spirit has understanding.
Keep calm. Hold yourself back and weigh matters with due consideration.
Even when in a hurry and/or under pressure keep calm and keep thinking. Do not let others or the situation fluster you.
28 Even fools who keep silent are considered wise;
when they close their lips, they are deemed intelligent.
This is obvious. If you have nothing to say, do not say it.
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