Proverbs 19:16-21

Peter J. Leithart, October 19, 2007

INTRODUCTION
These verses are framed by corresponding general exhortations, verses 16 and 23. Both proverbs describe the way to life: Whoever keeps commandments keeps his soul or life (v. 16), and the fear of Yahweh leads to life (v. 23). There is a "what's more" progression between the two framing verses, as Solomon moves from an exhortation to keep the commandment to a personalized exhortation to fear Yahweh, the God of Israel.

The proverbs within this frame deal with several themes. Verses 17 and 22 both refer to the poor and use complementary words for "being gracious" (HNN in v. 17 and HSD in v. 22). And within these verses are two complementary pairs of verses. Verses 18 and 20 both speak of discipline as the way to enter the future; both also, as Waltke points out, are both imperatives in a section of Proverbs that is not heavy on imperatives. Verses 19 and 21 are not obviously linked, dealing in turn with anger and with human planning. The two may be more closely linked than is evident at first, though.

Overall, then, the passage is structured like this:

A. Way of life, v 16
B. Grace to poor, v 17
C. Discipline, v 18
D. Anger, v 19
C'. Discipline, v 20
D'. Human planning v. Lord's counsel, v 21
B'. Kindness; poor man better than liar, v 22
A'. Way of life in fear of Yahweh, v. 23

One of the striking things about the passage is the repetition of the name of Yahweh. He is explicitly mentioned in connection with kindness to the poor (v. 17), human planning (v. 21), and the way of life (v. 23). This is a reminder that the Proverbs are not the product of neutral observation of human life; the Proverbs are not pieces of natural theology. Wisdom is available only through the God of Wisdom.

PROVERBS 19:16
We will concentrate on verses 17 and following, but a comment about the neat rhythm and artistry of verse 16 before we move on. Verse 16 begins: He who keeps commandment keeps his soul; the Hebrew is more concise and pithy, only four words: Guard commandment, guard his-soul. The verb "guard" seems to be used with a poetic equivocation. In the first instance, it means obedience to the commandment, while in the second it means something more like "protect" or "maintain." Something like: Keep your head, keep your money. The verse also has an appropriately foreboding conclusion. Whoever despises his ways dies. Death is the end of this; it is also the end of the verse.

PROVERBS 19:17
Waltke points out the chiastic structure of this verse:

A. He lends to Yahweh
B. who is gracious to the poor
B'. For his benefits
A'. He (Yahweh) will repay.

There are a number of things to notice here. First, the notion of lending to the Lord is striking. Gifts given to the poor are not given to the Lord, but are loans, loans that the end of the verse assures us He will repay. A and A' can be read together: Whoever lends to Yahweh, Yahweh repays. Second, the verb "repay" here is the piel form of SHLM, which in the qal means to complete, finish, bring to an end. It is the verb form behind the word for "peace." In the piel the verb means to make aments, repay, pay a vow, fulfill, and can also mean finish or complete (1 Kings 9:25). It seems that the connotations of completion, and even harmony, are present here. The one who lends to the Lord will find the Lord completing the transaction, and restoring equilibrium and harmony. The one who lends to the Lord knows that things are not yet finished, because the Lord who is Omega will bring it to completion. A gift to the poor might look like a loss, but it's only the beginning of a double action, which is completed by the Lord's repayment of His loan. We oughtn't wring our hands at the "bad investment" of giving a gift to a poor man who abuses it; it is bread on the waters, and after many days it will return. Third, the fact that Yahweh repays gifts to the poor suggests that He is the surety and Benefactor of the poor. Gifts to the poor are in fact loans to Him, and He is the guarantor that the loan will be repaid. Fourth, the word for "be gracious" is one commonly used for Yahweh's grace. The one who shows kindness to the poor is imitating the Lord, who is gracious to the poor and needy.

The idea in this verse is identical to the wisdom of Jesus. Jesus tells us in Luke 6 to lend without thought of return, but then immediately goes on to say that we have a reward from our heavenly Father if we do that. Like Solomon, He is saying that our Father is the guarantor of rewards. It is important that Jesus does not teach us to renounce hope of reward, but to look to the Father to reward us. One aspect of this is the fact that we are told to expect rewards from a God on whom we have no claims. When we expect a return of a loan to another human being, we have a claim on that repayment. We can't go to our Father demanding rewards; and this means that any reward comes to us as an absolute gift. Yet, Jesus assures us that we should expect such gifts.

PROVERBS 19:18
Waltke says that the second clause of this proverb is not "while there is hope" but "surely there is hope." The issue is not that we should discipline in a timely way, before we lose the opportunity to direct our sons rightly. That is certainly the case, and the failure to act while there is yet hope is a regrettable one that haunts many aging parents. But the accent is on the fact that there is hope. Discipline will have its effect. So, get started and do it: Rebuke, correct, train in righteousness, use the rod, in the hope that this will bear fruit by the power of the Spirit.

This hope is so secure that Solomon says – very bluntly – that anyone who fails to act on this hope is in fact encouraging the death of his son. Solomon puts it even more strongly: Anyone who fails to act of the hope that discipline will drive folly from the heart desires the death of his son. That is likely not a conscious and overt desire, but Solomon says that it is there. Failure to discipline a son is at least a statement of indifference: "I don't care if he dies."

PROVERBSE 19:19
This too finds a strong parallel in the wisdom of Jesus. When Jesus says that the angry person is going to end up before the local elders, before the Sanhedrin, or ultimately in hell, he is not exaggerating. Anger by itself of course is not a civil offense. But anger uncontrolled leads to actions that will bring on the civil authorities, and ultimately a much more dire punishment.

Here, Solomon points out that anger is a repetitive sin, it is a vicious cycle, identically repetitive. An angry man may get bailed out once, but unless he gets control of his anger, he's going to have to be bailed out again. The chiastic structure gives literary expression to the cycle:

A. An angry man
B. Bears the penalty
B'. if you rescue
A'. Again you will add

The dynamic of offense-penalty-rescue-offense-penalty-rescue-offense-penalty-rescue circles on and on forever.

PROVERBS 19:20
Verse 20 is a mini-Shema: "Hear" it begins, like the great confession of Israelite faith and like many of the oracles of the prophets. Hear counsel and accept discipline, Solomon says. It is not enough for discipline to be administered. The hope of discipline is realized when the recipient of discipline is receptive to it. Anger, resentment, hatred, shame, retribution, and all sorts of other responses to discipline are possible, and do not lead to life. These refusals to receive discipline must be disciplined.

The result of receiving discipline properly are long-term. Waltke says that the phrase at the end of this verse means "in the afterwards" and in Proverbs always refers to the final end and outcome of a way of life. While Waltke is probably right to take this as ultimately a reference to eternal life, we shouldn't neglect other dimensions of this. One who listens to council and accepts discipline will live a life that can be characterized as a life of wisdom. He will be wise in old age, and to the end of his life, in his latter days. The early trajectory toward wisdom pays off for decades after.

PROVERBSE 19:21
In the structure above, this verse is paired with verse 19, which is about the angry man. Is there any connection? Perhaps so: Verse 21 describes the "many plans" of a man's heart, but contrasts these multiple plans with the standing, firm counsel of Yahweh. Perhaps nothing makes an angry man angrier than the fact that his "many plans" are constantly frustrated and come to nothing. His plans bump up against the standing and firm counsel of Yahweh, and they get crushed. And he gets mad.

Verse 21 is also linked to verse 20 by the repetition of the word "counsel." In verse 20, it refers to the counsel of a faithful father, but in verse 21 to the counsel of Yahweh. Besides, as Waltke points out, those who follow Yahweh's counsel have the same hope "in the afterward" as those who follow parental counsel. But the emphasis of verse 21 is not on the counsel of Yahweh as His instruction, but His counsel as His plan and purpose that will prevail and will come to pass. Waltke: "the wise son can count of God to bring to pass his good and moral pleasure regardless of what ungodly people intend."