16. A gracious woman keeps honor, and the strong keep riches. This one is a little ambiguous and often mistranslated. The image is not a contrast between men and women, but a woman who either acts like a lady or tries to compete with men. A woman who lives consistently with God’s revelation about gender roles will “feed what should be fat” — she’ll make life worth living. If she tries to act more like a plundering soldier, she might have money, but who wants to go home to her?
17. The merciful man does good to his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh. This flips the previous proverb over to the man’s role. This builds on the image of conforming to holiness as pulling yourself up into the higher realm of moral consideration, and being able to see what God intended in Creation. Your life is consistent with reality itself in the most subtle ways, as well as the more obvious pieties. Such a man is merciful, mindful of human frailty because he sees his own failures with full clarity. Harsh and demanding men destroy themselves, pushing far away from how reality actually works. It’s a very unhealthy existence.
18. The wicked makes a deceitful wage; but one sowing righteousness has a sure reward. Fundamental to the definition of good morals is living with your heart supervising your mind. The heart in Hebrew culture was the place where God speaks. To live by human talents alone is calling God a liar; it is wickedness defined. God is the ultimate master of wages, and pays according to how your heart belongs to Him.
19. So righteousness tends to life; but one pursuing evil, it is to his own death. English translators often spoil things by adding words they imagine are implied; forget the “tends” here. Good moral character simply lives; it is life defined. There’s nothing to chase after because the truth is right there in front of you. Rest in God and trust Him to show you. If you feel like you have to work all that hard and chase the truth down, you won’t find it. You’ll find death in the broadest meaning.
20. They who are of a perverse heart are hateful to the LORD, but the upright in the way are His delight. To whatever your heart is committed, that will you do. If by your mind you interfere with the proper functioning of the moral intelligence in your heart, you will pervert your commitments. Those who build commitments consistent with God’s revealed purpose will let you stand firmly in His favor.
21. Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be innocent; but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. More subtlety that escapes translation, we see the image of worldly men who ignore revelation joining hands like an army intending to stand against the truth. As with the Tower of Babel, they expect to build their own version of truth by their human abilities. But when the wrath of God comes, their fruit will be picked clean. They’ll have nothing to show for it. For those who embrace revelation, their fruit — as the source of seeds — will be saved in God’s pantry.
22. Like a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a beautiful woman who turns aside discretion. Keep in mind that pigs were ritually unclean, detestable animals driven out into the wilderness. They had to hide out along the banks of wet places to survive in Israel. Who can bear the thought if getting close enough to one to fit it with any kind of animal control device, much less one made of gold? This shocking waste is just about what we might think when we encounter a woman who looks ravishing and has no sense of moral beauty to match.
23. The desire of the righteous is only good; the hope of the wicked is wrath. In Hebrew, the words for “desire” and “hope” here are conceptually very close. Both indicate a form of attachment. However, in the odd manner of terse Hebrew, it’s not meant to suggest that wicked people actually hope for wrath, but that the object of their affection guarantees wrath.
24. There is one who scatters and yet increases; but one who withholds just due comes only to poverty. This is a typical paradox. Within a covenant community, those who freely distribute whatever God has given them only make room for Him to give more. There’s nothing wrong with holding back things God says are reserved for some other purpose, but to be a tightwad guarantees God cannot give you more. Mercy and grace are like muscles that grow with use.
25. The soul who gives freely shall be made fat; and he who waters shall also be watered himself. Almost a repetition of the previous verse.
26. He who withholds grain, the people shall curse him; but blessing is on the head of him who sells. This extends the idea in the previous two verses. God gives material wealth so that you can experience the joy of sharing. Again, the context is a covenant community where everyone is family.
27. He who carefully seeks good gets favor; but he who seeks mischief, it shall come to him. The image here is someone who gets up early to pursue what’s just and right in God’s Creation. This is not a contradiction to verse 19 above, but another way of looking at the same thing. If you seriously God’s command to seek social stability (“good”), you should expect favor in general. This is contrasted with someone whose habits lead away from social stability; God will make sure their lives are unstable.
28. He who trusts in his riches shall fall; but the righteous shall blossom like a branch. It’s the contrast between spring and fall seasons. If material wealth is your god, then your life is autumnal in the worst sense of cold and dry, brown and drab. Those who place a high value in diving justice, even at the cost of material wealth, are living in eternal spring, always renewing and rejoicing.
29. He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind; and the fool shall be servant to the wise in heart. What will you inherit? This is all about family loyalty, a prime virtue in Scripture. In this case, making trouble means creating a moral disturbance. Wait until you are in charge to demand changes or you won’t have anything to inherit. You’ll end up a poor starving wretch, serving someone who did wait their turn.
30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he who wins souls is wise. The subtle Hebrew context here has nothing to do with the sales-pitch evangelism of modern Western church growth tactics. That can be faked entirely. The fundamental image here is more the focus of your life as a whole, the sense of what drives you in all things. We are building Life with a capital “L” — seeking to tie our existence here with Eternity. If your ambition is the souls of people, then your harvest is rich, indeed.
31. Behold, the righteous shall be rewarded in the earth; much more the wicked and the sinner. There is a forceful assertion here in the first line. We all know that a proper moral focus is otherworldly, but it is also the most practical approach because it is consistent with how the universe operates. However much good you can have in this life is found on that path. How much more so the bad that comes to the wicked, because whatever they gain in this life is all they have.
