Глава 11

1–11. About the meaning of justice in relation to neighbors and the harmfulness of injustice. 12–15. Against talkativeness, addiction to slander, unreasonable advice and frivolous guarantees. 16–23. The different behavior and opposite fruits of the righteous and the wicked. 24–26. Against stinginess and lack of compassion. 27–31. Only the fruits of piety are lasting. Proverbs 11:1. A wrong scale is an abomination to the Lord, but a right weight is acceptable to Him. Proverbs 11:2. Pride will come, and shame will come; but with the humble there is wisdom. [The righteous man, dying, leaves behind regret; but the destruction of the wicked is sudden and joyful.] Proverbs 11:3. The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the guile of the treacherous will destroy them. Proverbs 11:4. Riches will not help you in the day of wrath, but truth will save you from death. Proverbs 11:5. The righteousness of the blameless man makes his way straight, but the wicked will fall by his wickedness. Proverbs 11:6. The truth of the upright will save them, but the wicked will be caught in their iniquity. Proverbs 11:7. With the death of the wicked man hope is lost, and the expectation of the wicked is destroyed. Proverbs 11:8. The righteous man is saved from trouble, but the wicked falls into it instead. Proverbs 11:9. A hypocrite destroys his neighbor with his lips, but the righteous are saved by insight. Proverbs 11:10. When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there is triumph. Proverbs 11:11. By the blessing of the righteous a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed. The warning against the use of incorrect scales and the exhortation to conscientiousness in this regard (Art. 1, fn. Proverbs 20.10), constitutes a repetition of the decree of the law (Deut. 25.13–16); frequent repetition of this rule was required by frequent cases of its violation, especially in trade (Sir 26.27). The wise one reinforces his instruction with the thought of the Omniscient and Omnirighteous God. The Wise One speaks repeatedly about the destructiveness of pride (v. 2) (see Proverbs 16.18, 18.12), as well as about the good of the opposite virtue - humility (fn. Proverbs 3.34), which, according to the context of this place (v. 2), is both wisdom and glorification. LXX make an addition here - in Slavic: “when a righteous person dies, leave repentance, but the death of the wicked is convenient and mocking”, expressing the idea that the opposite moral mood of the righteous and the wicked during life is accompanied or results in a different to the contrary character of death itself and the posthumous memory of both. Art. 3 continues the thought of Art. 2 about the superiority of the straightforwardness of righteousness over the deceit of malice - even for just the external well-being of a person. Art. 4 reinforces the idea of ​​v. Chapter 2 X-oh: not only wealth collected by wrong ways and means (Proverbs 10.2), but in general any wealth will not benefit the wicked, salvation lies only in truth, righteousness - salvation precisely “on the day of wrath”, i.e. Divine wrath and judgment of God (cf. Eze 7.19; Zeph 1.18; Sir 5.10). Art. 5–6 are completely parallel both to each other and to Art. 3 (cf. also Proverbs 10.3; Wisdom 5:15), expressing the contrast between the life lot of the righteous and the wicked, corresponding to the opposite moral disposition of both. The peculiarities of the spiritual mood of the righteous and the wicked are explained, according to Art. 7–8, the opposite fate of both, both during life and after death: the righteous person, who above all values ​​the good of communion with God, passing into the afterlife, in this very conviction has a strong and good hope in the mercy of the Lord (cf. Proverbs 10.28); on the contrary, the wicked, who during his life was devoted with all his soul to earthly goods and neglected the good of communion with God, when dying, is deprived of the earthly goods to which he was passionately attached with his soul (Ps 48.18), finally understands the true price of spiritual goods, and in this late consciousness lies for him the source of new torment. The lifetime salvation of the righteous from sorrow, which instead befalls the wicked (v. 8) - examples often occurred in biblical history (according to the book of Esther, the death that awaited the Jews in Mordecai actually befell the pagans and Haman Esther 7-9; according to the book of the prophet Daniel, the wicked slanderers of this prophet died in his place, Dan 6.25), - amounted to rather the pious theocratic belief of the chosen people of God (cf. Isa 43.3) than the fact of experience, which (experience) will always provide many more examples of the opposite property. On the basis of this expression, the conviction could be created that public opinion always rejoices in the happiness of the righteous and rejoices in the death of the wicked (vv. 10-11, cf. Esther 8.15, 3.15), although reality, of course, provides many phenomena that are opposite to this. In any case, the presence of righteous people in the city is a guarantee of well-being and society (cf. Gen. 18.24 ff.). Proverbs 11:12. A weak-minded person expresses contempt for his neighbor; but a reasonable person is silent. Proverbs 11:13. He who walks as a carrier reveals the secret; but a faithful man conceals the matter. Proverbs 11:14. With a lack of care, the people fall, but with many advisers they prosper. Proverbs 11:15. He who vouches for a stranger does harm to himself; and whoever hates a guarantee is safe. There follows a series of sayings of varied content, partly in relation to a person’s personal moral life (Articles 12–13), partly in connection with social (Article 15) and state (Article 14) relations. Namely, both a proud, contemptuous attitude towards one’s neighbor is condemned, which usually serves as a sign of the stupidity of the proud (v. 12a cf. Proverbs 14.21), as well as a frivolous attitude towards the honor and good name of one’s neighbor, expressed in the spread of rumors and speeches that serve to discredit him (v. 13a, cf. Lev. 19:16; Jer. 9.3); On the contrary, modesty, silence (12b) and fidelity in keeping the entrusted secret are praised (13b, cf. Sir 19.10, 27.16–21). With regard to popular government, the presence of many advisers under the king is approved (v. 14, fn. Proverbs 15.22, 24.6), of course, if they are people of deep intelligence and good conscience. In Art. 15 repeats the warning already given in Proverbs 6.1 against rash guaranteeing, and encourages everyday caution in this regard. Proverbs 11:16. A well-behaved wife gains glory [for her husband, but a wife who hates the truth is the height of dishonor. Slothful people are frugal], but the industrious ones acquire wealth. Proverbs 11:17. A merciful man does good to his soul, but a hard-hearted man destroys his flesh. Proverbs 11:18. The wicked does unsafe work, but he who sows righteousness has a sure reward. Proverbs 11:19. Righteousness leads to life, but he who strives for evil strives for his death. Proverbs 11:20. Those who are deceitful in heart are an abomination to the Lord; but those who are blameless in their journey are pleasing to Him. Proverbs 11:21. You can guarantee that the vicious will not go unpunished; the seed of the righteous will be saved. Proverbs 11:22. Like a gold ring in a pig's nose, a woman is beautiful and reckless. Proverbs 11:23. The desire of the righteous is only good, the expectation of the wicked is wrath. The mutual ratio of the two halves of the art. 16th according to the text of Heb. -masor. and the Vulg seems unclear and can be better understood from the text of the LXX (Slav., Russian Synod.), which has two others between these two sentences, the first of which contains the opposition to the first thought of the verse, and the other to its second half. The entire verse 16 according to volume LXX reads like this: ? οὶ δὲ ἀνδρεῖοι ἐρείδονται πλούτω. Slav. and Russian Synod, literally convey the reading of the LXX, and words not found in Hebrew. t., in Russian. are enclosed in parentheses. Instead of this antithetical parallelism, the Vulgate is closer to the Heb. – gives synthetic or comparative parallelism: mulier gratiosa inveniet gloriam et robusti habebunt divitias. Reading LXX Art. 16 deserves preference over the Masor. and Vulg. The idea of ​​the verse: benefits, even external ones, are acquired through human efforts. In the following verses (17 et al.) the idea is developed that the blessings of life are achieved precisely through moral efforts, the godly religious and moral disposition of a person. It is the source of human well-being that is called, first of all, charity (v. 17, n. v. 25), then truth (vv. 18–19), reverent integrity before God (vv. 20–21). At the same time, the opposite vices: unmercifulness, deceit, cruelty, wickedness, are a source of death for people guilty of those vices. This, in general, is the idea that is so often repeated in the book of Proverbs about the correspondence of a person’s earthly lot to his religious and moral dignity (cf. Gal 6.8; 1 Tim 4.8). In Art. 22, accordingly, in a figurative comparison the idea is expressed about the obscenity of splendor or, in general, good for moral ugliness, which, by adding elegant furnishings to it, shows its insignificance even more clearly (v. 22 is an example of the so-called emblematic parable). Art. 23 represents, as it were, a final generalization of previous thoughts - about the opposition in life’s aspirations and aspirations of the righteous and the wicked. Proverbs 11:24. Others pour generously, and more is added to him; and the other is thrifty beyond measure, and yet becomes poor. Proverbs 11:25. A charitable soul will be satisfied, and whoever gives water to others will also be given water to drink. Proverbs 11:26. He who withholds grain is cursed by the people; and on the head of the seller there is a blessing. Highly appreciating generosity and charity, the Wise here eliminates the possible fear of ruin and impoverishment among benefactors, pointing to the special providence of God for the charitable, whose well-being increases with the greater development of generosity (vv. 24–25, fn. Ps 111.9; 2 Cor 9.9); on the contrary, excessive frugality (v. 24b), and especially immoderate stinginess, combined with cruel indifference to the needs of one’s neighbor (26a), do not create human well-being. In Art. 26a refers to the case of national famine, when it happens that a self-interested merchant deliberately delays and does not sell his grain reserves in order to later make a big profit: the fate of such greedy and unmerciful people is a curse on the part of the people (cf. Sir 5.4). In the text LXX and slav. this idea is strengthened by what stands here at the beginning of v. 26 additions: ὁ συνέχων σῖτον ὑπολείποιτο αὐτόν τοῖς ἕθνεσι 6, glory: he who holds back the wheat will leave it with his tongue, – i.e. in the event of a possible invasion of the enemy's country, the greedy grain merchants, who denied their compatriots their daily bread, will become victims of the robbery of foreign enslavers with all their property Proverbs 11:27. He who strives for good seeks favor; and whoever seeks evil, it comes to him. Proverbs 11:28. He who trusts in his wealth will fall; and the righteous will grow green like a leaf. Thought Art. 27 with a slight change was stated above - in Proverbs 10.24, and - Art. 28th - in Art. 2 of the same chapter. The comparison of the welfare of the righteous to a flowering tree (v. 28) is found more than once in the Bible (Ps. 1.3, 91.13; Is. 66.14). Proverbs 11:29. He who upsets his house will receive the wind as his inheritance, and the fool will be the slave of the wise in heart. “The wind will be his inheritance,” that is, he will be deprived (fn. Is 26.18; Hos 8.7), wasteful and insane and, due to poverty and ruin (Lev. 25:39), will be forced to become a slave of a more intelligent one, which, according to the thought of the Wise One, is in the order of things (Proverbs 17.2). Proverbs 11:30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the wise win souls. Proverbs 11:31. Thus the righteous is rewarded on earth, much more the wicked and sinner. The fruits of righteousness - life with its blessings (v. 30, fn. Proverbs 3.18) convince everyone of the reality of the moral world order. The more indisputable is the terrible retribution of the wicked (v. 31). Art. 31 according to the reading of LXX is literally and is repeated in 1 Pet 4.18 in relation to Christian society. Further words: διμιουλκῶν σΐτον δημοκάταρτος – in the accepted Greek. not in the text, but they are in the code. 2:23, 161 in Golmes, in St. You. Vel. and I. Zlat. You might be interested in: