Глава 16

1–3. About God as the Lord of all human life paths. 4–9. About God's wise and righteous reward for human deeds, good and evil. 10–15. About kings as mediators or instruments of God’s world government. 16–26. The truth of God is in relation to the wise and to the foolish. 27–33. The unequal fate of the righteous and the unrighteous. Proverbs 16:1. The assumptions of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue belongs to the Lord. Proverbs 16:2. All a man's ways are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs souls. Proverbs 16:3. Commit your deeds to the Lord, and your undertakings will be accomplished. In view of the undoubted fact of the amazing dependence of human destinies on God (v. 1, sn. Jer. 10.23), as well as the presence only in God of a true assessment of the real dignity of man’s intentions and actions (v. 2), the Wise One instructs his listeners to be completely devoted to the Providence of God, promising from here every success of enterprises (v. 3, sn. Ps 21.9, 36.5). Proverbs 16:4. The Lord did everything for His own sake; and he watches even the wicked for the day of disaster. Proverbs 16:5. Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; you can guarantee that he will not go unpunished. [The beginning of a good journey is to do the truth; this is more acceptable before God than making sacrifices. He who seeks the Lord will find knowledge with righteousness; those who truly seek Him will find peace.] Proverbs 16:6. Through mercy and righteousness sin is cleansed, and the fear of the Lord leads away from evil. Proverbs 16:7. When a person’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He reconciles his enemies with him. Proverbs 16:8. Better is a little with righteousness than much gain with untruth. Proverbs 16:9. The heart of man ponders its path, but the Lord controls its course. From the general position that everything created by God has its own goals and purpose (v. 4), deduced, with an indication of the destructiveness of arrogance (v. 5), the image of man’s positive pleasing to God: mercy and truth in relation to neighbors (v. 6a), combined with the fear of God (6b), the consequence of which will be peace, even reconciliation of warring parties (v. 7). Then the idea is repeated that man's life and purposes depend entirely on God (v. 9). Proverbs 16:10. In the mouth of the king is an inspired word; his mouth shall not err in judgment. Proverbs 16:11. Faithful scales and weighing bowls are from the Lord; All the weights in the bag come from Him. Proverbs 16:12. An abomination for kings is a lawless deed, because the throne is established by righteousness. Proverbs 16:13. The king delights in truthful lips, and he loves the one who speaks the truth. Proverbs 16:14. Royal wrath is the harbinger of death; but a wise man will appease him. Proverbs 16:15. In the bright gaze of the king is life, and his favor is like a cloud with the latter rain. There are a number of parables of political and social content: mainly regarding royal power. The king here, as in other places in the book of Proverbs (Proverbs 20.28, 21.1, 25.5) seems to be an ideal moral force, the embodiment and guardian of the moral world order, an instrument of Divine world governance. The king directly acquires a supernatural, as if prophetic ability and power, Heb.: gesem, Greek: μαντειον, Vulg.: divinatio, glor.: prophecy (v. 10): as a protege and representative of God on earth, a theocratic king, in matters of governance and justice, pronounces decisions that are indisputable and beyond doubt (cf. 1 Kings 3.27 7 ). In this regard, it is noted that all social relations (for example, buying and selling, must be imbued with the spirit of honesty and justice (v. 11, sn. Proverbs 11.1). In v. 12–13 - in the first from the negative side, and in the second from the positive - the idea is expressed that the king is an infallible measure of moral rightness, why all lawlessness is disgusting for him, and he favors only those who do the truth and speak the truth.Accordingly, in vv. Proverbs 16:16. The acquisition of wisdom is much better than gold, and the acquisition of intelligence is preferable to choice silver. Proverbs 16:17. The path of the righteous is evasion from evil: he who preserves his soul preserves his path. Proverbs 16:18. Pride goes before destruction, and arrogance before a fall. Proverbs 16:19. It is better to humble yourself in spirit with the meek than to divide the spoils with the proud. Proverbs 16:20. He who conducts business wisely will find good, and he who trusts in the Lord is blessed. Proverbs 16:21. The wise in heart will be called prudent, and sweet speech will add to his teaching. Proverbs 16:22. For those who have it, intelligence is the source of life, but the learning of fools is stupidity. Proverbs 16:23. The heart of a wise man makes his tongue wise and increases knowledge in his mouth. Proverbs 16:24. Pleasant speech is like honey from the honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:25. There are ways that seem right to a person, but their end is the path to death. Proverbs 16:26. The worker works for himself because his mouth compels him to do so. The high assessment of wisdom (v. 16) is found more than once in the Wise One (cf. Proverbs 3.14, 8.10–19). Among the individual manifestations of wisdom, righteousness, piety, and avoidance of evil are given first place here (v. 17); What is especially distinguished (v. 16) is the destructiveness of pride, which inevitably entails a fall (fn. Esther 3.1), and praises humility and meekness, which provide a person with a peaceful state of mind and contentment. This moral happiness is ensured partly by the rational, deliberate work of life, and mainly by man’s firm hope in God: these two factors, human and Divine, mutually presuppose each other (v. 20). It is further indicated that in the matter of teaching wisdom, the very external form in which the teaching is taught is important (v. 21), the high vital usefulness of wisdom is noted (v. 22), pleasantness and saving power together - like honey, which is pleasant and brings healing (v. 24). After this, a warning is given against self-deception (v. 25) and the motivation for physical labor is indicated - in a sense of self-preservation (v. 26). Proverbs 16:27. The wicked man plots evil, and on his lips is like burning fire. Proverbs 16:28. A cunning man sows discord, and the earpiece separates friends. Proverbs 16:29. An ill-intentioned person corrupts his neighbor and leads him on an unkind path; Proverbs 16:30. he narrows his eyes to invent deceit; biting his lips, he commits a crime; [he is a furnace of malice]. Proverbs 16:31. The crown of glory is gray hair that is on the path of righteousness. Proverbs 16:32. He who is patient is better than the brave, and he who controls himself is better than the conqueror of a city. Proverbs 16:33. The lot is cast on the floor, but its entire decision is from the Lord. In Art. 27–30 gives a description of three types of malice: a person who plots against his neighbor (v. 27), a slanderer, a troublemaker and a discordant (v. 28), and an oppressor, a rapist (v. 29), and their characteristic facial expressions are noted (v. 30, fn. Proverbs 6.12–13). In contrast to the destruction that awaits all such, the lot of the righteous and pious is an honest old age and longevity (v. 31); the highest moral self-control, learning to control oneself is more difficult than being distinguished by courage in battle and taking fortresses (v. 32). In the Mishnah (tr. Avot, chapter IV, §1) to the question: who is strong? The answer is given: the one who masters his yetzer (i.e., the impulse to evil), for it is said: “He who is patient is better than the brave, and he who controls himself is better than the conqueror” (Proverbs 16.32). The final verse (v. 33), especially the second half, expresses the main idea of ​​​​the entire (16) chapter. Midrash (5, 50) here rightly sees an indication of the wisdom of the wisest of kings - Solomon. You might be interested in: