221 A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich; a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank.
2 The rich and the poor shake hands as equals - God made them both!
3 A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks; a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.
4 The payoff for meekness and Fear-of-God is plenty and honor and a satisfying life.
5 The perverse travel a dangerous road, potholed and mud-slick; if you know what's good for you, stay clear of it.
6 Point your kids in the right direction - when they're old they won't be lost.
7 The poor are always ruled over by the rich, so don't borrow and put yourself under their power.
8 Whoever sows sin reaps weeds, and bullying anger sputters into nothing.
9 Generous hands are blessed hands because they give bread to the poor.
10 Kick out the troublemakers and things will quiet down; you need a break from bickering and griping!
11 God loves the pure-hearted and well-spoken; good leaders also delight in their friendship.
12 God guards knowledge with a passion, but he'll have nothing to do with deception.
13 The loafer says, "There's a lion on the loose! If I go out I'll be eaten alive!"
14 The mouth of a whore is a bottomless pit; you'll fall in that pit if you're on the outs with God.
15 Young people are prone to foolishness and fads; the cure comes through tough-minded discipline.
16 Exploit the poor or glad-hand the rich - whichever, you'll end up the poorer for it. The Thirty Precepts of the Sages Don't Move Back the Boundary Lines
.png)
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Proverbs 22:1-16
Commentary on Proverbs 22:1
(Read Proverbs 22:1)
We should be more careful to do that by which we may get and keep a good name, than to raise or add unto a great estate.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:2
(Read Proverbs 22:2)
Divine Providence has so ordered it, that some are rich, and others poor, but all are guilty before God; and at the throne of God's grace the poor are as welcome as the rich.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:3
(Read Proverbs 22:3)
Faith foresees the evil coming upon sinners, and looks to Jesus Christ as the sure refuge from the storm.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:4
(Read Proverbs 22:4)
Where the fear of God is, there will be humility. And much is to be enjoyed by it; spiritual riches, and eternal life at last.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:5
(Read Proverbs 22:5)
The way of sin is vexatious and dangerous. But the way of duty is safe and easy.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:6
(Read Proverbs 22:6)
Train children, not in the way they would go, that of their corrupt hearts, but in the way they should go; in which, if you love them, you would have them go. As soon as possible every child should be led to the knowledge of the Saviour.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:7
(Read Proverbs 22:7)
This shows how important it is for every man to keep out of debt. As to the things of this life, there is a difference between the rich and the poor; but let the poor remember, it is the Lord that made the difference.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:8
(Read Proverbs 22:8)
The power which many abuse, will soon fail them.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:9
(Read Proverbs 22:9)
He that seeks to relieve the wants and miseries of others shall be blessed.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:10
(Read Proverbs 22:10)
Profane scoffers and revilers disturb the peace.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:11
(Read Proverbs 22:11)
God will be the Friend of a man in whose spirit there is no guile; this honour have all the saints.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:12
(Read Proverbs 22:12)
God turns the counsels and designs of treacherous men to their own confusion.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:13
(Read Proverbs 22:13)
The slothful man talks of a lion without, but considers not his real danger from the devil, that roaring lion within, and from his own slothfulness, which kills him.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:14
(Read Proverbs 22:14)
The vile sin of licentiousness commonly besots the mind beyond recovery.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:15
(Read Proverbs 22:15)
Sin is foolishness, it is in the heart, there is an inward inclination to sin: children bring it into the world with them; and it cleaves close to the soul. We all need to be corrected by our heavenly Father.
Commentary on Proverbs 22:16
(Read Proverbs 22:16)
We are but stewards, and must distribute what God intrusts to our care, according to his will.