Proverbs 25:15

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” The picture is a piece of fine craftsmanship. The “apples” (tappûwach) were a fragrant and beautiful fruit, possibly the quince or the apricot, and “apples of gold” are most likely ornaments shaped like such fruit and made of gold (zâhâb), the most precious metal of all. “Pictures” translates maskîyth, a figure carved on stone, on a wall or on some other object, and here it describes a setting of silver (keçeph), perhaps filigree or latticework, that holds the golden fruit and shows it off. Silver was a little less valuable than gold, and its pale shine set off the warm glow of the gold. Objects like this belonged to kings, to the temple and to the very rich, so every hearer knew at once that this was something rare, beautiful and costly.

That is what a fitting word is worth. It has value in itself, like the gold, and it is given in a way and at a moment that let its value be seen, like the silver setting around it. It also delights the one who receives it, the way a beautiful thing delights the eye.

“As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.” Verse 12 moves from a fitting word in general to one kind in particular, a word of correction, and again the picture is gold. The earring, nezem, can also be a nose-ring, and both were prized pieces of jewellery. The ornament, chălîy, is a trinket or jewel, and it is made of kethem, fine gold, pure and unalloyed, set beside the ordinary word for gold, zâhâb. Jewellery in Israel was valued for its beauty and its worth, and pieces were sometimes handed down as heirlooms or showed a person’s standing.

The reprover is one who does yâkach, a verb that means to decide, rebuke, correct, convince or convict, and to reason together. A reprover in this sense sets out to put something right and to bring the other person to see it. He is châkâm, wise, a word that also means skilful, so his correction comes from understanding and is given with skill. He knows what to say, how to say it and when. A wise rebuke aims at the good of the one who receives it, the way a physician names an illness so that it can be healed. In Israel such a word might come from an elder, a prophet or a trusted friend. Paul’s phrase for it is speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

The proverb sets the jewel on the ear. “Obedient” is shâmaʻ, to hear with attention, often with the sense of obeying, and with ʼôzen, the ear, it describes a person who listens, understands and is willing to act on what he hears. The rebuke and the hearing together make the gold, and wise correction that meets a closed ear does little good. Proverbs says that “the ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise” (Proverbs 15:31), that a wise man who is rebuked will love the one who rebuked him and grow wiser still (Proverbs 9:8–9), and that “a wise man will hear, and will increase learning” (Proverbs 1:5). The fool who despises instruction stands on the other side (Proverbs 1:7), and the whole book calls us to get wisdom above everything else (Proverbs 4:7). James asks for the same kind of hearing when he calls us to be doers of the word as well as hearers (James 1:22).

Hearing in this way takes humility. It means setting aside pride and defensiveness and receiving even an uncomfortable truth as a gift meant for our good. God gives grace to the humble and resists the proud, and he corrects those he loves. A wise rebuke humbly heard is one of the ways his wisdom reaches us through other people.

“As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.” Harvest in Israel (qâtsîyr, the reaping season) fell from late spring into early summer, roughly May to July, and the work was long and hard under a hot sun. Snow came from high peaks such as Mount Hermon, and it was sometimes stored in pits or caves and used to cool drinks and food. The “cold of snow” (tsinnâh, coldness, a piercing cold) at harvest is relief of that kind, rare, welcome and reviving, coming to people worn out by heat.

A messenger in that world carried word over long distances on foot or by animal, and those who sent him waited anxiously, sometimes for news of a battle or a distant venture. The messenger is a tsîyr, a herald or one sent on an errand, a word that elsewhere can also mean a hinge or a pang. “Them that send him” uses shâlach, to send, and “masters” is ʼâdôwn, lord or master. He is faithful, ʼâman, from a root whose senses run from supporting and fostering, as a nurse cares for a child, to being firm and true. Here it describes a man who can be trusted completely, who delivers the message as it was given, promptly and uncorrupted.

What he gives those who sent him is refreshment of soul. “Refresheth” is shûwb, to turn back or return, and “soul” is nephesh, a breathing creature, life, the self. The masters’ spirit is brought back to them, the way cold water brings a tired reaper back to himself. The relief reaches the whole person, mind and heart, as worry lifts and confidence returns.

Proverbs sets this man beside his opposites. The sluggard sent on an errand is “as vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes” (Proverbs 10:26), and “a wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health” (Proverbs 13:17). The book also urges us to hold fast to mercy and truth (Proverbs 3:3). Faithfulness of this kind reflects God, who keeps his covenant with those who love him (Deuteronomy 7:9) and whose faithfulness is round about him (Psalm 89:8). It is what the master in Jesus’ parable praises: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). Being reliable is one way we serve the people who depend on us.

“Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.” In a land that lived by its crops and flocks, rain (geshem, a shower) meant life, and Israel received it as God’s blessing. Clouds and wind came before the rain, so when they gathered, farmers hoped. When they passed over and left the ground dry, that hope was dashed, and drought and hunger could follow. Every Israelite knew that disappointment.

The boaster raises the same hope. “Boasteth” is hâlal, which first means to shine and so to make a show, to boast, and it can also describe loud foolishness. The “false gift” is a mattath sheqer, a gift of falsehood. Sheqer means a lie or a sham, and it also carries the senses “vain” and “disappointment”. This is a gift that exists only in talk: generosity promised, a skill or influence claimed, a spiritual gift or a knowledge the man lacks. Whether he means to deceive or simply talks large, those who trust him are left empty-handed and lose their trust in him.

Proverbs condemns the same falseness in other forms. “Lying lips are abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 12:22), the false witness is a weapon against his neighbour (Proverbs 25:18), and a flattering mouth works ruin (Proverbs 26:28). The prophets met it in the false prophets who promised, “Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14). The New Testament takes up this very picture for false teachers: “clouds they are without water, carried about of winds” (Jude 1:12), and “wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest” (2 Peter 2:17). James asks for a faith that is shown by its works (James 2:18), and Jesus asks that our yes mean yes and our no mean no (Matthew 5:37).

Over against every empty boast stands God, who “is not a man, that he should lie” (Numbers 23:19). What he promises, he gives.

“By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.” “Long forbearing” translates ‘ôrek ‘appayim, literally “length of nostrils”, a Hebrew way of saying slow to anger. It describes someone who stays calm under provocation and keeps on patiently. Scripture describes God himself as slow to anger, in his own words to Moses (Exodus 34:6), in Moses’ prayer for Israel (Numbers 14:18) and in the Psalms (Psalm 103:8). When we are patient with others, we show them something of who God is.

The “prince” is a qâtsîyn, a ruler or magistrate, a man used to authority and hard to move. In Israel’s world, confronting such a man head-on was usually useless and could be dangerous. The proverb says he can still be won over. “Persuaded” is pâthâh, to open or make roomy, a verb that can be used in a bad sense of enticing or deceiving. Here it has the good sense of a mind opened over time, so that a ruler who would have refused at first comes round.

The second line puts the same truth in a startling picture. A “soft tongue” (rak, soft or gentle, with lâshôwn, the tongue and so speech) is mild, kind speech. “Breaketh” is shâbar, to break or shatter, and “bone” is gerem, a bone and so whatever is strong and hard, even a person’s very self. Bone is the hardest part of the body, and gentle words break it. Stubbornness, settled opposition and deep prejudice give way to patient gentleness where force would fail. “A soft answer turneth away wrath” (Proverbs 15:1), and the tongue, small as it is, has great power (James 3:5).

Chapters 25 to 29, from Proverbs 25 through Proverbs 29, are proverbs of Solomon that the men of King Hezekiah of Judah copied out, likely in the late eighth century BC. Wisdom flourished at the royal courts of Solomon and Hezekiah, and the work of Hezekiah’s men shows how much Israel valued keeping that wisdom and handing it on. These chapters give a good deal of room to rulers, to conduct among people and to speech, which is why a prince and his messengers appear here beside words of gold. Wisdom was passed on largely by mouth, and in negotiations, in court cases and in daily life the spoken word carried great weight.

Each of these proverbs finds its fullest picture in Jesus Christ. He is the Word made flesh (John 1:14), the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24), in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3), and every word he spoke was true, timely and suited to its purpose.

He was the wise reprover. He spoke hard truth to the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23), and he answered the woman taken in adultery with mercy and a call to leave her sin (John 8:1–11), always aiming to bring people to repentance and life. He was also the obedient ear, listening to the Father and obeying him “unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:6–8).

He is the faithful messenger, “the faithful and true witness” (Revelation 3:14), who brought the Father’s message of salvation and refreshes the weary soul as snow refreshes the reaper. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” he says, and “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:28–29). Where the boaster is a cloud without rain, Christ gives living water (John 4:10–14), and the gift of salvation by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9) is real and freely given.

And he is long forbearing. He bore patiently with a faithless generation and with disciples slow to understand (Mark 9:19), and the people “wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luke 4:22). By that patience and gentleness, and by his humble obedience to the cross, he breaks the hardness of the human heart.

These five sayings give us a picture of speech at its best: a word at its right time, correction given wisely and heard humbly, a message carried faithfully, promises kept, and patience that wins over the hardest heart. Each of them is first true of God. He speaks in season, he corrects those he loves, he is faithful to everything he has said, every promise he makes is kept, and he is slow to anger. When his people speak in these ways, those around them are refreshed like reapers given snow-cold water at harvest, and they taste something of his kindness. Where our own words have been rash, empty or harsh, the patience this passage praises is the same patience God shows to us.