Proverbs 29:21

“A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will not answer.” In Israel a servant, ʻebed, could be anything from a bondservant working off a debt to a trusted manager of a household, and all of them lived under a master whose instruction they were expected to heed. The verb for “corrected”, yâçar, means to chastise, discipline or instruct, and in this verse the instrument is words. Solomon has a particular servant in view, and his trouble lies in the will. He understands (bîyn) what has been said and what is wanted of him. What is missing is the maʻăneh, the answer or reply, so that he hears the correction and stays as he was, silent and unchanged.

The saying follows the one about a people who perish where there is no vision (Proverbs 29:18) and stands among proverbs about rulers, the poor, the wise and the foolish. Its lesson reaches anyone who leads, teaches or raises another person. People differ in how they take correction, and wisdom learns to tell who can be reached by a word and who needs something firmer.

The same stubbornness meets God’s own word. His word is clear, and a heart hardened by sin can understand it and still refuse it. Scripture speaks of the heart as deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9), and Hebrews pleads with those who hear God’s voice to keep their hearts from hardening (Hebrews 3:7–8). Proverbs counts that refusal as the road to ruin, because knowledge begins with the fear of the LORD (Proverbs 1:7).

“Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.” The question asks us to look at someone we have all met. The verb ʼûwts means to press or to hurry, and joined to dâbâr, the ordinary term for a word or a speech, it describes a man whose words rush out ahead of his thinking. Solomon is describing a habit, the settled way a person talks when anger, impatience or the wish to be heard is driving him.

Words carried great weight in Israel, where knowledge, law and wisdom were handed on by mouth and where a reputation or a covenant could stand or fall on what was said. Scripture gives them that weight from the beginning, since God made the world by speaking (Genesis 1:3). Proverbs says that death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21) and warns of the danger in many words (Proverbs 10:19). Jesus says that we shall give account for every careless word (Matthew 12:36–37), and James gives the remedy in a line: “let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19–20).

The fool of Proverbs, the kᵉçîyl, is a hard case already. The word means a fool, someone stupid or silly, and in this book he is the man who is sure of himself and resists instruction. Yet instruction, discipline or the pain his folly brings him may still teach him something. The hasty speaker has a harder road, because his fault is a reflex. It fires before any lesson can be recalled, and each rash word makes fresh trouble for him and for others even while he is learning from the last. The comparison is meant to startle us into taking the tongue seriously.

The proverb speaks directly to a day when a comment can be typed and sent across the world in seconds, with only a screen in front of us to slow us down. Words posted in haste spread falsehood, wound reputations and start quarrels as surely as words spoken in haste.

“He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length.” The servant here is the same ʻebed as in verse 19, and this one has grown up in his master’s house from boyhood (nôʻar, youth). That was common in Israel, and such a servant could become almost one of the family. The law required servants to be treated humanely (Exodus 21:2–11) while keeping the roles of master and servant distinct.

The warning turns on the verb pânaq, to bring up delicately, which Strong’s glosses as “to enervate”. It pictures an upbringing so soft and indulgent that it weakens the one who receives it. The result is given in the word mânôwn, which the KJV renders “son” and which carries the sense of a continuator or heir. A servant who has been pampered for years ends by carrying himself as the heir of the house, claiming a son’s privileges and bringing his master disorder and grief. The care that should have won loyalty has produced presumption.

People ask whether this commends harshness toward servants or children. The proverb warns against the opposite fault, an indulgence that sets few boundaries and expects little, and the rest of Proverbs joins loving care to firm and steady discipline: “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes” (Proverbs 13:24). A child is to be trained up in the way he should go (Proverbs 22:6), and God himself disciplines those he loves (Hebrews 12:6). The lesson holds for parents, employers and anyone with people in their care. Love that only gratifies leaves a person entitled and unready for life, and love that also trains gives him what he needs.

“An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.” The two halves of the verse climb. The “angry man” is literally a “man of nose”, ʼîysh joined to ʼaph, the word for the nose or nostril and so for anger as it shows in the face. He is quick to flare, and he “stirreth up” strife. The verb is gârâh, which pictures grating on someone and provoking a contest. Strife, madon, covered quarrels, lawsuits and even violence, and in the close-knit life of family, clan and village one hot temper could start a feud that tore at the whole community.

The “furious man” is literally a “master of heat”, ba’al chemah. The word chêmâh means heat, and from that rage, and even poison. Anger has become this man’s settled possession, and he “aboundeth in transgression”, peshaʻ, which is rebellion against God’s standards. So anger that begins by disturbing the peace goes on to multiply sins of word, deed and attitude.

Proverbs sets the opposite character beside him: “A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife” (Proverbs 15:18), and “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city” (Proverbs 16:32). The LORD himself is “slow to anger” (Nahum 1:3), and James says why ours must be held in: “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” (James 1:19–20).

The way out of such a temper begins with calling it what the proverb calls it. From there it means finding what feeds the anger, whether pride, fear, insecurity or an old hurt, confessing it to God and to those it has wronged, and learning the plain habits of pausing before answering or stepping away from a provocation. Self-control is part of the fruit of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22–23), and Jesus calls the peacemakers blessed (Matthew 5:9).

“A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.” The word gaʼăvâh comes from a root meaning to be high. It can describe majesty, as it does of God, and in a man it is arrogance, the high opinion of self that refuses to depend on God or on anyone else. The verb shâphêl means to bring low or to humble, so the man who lifts himself up is the man who is put down.

Honour is kâbôwd, which means glory, dignity and respect. It “upholds” (tâmak, to sustain or support) the one who is “humble in spirit”, literally “low of spirit” (shâphâl rûwach), a person who is modest, teachable and aware of his need of God. Honour comes to him as a gift and holds him up. In Israel honour and shame counted for a great deal in public life, and the proverb teaches that the honour worth having is bestowed, finally by God himself.

This is one of the steadiest themes in Scripture. Pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18) and brings disgrace (Proverbs 11:2), while humility comes before honour (Proverbs 18:12) and is joined to riches, honour and life (Proverbs 22:4). The fall of Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12–15 is pride brought low. James says that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6) and calls us to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord (James 4:10), and Peter adds that God lifts up those who humble themselves under his mighty hand (1 Peter 5:6).

“Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not.” The partner is one who shares. The verb châlaq means to divide or to take a portion, so this is a person who has a share in the thief’s gains and so in his guilt. Theft was a serious matter in Israel’s law, which required restitution from the thief (Exodus 22:1–4), and those who joined in a theft or covered for it were condemned along with him.

To hate one’s own soul (sânêʼ nephesh) is the Hebrew way of saying that a man is ruining himself. By his silence he loses his integrity and his peace and stands guilty before God and his neighbours. Proverbs says the same of robbers near the start of the book, that they lie in wait for their own blood (Proverbs 1:18).

The thief stands for any wrongdoer. Whoever enables fraud, deceit or abuse, or covers it up when the truth is called for, has taken a share in it. Bad company corrupts (1 Corinthians 15:33), and Paul tells us to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness” and to bring them to light (Ephesians 5:11). God’s people are to do right themselves and also to stand for justice among their neighbours, as Amos cries, “let judgment run down as waters” (Amos 5:24).

“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” This is the best-known saying in the group, and it sets two ways of living side by side.

The fear in view is chărâdâh, a trembling or anxious dread. It is the dread of what people may think, say or do to us. In Israel a person’s standing with the community, its elders and its leaders shaped his whole life, and to be shut out was a heavy loss, so the pull to go along was strong. It is strong still, wherever people chase approval, soften what they believe in order to stay in favour, or keep quiet about the truth for fear of ridicule. Such fear “bringeth” a snare, and the verb is nâthan, the common word for giving or setting. A môwqêsh is the trap or noose laid for an animal, and from that anything that brings a person to ruin. The one who lives by the fear of others is caught: his conscience is bound, his choices are made for him, and his integrity goes. At bottom the fear of man is a kind of idolatry, since it puts human approval where God’s approval belongs.

Trust is bâṭach, to rely with confidence, to lean one’s weight on someone and feel secure there. Its object is the LORD, Yᵉhôvâh, the covenant name of God, the self-existent and eternal one. Israel’s neighbours looked for security in alliances, wealth and armies, and a psalm sets trust in the name of the LORD against trust in chariots (Psalm 20:7).

“Safe” is sâgab, to be high, lifted up out of reach. The picture is of a person set on a height far above the danger. God himself is that height, the refuge and strength of his people (Psalm 46:1), and “in the fear of the LORD is strong confidence” (Proverbs 14:26–27). The psalmist says, “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?” (Psalm 118:6). Through Isaiah God asks his people why they should be afraid of a man who will die (Isaiah 51:12), and Jesus tells his disciples that those who kill the body are powerless to kill the soul (Matthew 10:28).

“Many seek the ruler’s favour; but every man’s judgment cometh from the LORD.” The ruler’s “favour” is literally his face (pânîym). Kings, governors and judges in Israel and the nations around held great power over a person’s livelihood and his case in court, and to be received into the ruler’s presence could mean protection, justice or advancement. So many “seek” it. The verb is bâqash, to search out or strive after, and the search went on by flattery, gifts, alliances and manoeuvring.

The second line says where the matter is truly decided. The word mishpâṭ means a verdict or sentence, and more widely justice, a person’s right, and the just ordering of his affairs. Every man’s comes from the LORD, Yᵉhôvâh again, as in the verse before. “Many” seek the ruler and “every man” is judged by God, so the second line takes in everyone.

The ruler himself is in God’s hand. The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, who turns it like channels of water (Proverbs 21:1). “Put not your trust in princes,” says the psalm (Psalm 146:3–5), and another, “The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought” (Psalm 33:10–11). His dominion is everlasting (Daniel 4:34–35).

Two kinds of people hear this in two ways. The one who has been overlooked, despised or wronged by human courts learns that his vindication rests with a judge who sees all and judges rightly. The powerful learn that their own verdicts answer to a higher one.

“An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.” The chapter has been setting righteous and wicked rule side by side, with the king who judges the poor faithfully (Proverbs 29:14) and the transgression that grows when the wicked increase (Proverbs 29:16). It ends by saying how deep the divide runs.

The unjust man is a man of ʻevel, which means wrong, injustice or iniquity. An abomination, tôwʻêbah, is something detestable, a word Scripture uses for idols and for practices the law forbids. The same word comes back in the second line, turned the other way. The word for upright, yâshâr, means straight, and the one who is “upright in the way” walks a straight path of honesty and integrity.

The just detest injustice because they share God’s mind about it. He is the LORD who gives justice to the oppressed (Deuteronomy 10:18), who knows the way of the righteous (Psalm 1:6), and to whom “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination” (Proverbs 15:8). The wicked detest the upright for another reason. An honest life is a standing rebuke that shows up what they are doing. Jesus says that everyone who does evil hates the light and keeps away from it so that his deeds stay hidden (John 3:19–20), and Paul says that “the carnal mind is enmity against God” (Romans 8:7–8). So a person who walks uprightly should expect some hostility, and it is often a sign that he is walking in the light. Scripture leaves no neutral ground between the two ways.

Jesus stands on the right side of every one of these proverbs, and he is God’s remedy for the faults they describe.

The servant who understands and makes no answer is a picture of mankind before God. We knew his will through conscience, creation and the Law, and we held back our obedience. The Law made sin known (Romans 3:20) and was “weak through the flesh” (Romans 8:3), so words alone left the heart as it was. Jesus, the Servant of the LORD (Isaiah 42:1), obeyed perfectly and offered himself on the cross, and the Spirit he gives writes God’s law on hearts of flesh, where once it stood on tables of stone (2 Corinthians 3:3). So a believer is able at last to answer God with obedience.

The pampered servant presumes on a son’s place. In the gospel God gives sonship freely, and it produces the opposite spirit. The Son whom God gave (John 3:16) came to serve and to give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Through faith in him we are children of God (Galatians 3:26), we receive the Spirit of adoption and cry “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15), and we are heirs together with Christ (Romans 8:17). Those who know what their adoption cost answer it with grateful service.

His words were always fitting. He came full of grace and truth (John 1:14) and taught with authority (Matthew 7:28–29). He answered the high priest with measured words (Matthew 26:62–64), and at times he chose silence, as Isaiah foretold of the lamb before its shearers (Isaiah 53:7). His anger was righteous, as when he cleansed the temple (Matthew 21:12–13), and when he was reviled he refused to answer insult with insult (1 Peter 2:23). By his Spirit his people put off anger and wrath (Colossians 3:8).

He is the humble in spirit whom honour upholds. Being in the form of God, he took the form of a servant and was obedient as far as death on a cross, and God has therefore highly exalted him and given him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow (Philippians 2:6–10). He taught the rule he lived by: whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:12).

Where the thief’s partner hides what he knows, Jesus brought evil into the open. He exposed the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:13–36), cast out unclean spirits with authority (Mark 1:21–28), and said that he came into the world to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37). The curse that falls on guilty silence, and on all our sin, he took on himself when he was made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13), and he sends his people out as the light of the world (Matthew 5:14–16).

He lived free of the fear of man, doing always what pleased the Father (John 8:29) and praying in Gethsemane that the Father’s will be done (Luke 22:42). He is also the one in whom we trust: the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), in whom all the promises of God are yea and Amen (2 Corinthians 1:20), the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep (John 10:11) and holds them fast in his hand (John 10:28). The safety of verse 25 comes to its fullest in him, for the believer’s life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3), secure from sin and death as well as from the opinions of men.

The judgment that comes from the LORD has been given into his hands. He is King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16), all power in heaven and in earth is his (Matthew 28:18), and God has appointed him judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42). His reign of justice and peace is endless (Isaiah 9:7). The favour worth seeking is his, and he gives it freely as reconciliation with God.

And he is the upright one whom the wicked detested. Righteousness and faithfulness are the belt he wears (Isaiah 11:5). The world hated him because he testified that its works were evil (John 7:7), and it put to death the Holy and Righteous One (Acts 3:14). Yet on the cross he was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21), and so those who were an abomination are justified by faith and have peace with God (Romans 5:1).

Read together, these sayings show a God who cares about the ordinary places where character is formed and tested: how a household is run, how quickly we speak, what we do with anger, whose opinion we dread. He is the judge every person will finally meet, and he is the high refuge of everyone who trusts him.

They also give us an honest picture of ourselves. Each of us has been at some time the servant who understood and stayed silent, the quick tongue, the hot temper, or the one who kept quiet when the truth was called for. The proverbs name those things plainly, and the gospel meets them with a Saviour who bore the curse and a Spirit who makes the heart able to answer.

And they hand us a freedom. A person who knows that his judgment comes from the LORD is able to respect rulers and still live for God’s favour first, and to hear other people’s opinions and still follow his conscience. Where trust in the LORD takes the place of the fear of man, the promise of verse 25 stands over the whole of life: “whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.”