Proverbs 3: Trust God with all your heart | Bible study

Trust God more than your own ideas, with your thinking, your things and your hard days. That is what being wise is. It is worth more than treasure, and it shows in how you treat your neighbours.

Proverbs 3:1

My child, do not forget what I teach you. Keep the things I tell you to do safe in your heart.

My son, do not forget my teaching,

The first instruction is about memory. Forgetting here is not a slip of the mind; it is letting the teaching stop governing what you do.

but let your heart keep guard over my commands.

The positive side. The commands are to be kept in the heart, the place where decisions are made, so that obedience comes from inside and is not only outward.

שכח · shakach · forget: The verb used of the woman who forgot her covenant in 2:17. Forgetting is how unfaithfulness starts.
תורה · torah · direction, instruction: From a root meaning to point the way. Here it is the father's instruction, as it was the mother's in 1:8.
לב · lev · mind and will: The inner person that thinks and decides. The heart appears again in verses 3 and 5.
נצר · natsar · guard, keep: To guard like a watchman. In 2:11 understanding guards you; here your heart guards the commands. It returns in verse 21.
מצוה · mitsvah · command: Paired with torah, as in Israel's Law. The father's teaching is given with authority.

Proverbs 3:2

They will give you a long life, and a good and peaceful one.

For many days and years of life

The first promise. As a general rule, a life lived by this teaching lasts longer, because it avoids what cuts lives short. Years of life means years that are really lived, not just survived.

and well-being they will add to you.

Not only more time but good time. The commands add wholeness: things being right with God, with others and in yourself. They give; they do not take away.

ארך ימים · orek yamim · length of days: Long life, the promise attached to honoring parents in Exodus 20:12. The same phrase returns in verse 16.
חיים · chayyim · life: Life in its full sense: vitality and blessing, not bare existence.
שלום · shalom · wholeness, well-being: From a root meaning to be whole or complete. Everything as it should be.
יסף · yasaph · add, increase: To add on. The root of the name Joseph.

Proverbs 3:3

Never let go of love and of keeping your promises. Wear them like a necklace, and write them deep in your heart.

Do not let loyal love and faithfulness leave you;

The second instruction. These two words describe a person who keeps his commitments and can be relied on. They are spoken of as companions who might walk off if you do not hold on to them.

tie them around your neck,

Wear them where they are always on you and everyone can see them, like a necklace. Loyalty should be the visible mark of who you are.

write them on the tablet of your heart.

And put them deeper than the outside: engraved in your inner self so they cannot be rubbed out. The two pictures together mean outwardly and inwardly, in conduct and in character.

חסד · chesed · loyal love: Love that keeps faith with someone it is committed to. No single English word covers it; it is kindness that comes from loyalty.
אמת · emet · faithfulness, reliability: From the root aman, to be firm (the root of amen). It means being dependable as well as telling the truth. The pair chesed and emet describes God Himself in Exodus 34:6.
קשר · qashar · tie on: To tie or bind on. The same verb as Deuteronomy 6:8, where God's words are bound on the hand.
גרגרות · gargerot · neck, throat: A word found only in Proverbs. It comes back in verse 22.
לוח · luach · writing tablet: The word for the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 31:18). Your heart is to be a tablet like that.
לב · lev · mind and will: The heart that guards the commands in verse 1 is also the surface they are written on.

Lasting records were cut into stone or wooden tablets, and God's own commands were written on tablets of stone. To write something on the tablet of your heart is to make it as permanent in you as an inscription. Jeremiah 31:33 uses the same picture for the new covenant.

Proverbs 3:4

Then God will be pleased with you, and so will people. They will know you have good sense.

Then you will find favor and a name for good sense

The promise attached to verse 3. A loyal and dependable person is welcomed and well thought of. People trust his judgment because they have seen his faithfulness.

in the eyes of God and of people.

The approval comes from both directions, and God is named first. This is not popularity bought by pleasing people; it is the regard that real loyalty earns from heaven and earth alike.

מצא · matsa · find: To find favor in someone's eyes is the standard Hebrew idiom for being accepted by them, as Noah was in Genesis 6:8.
חן · chen · grace, favor: Grace: the goodwill someone shows you. It returns in verses 22 and 34.
שכל טוב · sekel tov · good sense: Literally good insight. Sekel is from the same root as wise behavior in 1:3.
עין · ayin · eye: Literally in the eyes of. The same word returns in verse 7, where the eyes are your own.

The Hebrew says favor and good insight. Since insight is hard to 'find in someone's eyes', versions take it as being regarded as sensible: a good reputation, a good name, or high esteem. Others keep it literal as good understanding or good success.

Proverbs 3:5

Trust God with all your heart. Do not lean on what you think you know.

Trust the LORD with all your heart,

The third instruction and the centre of the chapter. Put your whole weight on God, with no part of your mind held back as a reserve plan.

and do not prop yourself up on your own understanding.

The contrast shows what trust means. To lean is to rest your weight on something. Your own understanding is real, and Proverbs wants you to have it, but it cannot bear your whole weight. Use it; do not rest on it.

בטח · batach · trust, rely on: To feel safe because of what you are relying on. The noun from this root, betach, is the word securely in verses 23 and 29.
יהוה · YHWH · God's covenant name: The trust is not in fate or in religion generally but in the God who made promises to Israel and keeps them.
לב · lev · mind and will: Third time in five verses. All your heart means your thinking and deciding, not only your feelings.
שען · sha'an · lean on, rest weight: To support yourself on something, as a man leans on a staff or on someone's arm (2 Kings 5:18).
בינה · binah · insight: The very thing 2:3 told you to cry out for. Insight is good; treating your own as final is not.

Proverbs 3:6

Think of Him in everything you do, and He will make your paths straight.

In all your ways know Him,

All matches the all of verse 5. Every area of life, not only the religious ones, is to be lived with God in view: what He has said and that you answer to Him.

and He Himself will make your paths straight.

The promise. God clears and levels the road so that you get where you should. It is not a promise of an easy road but of a right one that arrives.

דרך · derek · road, way of life: A road, so a course of life. In the plural it means every separate thing you undertake.
ידע · yada · know: The ordinary verb to know, by experience and relationship. More than a nod in His direction: know Him in each thing you do.
ישר · yashar · make straight, level: The verb form of the word upright. Isaiah 40:3 uses it for levelling a highway.
ארח · orach · path, course: The road word used five times in chapter 2. There you kept to the right paths; here God straightens them.

'Acknowledge' can sound like a brief mention. The Hebrew is simply 'know Him'. Some versions have 'submit to Him' or 'think about Him'. The promise is literally 'He will straighten your paths', which older versions give as 'direct your paths'.

Proverbs 3:7

Do not think you are wise already. Respect God, and turn away from what is wrong.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;

The fourth instruction, the other side of verse 5. The danger is not lacking wisdom but being sure you already have it. A person who rates himself wise has stopped listening.

fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

The cure. Taking God seriously puts your own opinion in its place, and it shows in action: you walk away from what is wrong. Humility here is something you do.

חכם · chakam · wise: The adjective from chokmah. Being wise is the goal of the book; being wise in your own view is the counterfeit (26:12).
עין · ayin · eye: Your own estimate of yourself. Verse 4 spoke of the eyes of God and people; these are the eyes that mislead.
ירא · yare · fear, revere: The verb behind yir'ah, the fear of the LORD in 1:7. A different word from the dread of verses 24 and 25.
סור · sur · turn aside: To leave the road you are on. Job is described with this same phrase in Job 1:1.
רע · ra · bad, harmful: The broad word for what is bad and does harm. Its feminine form returns in verses 29 and 30.

Proverbs 3:8

That will make your body well. It will be like a cool drink that makes you strong right down to your bones.

It will be healing for your body

The promise attached to verse 7. Humility before God and a clean conscience are good for you physically. A person not eaten up by pride, guilt and scheming is healthier.

and a refreshing drink for your bones.

Bones stand for the deepest frame of a person. The picture is of dry bones given moisture: strength restored from the inside.

רפאות · riph'ut · healing: From rapha, to heal. The LORD calls Himself Israel's healer with this root in Exodus 15:26.
שר · shor · navel: Literally navel, as in Ezekiel 16:4. The centre of the body stands for the whole.
שקוי · shiqquy · a drink: From shaqah, to give drink or to water. Something that moistens what was dry.
עצם · etsem · bone: In Hebrew the bones feel a person's condition: they dry up in grief (17:22) and are made fat by good news (15:30).

The Hebrew says 'healing to your navel'. The ancient Greek translation has 'body', which may reflect a slightly different Hebrew word for flesh, and most English versions follow it. The meaning does not change: health at the core of you.

Proverbs 3:9

Show God how much He matters by giving to Him from what you have. Give Him the first part of everything you grow, not the leftovers.

Honor the LORD out of your wealth,

The fifth instruction brings trust down to money. To honor is to treat as weighty. You show God counts by giving to Him from what you own.

and out of the first of everything you harvest.

First, not leftovers. Giving the first portion before you know how the rest of the harvest will turn out is trust in action, and it says the whole crop came from Him.

כבד · kabed · treat as weighty: From the root for heavy. To honor is to give weight to. The same verb as the command about parents in Exodus 20:12.
הון · hon · wealth, goods: Possessions and capital. The word the gang used for their hoped-for loot in 1:13.
ראשית · reshit · first and best: The word of 1:7 and Genesis 1:1. Both the first in time and the choice part.
תבואה · tevu'ah · yield, income: From bo, to come in: what comes in from the field. It returns in verse 14 for what Wisdom yields.

Israel's farmers brought the first part of each harvest to the sanctuary as firstfruits (Exodus 23:19, Deuteronomy 26:1-11). The worshipper handed over the basket and declared that the land and its crop were God's gift. The offering supported the priests.

Proverbs 3:10

Then your barns will be filled right up, and your tubs will overflow with new wine.

Then your storehouses will be filled to plenty,

The promise. Giving to God does not leave you short. This is the general pattern of how God treats those who honor Him, stated as a proverb and not as a contract.

and your vats will burst with new wine.

Grain and wine together are the two main harvests. Burst is a strong word: more than the vats can hold.

אסם · asam · storehouse: A place for storing grain. The word occurs elsewhere only in Deuteronomy 28:8, in the list of covenant blessings.
שבע · sava · abundance, fullness: Having enough and more. From the same root as filled in 1:31, there in a bad sense.
יקב · yeqev · wine vat: The lower basin of a winepress where the juice collects.
פרץ · parats · burst out: To break through or burst. Stronger than the English overflow.
תירוש · tirosh · fresh wine: The fresh product of the grape harvest, often paired with grain as the sign of a good year.

A winepress was two basins cut in rock. Grapes were trodden in the upper one and the juice ran through a channel into the lower vat. A vat that could not hold the flow meant an exceptional harvest.

Proverbs 3:11

My child, do not push away God's training. Do not get fed up when He corrects you.

My son, do not reject the LORD's discipline,

The sixth instruction deals with what verses 9 and 10 might leave out: times when things go badly. Hardship may be God's training. Do not throw it off as worthless.

and do not grow sick of His correction,

The second response to avoid is weariness and resentment. One person rejects correction outright; another endures it with loathing. Both miss what it is for.

מאס · ma'as · reject, despise: To refuse something as not worth having.
מוסר · musar · discipline, correction: The key word of 1:2 to 1:8. There it came from father and book; here from the LORD Himself, and it stands first in the Hebrew sentence.
קוץ · quts · feel loathing: To be sick of something. The word Israel used about the manna in Numbers 21:5.
תוכחת · tokachat · correction: Correction that shows you where you were wrong. In 1:25 and 1:30 the fools would have none of it.

Proverbs 3:12

God corrects the people He loves, just as a dad corrects the child he is so pleased with.

for the LORD corrects the one He loves,

The reason. Correction is not a sign God has turned against you but a sign that He cares what you become. Being left alone would be the worse sign.

as a father does the son he is pleased with.

The comparison explains it. A father corrects his own child, the one he delights in, not a stranger's. God's discipline comes from that same relationship.

אהב · ahav · love: The normal word for love. It is placed before the verb for correcting: love is the cause, correction the result.
יכח · yakach · correct, reprove: The verb behind tokachat in verse 11. To set someone right by showing him his fault.
אב · av · father: The chapter is a father speaking to a son. Here he says God deals with the son the same way.
רצה · ratsah · be pleased with: To accept with pleasure. The root of ratson, favor or goodwill.

Hebrews 12:5-6 quotes these two verses from the ancient Greek translation, where the second line reads 'and punishes every son He receives'. The Greek translators read the same Hebrew consonants as a verb (to cause pain) where the Hebrew text has 'as a father'. The point is the same in both.

Proverbs 3:13

How happy is the person who finds wisdom, the one who learns to understand!

How fortunate is the person who finds wisdom,

A new section, a poem in praise of Wisdom. It opens by congratulating whoever gets her. Finds assumes the search of chapter 2.

the person who gains understanding.

The same thing in other words, with a verb that suggests drawing something out. Understanding is brought out by effort, and the one who has it is to be envied.

אשרי · ashrei · how fortunate!: An exclamation of congratulation, the first word of Psalm 1. A different word from the blessing God pronounces (barak, verse 33).
מצא · matsa · find: The result of the seeking in 2:4 and 2:5.
חכמה · chokmah · skill at living: In verses 13 to 18 wisdom is spoken of as a woman: her profit, her hands, her paths.
פוק · puq · bring out, obtain: To draw out or bring forth. In 8:35 the same verb is used of obtaining favor from the LORD.
תבונה · tevunah · understanding: The partner of chokmah throughout chapter 2, and again in verse 19.

Proverbs 3:14

What wisdom earns for you is better than what silver earns. What she gives is better than gold.

For what she earns you is better than what silver earns,

The reason she is worth finding, put in a merchant's terms. Trading in wisdom gives a better return than trading in money.

and her yield is better than gold.

The comparison is raised from silver to gold. What wisdom produces, such as the life, peace and favor already named, cannot be bought with either metal.

סחר · sachar · trading gain: From the verb to travel about as a merchant. The profit made by trading.
כסף · keseph · silver, money: The everyday form of money. In 2:4 wisdom was to be sought like silver; here she is worth more than it.
תבואה · tevu'ah · yield, income: The word for the harvest in verse 9. Wisdom has a harvest of her own.
חרוץ · charuts · gold: A poetic word for gold, used mostly in Proverbs.

Proverbs 3:15

She is worth more than jewels. Nothing else you could ever want is as good as she is.

She is worth more than jewels,

The comparison goes up once more, to the rarest things people own.

and nothing you could want is equal to her.

Now the widest claim: take anything at all that you desire, and it does not match her. This is why verse 5 could ask for all your heart; she is worth it.

יקר · yaqar · rare, costly: Valuable because scarce. The gang wanted precious wealth in 1:13; this is what is really precious.
פנינים · peninim · corals or pearls: A costly ornamental stone, probably red coral or pearls. The excellent wife of 31:10 is valued above them too.
חפץ · chephets · delight, thing desired: What you take pleasure in and want.
שוה · shavah · be equal to: To be level with, to match in value. This line is repeated almost word for word in 8:11.

Proverbs 3:16

In her right hand she holds out a long life. In her left hand she holds riches and the respect of others.

Long life is in her right hand;

Wisdom is pictured holding out gifts in both hands. The right hand, the hand of greater honor, holds long life, the first thing promised in verse 2.

in her left are wealth and honor.

The other hand holds what people usually chase directly. The verses before said she is worth more than wealth; this one says wealth and honor tend to come with her anyway, as by-products.

ארך ימים · orek yamim · length of days: The exact phrase of verse 2. What the father's commands add, Wisdom hands over.
ימין · yamin · right hand: The hand of strength and favor, and the place of honor.
שמאל · semol · left hand: With the right hand it means both hands full: she gives everything she has.
עשר · osher · wealth: Material wealth.
כבוד · kavod · weight, honor: From the root of honor in verse 9. Standing and respect. It returns in verse 35.

God offered Solomon whatever he wished. He asked for wisdom, not for long life or riches. God gave him wisdom, added riches and honor, and promised long life if he kept God's ways (1 Kings 3:11-14). The same three gifts are in this verse.

Proverbs 3:17

Her ways are lovely to walk on, and every one of her paths is peaceful.

Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

The road wisdom leads you on is good to walk. It is not a grim road endured for a reward at the end.

and all her paths are peace.

All, with no exception. Each of her paths leads into well-being, and none of them ends in the ruin that the crooked paths of chapter 2 ended in.

דרך · derek · road, way of life: The word of verse 6. Your ways there, her ways here.
נעם · no'am · pleasantness, delight: From the verb in 2:10, where knowledge is pleasant to the soul.
נתיבה · netivah · trodden track: A beaten track. The word used of the sinners' path in 1:15.
שלום · shalom · wholeness, well-being: The shalom promised in verse 2. The paths are not said to lead to peace; they are peace.

Proverbs 3:18

Wisdom is like a tree that gives life to those who take hold of her. Happy are the ones who hold on tight and never let go.

She is a tree of life to those who grasp her,

The poem's high point. The tree of life stood in Eden and its fruit meant unending life. Wisdom is said to be that kind of source of life for anyone who takes firm hold of her.

and those who hold her fast are called fortunate.

The poem closes on the word it opened with in verse 13. The condition is not letting go: she gives life to people who keep hold, not to those who touch her once.

עץ חיים · ets chayyim · tree of life: The tree of Genesis 2:9 and 3:22, from which Adam and Eve were barred. Proverbs uses the phrase four times (also 11:30, 13:12, 15:4).
חזק · chazaq · seize, grip firmly: From the root to be strong. To grip with strength.
תמך · tamak · grasp, hold fast: To keep hold of something. It is used of holding up Moses' hands in Exodus 17:12.
אשר · ashar · call fortunate: The verb from which ashrei comes. It forms a frame with verse 13.

Proverbs 3:19

God used wisdom to lay the bottom of the earth, like building a house. With understanding He set the sky in its place.

By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundation;

The largest reason to value wisdom. The wisdom offered to you is what God Himself used to make the world. The earth is pictured as a building set on foundations.

by understanding He set the heavens in place.

Earth and heavens together mean everything. Since the world was built by wisdom, living wisely is living in line with how things are actually made. That is why her paths are peace.

חכמה · chokmah · skill at living: The skill of a craftsman, here God's skill as builder. Proverbs 8:22-31 expands this verse into a full poem.
יסד · yasad · lay a foundation: A builder's word for laying the base of a structure.
ארץ · erets · earth, land: The same word as the land in 2:21, here in its widest sense.
כון · kun · set firm: To fix in place so that it stands.
תבונה · tevunah · understanding: The pair of verse 13 is repeated: what a person finds is what God built with.

Proverbs 3:20

Because of what He knows, the deep waters under the ground burst open, and the sky drips down dew.

By His knowledge the deep waters were split open,

The third wisdom word. The waters under the ground were opened up, which is where springs and rivers come from. The water that feeds the land is there by God's knowledge.

and the skies drip down dew.

From the great act of creation the verse comes down to the quietest daily one. The dew that waters the fields each night comes from the same wisdom. It keeps the world running as well as having made it.

דעת · da'at · knowledge: With wisdom and understanding in verse 19 this completes a set of three. The same three are given by God in 2:6.
תהום · tehom · the deep: The deep of Genesis 1:2, the great waters below. Here in the plural.
בקע · baqa · split open: To split or cleave. Genesis 7:11 uses the same verb with the same noun for the fountains of the deep.
שחק · shachaq · clouds, skies: The thin clouds or the sky itself.
טל · tal · dew: Night moisture, a standard picture of God's blessing (Genesis 27:28, Hosea 14:5).

Almost no rain falls in Israel from about May to September. Heavy night dew is what keeps vines and summer crops alive through those months, so dew was counted among God's chief gifts and its absence as a curse (1 Kings 17:1).

Proverbs 3:21

My child, never let good sense and thinking ahead slip out of your sight. Guard them well.

My son, do not let these slip out of your sight;

A new address. Wisdom has to be kept in view the way you keep your eyes on something you must not lose. The danger is not a dramatic rejection but letting it drift out of sight.

keep guard over sound judgment and foresight,

This names what must not slip away: judgment that works, and the habit of thinking ahead. Guard is the watchman's verb from verse 1, so the second half of the chapter opens as the first did.

לוז · luz · turn aside, slip away: To veer off. The verb used of the devious men in 2:15, and again in verse 32.
עין · ayin · eye: Literally from your eyes. The eyes are to stay on wisdom, not on yourself (verse 7).
נצר · natsar · guard, keep: The same verb as verse 1, where the English also has comply.
תושיה · tushiyyah · sound, effective wisdom: Wisdom that works out in practice. God stores it up for the upright in 2:7.
מזמה · mezimmah · foresight, planning: Thinking a thing through beforehand. In 2:11 it keeps watch over you.

The Hebrew does not say what 'they' are in the first line. Most take it as pointing forward to sound wisdom and discretion in the second line; some take it as pointing back to the wisdom, understanding and knowledge of verses 19 and 20.

Proverbs 3:22

They will be life to you. They will be like a lovely necklace for you to wear.

and they will be life to you

The result of keeping them. They are what keeps you alive in the full sense, as verses 2, 16 and 18 have already said.

and grace around your neck.

They also make you attractive to others. Wisdom worn openly is like fine jewellery: it wins people's regard. The line picks up the neck of verse 3 and the favor of verse 4.

חיים · chayyim · life: The fourth mention of life in the chapter.
נפש · nephesh · self, whole person: Your whole living self. Life to your nephesh means life to you.
חן · chen · grace, favor: The same word as favor in verse 4. Here it is the grace or charm of an ornament, as in the garland of grace in 1:9.
גרגרות · gargerot · neck, throat: The word of verse 3. What you tied round your neck there turns out to be an ornament.

Proverbs 3:23

Then you will go on your way safely, and your foot will not trip on anything.

Then you will go on your way in safety,

The first practical result, covering the daytime. You can go about your life with confidence, because you are on a road that is sound.

and your foot will not strike against anything.

The picture is of walking a path without hitting a stone and falling. With foresight you do not walk into the troubles that trip up the careless.

הלך · halak · walk, live: To walk, the standard picture for conducting your life.
דרך · derek · road, way of life: Your way, the one God promised to straighten in verse 6.
בטח · betach · in safety, in trust: The noun from batach, trust, in verse 5. Trusting the LORD is what produces walking in safety.
רגל · regel · foot: The foot returns in verse 26, where the LORD keeps it from the trap.
נגף · nagaph · strike, knock against: To strike against something. The same verb is in Psalm 91:12, about not striking your foot on a stone.

Proverbs 3:24

When you lie down at night you will not be afraid. You will lie down, and your sleep will be sweet.

When you lie down you will not be in dread;

Now the night. Lying down is when a person is most exposed and when worries come. The one who lives wisely has nothing hanging over him.

you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.

The line repeats lie down and goes further, from no fear to real rest. Day in verse 23 and night here together cover all of life.

שכב · shakav · lie down: Used in both lines. The first has the lying down, the second the sleep that follows.
פחד · pachad · be in dread: The verb of the noun dread in 1:26, 1:27 and 1:33. The terror that falls on the fool is absent here.
שנה · shenah · sleep: Compare Psalm 4:8, lying down and sleeping in peace because the LORD makes one dwell in safety.
ערב · arav · be pleasant: To be pleasing or sweet. Jeremiah 31:26 uses it of sleep as well.

Proverbs 3:25

Do not be scared of sudden trouble, or of the ruin that will come on bad people.

Do not be afraid of sudden terror,

The promise becomes an instruction. Sudden disaster is the kind you cannot plan for. You are told not to live braced for it.

or of the ruin of the wicked when it comes,

When it comes, not if. Devastation does arrive. But it is the storm of 1:27, aimed at those who refused wisdom, and you need not fear being swept away in it.

ירא · yare · fear: The verb of verse 7. Fear the LORD and you need not fear this.
פחד פתאם · pachad pit'om · sudden dread: Pachad is the dread of 1:26; pit'om means suddenly. Terror that arrives without warning.
שואה · sho'ah · devastation, storm: The word translated storm in 1:27. Ruin that crashes in.
רשע · rasha · guilty, wicked: The person in the wrong before God. He returns in verse 33.

'The ruin of the wicked' can mean the ruin that comes upon the wicked or the ruin the wicked bring on others. The echo of 1:27 favors the first, and some versions make that explicit; others leave it open, as the Hebrew does.

Proverbs 3:26

God is the one you can count on. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.

for the LORD will be your confidence,

The reason behind verses 23 to 25. The safety does not come from your own carefulness in the end. The LORD Himself is what you rest on.

and He will guard your foot from being trapped.

The foot that does not stumble in verse 23 is kept by Him. In chapter 1 the gang was caught in its own trap; the one who trusts God is kept out of it.

כסל · kesel · confidence; side: The word means the loins or flank and also confidence. It is from the same root as kesil, the fool, whose confidence is in himself.
שמר · shamar · keep, watch: The guard verb of 2:8, where the LORD keeps watch over the way of His faithful.
רגל · regel · foot: The foot of verse 23.
לכד · leked · capture, snare: A noun found only here, from the verb to capture or seize.

The Hebrew is literally 'the LORD will be in your kesel'. Because kesel can mean flank, some versions have 'at your side'. Because it can mean confidence, others have 'your confidence'. Both say the same thing: He is the one you rely on.

Proverbs 3:27

When someone ought to have something good from you, and you are able to do it, do not hold it back.

Do not hold back good from those it belongs to

The chapter turns to the neighbor with five 'do nots'. The first is about what you owe: wages, a debt, a loan to return, help someone has a right to. The Hebrew calls such people its owners. Keeping it back is a kind of theft.

when your hand has the power to do it.

This sets the limit and the obligation. If you are able, you must. Ability creates the duty; inability is the only excuse.

מנע · mana · hold back: The verb of 1:15, hold back your foot. There you restrain yourself from evil; here you must not restrain good.
טוב · tov · good: Anything beneficial: payment, help, kindness.
בעל · ba'al · owner: Literally from its owners. The good already belongs to them, so giving it is justice, not generosity.
אל · el · power: Part of an idiom: it is in the power of your hand. The same idiom is in Genesis 31:29 and Micah 2:1.

Proverbs 3:28

If you have what your neighbour needs right there with you, do not say, Go away and come back, and I will give it to you tomorrow.

Do not say to your neighbor, 'Go away and come back,

A concrete case of verse 27: someone comes to you for what he needs or is owed, and you send him off.

tomorrow I will give it,'

The delay sounds polite and reasonable, but it is a refusal dressed up. He may need it today, and tomorrow may bring another excuse.

when you have it there with you.

This is what makes it wrong. There is no real obstacle. Putting off what you can do now treats his need as less important than your convenience.

רע · rea · neighbor, companion: Anyone you have dealings with, the person nearby. The word of Leviticus 19:18, love your neighbor as yourself.
שוב · shuv · return: To return. He is made to come twice for what could be given once.
מחר · machar · tomorrow: Compare 27:1, which warns against counting on tomorrow.
נתן · natan · give: The plain verb to give. The promise to give later takes the place of giving.

A day laborer was paid at the end of each day and lived on that pay. The Law required wages to be handed over before sunset and not kept overnight (Leviticus 19:13, Deuteronomy 24:15). 'Come back tomorrow' could mean a family went without food that night.

Proverbs 3:29

Do not plan to hurt your neighbour, who lives beside you and trusts you.

Do not plot harm against your neighbor

From failing to do good the list moves to planning evil. The verb pictures working at it deliberately.

when he lives beside you trusting you.

What makes it worse is that he suspects nothing. He lives next to you and feels safe. To scheme against him is to betray the trust that neighbors depend on.

חרש · charash · plow; devise: The verb means to plow or engrave and so to work out a plan. Evil is prepared like a field.
רעה · ra'ah · evil, harm: The feminine form of ra (verse 7). In Hebrew it sounds very like the word for neighbor just before it, re'akha ra'ah, which sets friend and harm side by side.
רע · rea · neighbor, companion: The same person as in verse 28.
בטח · betach · in safety, in trust: The word of verse 23. You walk securely because you trust the LORD; your neighbor lives securely because he trusts you.

Proverbs 3:30

Do not pick a fight with anyone for no reason, when they have done nothing to hurt you.

Do not pick a quarrel with anyone for no reason,

The fourth prohibition is against needless conflict: accusing, suing or fighting when there is no ground for it.

when he has done you no harm.

This defines 'no reason'. If you have been wronged there are right ways to seek redress. If you have not, the fight is yours alone, and you are the wrongdoer.

ריב · riv · quarrel, bring a case: To dispute, often in the legal sense of bringing a charge against someone.
חנם · chinnam · for nothing: The word the gang used in 1:11 for attacking the innocent without cause.
גמל · gamal · deal out, repay: To deal with someone, to do him good or ill.
רעה · ra'ah · evil, harm: The word of verse 29. Do not plan it against him, and do not act as though he had done it to you.

Proverbs 3:31

Do not wish you were like a person who hurts others to get what he wants. Do not copy any of the things he does.

Do not envy a man of violence,

The last prohibition goes to the root. The violent man gets results: money, power, his own way. It is tempting to look at that and want it.

and do not choose any of his ways.

Envy leads to imitation, so the second line shuts that door. Not even one of his methods, however well it seems to work. Verses 32 to 35 give the reason.

קנא · qana · be jealous, envy: To burn with jealousy. Proverbs repeats this warning in 23:17 and 24:1.
איש חמס · ish chamas · man of violence: Chamas is violence and wrong done to others, the word for what filled the earth before the flood (Genesis 6:11).
בחר · bachar · choose: The verb of 1:29, where the fools did not choose the fear of the LORD.
דרך · derek · road, way of life: His ways are set against her ways in verse 17, which are pleasant and peaceful.

Proverbs 3:32

God cannot stand a sneaky, crooked person. But He is a close friend to people who are honest.

For the crooked person is detestable to the LORD,

The first of four reasons not to envy the violent, each showing how God regards him. However successful he looks, God finds him repulsive. That settles how it will end.

but the upright are in His confidence.

The contrast. God keeps the straight person close and lets him in on His counsel, as one does with a trusted friend. The crooked man may get wealth; the upright gets God's friendship.

לוז · luz · turn aside, veer: The one who bends off the line, from the verb of 2:15 and of verse 21.
תועבה · to'evah · detestable thing: Something that causes disgust. The phrase abomination to the LORD occurs here for the first time in Proverbs and often afterwards.
ישר · yashar · straight: The straight ones, the opposite of the one who veers. The verb from this root was in verse 6.
סוד · sod · confidential counsel: A circle of close friends and the private talk that goes on in it. See Psalm 25:14 and Amos 3:7.

Proverbs 3:33

God is against the house of bad people, so it will not go well for them. But He blesses the home of people who do right.

The LORD's curse is on the house of the wicked,

The second reason. The wicked man's household, the thing he is building with his gains, stands under God's curse. What he gathers will not prosper in the end.

but He blesses the dwelling of the righteous.

The contrast is in the two homes. The wicked has a house, the righteous a dwelling, a humbler word. The modest home with God's blessing on it is better off than the grand house under His curse.

מארה · me'erah · curse: From arar, to curse. The same noun stands in the covenant warnings of Deuteronomy 28:20.
בית · bayit · house, household: Both the building and the family and fortunes within it.
רשע · rasha · guilty, wicked: The person of verse 25, whose ruin comes.
ברך · barak · bless: God's active blessing, which makes something flourish. A different word from ashrei in verse 13.
נוה · naveh · dwelling, pasture: A shepherd's abode or pasture, and so a settled dwelling place.
צדיק · tsaddiq · one in the right: The person who lives by God's standard, the opposite of rasha.

Proverbs 3:34

When people make fun of others, God makes fun of them. But He is kind to those who know they need help.

As for mockers, He mocks them,

The third reason. God gives people back their own attitude. Those who sneer at correction and at others find God opposing them.

but to the humble He gives favor.

The opposite of the mocker is the lowly person who knows his need. That person receives God's goodwill. The favor verse 4 said you would find is, in the end, something God gives.

ליץ · lits · mock, scorn: The verb behind lets. God answers the mocker in kind, as Wisdom laughed in 1:26.
לץ · lets · mocker: The person of 1:22 who sneers at correction and will not be taught.
חן · chen · grace, favor: Third use in the chapter, after verses 4 and 22.
ענו · anav · humble, lowly: Lowly, whether through hardship or by attitude. The Hebrew manuscripts carry two closely related forms here, one meaning afflicted and one meaning humble.

The ancient Greek translation renders this verse as 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble', and that is the form quoted in James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5. That is why many English versions have humble where this one has needy.

Proverbs 3:35

Wise people will be given respect, and it will be theirs to keep. Fools will end up with nothing but shame.

The wise will come into honor as their inheritance,

The fourth reason and the summary. Honor comes to the wise the way an inheritance comes: as a settled possession that is theirs to keep, not something seized.

but fools carry off disgrace.

The fool gets something too, and it is shame. The chapter that began with the favor and good name of the loyal person ends on who is honored and who is disgraced.

חכם · chakam · wise: The truly wise, in contrast to the one who is wise in his own eyes (verse 7).
נחל · nachal · receive as inheritance: To receive as a permanent family possession, the word for Israel's shares of the land.
כבוד · kavod · weight, honor: The honor in Wisdom's left hand in verse 16. Those who honor the LORD (verse 9) are themselves honored.
כסיל · kesil · dull, thick fool: The self-confident fool of 1:22 and 1:32.
רום · rum · lift up: Literally to lift up or raise high.
קלון · qalon · disgrace: From a root meaning to be light or slight. The opposite of kavod, which is weight.

The second line is literally 'but fools, lifting up disgrace', and the grammar is difficult. It has been taken as fools carry off disgrace as their share, fools display or exalt disgrace, or disgrace is what lifts fools into view. Versions give 'get', 'display', 'hold up' or 'increase'.