Proverbs 11: Being good is good for everyone | Bible study
More short sayings about people who do right and people who do wrong. Being honest, kind and happy to share is good for you, and good for your whole town too.
Proverbs 11:1
God hates it when a seller cheats by using scales that weigh wrong. He loves it when things are weighed fairly.
Rigged scales are something the LORD detests,
A merchant who sets his scales to cheat is doing more than breaking a trade rule. God himself finds it disgusting. The strongest word of religious revulsion is applied to a market stall.
but a full, honest weight is what pleases him.
The contrast is between what God detests and what he enjoys. An accurate weight, a small and unseen act of honesty, gives him pleasure. Everyday business is carried on in front of God.
מרמה · mirmah · deceit
Deliberate deception, trickery. The Hebrew phrase is scales of deceit.
מאזנים · mo'znayim · pair of scales
A dual form, for the two pans hanging from a beam.
תועבה · to'evah · something detested
What is loathsome. The word used for idolatry and other things God cannot tolerate; it returns in verse 20.
אבן שלמה · even shelemah · a whole stone
Literally a complete stone. Shalem, whole, is from the root of shalom: a weight with nothing shaved off.
רצון · ratson · pleasure, favor
What pleases someone and wins their favor. The word that ended chapter 10 opens chapter 11.
Goods and silver were weighed on a hand balance against stones of fixed weight carried in a bag. A dishonest trader kept two sets, a heavy one for buying and a light one for selling. The law forbids this in Leviticus 19:35-36 and Deuteronomy 25:13-16.
Proverbs 11:2
Show off, and soon you will be embarrassed. People who don't think they are too important are the wise ones.
Arrogance arrives, and disgrace arrives after it;
The Hebrew is quick: it came, and then it came. Pride and humiliation travel together, the second right behind the first. The person who pushes himself up is on the way to being shamed.
but wisdom is with those who are modest.
The contrast. You would expect the opposite of disgrace to be honor, but the line says wisdom. The modest person knows his limits, so he can still learn, and that is worth more than looking important.
זדון · zadon · insolence
From a root meaning to boil up. Presumption that overflows its proper limits.
קלון · qalon · disgrace
From a root meaning to be light: being treated as of no weight. In Hebrew zadon and qalon rhyme, tying cause and result together in sound.
צנוע · tsanua · modest
A rare word, found only here as an adjective. Its verb is in Micah 6:8, about walking modestly with God.
חכמה · chokmah · skill at living
Skill at living. It keeps company with the modest, not the proud.
Proverbs 11:3
Honest people are led the right way by their own honesty. People who trick others are wrecked by their own tricks.
The wholeness of the upright leads them,
People who are straight have a guide built in. They do not have to work out each time what they can get away with; their integrity shows them the way.
but the crookedness of the treacherous wrecks them.
The contrast is in what a person's own character does to him. The same inner quality that guides one destroys the other. The traitor's twisting ways do not protect him; they are what bring him down.
תמה · tummah · wholeness
Being complete and undivided. The word God uses of Job, who holds fast his integrity (Job 2:3).
ישר · yashar · straight
Straight or level, the opposite of crooked.
נחה · nachah · lead
To lead along a road. The verb of Psalm 23:3.
סלף · seleph · crookedness
Twistedness, a turning of things from their proper course. The noun occurs only here and in 15:4.
בגד · boged · one who betrays
From bagad, to act faithlessly: breaking faith in marriage, friendship or covenant.
שדד · shadad · devastate
To lay waste, as an army plunders a town.
Proverbs 11:4
Money is no help on the day God punishes wrong. But doing what is right can save your life.
Wealth is no use on the day of fury,
The day of fury is a day of judgment or disaster, when God's anger falls. On that day money cannot buy a way out.
but doing right delivers from death.
The contrast is between what fails and what holds when life is at stake. The second line repeats 10:2 exactly. There the useless thing was crooked treasure; here it is wealth of any kind.
הון · hon · wealth, goods
Property and wealth. The fortress of 10:15, which here turns out to have a limit.
יעל · ya'al · profit, be of use
To be of use. The verb of 10:2.
יום עברה · yom evrah · day of overflowing anger
Evrah is fury that overflows, from avar, to pass over. The prophets use the same phrase for the day of the LORD (Zephaniah 1:15, 18).
צדקה · tsedaqah · right conduct
Doing right toward God and neighbor.
נצל · natsal · snatch away, deliver
To pull out of danger. It returns in verse 6.
Proverbs 11:5
Doing right makes a good person's road smooth. A bad person trips over the wrong things he has done.
The righteousness of a blameless person makes his road straight,
Doing right clears the road ahead. The honest person does not have to step around the obstacles that lies and wrongs leave behind.
but the wicked person falls by his own wickedness.
The contrast: one man's conduct levels his path, the other's is the thing he trips over. No outside enemy is needed. This verse and the next say the same thing twice for emphasis.
תמים · tamim · whole, sound
Complete, without defect. The word used for an animal fit for sacrifice, and of Noah (Genesis 6:9).
ישר · yashar · make straight
The verb from the word upright in verse 3: to make straight or level. The same verb is in 3:6.
דרך · derek · road, way of life
A road, and so the course of a life.
נפל · naphal · fall
The plain verb to fall. It returns in verses 14 and 28.
רשעה · rish'ah · wickedness, guilt
The noun from rasha. In Hebrew the two stand side by side: by his wickedness falls the wicked.
Proverbs 11:6
Doing right gets honest people out of trouble. People who can't be trusted are trapped by their own greed.
The righteousness of the upright delivers them,
When trouble comes, what gets straight people out is the fact that they have done right. They have nothing to be caught by.
but the treacherous are trapped by their own craving.
The contrast is delivered against caught. The traitor's greed is the bait in his own trap. What he wants so badly is the thing that takes him.
ישר · yashar · straight
The straight, as in verse 3.
נצל · natsal · snatch away, deliver
The verb of verse 4. There righteousness delivered from death; here from any trap.
בגד · boged · one who betrays
The faithless of verse 3.
לכד · lakad · capture, trap
To seize or capture, used of taking a city and of an animal in a snare.
הוה · havvah · greedy desire
The craving of the wicked in 10:3. The word can also mean ruin, which suits the result.
Proverbs 11:7
When a bad person dies, all his hopes die too. Everything he thought his own power would get him is gone.
When a wicked man dies, what he hoped for dies too,
Everything a wicked person was counting on is tied to this life. Death ends all of it at once.
and the expectation that rested on strength is lost.
The second line says the same thing again more pointedly. Whatever he expected from his own power and resources is gone. Nothing in this verse offers a contrast; both lines close the door.
תקוה · tiqvah · hope, expectation
The usual word for hope, a line stretched toward the future. See 10:28.
אבד · abad · perish, be lost
To be lost or destroyed. The verb is used in both lines.
תוחלת · tochelet · waiting, hope
From yachal, to wait. The two hope words of 10:28 appear together again.
אונים · onim · strength, vigor
A plural of on, which means vigor and also the wealth that vigor produces. The form is uncertain; see the translation note.
The last word of the verse is difficult. It can be read as 'strength', 'riches', 'strong men', or, with different vowels, 'wickedness' or 'the unjust'. Versions differ accordingly. On any reading the point is that hope built on one's own resources ends at death.
Proverbs 11:8
A person who does right is pulled out of trouble, and the bad person lands in it instead.
The righteous person is pulled out of a tight spot,
The righteous do get into trouble; the saying does not deny it. But they are drawn out of it.
and the wicked person comes into it in his place.
A step further, and a reversal. The trouble does not disappear; the wicked person walks into the very spot the righteous has left. Haman hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai is the clearest case (Esther 7:10).
צדיק · tsaddiq · one in the right
The person who does right by God and neighbor.
חלץ · chalats · draw out
To pull off or draw out, as a sandal is drawn from a foot. A second verb for rescue, repeated in verse 9.
צרה · tsarah · a tight place
From a root meaning narrow. Being hemmed in, as in 1:27.
תחת · tachat · under, instead of
The Hebrew says the wicked comes in his stead, using the ordinary word for under or in place of.
Proverbs 11:9
Someone who does not care about God can ruin a neighbour just by talking. But people who do right know the truth, and that keeps them safe.
With his mouth the godless man ruins his neighbor,
No weapon is needed. Slander, false charges and bad advice from an irreligious person are enough to wreck the person next door.
but by knowledge the righteous are pulled clear.
The contrast is mouth against knowledge. The righteous escape because they know: they see through the talk, know the truth of the matter, and are not taken in.
פה · peh · mouth
The mouth as a weapon. It returns in verse 11.
חנף · chaneph · profane, godless
One who is polluted and estranged from God. Older versions say hypocrite, but the word means irreligious more than insincere.
שחת · shachat · ruin, corrupt
To spoil or ruin. The verb used for the earth being ruined before the flood (Genesis 6:11-12).
רע · rea · neighbor, companion
The person one lives beside and deals with. The neighbor of Leviticus 19:18.
דעת · da'at · knowledge
Knowledge gained by experience, here the means of escape.
חלץ · chalats · draw out
The verb of verse 8, here in the plural.
Proverbs 11:10
A whole town is happy when things go well for people who do right. And everyone cheers when bad people are gone.
When it goes well for the righteous, the town is glad,
Ordinary people are happy when good people prosper, because a righteous person's success spills over. He deals fairly, lends, and judges honestly, so everyone gains.
and when the wicked perish there is a shout of joy.
The same crowd celebrates for the opposite reason. The fall of an oppressor is a relief to the people he fed on. Both lines measure a life by its effect on the community.
טוב · tuv · good, prosperity
The noun for goodness and well-being. The Hebrew says in the good of the righteous.
קריה · qiryah · town
A town or city, a poetic word. The community as a whole is the subject.
עלץ · alats · exult
To exult. Hannah uses the verb in the first line of her song (1 Samuel 2:1).
אבד · abad · perish, be lost
The verb of verse 7. There the hope of the wicked perished; here they do.
רנה · rinnah · ringing cry
A loud ringing cry, here of joy. From the verb used of Wisdom crying out in 1:20.
Proverbs 11:11
Honest people bring good to their town and lift it up. The talk of bad people tears it down.
Through the blessing of the upright a town is raised up,
Upright people bring blessing to their town: by their prayers and good words for it, and by the favor God shows it because of them. The town rises.
but through the mouth of the wicked it is pulled down.
The contrast is building against demolishing, and both are done by speech. Lies, bad counsel and incitement from wicked people can undo a community as surely as an army pulls down walls.
ברכה · berakah · blessing
A spoken good that brings real good. It can be the blessing the upright speak or the blessing they receive and share.
ישר · yashar · straight
The straight, for the third time in the chapter.
קרת · qeret · town
A rare poetic word for a town, close to the qiryah of verse 10.
רום · rum · be high
To be high or lifted up.
פה · peh · mouth
The mouth of verse 9, which ruined one neighbor, now ruins a town.
הרס · haras · demolish
To break down a wall or building.
Proverbs 11:12
Only someone with no sense says mean things about a neighbour. A person who understands keeps quiet.
Whoever sneers at his neighbor has no sense,
Showing contempt for the person next door is stupid, whatever the neighbor is like. You have to go on living beside him, and scorn makes an enemy.
but a person of understanding stays quiet.
The contrast is speaking contempt against holding the tongue. The understanding person may see his neighbor's faults just as clearly. He does not say so.
בוז · buz · hold in contempt
To look down on. The verb used of fools despising wisdom in 1:7.
רע · rea · neighbor, companion
The person one lives alongside, as in verse 9.
חסר לב · chasar lev · lacking heart
Literally lacking heart, that is, mind. The phrase of 10:13 and 10:21.
תבונה · tevunah · understanding
From bin, to tell apart. Plural here, a man of much understanding.
חרש · charash · be silent
To be silent or deaf. A deliberate holding of the peace.
Proverbs 11:13
A gossip goes around telling secrets. Someone you can trust keeps a secret safe.
A person who goes about peddling gossip uncovers secrets,
The gossip is pictured as a pedlar walking from house to house, and his goods are other people's private matters. Tell him something and it will be passed on.
but one who is faithful in spirit keeps a matter covered.
The contrast is uncovering against covering. A reliable person can be told something and it stops with him. This carries on from verse 12: silence there, confidentiality here.
רכיל · rakil · talebearer
From a root meaning to go about trading. The law forbids going about as a rakil in Leviticus 19:16.
גלה · galah · uncover
To uncover or lay bare.
סוד · sod · confidential talk
A circle of close friends, and so what is said in confidence within it.
נאמן רוח · ne'eman ruach · faithful in spirit
Ne'eman is from aman, to be firm, the root of amen and of emet. Reliable in his inner self.
כסה · kasah · cover
The covering verb used four times in chapter 10. As in 10:12, this is the good kind.
Proverbs 11:14
Without someone wise to steer them, a people will fall. With lots of good helpers giving advice, they win.
Without skilled steering a people goes down,
A nation is pictured as a ship. With no one who knows how to steer, it founders. Leadership without sound direction ruins everyone on board.
but safety lies in having many advisers.
The contrast is no guidance against plenty of it. Many advisers means many angles on a problem, and the blind spots of one are covered by another. The saying applies to a ruler first, and to any decision that matters.
תחבלות · tachbulot · steering
From the word for a ship's ropes. The steering skill promised in 1:5.
עם · am · a people, nation
A people as a body. The saying moves from town to nation.
נפל · naphal · fall
The verb of verse 5. A person falls by wickedness; a people falls by lack of direction.
יועץ · yo'ets · adviser
One who gives etsah, counsel. The Hebrew is singular: in a multitude of adviser.
תשועה · teshu'ah · deliverance, safety
From the root to save. It can mean rescue in general or success in battle; 24:6 uses the same line of war.
Proverbs 11:15
If you promise to pay back money for someone you hardly know, you will get hurt. Say no to promises like that and you will be safe.
Whoever puts up security for an outsider will surely be hurt,
To go guarantor is to promise to pay another person's debt if he does not. Doing this for someone you hardly know is asking for harm. The Hebrew doubles the word to make it certain.
but whoever hates shaking hands on pledges is safe.
The contrast is suffering against security. The safe person does not just avoid such deals; he hates them. Proverbs is not against generosity, as verses 24 and 25 show. It is against rash promises that hand control of your future to someone else.
ערב · arav · pledge oneself
To stand as security for another's debt. Judah uses the word when he pledges himself for Benjamin (Genesis 43:9).
זר · zar · outsider
Someone outside one's own family or circle, whose reliability is unknown.
רעע · ra'a · be harmed
From the root of ra, bad. The Hebrew uses the root twice in a row for emphasis.
שנא · sane · hate
A strong word. A settled refusal, not a mild caution.
תקע · taqa · strike hands
To strike or clap. The Hebrew says those who strike, meaning the hand-clasp that sealed a pledge (6:1).
בטח · batach · be confident, safe
To trust and so to be at ease. The verb behind betach in 10:9.
A loan was often backed by a third person who clasped hands with the lender in front of witnesses. If the borrower failed, the guarantor's goods, and in the worst case his freedom, could be taken. Proverbs warns against it repeatedly (6:1-5; 17:18; 22:26-27).
Proverbs 11:16
A kind woman wins respect. Rough, pushy men only win money.
A gracious woman takes hold of honor,
A woman whose character is kind and winning gains respect, and she keeps it.
and violent men take hold of wealth.
The same verb is used for both, which makes the comparison. One woman by grace gets honor; a gang of men by force gets only money. The saying leaves the reader to judge which is the better thing to have in hand.
חן · chen · grace, favor
Grace or charm that wins favor. The Hebrew says a woman of grace.
תמך · tamak · grasp, hold fast
To take hold of and keep hold. The same verb stands in both lines.
כבוד · kavod · weight, honor
From a root meaning heavy. Honor is being someone who carries weight with others; the opposite of the dishonor in verse 2.
עריץ · arits · violent, terrifying
One who inspires terror; a tyrant or thug.
עשר · osher · riches
Wealth. All that the violent come away with.
The ancient Greek version has a longer form of this verse with two extra lines about a woman who hates what is right and about the lazy who come to want. A few modern versions include them. The Hebrew has only the two lines.
Proverbs 11:17
When you are kind, you do yourself good. When you are cruel, you hurt yourself.
A man of loyal kindness does good to his own soul,
Kindness benefits the kind person first. Whatever it does for others, it repays the one who shows it.
but a cruel man brings trouble on his own flesh.
The contrast. Cruelty aimed at others lands on the cruel person's own body and life. Both lines say that how you treat people is how you treat yourself.
חסד · chesed · loyal love, kindness
Faithful kindness that goes beyond what is owed. The Hebrew says a man of chesed.
גמל · gamal · deal out, repay
To deal out to someone, to pay back. He pays his own nephesh, his own self.
אכזרי · akzari · cruel, merciless
Harsh and without pity.
עכר · akar · trouble, stir up
To bring trouble or disturbance on someone. The Hebrew says he troubles his own flesh. The verb returns in verse 29.
Proverbs 11:18
What a bad person earns is not what it seems, and it does not last. But doing right is like planting seeds. A real reward will grow.
A wicked person makes wages that are a lie,
What the wicked gain looks like pay but is not. It does not last, does not satisfy, and does not deliver what it seemed to promise.
but whoever sows righteousness has a reward that is real.
The contrast is false wages against a true reward. Right conduct is pictured as seed: it goes into the ground, takes time, and gives a certain harvest.
רשע · rasha · guilty, wicked
The one in the wrong.
שקר · sheqer · falsehood
A lie, something with nothing behind it.
פעלה · pe'ullah · work, pay for work
Labor and what it earns, as in 10:16.
זרע · zara · sow seed
To scatter seed. The same picture is in Hosea 10:12.
אמת · emet · truth, reliability
What is firm and can be relied on. A reward that will actually be there.
שכר · seker · wages, reward
Hire or wages. A rare form of the usual word for pay.
The Hebrew plays on two words that sound almost the same: sheqer, a lie, in the first line and seker, a reward, in the second. The wicked get sheqer; the righteous get seker. English cannot reproduce it.
Proverbs 11:19
Keep on doing right and you will find life. Anyone who chases after wrong is running toward his own death.
Genuine righteousness leads to life,
Right conduct that is real and firm has life as its destination.
but whoever chases evil is heading for his own death.
The contrast is life against death, and the wicked person is pictured running after evil as a hunter runs after game. What he catches is his own end.
כן · ken · firm, true; or so
A small word with two meanings: the adjective right or firm, and the adverb so, thus. See the translation note.
צדקה · tsedaqah · right conduct
The seed sown in verse 18. Here is what grows from it.
חיים · chayyim · life
Full and lasting life, the goal of righteousness throughout these chapters.
רדף · radaph · chase
To run after, to hunt. Evil is not stumbled into; it is chased.
מות · mavet · death
The Hebrew is brief: to his death.
The first word, ken, can mean 'true, steadfast' (so NASB) or 'thus, so', which would link this verse to verse 18: 'so righteousness leads to life'. Some ancient versions read a slightly different word, 'son'. The contrast of life and death is clear on any reading.
Proverbs 11:20
God hates it when people's hearts are twisted. He is delighted with people who live honestly.
Those with twisted hearts are something the LORD detests,
Verse 1 said God detests rigged scales. Here the same word is used of people whose inner life is crooked. The trouble is in the heart, before any act.
but those whose way is whole are what pleases him.
The contrast is the same pair as verse 1, abomination and delight, now applied to persons. God takes pleasure in people whose conduct is all of one piece.
עקש · iqqesh · twisted
Crooked, from aqash, to twist. The root used in 10:9 of making one's ways crooked.
לב · lev · heart, mind
The seat of thought and will. Crooked in heart means crooked in purpose.
תועבה · to'evah · something detested
The word of verse 1. Rigged scales come from a crooked heart.
תמים · tamim · whole, sound
The word of verse 5. Whole in their way, with no hidden side.
דרך · derek · road, way of life
The road a person travels, that is, his conduct.
רצון · ratson · pleasure, favor
The word of verse 1, repeated to close the frame.
Proverbs 11:21
You can be sure of this. A bad person will not get away with it, but the family of those who do right will be kept safe.
Hand to hand: the evil person will not be let off,
The line opens with a phrase that probably pictures a handshake on a deal. You can shake on this: the evil person will not be declared innocent.
but the offspring of the righteous will get away safe.
The contrast is between not being acquitted and escaping. The righteous person's line shares in his deliverance; either his children benefit from his conduct, or 'seed of the righteous' simply means the righteous as a family.
יד ליד · yad leyad · hand to hand
Literally hand to hand. Most likely the hand-clasp that confirmed an agreement, so: depend on it. The phrase recurs in 16:5.
רע · ra · bad, harmful
The broad word for what is bad, here used of a person.
נקה · naqah · be held innocent
To be clean or acquitted. With the negative: he will not be cleared. From the root of innocent in 1:11.
זרע · zera · seed, offspring
Seed, and so children and descendants. The noun from the verb to sow in verse 18.
מלט · malat · escape
To slip away to safety. The third rescue verb in the chapter.
Proverbs 11:22
A beautiful woman who has no good sense is like a gold ring in a pig's nose.
A gold ring in the nose of a pig:
A deliberately absurd picture. A gold nose ring was fine jewelry, and the pig was an unclean animal that would push it straight into the dirt. The ornament is wasted on its wearer.
that is a beautiful woman who has turned from good sense.
The comparison is completed. Beauty is the gold ring; a woman without judgment is the pig. Her looks do not make her attractive; they only make the mismatch more glaring. Compare the gracious woman of verse 16.
נזם · nezem · nose or ear ring
A ring worn in the nose or ear. Abraham's servant gave Rebekah a gold nezem (Genesis 24:47).
זהב · zahav · gold
The most precious metal, set against the least respected animal.
אף · aph · nose
The ordinary word for nose, the place a woman would wear such a ring.
יפה · yapheh · beautiful
Fair to look at. The word used of Sarah, Rachel and Esther.
טעם · ta'am · taste, judgment
Literally taste, and so good judgment. David blesses Abigail for her ta'am (1 Samuel 25:33). The Hebrew says she has turned aside from it.
Women in the ancient Near East wore a ring through the side of the nose as fine jewelry, often part of a bride's gifts. The pig was unclean under Israel's law (Leviticus 11:7) and was not kept or eaten, which makes the picture sharper.
Proverbs 11:23
What people who do right want ends in good. What bad people hope for ends with God's anger.
What the righteous long for comes only to good;
The righteous want good things, and good is what their wanting leads to.
what the wicked hope for comes to fury.
The contrast is in where each person's wishes end. The wicked person's hopes end in wrath, God's anger falling on them. This restates 10:24 and 10:28 with the endings named.
תאוה · ta'avah · longing
Strong desire, as in 10:24.
טוב · tov · good
Good in every sense: pleasant, beneficial and right.
תקוה · tiqvah · hope, expectation
The word of verse 7, where it perished at death.
עברה · evrah · overflowing anger
The fury of verse 4, on the day when riches are no use.
Proverbs 11:24
One person gives away a lot and ends up with even more. Another holds on to what he should give and ends up poor.
One person scatters freely and ends up with still more;
A paradox stated as plain observation. Someone gives away with an open hand, as a farmer throws seed, and his wealth grows.
another holds back more than is right and ends up only in want.
The opposite case. Someone keeps what he ought to give or pay, and gets poorer. The two lines together say that the arithmetic of generosity is not the arithmetic of the purse.
פזר · pazar · scatter
To scatter or disperse. Psalm 112:9 uses it of giving freely to the poor, and Paul quotes that in 2 Corinthians 9:9.
יסף · yasaph · add
To add. The Hebrew says he is added to still more.
חשך · chasak · hold back
To keep back. In 10:19 it was the good restraint of the lips; here it is the wrong restraint of the hand.
ישר · yosher · what is right
Straightness, what is right and fitting. From the root of upright. He holds back from what is right.
מחסור · machsor · lack, want
From chaser, to lack. The want that comes on the sluggard in 6:11.
Proverbs 11:25
People who love to share will have plenty. If you give others a drink of water, you will get a drink too.
A person who is a blessing to others will be made fat,
The generous person, literally a soul of blessing, will thrive. Fatness in a land where hunger was common means health and plenty.
and whoever waters others will himself be watered.
The same point in a second picture. The one who drenches other people's ground finds his own ground drenched. Both lines explain the paradox of verse 24: what you give is what you get.
נפש ברכה · nephesh berakah · soul of blessing
Literally a soul of blessing: a person whose whole self is a source of good to others.
דשן · dashen · be made fat
To be fat, and so flourishing. The verb used of anointing the head with oil in Psalm 23:5.
רוה · ravah · drench, saturate
To drink one's fill, or to soak. The form here is causative: one who saturates others.
Proverbs 11:26
People are angry with someone who keeps his grain locked away when they need food. They are thankful for the one who sells it to them.
The people curse the man who holds back grain,
A concrete case of withholding. A merchant keeps his grain in the barn during a shortage, waiting for the price to climb. The whole community curses him.
but blessing rests on the head of the one who sells it.
The contrast is curse against blessing. Notice that the good man here sells; he is not asked to give it away. Letting people buy food at a fair time is enough to earn their blessing.
מנע · mana · hold back
To keep back from someone. A second verb for withholding, beside chasak in verse 24.
בר · bar · grain
Threshed grain ready for use. The word for the grain Joseph stored in Egypt (Genesis 41:35).
לאם · le'om · people, nation
A poetic word for a people or nation. The public as a whole.
קבב · qavav · curse
To utter a curse against. The verb used when Balak hires Balaam to curse Israel (Numbers 22:11).
ברכה · berakah · blessing
On the head, as in 10:6.
שבר · shavar · sell grain
A special verb for buying and selling grain. It is used of Joseph selling to all the people (Genesis 42:6).
Grain was the staple food and prices swung sharply between harvest and the lean months. Whoever had full storehouses in a shortage held the town's survival in his hands, as the Joseph story shows (Genesis 41 and 47).
Proverbs 11:27
If you look for ways to do good, people will be pleased with you. If you go looking for trouble, trouble will find you.
Whoever looks early and hard for good is seeking favor,
The person who goes out of his way to find good to do is, in effect, looking for favor, and he gets it, from God and from people.
but whoever goes hunting for harm, it will come to him.
The contrast. The one who looks for ways to do harm does not need to look far; harm comes and finds him. Each searcher receives the thing he was looking for.
שחר · shachar · seek at dawn
To seek early and earnestly, related to the word for dawn. The verb of 1:28.
טוב · tov · good
Good for others. What the righteous desire in verse 23.
רצון · ratson · pleasure, favor
The word translated delight in verses 1 and 20: acceptance and goodwill.
רעה · ra'ah · harm, evil
Evil done and evil suffered are the same word in Hebrew. He searches for the first and receives the second.
Proverbs 11:28
Anyone who trusts in his money will fall. People who do right will grow like fresh green leaves.
Whoever leans on his wealth is the one who will fall,
The Hebrew stresses he: that man will fall. Riches are a poor thing to rest your weight on, as verse 4 said. When they give way, so does he.
but the righteous will sprout like green leaves.
The contrast is falling against growing. A withered leaf drops; a healthy one keeps coming. The righteous, whose trust is not in money, have life in them like a tree in leaf (Psalm 1:3).
בטח · batach · trust, rely on
To put one's confidence in something. In verse 15 it described real security; here it is misplaced.
עשר · osher · riches
The riches the violent took hold of in verse 16.
נפל · naphal · fall
The third fall in the chapter, after verses 5 and 14.
פרח · parach · bud, sprout
To break into bud. Used of the righteous flourishing like a palm in Psalm 92:12.
עלה · aleh · leaf, foliage
A leaf or foliage. English adds green; the Hebrew says simply like the leaf.
Proverbs 11:29
Someone who makes trouble for his own family will be left with nothing but air. The fool will end up working for the wise person.
Whoever brings trouble on his own household will inherit wind,
A man who makes his family's life miserable, by temper, waste or neglect, destroys the thing he would have inherited. In the end he holds nothing; wind cannot be held.
and the stubborn fool will be slave to the wise of heart.
A step further down. The fool who has run through his household's goods ends up working for someone who managed his own wisely. He has lost both his inheritance and his freedom.
עכר · akar · trouble, stir up
The verb of verse 17. Achan troubled Israel, and the valley of Achor is named from this root (Joshua 7:25-26).
בית · bayit · house, household
The household: family, servants and property together.
נחל · nachal · receive as inheritance
To take possession of a family share. The irony is in what he receives.
רוח · ruach · wind, breath
Wind or breath. Something that passes through the hand and leaves nothing.
אויל · evil · stubborn fool
The fool who will not be taught.
עבד · eved · slave, servant
A slave or bondservant. A man who could not pay his debts could be sold into service.
חכם לב · chakam lev · wise in mind
The phrase of 10:8: wisdom settled in the mind and will.
Proverbs 11:30
What a person who does right does is like a tree with fruit that gives life. A wise person brings others to that good life too.
The fruit of a righteous person is a tree of life,
What a righteous person produces, his words and deeds, feeds other people's lives. He is like a tree whose fruit keeps those who eat it alive.
and the wise person wins people.
A step further. The wise do not only feed others; they draw them. The usual understanding is that a wise person attracts people to wisdom and so to life. The Hebrew phrase is unusual and has been read in other ways.
פרי · peri · fruit, produce
What a thing naturally yields; here, the results of a righteous life.
עץ חיים · ets chayyim · tree of life
The tree of Genesis 2:9, from which humanity was barred. Proverbs uses it four times as a picture of what gives life (3:18; 13:12; 15:4).
חכם · chakam · skilled at living
The person skilled at living.
לקח · laqach · take
The ordinary verb to take. The meaning of the line depends on what kind of taking is meant.
נפש · nephesh · soul, person, life
A living being, a person. The form is plural: persons or lives.
Literally 'one who takes souls is wise'. Elsewhere in the Old Testament 'to take a soul' means to take a life, that is, to kill, which does not fit here. So most versions understand 'takes' as 'wins' or 'captivates'. The ancient Greek version read a different last word, 'violence' in place of 'wise', and a few modern versions follow it: 'but violence takes lives away'.
Proverbs 11:31
Even people who do right get paid back in this life for what they do wrong. So bad people will get paid back for sure!
Look, if the righteous person is paid back on earth,
Even the righteous do not get through life without consequences. When they do wrong, they are repaid here, in this life.
how much more the wicked person and the sinner.
An argument from the lesser to the greater. If God does not overlook the faults of those who do right, the person whose whole life is wrong will certainly not escape. The chapter that began with God's eye on the scales ends with everyone being paid in full.
צדיק · tsaddiq · one in the right
The one in the right, who is still not above being repaid.
שלם · shalam · be paid in full
From the root of shalom, wholeness. To repay is to make an account complete. The same root described the full weight in verse 1.
ארץ · erets · land, earth
The earth, or the land. Repayment in this life is in view.
אף כי · aph ki · how much more
The set phrase for arguing from a smaller case to a greater one.
רשע · rasha · guilty, wicked
The one in the wrong.
חוטא · chote · one who sins
From chata, to miss the mark. The participle: one who goes on sinning.
The ancient Greek version renders this verse as 'if the righteous is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?', and 1 Peter 4:18 quotes it in that form.