Proverbs 15: Gentle words and a glad heart | Bible study
This chapter is about the words we say and the heart they come from. Gentle words calm people down, and a glad heart makes every day feel like a party. God sees everything, even what we think, and He loves to hear people who do right when they pray.
Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer cools down an angry person. A mean word makes the anger grow.
A soft reply turns rage back,
When someone is furious, a quiet, gentle answer takes the heat out of him. It gives the anger nothing to push against, so it turns around and goes back.
but a word that hurts makes anger rise.
The contrast. A cutting reply does the opposite and makes the other person's anger climb. In a tense moment the one answering has more control over the outcome than he thinks.
רך · rak · soft, tender
Soft to the touch, tender. The opposite of hard.
מענה · ma'aneh · a reply
From anah, to answer. The saying is about how you respond, not how you start. The word returns in verse 23.
שוב · shuv · turn back
To make something turn around and go back where it came from.
חמה · chemah · heat, rage
From a root meaning to be hot. Burning rage.
עצב · etsev · pain, hurt
The Hebrew is 'a word of pain': a word that wounds. In 14:23 the same noun means painful toil.
אף · aph · nostril, anger
The word for the nose. Hebrew pictures anger as hot breath in the nostrils.
Proverbs 15:2
Wise people say true things in a way that is nice to hear. Silly talk just pours out of a fool's mouth.
The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive,
Wise people do more than know true things. They say them well, at the right time and in a way that makes others glad to hear.
but the mouth of fools gushes folly.
The contrast. Fools have no filter. Folly pours out of them in a stream, the way water bubbles from a spring. One shapes what he says; the other just lets it run.
לשון · lashon · tongue
The tongue stands for a person's speech.
חכם · chakam · wise, skilled
People skilled at living, which includes skill in speaking.
יטב · yatav · make good, do well
The Hebrew says the wise tongue 'makes knowledge good': it handles knowledge well and presents it well.
פה · peh · mouth
The fool's mouth, set against the tongue of the wise.
כסיל · kesil · dull fool
The dull, self-confident fool.
נבע · naba · gush forth
To bubble up and gush like a spring. In 1:23 Wisdom pours out her spirit with this verb; it returns in verse 28.
Proverbs 15:3
God can see every place there is. He watches the bad people and the good people.
The eyes of the LORD are everywhere,
There is no place where a person is out of God's sight. Nothing is done in private as far as He is concerned.
keeping watch on the bad and the good.
This says what He does with that sight. He watches both kinds of people closely: a warning to those doing evil, and a comfort to the good, whose conduct is never overlooked.
עין · ayin · eye
God's eyes are a picture of His complete awareness.
יהוה · YHWH · God's covenant name
God's personal name. It appears nine times in this chapter.
מקום · maqom · place
The Hebrew puts 'in every place' first in the sentence, for emphasis.
צפה · tsaphah · keep watch
The verb for a watchman on a wall. This is careful, constant observation, not a glance.
רע · ra · bad, harmful
Plural: bad people.
טוב · tov · good
Plural: good people. He watches both.
Proverbs 15:4
Kind words that heal are like a tree full of fruit that gives life. Twisted, lying words break a person's heart.
A tongue that heals is a tree of life,
Speech that soothes and restores gives life to those who hear it, like a tree whose fruit keeps people alive. Kind, honest words make others stronger.
but twisted speech breaks the spirit.
The contrast. Crooked words, lies and distortions, leave a fracture in a person's inner self. Words can injure the spirit the way a blow breaks a bone.
מרפא · marpe · healing, calm
Healing. The Hebrew is 'healing of the tongue'. The same word describes the calm heart in 14:30.
לשון · lashon · tongue
The tongue of verse 2.
עץ חיים · ets chayyim · tree of life
The tree of Genesis 2:9. Proverbs uses it four times for what gives life: 3:18, 11:30, 13:12 and here.
סלף · seleph · crookedness
Twistedness. The noun occurs only here and in 11:3.
שבר · shever · a break, fracture
The Hebrew is a noun, 'a break in the spirit'. The usual word for a broken bone or a shattered pot.
רוח · ruach · breath, spirit
A person's inner life and energy.
Proverbs 15:5
A fool will not listen when his dad teaches him. A sensible child listens when he is told he is wrong.
A fool treats his father's correction with contempt,
The stubborn fool pushes away the discipline of the person who most wants his good. He treats it as an insult and not as a gift.
but whoever holds on to a rebuke becomes shrewd.
The contrast. The one who keeps a rebuke and acts on it grows shrewd. Good judgment is built out of corrections accepted.
אויל · evil · stubborn fool
The fool of 1:7, who despises wisdom and discipline.
נאץ · na'ats · spurn
To spurn with contempt. In 1:30 it is what people did with Wisdom's rebuke.
מוסר · musar · discipline, correction
Correction that shapes. The father's musar is where the book began (1:8).
שמר · shamar · guard, keep
To guard or keep. He treats the rebuke as something worth holding on to.
תוכחת · tokachat · correction
Correction that shows you where you were wrong.
ערם · aram · be shrewd
The verb behind ormah, shrewdness (1:4). He becomes someone who is not easily fooled.
Proverbs 15:6
There is plenty in the home of a person who does right. But what a bad person earns brings trouble with it.
In the house of the righteous there is a large store,
The righteous person's home holds lasting wealth. What he has is secure, and he can enjoy it in peace.
but what the wicked brings in comes with trouble.
The contrast is not that the wicked has no income. He has it, but ruin is mixed into it. Money gained wrongly brings disorder into the house along with it.
חסן · chosen · store, treasure
Stored-up wealth, from a root meaning strong. Riches that last.
בית · bayit · house, household
The home and the family in it.
צדיק · tsaddiq · in the right
The person who is right with God and deals rightly with others.
עכר · akar · stir up trouble
To bring disaster on, to make things turbulent. The verb returns in verse 27, where the greedy man troubles his own house.
תבואה · tevu'ah · produce, yield
What comes in: the crop, the revenue.
רשע · rasha · guilty, wicked
The person in the wrong before God and others.
Proverbs 15:7
Wise people spread good things to know wherever they go, like a farmer scattering seeds. Fools have nothing good inside to share.
The lips of the wise scatter knowledge,
Wise people spread knowledge wherever they go, as a farmer throws seed. Others benefit simply from hearing them.
but the heart of fools is not like that.
The contrast moves from lips to heart. Fools have nothing worth spreading, because the source is wrong. What the mouth gives out depends on what the heart holds.
שפה · saphah · lip, speech
Lips stand for speech.
חכם · chakam · wise, skilled
The wise of verse 2.
זרה · zarah · scatter, winnow
To scatter or winnow: the motion of tossing grain into the wind.
דעת · da'at · knowledge
Knowledge gained by experience and relationship.
לב · lev · heart, inner self
The inner person, the source of what is said.
כסיל · kesil · dull fool
The dull fools of verse 2.
The last two Hebrew words, lo ken, can mean 'not so' (the fool's heart does not do this) or 'not right' (the fool's heart is unsound). NASB takes the first; some versions take the second.
Proverbs 15:8
God hates the gifts that bad people bring Him. But He loves it when people who do right pray to Him.
The sacrifice of wicked people is detestable to the LORD,
A wicked person may bring an expensive offering, and God finds it repulsive. Worship does not cover a life lived against Him, and a gift cannot buy Him.
but the prayer of the upright is what pleases Him.
The contrast is sharpened by the two acts. A sacrifice costs an animal; a prayer costs nothing. God welcomes the plain prayer of a straight person over the costly offering of a crooked one. He looks at the worshiper, not the gift.
זבח · zevach · slaughtered offering
An animal slaughtered as an offering, part of which the worshiper ate in a meal.
רשע · rasha · guilty, wicked
Plural here: wicked people.
תועבה · to'evah · something detested
Something that disgusts. The strongest word Hebrew has for what God will not tolerate.
תפלה · tephillah · prayer
The general word for prayer. It returns in verse 29.
ישר · yashar · straight
People whose lives run straight.
רצון · ratson · favor, acceptance
The technical word for God accepting an offering (Leviticus 1:3). The acceptance the sacrifice was meant to gain goes to the prayer.
In Israel's worship a sacrifice was the costly, visible act and was often followed by a feast. The prophets say the same as this proverb: offerings from people who wrong others are rejected (Isaiah 1:11-17; Amos 5:21-24).
Proverbs 15:9
God hates the way bad people live. But He loves anyone who tries hard to do what is right.
The road a wicked person travels is detestable to the LORD,
Verse 8 spoke of the wicked person's worship. This widens it to his whole way of life. God detests the entire course, not only isolated acts.
but He loves the one who chases after what is right.
The contrast. God's love rests on the person who runs hard after righteousness. The word is pursues, not has attained: what God loves is the direction and the effort.
דרך · derek · road, way of life
A road, and so the course of a life.
תועבה · to'evah · something detested
The word of verse 8, placed first in the Hebrew line to link the two sayings.
אהב · ahav · love
The ordinary word for love. God is the one loving here.
רדף · radaph · chase, hunt
To chase, as a hunter or a pursuing army does. The form is intensive: he keeps on pursuing.
צדקה · tsedaqah · right conduct
Doing what is right toward God and neighbor.
Proverbs 15:10
Anyone who leaves the right path will be punished hard. Anyone who hates being told he is wrong will die.
Harsh discipline waits for the one who leaves the path;
Someone who walks off the right road will meet correction of a painful kind. Having refused the gentle sort, he gets the hard sort.
the one who hates correction will die.
A step further. If he hates even that correction, nothing is left to turn him back, and the end is death. Correction is the last barrier between a person and ruin.
מוסר · musar · discipline, correction
The usual word for discipline, here with ra, bad or severe: discipline that hurts.
עזב · azav · leave, forsake
To leave behind something you were on or had.
ארח · orach · path
A path. Here it is the right path, the one he should have stayed on.
שנא · sane · hate
Active rejection. In 1:22 and 1:29 fools hate knowledge.
תוכחת · tokachat · correction
The correction of verse 5.
מות · mut · die
The verb behind mavet, death.
Proverbs 15:11
God can see right into the dark place of the dead. So He can surely see what is in every person's heart!
The grave and the place of ruin lie open in front of the LORD;
The realm of the dead is the most hidden place a human can imagine: no one sees into it and no one comes back to report. Yet it is in plain view to God.
how much more, then, human hearts!
An argument from the greater to the lesser. If God sees into the world of the dead, a living person's thoughts and motives are certainly no secret to Him. This sits behind verses 8 and 9: He knows what is behind the sacrifice.
שאול · she'ol · the grave
The realm of the dead (1:12).
אבדון · avaddon · place of destruction
From abad, to perish. A name for the realm of the dead as the place of ruin. Job 26:6 says the same thing in similar words.
נגד · neged · in front of, in view
Directly in front of someone, in full view. NASB adds 'lie open' to bring this out.
לב · lev · heart, inner self
The inner person: thoughts, motives, intentions.
בני אדם · benei adam · sons of man
Literally 'sons of adam': human beings.
Proverbs 15:12
Someone who makes fun of everything does not like the person who tells him he is wrong. He stays away from wise people.
A mocker does not love being corrected;
The scoffer resents anyone who points out his faults. He takes correction as an attack, so he dislikes the person who gives it.
he will not go to the wise.
The result. He keeps away from wise people, because they are the ones who would tell him the truth. His dislike of correction cuts him off from the only people who could help him.
לץ · lets · mocker
The person who sneers at correction. See 9:7-8 for how he treats those who try.
אהב · ahav · love
In verse 9 the LORD loves the pursuer of righteousness. The scoffer has no love for the one who corrects him.
יכח · yakach · correct, reprove
The verb behind tokachat. To show someone he is wrong.
הלך · halak · go, walk
He will not walk over to them. It is a choice about company.
חכם · chakam · wise, skilled
The people whose lips scatter knowledge (verse 7).
Proverbs 15:13
A happy heart puts a smile on your face. A sad heart takes all the strength out of you.
A glad heart makes the face bright,
What is inside shows outside. Real gladness in the heart can be read on a person's face.
but with pain in the heart the spirit is crushed.
The contrast goes deeper than the face. Sorrow inside does more than change your expression; it knocks down your whole spirit, your energy and will to go on. The heart sets the condition of the entire person.
שמח · sameach · glad
Glad, rejoicing. The adjective from the root of simchah.
לב · lev · heart, inner self
The inner person. The word comes in both lines.
יטב פנים · yatav panim · makes the face good
Literally the glad heart 'makes the face good'. The verb is the one in verse 2.
עצבת · atstsevet · pain, sorrow
Pain or hurt, from the same root as the 'word of pain' in verse 1.
רוח · ruach · breath, spirit
A person's inner vitality, as in verse 4.
נכא · nake · stricken
Struck down, beaten. The same phrase, a stricken spirit, comes in 17:22 and 18:14.
Proverbs 15:14
A person who understands wants to learn more and more. Fools munch on silly things all day, like cows eating grass.
A discerning heart goes looking for knowledge,
A person with understanding is never finished learning. Having some discernment makes him want more, and he goes after it.
but the mouth of fools grazes on folly.
The contrast uses an animal picture. Fools feed on foolishness the way cattle graze, contentedly and all day. Each person's appetite shows what he is: one hunts knowledge, the other chews nonsense.
לב · lev · heart, inner self
The same word translated heart elsewhere in the chapter. Hebrew does not separate mind from heart.
נבון · navon · discerning person
From bin, to tell things apart.
בקש · baqash · search for
To look for something in order to get it.
פה · peh · mouth
In verse 2 the fool's mouth pours folly out; here it takes folly in.
כסיל · kesil · dull fool
The dull fools again.
רעה · ra'ah · graze, pasture
The verb for sheep and cattle feeding in a pasture, and for a shepherd tending them.
Proverbs 15:15
Every day is hard for someone who is poor and in trouble. But for a glad heart, every day is like a party.
For the afflicted person every day is hard,
Poverty and hardship are a real, daily weight. The saying does not pretend otherwise.
but a glad heart has a banquet that never ends.
The contrast. A person with a cheerful heart lives as if always at a feast, whatever his circumstances. How life feels depends on the heart at least as much as on the situation, and that leads into the two sayings that follow.
עני · ani · afflicted, lowly
A person pressed down by poverty or trouble.
רע · ra · bad, harmful
The broad word for bad: here, miserable.
טוב לב · tov lev · good of heart
Literally 'good of heart': a heart in good condition, glad.
משתה · mishteh · banquet
From the verb to drink. A banquet with wine, the picture of plenty and celebration.
תמיד · tamid · always, constant
Without a break. The word used for the daily offering that never stopped.
Proverbs 15:16
It is better to have only a little and respect God than to have a pile of treasure and lots of worry with it.
A little, along with the fear of the LORD, is better
The first of two 'better than' sayings. Having only a little, combined with reverence for God, is a good life.
than a great treasure with turmoil along with it.
It is better than great wealth that brings uproar: anxiety, quarrels, and the fear of losing it. The comparison is between two whole packages, and the smaller one with God in it is worth more.
טוב · tov · good, better
Hebrew says 'good is A more than B'. The 'better than' saying is a standard form in Proverbs.
מעט · me'at · a little
A small amount.
יראה · yir'ah · reverent awe
Taking God with full seriousness (1:7).
אוצר · otsar · storehouse, treasure
A store of valuables, or the storehouse that holds it.
מהומה · mehumah · panic, uproar
Confusion and panic. Elsewhere it describes the panic of an army in rout.
Proverbs 15:17
A plate of vegetables with people who love you is better than the best meat with people who hate you.
A helping of greens where there is love is better
The second 'better than' saying. The plainest meal, a serving of vegetables, is a good meal when the people at the table love each other.
than a stall-fed ox with hatred along with it.
It is better than the richest dish there was, eaten among people who hate each other. The company at the table matters more than the food on it.
ארחה · aruchah · ration, allowance
A measured allowance of food, like the daily ration given to Jehoiachin (Jeremiah 52:34).
ירק · yaraq · greens
Green plants, garden herbs. Ordinary people's everyday food.
אהבה · ahavah · love
The noun from ahav.
אבוס · avus · stall-fed
Fed up at the trough. From the same root as the manger in 14:4.
שור · shor · a single ox
One head of cattle.
שנאה · sin'ah · hatred
The noun from sane, to hate.
Most people ate meat only at festivals and special occasions. An ox kept in a stall and fattened on grain was the most lavish food a household could put on the table.
Proverbs 15:18
A person with a hot temper starts fights. A person who is slow to get angry calms a fight down.
A hot-headed man stirs up a quarrel,
A person full of rage starts fights. Wherever he goes, conflict follows, because he supplies the heat.
but a patient one quiets a dispute.
The contrast. A patient person does more than stay out of fights; he calms the ones that are already going. Verse 1 said this about a single answer; here it is about a person's whole character.
חמה · chemah · heat, rage
The Hebrew is 'a man of chemah', a man of heat. The wrath of verse 1.
גרה · garah · provoke
To stir up or provoke a conflict.
מדון · madon · quarrel
Contention. From a root connected with arguing a case.
ארך אפים · erek appayim · long of nostrils
Literally 'long of nostrils': slow to heat up. Appayim is the dual of aph, the anger of verse 1.
שקט · shaqat · make quiet
To bring to rest, to make still.
ריב · riv · dispute, lawsuit
A quarrel, and also a legal case.
Proverbs 15:19
For a lazy person, the way ahead is like a hedge full of thorns. For people who do right, it is like a smooth, open road.
The lazy person's road is like a hedge of thorns,
To the lazy person every way forward looks blocked and painful. Because he keeps putting things off, the obstacles grow, and his path really does become a tangle.
but the path of the upright is a built-up road.
The contrast. Straight people find the way open and level, like a road that has been graded and cleared. The partner to 'lazy' is 'upright' and not 'hard-working', which treats laziness as a moral fault.
דרך · derek · road, way of life
The course of the lazy person's life.
עצל · atsel · sluggard
The sluggard, a stock character in Proverbs (6:6-11).
משכה · mesukah · hedge
A fence of thorny growth around a field or vineyard.
חדק · chedeq · brier
A prickly plant. The word comes only here and in Micah 7:4.
ארח · orach · path
A second road word, paired with derek.
סלל · salal · heap up, build a road
The Hebrew is a verb form, 'heaped up': a road raised and cleared of stones.
Fields and vineyards were fenced with thorn hedges to keep animals out; nobody could push through one. Main roads were made by piling up earth and clearing the stones, so they stood above the ground on either side.
Proverbs 15:20
A wise child makes Dad glad. A foolish one looks down on his mum.
A wise son gives his father joy,
A child's character goes back to his parents. A son who lives wisely is a constant gladness to his father.
but a fool of a man despises his mother.
The contrast shifts. In 10:1 the foolish son grieves his mother; here he despises her. The fool does more than cause his parents pain. He looks down on the people who raised him.
חכם · chakam · wise, skilled
The first line is word for word the same as 10:1.
שמח · samach · be glad, make glad
The verb of rejoicing, here in the form that means to cause joy.
כסיל אדם · kesil adam · a fool of a man
Literally 'a fool of a man'. The same construction as the 'wild donkey of a man' in Genesis 16:12.
בזה · bazah · treat as worthless
To count as of no value. A direct breach of the command to honor father and mother.
אם · em · mother
Both parents are named, as in 1:8.
Proverbs 15:21
Someone with no sense thinks foolish things are fun. Someone who understands keeps going straight ahead.
Folly is fun to the person with no sense,
The senseless person enjoys foolishness. It is his entertainment, so he has no reason to leave it.
but a person of understanding keeps his walk straight.
The contrast. The person with understanding heads straight for where he is going and is not drawn off by amusements along the way. What a person enjoys shows what he is.
אולת · ivvelet · folly
The noun for folly, the word in verses 2 and 14.
שמחה · simchah · gladness
Gladness, here found in the wrong thing.
חסר לב · chasar lev · lacking heart
Literally 'lacking heart'. Since the lev is the seat of thought, to lack it is to have no sense.
תבונה · tevunah · understanding
From bin. Literally 'a man of understanding'.
ישר · yashar · make straight
The verb from yashar, straight. Literally he 'makes straight to walk'.
Proverbs 15:22
Plans go wrong when you do not ask anyone for help. They work when lots of wise people give you ideas.
Plans fall apart where there is no consultation,
A plan made alone has the blind spots of the one person who made it. Without frank discussion those flaws stay hidden until the plan fails.
but with many advisers they stand.
The contrast. A plan that several advisers have tested holds up, because each one sees what the others missed. Asking for advice is part of planning well, not a sign of weakness.
סוד · sod · confidential counsel
A circle of trusted people talking in confidence, and the frank talk that happens there.
מחשבה · machashavah · thought, plan
From chashav, to think or reckon. It returns in verse 26 as evil plans.
פרר · parar · break, annul
To break or make void. The verb used for breaking a covenant.
יעץ · ya'ats · advise
The form means 'those who advise'. The root of etsah, counsel.
קום · qum · stand, rise
To stand up. A plan that 'stands' is one that is carried through.
Proverbs 15:23
It feels good to give the right answer. And how lovely a word is when it comes at just the right time!
A person finds joy in giving a fitting reply,
There is real pleasure in having the right thing to say when it is needed. It is good for the one who says it as well as for the hearer.
and a word at the right time, how good it is!
A step further: timing is part of what makes a word right. The same sentence can help at one moment and harm at another. Said at its proper time, it is a delight.
שמחה · simchah · gladness
The gladness of verse 21, now in the right place.
מענה · ma'aneh · a reply
The word of verse 1. The Hebrew is 'the answer of his mouth'; 'apt' is supplied in translation.
טוב · tov · good
The Hebrew is the exclamation 'how good!'
עת · et · time, right moment
The Hebrew is 'in its time': at its proper moment. The word that runs through Ecclesiastes 3.
דבר · davar · word, thing
A word or a matter.
Proverbs 15:24
For a wise person, the path of life goes up and up. It takes him far away from death down below.
For the person of insight the path of life climbs upward,
The wise person's life is pictured as a road going uphill, toward fuller life. Every wise choice takes him higher and farther from danger.
so that he turns away from the grave below.
This gives the purpose. The grave is pictured as down, and the upward road leads away from it. A wise life keeps a person from the early, wasted death that folly brings.
ארח · orach · path
The path of verses 10 and 19.
חיים · chayyim · life
Life in its fullness.
מעלה · ma'lah · upward
Up, above. Set against 'below' in the second line.
שכל · sakal · act with insight
The form is maskil: one who acts with practical insight and so succeeds.
סור · sur · turn aside
To turn off from a road.
שאול · she'ol · the grave
The realm of the dead, always pictured as down. See verse 11.
Proverbs 15:25
God will pull down the house of proud people. But He keeps safe the land of a woman whose husband has died.
The LORD pulls down the house of the proud,
The proud have a house, an established estate, and seem secure. God Himself uproots it.
but He fixes the widow's boundary in place.
The contrast is between the strongest and the weakest. The widow had no man to defend her land in court, so the LORD takes that role and keeps her boundary where it belongs. The two lines may be linked: proud landowners were the ones who seized widows' fields.
נסח · nasach · tear away, uproot
To pull up or tear away. In 2:22 the treacherous are uprooted from the land with this verb.
בית · bayit · house, household
The estate and family line of the proud.
גאה · ge'eh · proud, lofty
From a root meaning to rise high. People who lift themselves over others.
נצב · natsav · set up, make stand
To make something stand firm, as a pillar is set up.
גבול · gevul · border, boundary
The line marking where one family's land ended.
אלמנה · almanah · widow
With the orphan and the foreigner, one of the people the law singles out for protection.
Fields were marked with boundary stones, and a family's land was its livelihood and inheritance. Moving a stone was a quiet way to steal land, and the law forbade it (Deuteronomy 19:14; 27:17). A widow had no husband to take her case to the elders at the gate, so she was the easiest target.
Proverbs 15:26
God hates bad plans. But kind words are clean and good to Him.
The plans of an evil person are detestable to the LORD,
God detests evil at the planning stage, before anything is done. Verse 11 said He sees hearts; this says what He thinks of what He sees there.
but kind words are clean.
The contrast uses the language of worship. Gracious words are 'clean', the term for what is fit to be brought before God. What a person plans and what he says are judged by God as his sacrifices are.
מחשבה · machashavah · thought, plan
The plans of verse 22, here joined to ra, evil. Thoughts as well as deeds.
תועבה · to'evah · something detested
Third time in the chapter: the sacrifice of the wicked (8), their way (9), and now their thoughts.
נעם · no'am · pleasantness, kindness
Pleasantness, graciousness. Words that are kind to the hearer.
אמר · emer · saying, word
A saying, something spoken.
טהור · tahor · clean
The word for ritual cleanness: fit for God's presence. The opposite of to'evah.
Proverbs 15:27
Someone who is greedy for money he should not have brings trouble on his own family. Someone who will not take money to do wrong will live.
Whoever grabs dishonest gain brings trouble on his own household,
The person greedy for crooked profit thinks he is providing for his family. In fact he is bringing ruin into his home, because what he takes that way carries consequences with it.
but whoever hates bribes will live.
The contrast. The person who refuses gifts meant to buy him keeps his life and his household intact. Hating bribes is the specific form that honesty takes for anyone with a decision to make.
בצע · batsa · cut off, grab gain
From a root meaning to cut off. The Hebrew doubles it, verb and noun together. The word of 1:19.
עכר · akar · stir up trouble
The verb of verse 6. It is the word used of Achan, who brought disaster on Israel by taking loot (Joshua 7:25).
בית · bayit · house, household
His family, who suffer for his greed.
שנא · sane · hate
In verse 10 hating rebuke leads to death. Here hating the right thing leads to life.
מתנה · mattanah · gift
The ordinary word for a gift. Here it means gifts given to influence a decision.
חיה · chayah · live
The verb behind chayyim, life.
Judges and officials were not salaried as they are today, and gifts to them were common. The law forbade taking a bribe because it blinds the one who decides (Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy 16:19).
Proverbs 15:28
A person who does right thinks before he answers. Bad things just pour out of a bad person's mouth.
The heart of a righteous person thinks over how to answer,
A righteous person works out his reply inside before he says it. He weighs what is true and what will help.
but the mouth of the wicked gushes out harmful things.
The contrast is heart against mouth. The righteous person's words pass through his mind first; the wicked person's skip that step and pour straight out, and what pours out does damage.
לב · lev · heart, inner self
The inner person, where the answer is prepared.
צדיק · tsaddiq · in the right
The person right with God and fair to others.
הגה · hagah · mutter, meditate
To murmur under the breath while thinking something through. The verb for meditating on God's law in Psalm 1:2.
ענה · anah · answer
The verb behind ma'aneh, the answer of verses 1 and 23.
פה · peh · mouth
The mouth with no thinking heart behind it.
נבע · naba · gush forth
The same verb as verse 2. Fools gush folly; the wicked gush harm.
Proverbs 15:29
God stays far away from bad people. But He hears people who do right when they pray.
The LORD is far away from the wicked,
This is not about location, since verse 3 said His eyes are everywhere. It means He keeps His distance: He is not available to help them or answer them.
but He listens to the prayer of the righteous.
The contrast. He is near enough to the righteous to hear when they pray, and hearing in Hebrew includes acting on it. This is the partner of verse 8.
רחוק · rachoq · distant
Far off. Distance as a picture of a broken relationship.
רשע · rasha · guilty, wicked
The people whose sacrifice was detested in verse 8.
שמע · shama · hear and heed
To hear and respond. In verses 31 and 32 it is people who must listen; here God listens.
תפלה · tephillah · prayer
The prayer of verse 8.
צדיק · tsaddiq · in the right
Plural here: righteous people.
Proverbs 15:30
A bright, smiling face makes your heart glad. Good news makes you feel strong all the way to your bones.
A bright look in the eyes makes the heart glad;
The likeliest picture is the shining face of someone who comes with good news or good will. Seeing it lifts the heart of the person who looks at it.
good news puts fat on the bones.
A step further, from what is seen to what is heard. A good report strengthens a person right through, down to the bones. Fat bones meant health and vigor. What we take in through eyes and ears affects the body.
מאור עינים · me'or einayim · light of the eyes
Literally 'the light of the eyes'. Me'or is the word for the sun and moon as lights in Genesis 1:16.
שמח · samach · be glad, make glad
The verb of verse 20, again meaning to make glad.
לב · lev · heart, inner self
The inner person, lifted by what the eyes see.
שמועה טובה · shemu'ah tovah · a good report
Shemu'ah is something heard, from shama. A good report; see 25:25.
דשן · dashen · make fat
To make fat. In Hebrew fatness is a picture of health and plenty.
עצם · etsem · bone
The frame of the body, standing for the whole person.
'The light of the eyes' could be the bright look on another person's face or the light that one's own eyes see. NASB's 'bright eyes' leaves both possible. The second line, about a report that is heard, favors someone arriving with good news.
Proverbs 15:31
If you listen when someone tells you that you are wrong, it gives you life. You will belong with the wise.
An ear that listens to correction that leads to life
The ear stands for the whole person. This is someone who really takes in a rebuke, and the rebuke is the kind that gives life, because it turns him from what would destroy him.
will make its home among the wise.
The result. That person settles in the company of the wise and belongs there. The scoffer of verse 12 would not go near them; the listener ends up living with them.
אזן · ozen · ear
The organ of listening, standing for a teachable person.
שמע · shama · hear and heed
To hear and act on it. Hebrew does not separate the two.
תוכחת · tokachat · correction
The Hebrew is 'rebuke of life' (tokachat chayyim): correction that leads to life.
לין · lin · lodge overnight
To spend the night, to lodge. He is no visitor among the wise; he sleeps there.
חכם · chakam · wise, skilled
The people the scoffer avoided in verse 12.
Proverbs 15:32
If you will not let anyone teach you, you only hurt yourself. If you listen when you are told you are wrong, you grow in understanding.
Whoever shrugs off discipline despises his own self,
The person who lets correction go thinks he is protecting his pride or his freedom. In fact he is treating his own life as worthless, because he throws away what would have saved it.
but whoever listens to correction gains a mind.
The contrast. Listening to a rebuke is how a person acquires good sense. Refusing correction is self-hatred, and accepting it is the truest self-interest.
פרע · para · let loose
To let go, to throw off restraint. The verb of 1:25.
מוסר · musar · discipline, correction
The discipline of verses 5 and 10.
מאס · ma'as · reject, despise
To refuse as worthless.
נפש · nephesh · soul, whole self
His soul, his own life and person.
קנה · qanah · get, buy
To get or purchase (1:5). The price of understanding is accepting rebuke.
לב · lev · heart, inner self
The Hebrew says he 'acquires heart'. The fool of verse 21 lacked it; this is how it is gained.
Proverbs 15:33
Respecting God is what teaches you to be wise. First be humble, not thinking you are the greatest. Then honour comes.
The fear of the LORD is the discipline that leads to wisdom,
Reverence for God is itself the training that makes a person wise. It is the school, and wisdom is what the school produces. This sums up the chapter's sayings on correction and returns to 1:7.
and humility comes before honor.
A general rule that follows from it. The order cannot be reversed: first the lowliness that accepts correction from God and from people, then honor. Whoever reaches for the honor first gets neither.
יראה · yir'ah · reverent awe
The fear of the LORD of verse 16, now named as the source of wisdom.
מוסר · musar · discipline, correction
The same word as discipline in verses 5 and 32. The Hebrew is 'the discipline of wisdom'.
חכמה · chokmah · skill at living
Skill at living, the goal of the whole book.
כבוד · kavod · weight, honor
From a root meaning heavy. Honor is the weight a person carries with others.
ענוה · anavah · lowliness
Lowliness, a willingness to be under. This line is repeated in 18:12.