Proverbs 20:14

14 "It is good for nothing," cries the buyer; But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.

Proverbs 20:14 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 20:14

[It is] naught, [it is] naught, saith the buyer
When he comes to the shop of the seller, or to market to buy goods, he undervalues them, says they are not so good as they should be, nor so cheap as he can buy them at; but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth;
after he has brought the seller to as low a price as he can, and has bought the goods, and gone away with them, and got home among his friends; then he boasts what a bargain he has bought, how good the commodity is, how he has been too many for the seller, and has outwitted him; and so glories in his frauds and tricks, and rejoices in his boasting, and all such rejoicing is evil, ( James 4:16 ) . Jarchi applies this to a man that is a hard student in the law, and through much difficulty gets the knowledge of it, when he is ready to pronounce himself unhappy; but when he is got full fraught with wisdom, then he rejoices at it, and glories in it.

Proverbs 20:14 In-Context

12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The Lord has made them both.

13 Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.

14 "It is good for nothing," cries the buyer; But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.

15 There is gold and a multitude of rubies, But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

16 Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger, And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally evil, evil