Proverbs 17:21-28

21 He who ¹sires a fool gets himself sorrow, and the father of a fool has no joy.

22 ²A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit ³dries up the bones.

23 The wicked accepts ⁴a bribe in secret^[a] to ⁵pervert the ways of justice.

24 ⁶The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

25 ⁷A foolish son is a grief to his father ⁸and bitterness to ⁹her who bore him.

26 ¹⁰To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good, nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

27 Whoever ¹¹restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

28 Even a fool ¹²who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

Proverbs 17:21-28 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 7

This chapter gives an account of some buildings of Solomon for himself, 1Ki 7:1-12; and of other things for the use of the temple; of two pillars of brass, 1Ki 7:13-22; of the molten sea, 1Ki 7:23-26; and of ten bases, and ten layers on them, 1Ki 7:27-39; with other utensils and ornaments, 1Ki 7:40-51.

Cross References

• 1. Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 19:13
• 2. See Proverbs 15:13
• 3. Psalms 22:15; [Proverbs 12:25]
• 4. See ver. 8
• 5. [Micah 3:11; Micah 7:3]
• 6. [Proverbs 14:6; Proverbs 15:14; Ecclesiastes 2:14]; See Deuteronomy 30:11-14
• 7. [See ver. 21 above]
• 8. Proverbs 10:1
• 9. Proverbs 23:25
• 10. [ver. 15]
• 11. Proverbs 10:19; [James 1:19]
• 12. Job 13:5

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew a bribe from the bosom