Proverbs 13 Study Notes

13:15 Good sense is literally “insight of good” (see “insight” in note at 1:3). Sensible people can advance by winning the favor of God and men, while the treacherous cannot improve the way they go.

13:16 A fool does not act according to knowledge but (literally) spreads out his stupidity “like a peddler who openly spreads his wares before the gaze of all men” (Crawford Howell Toy).

13:17 Accurate news and effective diplomacy benefited the officials and communities served by a good courier.

13:18 Proverbs strongly recommends the virtue of being correctable (cp. v. 13).

13:19 The Hebrew word for taste is nephesh (see note at vv. 2-4). The desires of the righteous will be fulfilled (v. 25; 10:24; 11:23) because they fear God and turn from evil (3:7; 14:16). Fools (Hb kesiyl) refuse to turn from evil because good disgusts them (29:27); therefore, their desires will not be fulfilled.

13:20 Derek Kidner entitles this proverb “Education by Friendship.” Choosing one’s friends is a very important matter.

13:21 Rather than saying sinners reap disaster, this proverb emphatically has disaster chasing them down until it catches them.

13:22 The Hebrew word for wealth can stand for “strength” as well. The sinner’s possessions along with all his capabilities and resources are granted to the righteous.

13:23 The field that went uncultivated could refer to the marginal lands the poor were forced to live on, or to the fields that were supposed to be left fallow on the Sabbatical Year for the sake of the poor (Ex 23:10-11; Lv 25:1-7). In the latter case, the lack of justice was the failure to observe the command (Lv 26:34-35,43; 2Ch 36:21).

13:24 Parents who love their children seek diligently to apply the best and most appropriate method of discipline (Heb 12:5-11). In some cases that is the rod (22:15; 23:13-14; 29:15), which is appropriate punishment for the fool (10:3; 26:3). Only a parent who hates his child would withhold discipline and permit him to remain a fool, knowing that foolishness leads to misery, shame, and ultimately death.

13:25 Rather than promoting moderation, this proverb teaches that God satisfies all the needs of the righteous, but denies the needs of the wicked.