Proverbs 25 Study Notes

25:18 Perjury against a neighbor is as devastating as beating him to death with a club, or opening him up with a sword, or piercing him through the heart with an arrow.

25:19 Unreliable is literally “treacherous” (2:22; cp. 20:6). On difficult time, see note at 24:10-12 (cp. 17:17).

25:20 Here are some actions that make things worse. Cheery songs can make a troubled person worse (Ec 3:4; Rm 12:15; but see 1Sm 16:14-16). Pouring vinegar on soda makes the vinegar foam; it also neutralizes both and makes them worthless. The word translated “soda” could also be “a deep wound”; pouring vinegar on it would bring suffering with no benefit.

25:21-22 To heap . . . coals on his head does not imply vengeance because God does not reward vengeance (20:22; Lv 19:18; Rm 12:17-20). Rather, it may refer to the shame an enemy feels when his assaults are met with good deeds.

25:23 In Palestine rain actually comes from the west (1Kg 18:44; Lk 12:54). North may suggest the cold wind that accompanies rain. Also, north comes from a word that means “hidden,” which is a pun on backbiting (lit “secret”). The second half is ambiguous in Hebrew and could be reversed: “and angry looks, a backbiting tongue.”

25:24 On nagging wife, see note at 19:13.

25:25 On throat, see note at 13:2-4. It could take many months to receive news from a distant land.

25:26 Finding a well to be polluted could be disastrous to a traveler in Palestine. When a righteous person, a supposed “fountain of life” (10:11), betrays those who trust him, it can be disastrous (25:19).

25:27 The second line is difficult. It could mean, “and to investigate matters that are too weighty is not honorable” (cp. vv. 2-3; Ps 131).