Proverbs 11:18

18 The wicked earns {deceptive gain}, but he who sows righteousness, a {true reward}.

Proverbs 11:18 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 11:18

The wicked worketh a deceitful work
Such a wicked man as before described; that neither enjoys the good things of life he has, nor suffers others to enjoy them; and all to accumulate riches, which are deceitful and perishing; and who abstains from meats, which God has created for use, under a pretence of religion, and so deceives his own soul; and indeed every sin which a wicked man commits is a deceitful work; it promises him that pleasure, or profit, or liberty, which it does not give him, and in the issue is the ruin of him; and so all false doctrines, propagated by deceitful workers, are deceitful works, by which they deceive the simple, and at last themselves; they "obtain a deceitful reward of [their] work", as Gussetius ^F23 renders it; but to him that soweth righteousness;
does acts of beneficence and liberality; see ( 2 Corinthians 9:9 2 Corinthians 9:10 ) ; and all other good works, or works of righteousness, [shall be] a sure reward;
according to what a man sows, and the manner in which he sows, so shall he reap, ( 2 Corinthians 9:6 ) ( Galatians 6:8 ) ; or, "a reward of truth"; instead of being given up to believe a lie, he shall receive the love of the truth, and abide in it, which will bring him to eternal glory and happiness; he being chosen to it through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth, ( 2 Thessalonians 2:10-13 ) ; and, instead of a deceitful reward, shall have a true, real, solid, and substantial one.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Ebr. Comment. p. 692.

Proverbs 11:18 In-Context

16 A woman of grace receives honor, but the ruthless gets wealth.

17 A person of kindness rewards himself, but a cruel [person] harms his own flesh.

18 The wicked earns {deceptive gain}, but he who sows righteousness, a {true reward}.

19 He who is steadfast in righteousness [is] to life as he who pursues evil [is] to death.

20 An abomination of Yahweh [are] the {crooked of heart}, but his delight [are] {those with blameless ways}.

Footnotes

• [a] Or "does, makes"
• [b] Literally "gain of deception"
• [c] Literally "a reward of truth"