Proverbs 17:12-22

12 [May] a man meet a she-bear robbed of offspring and not a fool in his folly.

13 [For] he who returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house.

14 [Like] the release of water [is] the beginning of strife; before it breaks out, stop the quarrel.

15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, the two of them [are] both abominations of Yahweh.

16 Why [is] this? A price in the hand of a fool, [in order] to buy wisdom where there is no {sense}.

17 The friend loves at all times, but a brother is born for adversity.

18 A person who lacks {sense} {pledges}; he becomes security before his neighbor.

19 He who loves transgression loves strife; he who builds his high thresholds seeks destruction.

20 He who is crooked of heart will not find goodness, and he who is perverse, by his tongue he will fall into calamity.

21 He who begets a fool, [there is] trouble for him; the father of a fool will not rejoice.

22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a downcast spirit will dry out bones.

Proverbs 17:12-22 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "and"
• [b]. Literally "heart"
• [c]. Hebrew "time"
• [d]. Literally "heart"
• [e]. Literally "pledges a hand"
• [f]. Or "mind"