Proverbs 17:19-28

19 Whoever loves transgression loves strife; he who ¹makes his door high seeks destruction.

20 ²A man of crooked heart does not discover good, and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.

21 He who ³sires a fool gets himself sorrow, and the father of a fool has no joy.

22 ⁴A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit ⁵dries up the bones.

23 The wicked accepts ⁶a bribe in secret^[a] to ⁷pervert the ways of justice.

24 ⁸The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

25 ⁹A foolish son is a grief to his father ¹⁰and bitterness to ¹¹her who bore him.

26 ¹²To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good, nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

27 Whoever ¹³restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

28 Even a fool ¹⁴who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

Proverbs 17:19-28 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 11:2; Proverbs 29:23]
• 2. [Proverbs 11:20]
• 3. Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 19:13
• 4. See Proverbs 15:13
• 5. Psalms 22:15; [Proverbs 12:25]
• 6. See ver. 8
• 7. [Micah 3:11; Micah 7:3]
• 8. [Proverbs 14:6; Proverbs 15:14; Ecclesiastes 2:14]; See Deuteronomy 30:11-14
• 9. [See ver. 21 above]
• 10. Proverbs 10:1
• 11. Proverbs 23:25
• 12. [ver. 15]
• 13. Proverbs 10:19; [James 1:19]
• 14. Job 13:5

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew a bribe from the bosom