THE BOOK OF PROVERBS
CHAPTER 29
Blessed Are the Disciplined
He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy [If the destruction does not come in this life, it will in the second death - Keith Hunt]
2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan [It is indeed truth; the righteous ruler will rule with righteous laws, the wicked ruler will only bring pain and sorrow in the long run - Keith Hunt]
3 Whoever loves wisdom makes his father rejoice, but a companion of harlots wastes his wealth [The father being wise and righteous, will rejoice when his children love wisdom (that is from the Lord) so following the example of the father; but the son who wants loose women, prostitutes, is throwing his money down the sewer, and could end up with any number of sexually transmitted diseases - Keith Hunt]
4 The king establishes the land by justice, but he who receives bribes overthrows it [Justice goes hand in hand with righteousness, a land build on those will be established wisely; but the ruler/s who rule with bribes from this or that person/company will overthrow the land into wickedness - Keith Hunt]
5 A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet [Flattering for no good reason, just to butter-up his neighbour, will eventually find he is caught in his own net that he’s set down - a mistake that will catch up to you - Keith Hunt]
6 By transgression an evil man is snared, but the righteous sings and rejoices [It is a fact of life that evil people will be snared by others, by the police, by other evil people competing in the same ring; the righteous following God’s law (Ps. 119:172) will keep themselves from many snares of evil and from evil people; their life will be basically a joyful song and rejoicing - Keith Hunt]
7 The righteous considers the cause of the poor, but the wicked does hot understand such knowledge [We have been told this truth before; God thinks it needs to be repeated for emphasis. Jesus was being anointed on the feet by a woman with expensive ointment, some were shocked, the money for the ointment could have been used for the poor; Jesus said she was doing a good thing, for the poor we would have always, but not so Himself in person. The genuine poor we still have; if we can help them we should - Keith Hunt]
8 Scoffers set a city aflame, but wise men turn away wrath [The context of the word “scoffer” here means a whole lot more than the surface of the word, for big trouble can come from them like the burning of a city; the wise (wisdom from God, part of His nature) know how to handle wrathful, troublesome people; they do their best to turn away wrath in different ways in different situations - Keith Hunt]
9 If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace [A truly foolish person tends to be so no matter what the external may be looking like; they need to be out of your circle of friends - Keith Hunt]
10 The bloodthirsty hate the blameless, but the upright seek his well-being [Those who are just plain evil, wickedly wild, do not like the ones who get called “goody two-shoes” - the upright seek the well-being of the blameless, like attracts like - Keith Hunt]
11 A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back [Learning to control your emotions, how and when to use them correctly is a mark of those with wisdom; those who do not control their feelings are clearly said to be fools - Keith Hunt]
12 If a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked [If the ruler over whatever, is governed by lies, slight of hand, corruption; those who serve under him soon catch on, and soon become wicked like their boss - Keith Hunt]
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From the New KJV Study Bible
29:1 This proverb should be memorized as a warning against rebellious conduct. Hardens describes the basic response of the stubbornly sinful person.
29:3 wastes his wealth: See 5:5-10; 6:26 and notes.
29:6 is snared: See 1:18, 19 and note.
29:8 set a city aflame: See the description of the worthless troublemaker in 6:12-15 and note.
29:11 Proverbs emphasizes this need for self-control again and again (see 16:32; 25:28 and notes).
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13 The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives light to the eyes of both [The poor man and the oppressor meet together, The Lord gives light to the eyes of both - Amplified Bible. If the two meet together for a good purpose, the Lord is able to give light that both can bring to a good outcome that in the long run can benefit both - Keith Hunt]
14 The king who judges the poor with truth, his throne will be established forever [Forever as long as those contains remain; this is not talking about some one king and his throne going on forever just because his actions were right; his children and heirs could do things far from their father, so bringing in corruption and un-truth would in time destroy the throne - Keith Hunt]
15 The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother [We have been told a number of times that childrearing sometimes must involve strict physical punishment if needed as well as verbal rebuke; both are needed for some children to give them wisdom; a child who deserves them and does not get them, will have little wisdom, and often as teens will bring their mother to be shamed - Keith Hunt]
16 When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases; but the righteous will see their fall [Well certainly in the end the righteous will see the un-repented wicked fall in the second death; they may sort may not see the wicked fall in this physical life - Keith Hunt]
17 Correct your son, and he will give you rest; yes, he will give delight to your life [Back again the Lord takes us to correct child rearing; correction of various kinds is needed, when needed; a child left without correction will sooner or later not give you delight - Keith Hunt]
18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law [Where there is no revelation to what is good and right and acceptable in God’s way of life, people will sooner to later cast off all restraint and do more wickedness; they will do what seems to be right in their mind, which we have been told leads to moral death; we see this happening in the lands of the West more and more each passing year. Happiness, real lasting happiness, is by keeping God’s law - Keith Hunt]
19 A servant will not be corrected by mere words; for though he understands, he will not respond [A servant will not respond to a person who only shouts at them words of correction [right or wrong]; it takes the right way to correct someone, it takes the showing of love and kindness also; servants will go above and beyond to a boss that is of a nice temperament towards them - Keith Hunt]
20 Do you see a man hasty in his words, there is more hope for a fool than for him [Oh indeed we should be thinking before we speak; spouting off with words before our mind is in gear….well it says a fool in many ways of living has more hope of a better physical life, than someone who is constantly shooting off with the mouth….I refer you to James 2 - Keith Hunt]
21 He who pampers his servant from childhood will have him as a son in the end [He who pampers his servant from childhood will expect the rights of a son afterwards - Amplified Bible. If you pamper to the extreme, a servant early on after hiring them, they will in time think they are your son, and will want, or plan ways to get what a literal son would get from you; the end result will not be good. Honey is good for you, but too much honey makes you sick; loving your servant is good, but over loving them as a way of life, has a sickening result - Keith Hunt]
22 An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression [Being in a constant or near constant frame of mind filled to anger and fury, will lead into many various transgressions of good decent living. Having your mind filled with fury and anger produces bad physical chemicals in your body that will lead you to break physical and spiritual laws - Keith Hunt]
23 A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor [Winston Churchill had been reject by the London government because of his stand against Adolph Hitler; he went home to work in his garden. After being proved correct he was invited back as Prime Minister to lead the British in war against Hitler. If he had been too proud, he could have said, “Go fly your kite” - but being humble in spirit, accepting the call, he mightily retained his honour, and goes down in history as one of the greatest of Englishmen - Keith Hunt]
24 Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life; he swears to tell the truth, but reveals nothing [If you assist a thief, you are only hurting yourself. You will be punished if you report the crime, but you will be cursed if you don’t - New Living Translation. Not sure where this “cursed if you don’t” comes from. New KJV seems simple enough….. being into thieving with others usually ends in being caught and getting a jail sentence on how large the thievery was and how many times done. People into thievery in a big way, will swear to tell the truth in court, but often tell untruths and lies; if the stash is hidden away they may not tell the truth as to where it is so it can be recovered by the authorities; part of the “jollies” some get from stealing huge amounts of jewelry or money or expensive art - Keith Hunt]
25 The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe [If you have no one larger on your side, then truly the fear of men can be daunting, unnerving, demoralizing, unsettling, dispiriting, disheartening; but when the Lord is on your side, you can win the battles of every sort - you have encouragement and hope - Keith Hunt]
26 Many seek the ruler's favor, but justice for man comes from the Lord [Men may seek some special favour (when not deserved, trying to outmove the justice they know they deserve); justice being the penalty for the wrong doing; but God may intervene and bring about the just penalty for wronging, no matter had you try to win the ruler’s hand and favour - Keith Hunt]
27 An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked [Pretty straightforward…..the unjust (wicked, crooked, those who do evil knowing better) are an abomination to the righteous (ones keeping God’s commandments - Ps. 119:172); and he who are upright, straight, righteous, in the way he lives is an abomination to the wicked - the two are mutually at opposite ends from each other - Keith Hunt]
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From the New KJV Study Bible
29:13 In this world all have the same environment (see Matt. 5:45). But there comes a judgment (23:17, 18).
29:15,17 Children need wise discipline in order to form good character. Let no parent forget it. See note on 13:24.
29:18 The law shows us God's unchanging principles; a revelation or prophetic vision (see center-column note) shows us how those principles should work out in life. Both the law and the vision are revealed.
29:20 hasty in ... words: The problem is either that the words are the result of an emotional outburst (see 15:1) or are spoken without careful thought (see 17:27, 28).
29:21 Pampering is not conducive to character building. The meaning of the Hebrew word here translated "son" is unknown. Perhaps it means "ungrateful." The pampered one will not be content to remain a servant.
29:23 See 15:33 and note.
29:24 Thievery and honesty are incompatible.
29:25 The fear of man works havoc; the fear of the Lord works deliverance.
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TO BE CONTINUED
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