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Proverbs

About this book
Chapter 10

1 The proverbs of Solomon: A wise child makes a father rejoice, but a foolish child is a grief to his mother. 2 Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. 3 The Lord satisfies the appetite of the righteous, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. 4 The one who is lazy becomes poor, but the one who works diligently becomes wealthy.⁠ 5 The one who gathers crops in the summer is a wise son, but the one who sleeps during harvest is a shameful son. 6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the speech of the wicked conceals violence. 7 The memory of the righteous is a blessing,⁠ but the reputation of the wicked will rot.⁠ 8 The wise person accepts instructions, but the one who speaks foolishness will come to ruin. 9 The one who conducts himself in integrity will live securely, but the one who behaves perversely will be found out. 10 The one who winks his eye causes trouble, and the one who speaks foolishness will come to ruin. 11 The speech of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the speech of the wicked conceals violence. 12 Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all transgressions.⁠ 13 Wisdom is found in the words of the discerning person, but the one who lacks sense will be disciplined. 14 Those who are wise store up knowledge, but foolish speech leads to imminent destruction. 15 The wealth of a rich person is like a fortified city, but the poor are brought to ruin by their poverty. 16 The reward that the righteous receive is life; the recompense that the wicked receive is judgment. 17 The one who heeds instruction is on the way to life, but the one who rejects rebuke goes astray. 18 The one who conceals hatred utters lies, and the one who spreads slander is certainly a fool. 19 When words abound, transgression is inevitable, but the one who restrains his words is wise.⁠ 20 What the righteous say is like the best silver, but what the wicked think is of little value. 21 The teaching of the righteous feeds many, but fools die for lack of sense. 22 The blessing from the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow to it. 23 Carrying out a wicked scheme is enjoyable to a fool, and so is wisdom for the one who has discernment. 24 What the wicked fears will come on him; what the righteous desire will be granted. 25 When the storm passes through, the wicked are swept away, but the righteous are an everlasting foundation. 26 Like vinegar to the teeth and like smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him. 27 Fearing the Lord prolongs life, but the life span of the wicked will be shortened. 28 The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectation of the wicked perishes. 29 The way of the Lord is like a stronghold for the upright, but it is destruction to evildoers. 30 The righteous will never be moved, but the wicked will not inhabit the land. 31 The speech of the righteous bears the fruit of wisdom, but the one who speaks perversion will be destroyed. 32 The lips of the righteous know what is pleasing, but the speech of the wicked is perverse.

Texts in conversation

Compare Proverbs 10:7 and The Instruction of Ankhsheshonq

Hebrew Bible · Ancient Near East, Egyptian

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Summary

Proverbs shares with the Egyptian Instruction of Ankhsheshonq a concern for maintaining a good reputation, following a wisdom tradition from the ancient Near East, where reputation was a central social concern.

Passages

Proverbs 10:7

Hebrew Bible
6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the speech of the wicked conceals violence. 7 The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the reputation of the wicked will rot. 8 The wise person accepts instructions, but the one who speaks foolishness will come to ruin.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Proverbs

The Instruction of Ankhsheshonq

Ancient Near East, Egyptian
Gather dung, gather clay, but do not make an occupation out of scavenging. Do not talk much before your master. Be gentle and your reputation will increase in the hearts of all men. If a gardener becomes a fisherman his trees perish. If you have acquired give one part of them for protection.
300 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in The Instruction of Ankhsheshonq

References

"... The larger wisdom tradition also motivates ethical behavior by instilling a concern for one’s reputation or name. (Proverbs 10:7; 22:1; Job 18.17; Ecclesiastes 7.1; Pap. Insinger 2.12; 15.7; 16.9; Instructions of Ankhsheshonq 6:2; 17:26) Ben Sira, too, employs this strategy. At the end of a section on proper speech (Sir 5.9–16), the sage warns against deceit in one’s words, because “you will inherit a bad name, disgrace, and reproach” (Sirach 5.16). Ben Sira also promotes strict control by a father over his daughters, lest she make of him “a byword in the city” (Sirach 42:11). Yet Ben Sira joins even this staple motivator of the wisdom tradition to Jewish piety. In the closing stanza of a section on anxieties and joys in human life (Sirach 40:1 - 41:13), Ben Sira uses the word šēm once in each of the three bicola. He suggests that one’s reputation is even more important than one’s life (Sirach 41:11, 13), and that a “pious name” (šēm ḥesed) will not be cut off (Sirach 41:11) ..."
Greg Schmidt Goering, Wisdom’s Root Revealed: Ben Sira and the Election of Israel (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 159.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Proverbs 10:7 and The Instruction of Ankhsheshonq

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