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About this book

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 Wisdom of Solomon 2:4

Hebrew Bible · Deuterocanon

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Summary

Proverbs uses honor and shame language to say the righteous are remembered and the unrighteous fade from memory. The Wisdom of Solomon echoes this by speaking as the unrighteous, who admit their name will soon vanish and leave no trace in the world.

Passages

Proverbs 10:7

Hebrew Bible
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.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Proverbs

Wisdom of Solomon 2:4

Deuterocanon
2 Because we were born by mere chance, and hereafter we will be as though we had never been, because the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our heart, 3 which being extinguished, the body will be turned into ashes, and the spirit will be dispersed as thin air. 4 Our name will be forgotten in time. No one will remember our works. Our life will pass away as the traces of a cloud, and will be scattered as is a mist, when it is chased by the rays of the sun, and overcome by its heat. 5 For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow, and our end doesn’t retreat, because it is securely sealed, and no one turns it back. 6 “Come therefore and let’s enjoy the good things that exist. Let’s use the creation earnestly as in our youth.
50 BCE – 50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Wisdom of Solomon

References

"... A good name was one way to achieve an immortality of sorts. Thus Job 18:17 speaks of the fate of the wicked: 'their reputation perishes from the earth, and they have no name in the street.' The name of the wicked dies with them. By contrast, it is assumed, the righteous will have the immortality of an everlasting name. In like manner, Proverbs 10:7 praises the abiding reputation of the righteous and asserts that 'the name of the wicked will rot.' In Isaiah 56:5, an enduring name (a lasting memory) is said to be 'better than sons and daughters.' Having a good reputation was one way of achieving immortality, a better way than having progeny, it seems ... Their reputation ... Hebrew zikram, literally 'their memory' or 'their name,' as in Akkadian 'mention, name, fame' (CAD XXI, pp. 112-16). See also Isaiah 26:14 on the fate of the dead: God will cause their reputation to perish (compare Psalm 6:6). One may compare the description in Wisdom of Solomon 2:4 of what happens when one dies: 'Our name will be forgotten in time, and no one will remember our works.' ..."
Choon-Leong Seow, Ecclesiastes: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008), 243, 301.

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 Wisdom of Solomon 2:4

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