Proverbs 18:13-24

STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 18:13-24

1.

How is it folly to him (Proverbs 18:13)?

2.

How is it shame to him (Proverbs 18:13)?

3.

What would a doctor get out of Proverbs 18:14?

4.

Locate the parallels in Proverbs 18:15.

5.

Cite Bible examples of such gifts (Proverbs 18:16).

6.

What lesson should church leaders learn from the first statement (Proverbs 18:17)?

7.

Why did the lot end contentions (Proverbs 18:18)?

8.

What lesson should Christians gain from the first statement in Proverbs 18:19?

9.

Is the first statement in Proverbs 18:20 true whether his words are good or bad?

10.

Give examples of death and life resulting from the tongue (Proverbs 18:21).

11.

How have Catholics misapplied Proverbs 18:22.

12.

When do the poor use entreaties (Proverbs 18:23)?

13.

Why do the rich answer roughly (Proverbs 18:23)?

14.

When might the first statement of Proverbs 18:24 prove to be true?

15.

What friend of David's seemed to be closer to him than his brothers (Proverbs 18:24)?

PARAPHRASE OF 18:13-24

13.

What a shameyes, how stupid!to decide before knowing the facts.!

14.

A man's courage can sustain his broken body, but when courage dies, what hope is left?

15.

The intelligent man is always open to new ideas. In fact, he looks for them.

16.

A bribe does wonders: it will bring you before men of importance!

17.

Any story sounds true until someone tells the other side and sets the record straight.

18.

A coin toss ends arguments and settles disputes between powerful opponents.

19.

It is harder to win back the friendship of an offended brother than to capture a fortified city. His anger shuts you out like iron bars.

20.

Ability to give wise advice satisfied like a good meal!

21.

Those who love to talk will suffer the consequences. Men have died for saying the wrong thing!

22.

The man who finds a wife finds a good thing; she is a blessing to him from the Lord.

23.

The poor man pleads and the rich man answers with insults.

24.

Some people are friends in name only. Others are closer than brothers.

COMMENTS ON 18:13-24

Proverbs 18:13. Pre-judging (judging before the facts are known) gives us our word prejudice. Many misjudgments are made because of pre-judging: replacing investigation with rumor or making a judgment of a person on the sound of his or her name or where one is from (John 1:45-46), one's looks, or first impressions. Nicodemus said, Doth our law judge a man, except it first hear from himself and know what he doeth? (John 7:51). Jesus said, Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment (John 7:24).

Proverbs 18:14. One who maintains a cherry, hopeful, bright outlook will rebound from his sickness sooner, but one who has a dark, pessimistic outlook does not recover so well. In fact, when one loses the will to live, he often dies. Pulpit Commentary: The influence of the mind over the body, in a general sense, is here expressed.

Proverbs 18:15. The heart of the prudent desires knowledge, and it uses the ear as a means of acquisition. Or said again, the ear seeks knowledge, and the heart lays it up. It is too bad that we have many people who have no thirst for useful knowledge.

Proverbs 18:16. Pulpit Commentary: The Oriental custom of offering suitable gifts to one in authority, when a favor or an audience is desired, is here alluded to (1 Samuel 10:27; 1 Kings 4:21; 1 Kings 10:25). See also Genesis 32:20; 1 Samuel 25:27. It is also true today that people's gifts have opened doors to them in various realms.

Proverbs 18:17. Leaders, be careful! The first person to come to you with his side of a story may not be true. See this even in children: Johnny hit me; and while he is speaking, in comes another child of the group and says, And what did you do to Johnny first? You kicked him! An old maxim is so true: One story is good till the other is told.

Proverbs 18:18. The ancients sometimes resorted to this to settle important contentions. Moderns in our land sometimes draw straws and other means to settle minor matters. Pulpit Commentary: If it were not for the decision by lot, persons...would settle their differences by violent means. The apostle used this method in determining who was to succeed Judas (Acts 1:26). There is no doubt but what God directed the pagans-' lot to fall upon Jonah (Jonah 1:7). See comment on Proverbs 16:33.

Proverbs 18:19. When love is lost, bitterness sets in, and the bitterness is as strong and as intense as the love had previously been. Pulpit Commentary: Bitter are the quarrels of friends; and, Those who love beyond measure also hate beyond measure. Clarke: When brothers fall out, it is with extreme difficulty that they can be reconciled. The verse shows an offended brother is hard to be won, but it does not say it is impossible. Paul and Barnabas had a serious break (Acts 15:36-40), but there is evidence that such was not permanent. Paul refused to take Mark (Acts 15:37-38), which no doubt was an offence to Mark, but later Paul wrote, Take Mark, and bring him with thee; for he is useful to me for ministering (2 Timothy 4:11). Jacob and Esau had a notable falling out (Genesis 27:41-45), but later there was a reconciliation (Genesis 33:8-12). This verse gives a strong reason for being careful of what we say and do that may needlessly offend others. James 1:19 says, Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.

Proverbs 18:20. This verse likens what a man says to the food he eats. If what he says is good, it is like eating good food: there is no bad after-effect. The verse is speaking of good speech. Proverbs 12:14; Proverbs 13:2 contain similar statements.

Proverbs 18:21. The tongue can edify (build up), or it can destroy the heart or the reputation of another. By our words we can bring either the best or the worst out of a person. As James 3:9 says, Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we man. The last statement of our verse speaks of good speech and the pleasant results it brings.

Proverbs 18:22. Marriage is God's plan for the human race (Matthew 19:4-6). His displeasure is against the growing trend in society to by-pass marriage by illicitly living together. A common-law situation is not equal to marriage in God's sight (John 4:16-18). Other passages that show the divine plan includes marriage: Proverbs 19:14; Proverbs 31:10; Hebrews 13:4. There are at least two abuses of this verse: (1) Jokers quote this in levity as if to prove that a wife is a thing; (2) Catholics have used it as a proof-text that marriage is a sacrament because of the words obtaineth favor of Jehovah. What the verse really means is that when one marries, he is entering into something good and is carrying out God's will for the human race in that regard. If somebody argues back that many marriages are anything but pleasant and good, it is not God's fault but the people who have made their marriages that way. If they would follow God's instructions for marriage (Ephesians 5:22-33), they would find that it is good.

Proverbs 18:23. The poor man who is behind on his loan payments begs for mercy and consideration, and the rich man who loaned him the money and is afraid he is going to lose that money talks roughly to him. The same is true of the delinquent renter and his landlord. The poor man uses entreaties because he knows he is at a disadvantage and is at the mercy of the rich man, and the rich man answers roughly because he can, because he is afraid he is going to lose some money, and sometimes so that he can take undue advantage of the situation,

Proverbs 18:24. In what sense is the first statement true? In the many friends that people make, often there is one or a small handful of them that he would have been better off not to have known: the one or the group that turned against him and ruined him. In the long run they proved not to be true friends and are to be contrasted to the true friend who sticketh closer than a brother, such as Jonathan was to David, Jonathan was closer to David (1 Samuel 18:1-4; 1 Samuel 19:1-7; 1 Samuel 20:17; 1 Samuel 20:41-42; 1 Samuel 23:15-18) than his own brothers were (1 Samuel 17:28).

TEST QUESTIONS OVER CHAPTER 18:13-24

1.

What does our word prejudice mean (Proverbs 18:13)?

2.

Give examples of people who pass judgment before they have the facts (Proverbs 18:13).

3.

What is one of the best things for helping a sick person get better?

4.

What usually happens when a person gives up and loses his will to live (Proverbs 18:14)?

5.

According to Proverbs 18:15 what two parts of a person are involved in his getting knowledge?

6.

Cite examples verifying the truth of Proverbs 18:16.

7.

Where trouble brews, who is often first to tell his side of it (Proverbs 18:17)?

8.

When have people resorted to using the lot to settle their differences (Proverbs 18:18)?

9.

What happens when love between people dies (Proverbs 18:19)?

10.

Comment upon Proverbs 18:20.

11.

What are two uses of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21)?

12.

How important can what we say prove to be (Proverbs 18:21)?

13.

What is the meaning of Proverbs 18:22?

14.

Cite an example of a poor man using entreaties and a rich man answering roughly (Proverbs 18:23).

15.

Why does a poor man use entreaties (Proverbs 18:23)?

16.

Why does a rich man answer roughly (Proverbs 18:23)?

17.

What may come out of some of the friendships that a man makes (Proverbs 18:24)?

18.

What friend in the Bible was closer than the man's own brothers (Proverbs 18:24)?