The Ear That Listens to Reproof
18 A wrathful man stirs up contention, but one who is slow to anger appeases strife. 19 The way of the sluggard is like a thorn patch, but the path of the upright is a highway. 20 A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother. 21 Folly is joy to one who is void of wisdom, but a man of understanding keeps his way straight. 22 Where there is no counsel, plans fail; but in a multitude of counselors they are established. 23 Joy comes to a man with the reply of his mouth. How good is a word at the right time! 24 The path of life leads upward for the wise, to keep him from going downward to Sheol. 25 Yahweh will uproot the house of the proud, but he will keep the widow’s borders intact. 26 Yahweh detests the thoughts of the wicked, but the thoughts of the pure are pleasing. 27 He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, but he who hates bribes will live. 28 The heart of the righteous weighs answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes out evil. 29 Yahweh is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous. 30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart. Good news gives health to the bones. 31 The ear that listens to reproof lives, and will be at home among the wise. 32 He who refuses correction despises his own soul, but he who listens to reproof gets understanding. 33 The fear of Yahweh teaches wisdom. Before honor is humility.
The run is about listening, and the last verse says that humility comes before honor rather than being rewarded with it.
The subject gathers slowly. First the temper again — a wrathful man stirs up contention, but one who is slow to anger appeases strife — and then a picture of the sluggard's road that is better than an argument: The way of the sluggard is like a thorn patch, but the path of the upright is a highway. Both men are traveling. One has to fight through every yard of it, and the obstruction is the road itself rather than bad luck.
Planning is treated twice and the two sayings should be read together. Where there is no counsel, plans fail; but in a multitude of counselors they are established. And then the reason it works, put as a pleasure rather than a duty: Joy comes to a man with the reply of his mouth. How good is a word at the right time! Counsel is not merely useful in this book. Being answered well is one of the things that make a man glad.
The cluster on hearing correction is the run's center and it is unusually insistent. He who refuses correction despises his own soul, but he who listens to reproof gets understanding. Refusal is classed as self-contempt. The man is not defending himself but damaging himself. And the ear is named directly: The ear that listens to reproof lives, and will be at home among the wise. Listening is what gets a man into the company where wisdom is. That is a more concrete promise than the collection usually makes.
The most attractive verse in the run is about a face. The light of the eyes rejoices the heart. Good news gives health to the bones. Someone looking at you gladly does something to you, and the collection records it as a fact worth knowing rather than as sentiment.
The closing verse gathers the whole chapter and states the order of events precisely: The fear of Yahweh teaches wisdom. Before honor is humility. Humility is not offered as the price of honor, or as the technique for obtaining it. It is placed before honor in the sequence, the way a foundation is before a wall. The collection leaves the connection at that.
settled What this mark means