Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 10:23
[It is] as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.
23. hath wisdom ] Rather, And so is wisdom (a sport or pastime) to a man of understanding. She imparts to him her own joy, or exultation. Comp. Pro 8:30, where the Heb. word is the same. See Joh 15:11.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As the fool finds his sport in doing mischief, so the man of understanding finds in wisdom his truest refreshment and delight.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 10:23
It is as sport to a fool to do mischief.
Moral phases of life
Human life has its spiritual and moral as well as its material and intellectual side. Five things in these verses of great moral significance.
I. Wealth making happy. Great temporal possessions are often the occasion of mental suffering. They awaken in the mind harassing cares, painful anxieties, and distressing suspicions. Wealth reached in harmony with the will of God, and employed in the service of benevolence and truth, has no sorrow, but tends to happiness in many ways.
II. Mischief done in sport. There is an innocent sport. The sport meant here is that which does injury to the reputation, the property, the peace, the comforts of others. Sport that turns the serious into ridicule, that makes merry in deeds of nefarious wickedness. It is the fool that makes a mock at sin; to the wise man sin is too grave a matter to laugh at.
III. Justice done to all. The anticipation of the righteous, and the forebodings of the wicked, shall both one day be realised. There is at times in every guilty conscience a fearful looking for of judgment. There is, on the other hand, in every godly soul a desire for a higher spiritual good.
IV. Indolence causing vexation. Vinegar sets the teeth on edge, and smoke gives pain to the eyes. Both irritate and annoy, so an indolent messenger provokes his master. Laziness is vexatious.
V. Character revealed in its issues. Good character prolongs life, and yields joy. The character of the wicked abbreviates life, and ends in ruin. How full is the Bible of human life! God has filled it with humanity in order that it might interest men, and improve them. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 23. It is a sport to a fool to do mischief] What a millstone weight of iniquity hangs about the necks of most of the jesters, facetious and witty people! “How many lies do they tell in jest, to go to the devil in earnest!”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
As sport; he doth it with ease and delight, and without any shame, or remorse, or fear.
To do mischief or, as others, to work wickedness; yea, great and premeditated wickedness, as the Hebrew word properly signifies.
Hath wisdom; whereby he is kept from committing wickedness, and especially from sporting himself with it. But this clause is by divers learned interpreters rendered thus, and or so is wisdom to a man of understanding, it is a sport or pleasure to him to practise wisdom or piety; which translation makes the opposition more evident.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. Sin is the pleasure of thewicked; wisdom that of the good.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[It is] as sport to a fool to do mischief,…. To do any injury to the persons and properties of men; which shows a most wicked and malicious spirit, a very depraved nature indeed: or rather “to commit sin” o of any sort, which he has devised in his own heart; it is as a “laughing” p, as the words may be rendered; it is a laughing matter to him, he commits sin, and, when he has done it, laughs at it; instead of being ashamed of it, and humbled for it, he makes a mock at it, and a jest of it, as well as of all religion, and of the reproofs and admonitions of good men. Sin is pastime, he takes as much delight and pleasure in it as men do in their sports, and commits it as openly and freely; yea, not only takes pleasure in doing it himself, but in them that do it; see Pr 14:9;
but a man of understanding hath wisdom; to avoid sin, and not to do it, which is true wisdom, Job 28:28; for he has, as it may be rendered, from the use of the word in the Arabic language q, a “bridle” or “restraint” upon him, that he cannot do mischief and delight in it, as the fool does: or “so [is] wisdom to a man of understanding” r; that is, to do it; as it is a pleasure to a feel to commit sin, so it is a delight to an understanding man to do that which is wise and good; it is “meat and drink” to do the will of God, see Joh 4:34; he takes as much pleasure in it as men can do in their sports and pastimes; he has a truer pleasure and a better relish than they have; he delights in the law of God after the inward man; and Wisdom’s ways, or the ways of Christ, are pleasantness to him; he runs the ways of his commandments with great alacrity and cheerfulness.
o “facere scelus”, Montanus, Baynus, Junius Tremellius, Cocceius, Michaelis “perpetrare scelus”, Piscator; “patrare facinus”, Schultens. p “veluti risus”, Mercerus, Gejerus, Michaelis. q Vid. Schultens de Defect. Hod. Ling. Heb. s. 216. r So some in Gejerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
23 Like sport to a fool is the commission of a crime;
And wisdom to a man of understanding.
Otherwise Lwenstein: to a fool the carrying out of a plan is as sport; to the man of understanding, on the contrary, as wisdom. , from , to press together, mentally to think, as Job 17:11, and according to Gesenius, also Pro 21:27; Pro 24:9. But has the prevailing signification of an outrage against morality, a sin of unchastity; and especially the phrase is in Jdg 20:6 and in Ezekiel not otherwise used, so that all the old interpreters render it here by patrare scelus ; only the Targum has the equivocal ; the Syriac, however, ‘bd b _ taa’ . Sinful conduct appears to the fool, who places himself above the solemnity of the moral law, as sport; and wisdom, on the contrary, (appears as sport) to a man of understanding. We would not venture on this acceptation of if were not attributed, Pro 8:30., to wisdom itself. This alternate relationship recommends itself by the indetermination of , which is not favourable to the interpretation: sed sapientiam colit vir intelligens , or as Jerome has it: sapientia autem est viro prudentia . The subjects of the antithesis chiastically combine within the verse: , in contrast to wicked conduct, is acting in accordance with moral principles. This to the man of understanding is as easy as sporting, just as to the fool is shameless sinning; for he follows in this an inner impulse, it brings to him joy, it is the element in which he feels himself satisfied.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
23 It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.
Here is, 1. Sin exceedingly sinful: It is as laughter to a fool to do mischief; it is as natural to him, and as pleasant, as it is to a man to laugh. Wickedness is his Isaac (that is the word here); it is his delight, his darling, and that in which he pleases himself. He makes a laughing matter of sin. When he is warned not to sin, from the consideration of the law of God and the revelation of his wrath against sin, he makes a jest of the admonition, and laughs at the shaking of the spear; when he has sinned, instead of sorrowing for it, he boasts of it, ridicules reproofs, and laughs away the convictions of his own conscience, ch. xiv. 9. 2. Wisdom exceedingly wise, for it carries along with it the evidence of its own excellency; it may be predicated of itself, and this is encomium enough; you need say no more in praise of a man of understanding than this, “He is an understanding man; he has wisdom; he is so wise as not to do mischief, or if he has, through oversight, offended, he is so wise as not to make a jest of it.” Or, to pronounce wisdom wise indeed, read it thus: As it is a sport to a fool to do mischief, so it is to a man of understanding to have wisdom and to show it. Besides the future recompence, a good man has as much present pleasure in the restraints and exercises of religion as sinners can pretend to in the liberties and enjoyments of sin, and much more, and much better.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Delight Justified Or Foolish
(Pro 10:23)
Verse 23 affirms that the fool finds pleasure in evil conduct; but a man of understanding hath wisdom and delights in upright conduct, Pro 14:9; Pro 15:21; Php_4:8-9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 10:23. Second clause, to a man of understanding wisdom is an enjoyment (Zckler).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 10:23
A TOUCHSTONE OF CHARACTER
The painter uses the dark background of his picture to set off the bright foreground. Sunlight never looks so beautiful as when seen shining upon a black thunder-cloud; it is the power of contrast. Solomon in his character-painting is constantly making use of this power. He is ever setting the dark and the light side by sidemaking the foolish or wicked man a dark background upon which to portray the moral features of the truly wise. The fool looks more foolish, and the good man more wise, by the contrast.
I. That which is an object of mirth is a touchstone of character. The fool makes sport out of mischief, out of that which does harm to his fellow-creatures, and consequently involves them in misery. If we saw a man making merriment over the burning of his neighbours house, we should conclude that he was either a maniac or utterly without a heart. A man who realised the meaning of such a calamity, and had any sympathy within him, could but be grieved at the sight. But men find occasions of mirth in matters that are of far more serious moment. The wise man tell us in chap. Pro. 14:9, that fools make a mock at sinthat great mischief of the universe. The saint is made sad by that in which the sinner finds an occasion of mirth. Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people (Jer. 9:1). Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament; but the world shall rejoice (Joh. 16:20). But the fool not only makes sport at mischief, it is his sport to do mischief; the one leads to the other. The fool who thinks sin is a laughing matter will not hesitate to commit sin himself, or to do his brother the irreparable mischief of leading him in the path of sin and death.
II. Men cease to make light of sin in proportion as they hare understanding. The text implies that a man who has any right comprehension of the end of life, the value of the soul, the reality of Divine and eternal things, will not, cannot, make a sport of mischief in any shape or degree, especially of the mischief of moral wrong. A baby might laugh at a blazing house, although its own mother might be enwrapped in the flames, but this would only be an evidence of his want of understanding. Nothing proclaims a man to be a fool so plainly as his mockery of sin. A man of wisdom has too just a sense of its terrible and ruinous consequence to feel anything but sad when he thinks of it. He knows what mischief it has worked, and is working in the universe, and his understanding of these things makes that which is the sport of the fool the subject of his most solemn thought.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The difference between the lost and the saved is, that to one it is but trifling to live; to the other it is the gravest wisdom.Miller.
That man has arrived at an advanced stage of folly who takes as much pleasure in it as if it were an agreeable amusement. This, however, is to be expected in its natural course. Sinners at first feel much uneasiness from the operation of fear and shame, but they are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, till at length they not only cast off all restraints, but become impudent in sin, and think it a manly action to cast away the cords of God, and to pour insult and abuse on their fellow-men. But it were safer far to sport with fire than with sin, which kindles a fire that will burn to the lowest hell. It may now be a sport to do mischief, but in the lake of fire and brimstone it will be no sport to have done it.Lawson.
When a man diveth under water he feeleth no weight of the water, though there be many tons of it over his head; whereas half a tubful of the same water, taken out of the river and set upon the same mans head, would be very burdensome unto him, and make him soon grow weary of it. In like manner, so long as a man is over head and ears in sin, he is not sensible of the weight of sin: it is not troublesome unto him; but when he beginneth once to come out of that state of sin wherein he lay and lived before, then beginneth sin to hang heavy upon him, and he to feel the heavy weight of it. So, so long as sin is in the will, the proper seat of sin, a man feeleth no weight of it, but, like a fool, it is a sport and pastime unto him to do evil. And it is therefore a good sign that sin is removed out of his seatout of his chair of statewhen it becomes ponderous and burdensome to us, as the elements do when they are out of their natural place.Spencers Things New and Old.
The fool is then merriest when he hath the devil for his playfellow. He danceth well in his bolts, and is passing well afraid for his woful bondage.Trapp.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
TEXT Pro. 10:23-32
23.
It is as sport to a fool to do wickedness;
And so is wisdom to a man of understanding.
24.
The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him;
And the desire of the righteous shall be granted.
25.
When the whirlwind passeth, the wicked is no more;
But the righteous is an everlasting foundation.
26.
As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes,
So is the sluggard to them that send him.
27.
The fear of Jehovah prolongeth days;
But the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
28.
The hope of the righteous shall be gladness;
But the expectation of the wicked shall perish.
29.
The way of Jehovah is a stronghold to the upright;
But it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.
30.
The righteous shall never be removed;
But the wicked shall not dwell in the land.
31.
The mouth of the righteous bringeth forth wisdom;
But the perverse tongue shall be cut off.
32.
The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable;
But the mouth of the wicked speaketh perverseness.
STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 10:23-32
1.
Cite illustrations of people who make sport of wickedness (Pro. 10:23).
2.
Does Pro. 10:23 mean that wisdom is sport to the man of understanding?
3.
According to Pro. 10:24 what will come upon the wicked, and what will come upon the righteous?
4.
What whirlwind will take away the wicked (Pro. 10:25)?
5.
How are the righteous an everlasting foundation (Pro. 10:25)?
6.
What do the three things mentioned in Pro. 10:26 have in common?
7.
How does the fear of Jehovah prolong days (Pro. 10:27)?
8.
What shortens the years of the wicked (Pro. 10:27)?
9.
What is meant by the expectation of the wicked perishing (Pro. 10:28)?
10.
What is meant by the way of Jehovah in Pro. 10:29?
11.
Why say the righteous shall never be removed when all must die (Pro. 10:30)?
12.
Why say the wicked shall not dwell in the land when there are many wicked people living (Pro. 10:30)?
13.
In what sense will the perverse tongue be cut off (Pro. 10:31)?
14.
Why say the lips know when it is the mind that knows (Pro. 10:32)?
15.
Which verse did the Paraphrase help you with the most?
16.
Which verse did the Comments help you with the most?
PARAPHRASE OF 10:23-32
23.
A fools fun is being bad; a wise mans fun is being wise!
24.
The wicked mans fears will all come true, and so will the good mans hopes.
25.
Disaster strikes like a cyclone and the wicked are whirled away. But the good man has a strong anchor.
26.
A lazy fellow is a pain to his employerslike smoke in their eyes or vinegar that sets the teeth on edge.
27.
Reverence for God adds hours to each day; so how can the wicked expect a long, good life?
28.
The hope of good men is eternal happiness; the hopes of evil men are all in vain.
29.
God protects the upright but destroys the wicked.
30.
The good shall never lose Gods blessings, but the wicked shall lose everything.
31.
The good man gives wise advice, but the liars counsel is shunned.
32.
The upright speak what is helpful; the wicked speak rebellion.
COMMENTS ON 10:23-32
Pro. 10:23. To do mischief is sport or fun to a fool. Heb. 11:25 speaks of the pleasures of sin. Godliness would be boredom to him until converted. He is sure he is living the only way to be lived. He thinks he is smart, and that everybody else is missing out on the main thing of life. But dont forget that the man of understanding enjoys the way of wisdom too. Fools are not the only ones who enjoy themselves. Yes, godly people are happy too!
Pro. 10:24. Many know they are not right, but outwardly they seem to act as if there is nothing to worry about. Yet, within them are lurking fears that come to the surface when they think they are going to die. As instantly as men cry out for Gods mercy when they think they may suddenly die shows they have done some thinking ahead of time about their manner of life knowing it was not right. Their way of life finally catches up with them, but the righteous have hope as they look to the future, and that hope will be granted whether in answer to prayer for things here or in heaven in eternity. Notice the same truth in Psa. 145:19; 1Jn. 5:14-15.
Pro. 10:25. Finally Gods patience with the wicked comes to an end, and He sweeps them away with the suddenness of a whirlwind. After such a storm has passed, oftentimes it is only the foundation of a building that is left. The righteous are like that foundation, the wicked like the building that was carried away. Psalms 37 is a psalm that says the same thing over and over. Read it, noting the sudden destruction of the wicked and the continuation and blessing of the righteous.
Pro. 10:26. See the Paraphrase on this verse. The teeth do not like vinegar nor the eyes smoke, and neither does an employer like a sluggard. Pulpit Commentary: In a country where chimneys are unknown…the eyes must have often been painfully affected by the household fire.
Pro. 10:27. As a rule a person or a people given to sin will not live as long as a godly person or people. Sin soon burns its victims out like a roaring fire does the wood. Read Pro. 9:11 and Psa. 55:23 in connection with this verse.
Pro. 10:28. Several times does this chapter state this same truth. The righteous have much to hope for, and God does not disappoint them. The hopes of the wicked will be dashed to the ground as they perish. Psa. 112:10 and Pro. 11:7 also speak of the expectation of the wicked perishing. Sin, then, is a losing game. Dont play it!
Pro. 10:29. The way of Jehovah is followed by two statements: it is a stronghold (the utmost is protection) to the upright, but it is destruction to the workers of iniquity. When God rises to sift a people, not one kernel will be lost, but all the sinners will be destroyed (Amo. 9:9). For Gods special care of the righteous, see Psa. 91:1-12. It pays to do right. The backslidden people of Malachis day said it didnt (Mal. 3:14-15), but look what Mal. 3:16 to Mal. 4:2 goes on to record.
Pro. 10:30. And again the same lesson is emphasized. Never be removed is said of the righteous, but not dwell of the wicked. For the security of the godly see Psa. 125:1-2.
Pro. 10:31. The good mouth brings forth good things like praise (Eph. 5:4), edifying things (Eph. 4:29), and truth (Eph. 4:25) while the wicked mouth brings forth just the opposite, for which it will be destroyed.
Pro. 10:32. The lips of the righteous know what to say, when, where, etc. The mouth of the wicked speaks the wrong thing. Proverbs, Ephesians, and James all have much to say on the use and the abuse of the tongue.
TEST QUESTIONS OVER 10:23-32
1.
What is fools attitude toward mischief? Toward godliness (Pro. 10:23)?
2.
Do godly people have any fun in life (Pro. 10:23)?
3.
Do the wicked ever have any inward fears? When do they come to the surface (Pro. 10:24)?
4.
What about the wicked when the whirlwind passes? What about the righteous (Pro. 10:25)?
5.
Who is compared with vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes (Pro. 10:26)?
6.
What can shorten the life-span of sinners (Pro. 10:27)?
7.
What often keeps the expectation of the wicked from coming to pass (Pro. 10:28)?
8.
The way of Jehovah is what two different things to the upright and to the workers of iniquity. (Pro. 10:29)?
9.
How is the security of the godly and the insecurity of the wicked set forth in Pro. 10:30?
10.
What are some of the good things that issue from the mouth of the righteous? What are some of the bad things that issue from the mouth of the wicked (Pro. 10:31)?
11.
What three Bible books have much to say about the use and the abuse of the tongue (Pro. 10:32)?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(23) But a man of understanding hath wisdom.Rather, But wisdom (is sport) to a man of understanding, i.e., one rejoices in mischief, the other (comp. Pro. 8:30) in wise thoughts and deeds.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. It is as sport Better, It is sport.
Mischief Not strong enough. It denotes wickedness or crime. The Septuagint renders the latter clause of the verse, “But wisdom brings prudence to a man.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 23. It is as sport to a fool to do mischief,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 10:23. But a man of understanding hath wisdom But a prudent man restrains himself: Frenatio adest viro prudenti. Schultens.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 10:23 [It is] as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.
Ver. 23. It is a sport to a fool to do mischief. ] He is then merriest when he hath the devil for his playfellow. He danceth to hell in his bolts, and as passing well apaid for his woeful bondage. Was he a father or a monster, think you, that, playing with his own child for a pastime, put his thumbs in the boy’s eyes, and thrust out the balls thereof This was Robert de Beliasme, Earl of Shrewsbury, in the reign of our Henry I, A.D. 1111. a And what a mad sport was that of Joab and Abner, 2Sa 2:14 to see and set those youngsters of Helkath Hazzurim to sheath their swords in their fellows’ bowels! And that of Nero, who set the city of Rome on fire for his pleasure, while he played on his harp, the destruction of Troy!
But a man of understanding hath wisdom.
a Speed.
b Lib. ix. epist.
c Leo. Digges.
d Slatt. on 1 Ep. to Thessal., Epist. Dedic.
e Peach. Comp. Gentle.
f Idem, in his Valley of Vanity, p. 116.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
But. Supply Figure of speech Ellipsis (App-6), “But [to exercise] wisdom [is as sport] to a man of understanding”.
man. Hebrew. ‘ish. App-14.
understanding . . . wisdom. See note on Pro 1:2.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 10:23
Pro 10:23
“It is as sport to a fool to do wickedness; And so is wisdom to a man of understanding.”
A various reading here, “It is sport for a fool to commit lewdness, but it is an abomination to a man of understanding. “A rascal thinks sin is fun.
Pro 10:23. To do mischief is sport or fun to a fool. Heb 11:25 speaks of the pleasures of sin. Godliness would be boredom to him until converted. He is sure he is living the only way to be lived. He thinks he is smart, and that everybody else is missing out on the main thing of life. But dont forget that the man of understanding enjoys the way of wisdom too. Fools are not the only ones who enjoy themselves. Yes, godly people are happy too!
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Pro 14:9, Pro 15:21, Pro 26:18, Pro 26:19, Ecc 11:9
Reciprocal: 2Sa 2:14 – play before Pro 2:14 – rejoice Jer 11:15 – thou doest evil
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 10:23. It is as sport to a fool to do mischief Or, as some render it, to work wickedness; yea, great and premeditated wickedness, as the word here used, , properly signifies: he doth it with ease and delight, and without any shame, or remorse, or fear. But a man of understanding hath wisdom Whereby he is kept from committing wickedness, and especially from sporting himself with it. But this last clause is rendered by many, And so is wisdom to a man of understanding: it is a sport or pleasure to him to practise wisdom or piety. Which translation makes the opposition between the two clauses more evident. Bishop Patrick thus paraphrases the verse: A senseless sinner makes a jest of the most horrid impieties that can be committed by himself or others: but a man that weighs things wisely, considers that this is no laughing matter; and takes that pleasure in doing well which fools take in mischievous wickedness.