Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 11:22
[As] a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, [so is] a fair woman which is without discretion.
22. jewel ] Rather, ring (R.V. marg.). The reference to the nosering, which Eastern women wore as an ornament, gives point to the proverb. See Gen 24:47; Eze 16:12, in both which places R.V. renders the same Heb. word, “a ring upon the nose.”
discretion ] Lit. taste, which would seem to indicate the innate and instinctive character of womanly purity. We have a good example of it, in the form of tact or perception, in the case of Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite, to whom David says, using the same Hebrew word, “blessed be thy advice ( wisdom, R.V. text, discretion, marg.), and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from bloodguiltiness,” 1Sa 25:33. Comp. , “delicate perception, fine tact,” Php 1:9, and note there in this Series.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The most direct proverb, in the sense of similitude, which has as yet met us.
Jewel of gold – Better, ring; i. e., the nose-ring Gen 24:22, Gen 24:47; Isa 3:21.
Without discretion – literally, without taste, void of the subtle tact and grace, without which mere outward beauty is as ill-bestowed as the nose-ring in the snout of the unclean beast. If we may assume that in ancient Syria, as in modern Europe, swine commonly wore such a ring to hinder them doing mischief, the similitude receives a fresh vividness.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 11:22
As a jewel of gold in a swines snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.
A good thing in a bad place
The Jews regarded the pig as an unclean animal. The heathen around worshipped the pig, and they ate it afterwards as an act of worship. The Egyptians, when they wished to draw a picture of a very foolish person, always represented him as a pig. How unlovely is the idea of a jewel that might have been worn by a queen being placed in the nose of a pig! But there are some things that we see every day which are quite as bad. For instance–
1. A pretty face and a very ugly soul. It is nice to be beautiful, but it is far better to be good. When you feel tempted to be proud because you are good-looking, ask yourself, Is my soul good-looking and beautiful to God?
2. A good head and a bad heart. King John, one of Englands worst kings, was a very clever man. It is not enough to be learned, or to have great talents; we want to be holy, and then shall we be able to use our abilities well.
3. Wise words and foolish deeds. It was said of a certain king, that he never said a foolish thing and never did a wise one. A jewel treated as described in this text would be a jewel misapplied. It was never intended for such a use. And God did not intend that we should ever waste our minds and our time in the service of sin. The Jews had a saying that the nose of a pig is walking dirt. If a jewel were placed in it, it would be spoiled. Sin mars a beautiful face; it will even make a clever man foolish; it will ruin us if it be not taken away from us. (J. J. Ellis.)
Bedizened wickedness
A fair woman is one of personal attractions. Discretion means virtue or moral worth. A woman of external attractions who is devoid of mind excellences is a most unsightly object.
I. Here is a very incongruous conjunction in one person. Physical beauty and moral deformity united. Do not despise natural, or personal, or artistic beauty.
II. Here is a very revolting conjunction in one person. Incongruity is not always disgusting, it is sometimes ridiculous. But this incongruity is disgusting when it is seen aright with healthy moral sentiments. We do not always see how revolting it is, because our eye rests upon the personal attraction, and peers not into the moral heart. We are taken up more with the jewel than with the swine.
III. Here is a very common conjunction in one person.
1. Wickedness is prompted by personal attraction.
2. Wickedness is fond of personal attractions. Vulgarity always likes finery, and sin is always fond of making a grand appearance. Do not, in forming your fellowships, be carried away with one side of life. Do not follow the swine for the sake of the jewel. (D. Thomas, D.D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 22. A jewel of gold in a swine’s snout] That is, beauty in a woman destitute of good breeding and modest carriage, is as becoming as a gold ring on the snout of a swine. Coverdale translates thus: “A fayre woman without discrete maners, is like a ringe of golde in a swyne’s snoute.” In Asiatic countries the nose jewel is very common: to this the text alludes.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
As a jewel of gold in a swines snout; which would not adorn the swine, but only be disparaged itself. It was the custom of some of the Jews to wear jewels upon their noses, and some of their neighbours wore them in their noses.
Which is without discretion; which disgraceth the beauty of her body by a foolish and filthy soul.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22. Jewels were often suspendedfrom the nose (Gen 24:47; Isa 3:21).Thus adorned, a hog disgusts less than a fair and indiscreet woman.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[As] a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout,…. The allusion seems to be to the ringing of swine, to prevent their rooting up the earth; which is usually done by putting an iron ring into their snout; which is much more proper and suitable than a gold ring, or a jewel set in gold, which is very unbecoming such a creature; and is soon had to the dunghill, or to some miry place, and there defiled;
[so is] a fair woman which is without discretion; or, “has departed from taste” y; from a taste of virtue and honour; lost all sense of modesty and chastity; forsaken her husband, and given up herself to the embraces of others. As her beauty is fitly expressed by a “jewel of gold”, which is valuable and desirable, and, rightly placed and used, is ornamental; so she is properly represented by a swine, wallowing in the impurities of lust; to which her beauty was the snare, and whereby it is quickly sullied and lost. Jarchi applies this to a disciple of a wise man, or a scholar that departs from the good way, or from the law; which he explains by taste or sense: but it may be better applied to the scarlet whore, or apostate church of Rome; which has departed from Christ, once her professed husband; from the doctrines of the Gospel, and the ordinances of it; from all taste and savour of true religion; and even from common sense and right reason, as in the affair of transubstantiation, and other things; and may be fitly compared to a swine with a jewel of gold in its snout, being “decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls”; and yet “drunk with the blood of the saints”, and “martyrs of Jesus”; and wallowing in all the faith of fornication, of idolatry, and superstition; as well as in all manner of other sins and iniquities, Re 17:4.
y Heb. “recedens a gusta”, Piscator; “cujus recessit sapor”, Schultens.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
22 A golden ring in a swine’s snout –
A fair woman and without delicacy.
This is the first instance of an emblematical proverb in which the first and second lines are related to each other as figure and its import, vid., p. 9. The lxx translates rhythmically, but by its … it destroys the character of this picture-book proverbial form. The nose-ring, , generally attached to the right nostril and hanging down over the mouth ( vid., Lane’s Manners, etc.) is a female ornament that has been in use since the time of the patriarchs (Gen 24:47). If one supposes such a ring in a swine’s snout, then in such a thing he has the emblem of a wife in whom beauty and the want of culture are placed together in direct contrast. is taste carried over into the intellectual region, the capability of forming a judgment, Job 12:20, and particularly the capability of discovering that which is right and adapted to the end in view, 1Sa 25:33 (of Abigail), here in accordance with the figure of a beast with which the ideas of uncleanness, shamelessness, and rudeness are associated, a mind for the noble, the fine, the fitting, that which in the higher and at the same time intellectual and ethical sense we call tact (fine feeling); ( alienata ) denotes the want of this capacity, not without the accompanying idea of self-guilt.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
22 As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.
By discretion here we must understand religion and grace, a true taste and relish (so the word signifies) of the honours and pleasures that attend an unspotted virtue; so that a woman without discretion is a woman of a loose and dissolute conversation; and then observe, 1. It is taken for granted here that beauty or comeliness of body is as a jewel of gold, a thing very valuable, and, where there is wisdom and grace to guard against the temptations of it, it is a great ornament, (Gratior est pulchro veniens de corpore virtus–Virtue appears peculiarly graceful when associated with beauty); but a foolish wanton woman, of a light carriage, is fitly compared to a swine, though she be ever so handsome, wallowing in the mire of filthy lusts, with which the mind and conscience are defiled, and, though washed, returning to them. 2. It is lamented that beauty should be so abused as it is by those that have not modesty with it. It seems ill-bestowed upon them; it is quite misplaced, as a jewel in a swine’s snout, with which he roots in the dunghill. If beauty be not guarded by virtue, the virtue is exposed by the beauty. It may be applied to all other bodily endowments and accomplishments; it is a pity that those should have them who have not discretion to use them well.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Beauty Without Grace
(Pro 11:22)
Verse 22 reveals that a beautiful woman, without discretion, is as much out of place as, a gold ring in the snout of a hog rooting in the mud, Isa 3:16-24. Discretion bids women to seek and follow the counsel of God’s word, Pro 11:6; Pro 12:4; Pro 14:1; Pro 31:25-30; 1Ti 2:9-15; 1Pe 3:1-2; 1Sa 1:20; 2Ki 4:8-10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 11:22
PRECIOUS THINGS POSSESSED BY UNWORTHY OWNERS
I. There is an analogy between gold and beauty.
1. They are both gifts from God. Whether a man possesses gold by inheritance or as the result of labour it is a gift from God. In the first instance no praise or blame is due to him for being a rich man, he can no more help it than he can help being in existence. And it is no less a gift from God when it has been earned by toil (see Homiletics on chap. Pro. 10:22). Beauty is also a gift from God, those who possess it deserve no honour for being beautiful, those who lack it are not to be despised on that account.
2. Both have a certain value. Gold may add much to a man himself, it increases his opportunities of spiritual and intellectual growth. It enables him to add much to the joy and comfort of others, to give them opportunities of growth also; a rich man can, if he pleases, serve his generation most effectually by a right use of wealth, and thereby increase a thousandfold his own happiness as well as that of others. Beauty is precious also. A woman who possesses physical beauty possesses an influence which she can use, if she pleases, as a lever to raise the moral tone of those who come under her influence. A beautiful woman may use her beauty so as to earn for herself a good reward, and gladden the hearts of her fellow-creatures.
3. Both may make their possessors worthy of praise or blame. Although neither praise nor blame can be attached to the possession of them, much may be to their use. He who uses gold as we have just indicated will receive the well done, which is the highest praise that man can receive (Mat. 25:21). But if, like a sponge, he sucks up all the blessings that his gold can give into his own life, and leaves others unsuccoured and unblest, he will deserve, and he will receive, the sentence passed upon the rich by the Apostle James (chap. Pro. 5:1). So with the use or the abuse of beauty. For the right use of this gift of God, praise will be accorded to its possessor, for its abuse she will be called to render an account.
II. Gold and beauty, each in a wrong relation. An ornament of gold is a fitting and becoming adornment of the human person. But the same thing in a swines snout is utterly out of place; the conjunction of the two strikes us as entirely incongruous. But it is not more so than to find a fair face united to an unlovely soulto a soul which lacks the purity and modesty without which a woman is the most repulsive of Gods creatures. For the word translated discretion evidently means womanlinessvirtue, and when we see a beautiful face and find that it belongs to one with a foul spirit, we seem to see heaven and hell united in one person. The analogy goes further; the swine uses his snout to grovel in the mire in search of that which will satisfy his animal and swinish nature, he could put a jewel of gold to no other use. And the woman of the proverb does the same with her beauty. She debases this jewel of Gods own workmanship to the vile use of satisfying her own grovelling and lawless desires, and thus renders the resemblance most striking.
ILLUSTRATION
Nearly all the females of the East wear a jewel of gold in their nostrils, or in the septum of their nose; and some of them are exceedingly beautiful, and of great value. The Oriental lady looks with as much pleasure upon the jewel which adorns her nose as any of her sex in England do upon that which deck their ears.Roberts.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
We cannot, if we are ourselves right-minded,if we have even good sense, apart from pietyadmire such beauty. It hardly deserves the name. True loveliness consists not in the mere exquisite symmetry of features. It cannot exist without expression. To constitute true beauty, the countenance must be the index of the mind and heartof what is intellectual and what is amiable.Wardlaw.
The most direct proverb, in the sense of mashal, or similitude, which has yet reached us.Plumptre.
Beauty is an earthly jewel, and is a comely ornament, where God and nature have bestowed it. But if there be no discretion to consider whence it cometh, and by whom it is preserved; if there be no understanding to perceive what the nature of it is, to what at last it cometh, and how soon it fadeth, it is then but as a jewel of gold in a swines snout.Jermin.
God makes no more reckoning of sinful people without understanding, than of brute beasts without reason. Though they have human nature, and carry the shape and form of men and women, with best show, yet if there be nothing but flesh and blood and sinfulness, no beauty nor bravery, make the best of them, is more acceptable to Him than is the basest of all the other creatures. It is a very homely comparison wherewith the Holy Ghost disgraceth the wicked in this book, and yet so true, that He toucheth it again in the New Testament (2Pe. 2:22).Dod.
It is small praise, saith one, to have a good face and an evil nature. No one means, saith another, hath so enriched hell as beautiful faces. Art thou fair? saith an author; be not like an Egyptian temple, or a painted sepulchre. Art thou foul? let thy soul be like a rich pearl in a rude shell.Trapp.
Beauty in the possession of an unthinking woman is more dangerous than a drawn sword in the hands of an idiot.
Beauty, unaccompanied by virtue, is as a flower without perfume.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
TEXT Pro. 11:22-31
22.
As a ring of gold in a swines snout,
So is a fair woman that is without discretion.
23.
The desire of the righteous is only good;
But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
24.
There is that scattereth, and increaseth yet more;
And there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth only to want.
25.
The liberal soul shall be made fat;
And he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
26.
He that withholdeth grain, the people shall curse him;
But blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.
27.
He that diligently seeketh good seeketh favor;
But he that searcheth after evil, it shall come unto him.
28.
He that trusteth in his riches shall fall;
But the righteous shall flourish as the green leaf.
29.
He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind;
And the foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.
30.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life;
And he that is wise winneth souls.
31.
Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth;
How much more the wicked and the sinner!
STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 11:22-31
1.
Illustrate a woman with discretion (Pro. 11:22).
2.
What is the comparison between her and the hog with a gold ring(Pro. 11:22)?
3.
Do desire and expectation in Pro. 11:23 stand for hope or for what actually results?
4.
Find the agricultural setting in Pro. 11:24.
5.
What is meant by liberal in Pro. 11:25?
6.
What is meant by fat (Pro. 11:25)?
7.
What New Testament passage does the last statement in Pro. 11:25 call to mind?
8.
How do we know that withholdeth in Pro. 11:26 means wont sell?
9.
Why would the owner withhold the grain (Pro. 11:26)?
10.
Whose favor is obtained in Pro. 11:27Gods or mans (or both)?
11.
Cite instances of peoples seeking evil (Pro. 11:27)?
12.
Show from the Bible that man should not trust in riches (Pro. 11:28).
13.
What does Psa. 1:3 say about the leaf of the righteous (Pro. 11:28)?
14.
How does one trouble his own house (Pro. 11:29)?
15.
Give an illustration of the foolish serving the wise (Pro. 11:20;.
16.
What is meant by tree of life in Pro. 11:30?
17.
In Solomons day what did winning souls mean or involve (Pro. 11:30)?
18.
What are some of the earthly recompenses upon the righteous (Pro. 11:31)?
19.
What are some of the earthly recompenses upon the wicked (Pro. 11:31)?
PARAPHRASE OF 11:22-31
22.
A beautiful woman lacking discretion and modesty is like a fine gold ring in a pigs snout.
23.
The good man can look forward to happiness, while the wicked can expect only wrath.
24, 25.
It is possible to give away and become richer! It is also possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything. Yes, the liberal man shall be rich! By watering others, he waters himself.
26.
People curse the man who holds his grain for higher prices, but they bless the man who sells it to them in their time of need.
27.
If you search for good you will find Gods favor; if you search for evil you will find His curse.
28.
Trust in your money and down you go! Trust in God and flourish as a tree!
29.
The fool who provokes his family to anger and resentment will finally have nothing worthwhile left. He shall be the servant of a wiser man.
30.
Godly men are growing a tree that bears life-giving fruit, and all who win souls are wise.
31.
Even the godly shall be rewarded here on earth; how much more the wicked!
COMMENTS ON 11:22-31
Pro. 11:22. We might ask, What is a ring of gold if it be on a swines snout? Does it make the hog? And what is physical beauty if the woman has no discretion? Is physical beauty all that counts?
Pro. 11:23. Instead of wrath, Youngs Literal translation gives transgression, and the Septuagint gives shall perish. The passage means that the righteous desire only that which is good while the wicked desire that which is wrong (transgression) or that which brings Gods wrath, causing them to perish. How wonderful to have right desires! And how bad to crave the wrong thing!
Pro. 11:24. Scattereth here has reference to giving to the needy (Psa. 112:9). Judiciously helping the needy does not impoverish us (God blesses us), but if we withhold from them, God will withhold from us. 2Co. 9:6 : He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. An old epitaph: What we spent, we had; what we saved, we lost; what we gave, we have.
Pro. 11:25. Liberal here means generous; fat means prosperous. Promised also in Luk. 6:38 : Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
Pro. 11:26. Often the rich withhold selling grain during shortages to let the price go higher and higher. How the people will curse such a character! But how the same people would bless him for not waiting for higher prices but releasing to their need!
Pro. 11:27. One who seeks to do right will obtain the favor of both man and God. As a young man Jesus advanced…in favor with God and man (Luk. 2:52). So did the child Samuel (1Sa. 2:26). So will a virtuous person (Pro. 31:28-31). Those who traffic in evil will have evil (trouble) come upon them: Est. 7:10; Psa. 7:15-16; Psa. 9:15-16; Psa. 10:2; Psa. 57:6.
Pro. 11:28. This man trusts his riches rather than God, something consistently condemned in the Bible: Job. 31:24; Psa. 52:7; Mar. 10:24; 1Ti. 6:17. The righteous are often compared to the flourishing tree or leaf: Psa. 1:3; Psa. 52:8; Psa. 92:12; Jer. 17:8.
Pro. 11:29. God is displeased with one who makes trouble for his parents and brothers and sisters. He will inherit the wind (get nothing) rather than be included in the family inheritance. In life the foolish serve or work for the wise. The man wise enough to choose what he wants to succeed in and prepares himself for it gets much farther than the man who idly drifts from job to job and from day to day.
Pro. 11:30. Men draw good from the lives of the righteous. To partake of the good from their lives is like eating of the tree of life. The righteous wisely win souls from the wrong to the right. This is a great Old Testament verse on the good influencing the bad over to the right way of life.
Pro. 11:31. The New Testament mainly points to the final reaping of what we have sown (Gal. 6:7-9), yet there are earthly as well as eternal consequences of our sowing (Mat. 6:33; 1Ti. 4:8). There are two yokes that one can wear in life: Christs and Satans. Christ invited those worn out with the terrible load of sin (wearing Satans yoke) to come to Him and to take His yoke instead, promising them soul-rest and a much better and easier way to live (Mat. 11:28-30). When one considers the sorrows and disappointments and intrigue and distrust that sin brings to a person, truly the way of the transgressor is hard (Pro. 13:15).
TEST QUESTIONS OVER 11:22-31
1.
In what way is a beautiful woman with no judgment like a hog with a gold ring in its nose (Pro. 11:22)?
2.
What do some other versions give instead of wrath in Pro. 11:23?
3.
Tell in your own words what Pro. 11:24 means.
4.
What are the meanings of liberal and fat as used in Pro. 11:25?
5.
Withholdeth grain in what sense (Pro. 11:26)?
6.
What two things are different people seeking, according to Pro. 11:27, and what are their prospects at succeeding at their endeavor?
7.
Trusting in riches is set over against trusting, in ………….. (Pro. 11:28)
8.
Cite two passages that liken the righteous to a flourishing tree or leaf (Pro. 11:28).
9.
What will one inherit from his family who has caused them endless trouble (Pro. 11:20)?
10.
In life who serves whom among the wise and the foolish (Pro. 11:29)?
11.
Discuss the question of the righteous persons influence from Pro. 11:30.
12.
What are some of the earthly recompenses of the
12.
What are some of the earthly recompenses of the righteous right in this life (Pro. 11:31)?
13.
What are some of the earthly recompenses of the wicked in this life (Pro. 11:31)?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(22) As a jewel of gold in a swines snout.Rather, a nose-ring run through the right nostril and hanging down over the mouth; a female ornament used from the earliest times (Gen. 24:47; Isa. 3:21; Eze. 16:12), and still worn in the East.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
22. A jewel swine’s snout There is an allusion here to the nose-ring worn by Eastern women. The general sense of this homely proverb is, that beauty without discretion, , ( ta’ham,) literally, taste, propriety, moral perception, is of no more suitableness than would be a gold ring in a swine’s snout. The clause imports, Whoso departs or recedes from what is proper, fit, becoming, in a wife or a maiden.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 11:22 As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.
Pro 11:22
It also alludes to the practice in ancient times of giving an adornment of fine jewelry to a beautiful woman. Oriental women often wore nose jewels (see Isa 2:21).
Isa 3:18-21, “In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, The rings, and nose jewels,”
Therefore, the jewel of gold in the pig’s snout may refer to the oriental nose jewel. Also, JFB tells us that the pig in Egyptian hieroglyphics represents a fool (quoting Gejer). [95]
[95] Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Proverbs, in Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database (Seattle, WA: Hendrickson Publishers Inc., 1997), in P.C. Study Bible, v. 3.1 [CD-ROM] (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft Inc., 1993-2000), comments on Proverbs 11:22.
Pro 11:22 “so is a fair woman which is without discretion” – Word Study on “without” Strong says the Hebrew word “without” ( ) (H5493) is a primitive root meaning, “to turn off.” In Pro 11:22, modern English versions translate it: “is without” ( ASV, Darby, RSV), “abandoned” ( Rotherham).
Comments – This phrase can literally mean someone who “departs from discretion.” Thus, the woman in this verse would choose to ignore wisdom and continue in foolishness.
Word Study on “discretion” – Strong says the Hebrew word “discretion” ( ) (H2940) literally means, “taste,” and in a figurative sense, “perception,” and it comes from the root verb ( ) (H2939), which means, “to taste.” The Enhanced Strong says this Hebrew word is used 13 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “ taste 5, behaviour 2, advice 1, understanding 1, judgment 1, discretion 1, reason 1, decree 1.”
Comments – It is use d literally of the taste of manna.
Exo 16:31, “And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
It is used of intellectual advice.
1Sa 25:33, “And blessed be thy advice , and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.”
It is used of ethical judgment.
Psa 119:66, “Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.”
In Pro 11:22 it seems to refer to a woman who lacks moral character. The WBC calls it “moral perception.” [96]
[96] Charles Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison, eds, Proverbs, in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database (Chicago: Moody Press, c1962), in P.C. Study Bible, v. 3.1 [CD-ROM] (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft Inc., 1993-2000), comments on Proverbs 11:22-23.
Pro 11:22 Comments – Wisdom and its virtues, such as discretion, are considered an ornament in the book of Proverbs. Note:
Pro 1:9, “For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.”
Pro 4:9, “She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.”
Pro 25:12, “As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.”
Peter calls a meek and quiet spirit an “ornament.”
1Pe 3:4, “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit , which is in the sight of God of great price.”
Thus, the jewel of gold is parallel with the ornament of discretion in this verse. Just as it is not fitting to use gold in a swine’s snout, so it is not fitting for beauty to cloth a foolish woman. The moral deficiency of this woman is compared with an ugly pig, an animal that was considered unclean to the Jews. The immoral woman is compared to unclean pig regardless of her outward beauty. As a beautiful gold ring does not compliment an ugly pig snout, neither does beauty go with a foolish woman. Physical attraction does not go with moral deficiency, but rather they contradict one another, as does a gold ring in a pig’s snout.
Some men marry a woman; and not having looked past the beautiful “gold jewel,” they find themselves married to a foolish woman. Proverbs warns us of this woman later when describing the virtuous woman.
Pro 31:30, “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.”
Thus, the character of the woman in Pro 11:22 is contrasted with the virtuous woman.
Pro 11:23 The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
Pro 11:23
Pro 11:23 Comments – Pro 11:23 tells us that the righteous man has a heart that desires only good things. He desires good for all those about him, and wish no harm. He may stubble into sin, but his desire is to overcome sin and please God in everything that he does. Because of his good desires, the Lord will grant him his expectations. He has a happy end.
Psa 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desire.”
In contrast, the wicked man desires things that appease his unending wrath and anger towards others. He only desires things that displease God, thus bringing wrath upon his live. This person seeks evil, and he gets it. In vain, he may hope for a good outcome amidst his sins, but his end is only problems and punishment. His mischief will come upon his own head. He has an unhappy end. Note:
Rom 2:8-10, “But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:”
Pro 11:23 Scripture References – Note a similar verse:
Pro 10:28, “The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
v. 22. As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 11:22. As a jewel of gold, &c. See Job 42:11. The meaning is, “As a jewel of gold would be ill placed in the snout of a swine, which is always raking in the mire; so is beauty ill bestowed on a woman, whose mind, having lost all relish of virtue, carries her from her husband, to wallow in filthy lust and adulterous pleasures.” See Bishop Patrick, and Bochart de Animal. pars i. lib. ii. c. 57.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 11:22 [As] a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, [so is] a fair woman which is without discretion.
Ver. 22. As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout.] It is a small praise, saith one, to have a good face and an evil nature. No one means, saith another, hath so enriched hell as beautiful faces. Aureliae Orestillae praeter formam nihil unquam bonus laudavit, saith Sallust. In Aurelia Orestilla there was nothing praiseworthy but her beauty. Are thou fair? saith an author; be not like an Egyptian temple, or a painted sepulchre. Art thou foul? let thy soul be like a rich pearl in a rude shell.
“ Si mihi difficilis formam natura negavit:
Ingenio formae damna rependo meae. ” a
So is a fair woman which is without discretion.
a Sapph. ap. Ovid.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
jewel = a nose-jewel, worn by women. See Gen 24:47. Isa 3:21.
fair = beautiful.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 11:22
Pro 11:22
“As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, So is a fair woman without discretion.”
“If a beautiful woman is foolish, it is the same as a gold ring in a pig’s nose. The word `discretion’ is a very comprehensive term. “It signifies physical taste, intellectual discrimination, sound judgment and moral uprightness.
Pro 11:22. We might ask, What is a ring of gold if it be on a swines snout? Does it make the hog? And what is physical beauty if the woman has no discretion? Is physical beauty all that counts?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
a jewel: Pro 31:30, Eze 16:15-22, Nah 3:4-6, 1Pe 3:3, 1Pe 3:4, 2Pe 2:22
is without: Heb. departed from, Pro 7:10, Pro 9:13
Reciprocal: Mat 7:6 – cast
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 11:22. As a jewel of gold in a swines snout Which would not adorn the swine, but only be disparaged itself; so is a fair woman without discretion Who disgraceth the beauty of her body by a foolish and filthy mind. There seems to be an allusion in these words to a custom prevalent in the East, of wearing jewels upon their noses: see on Job 42:11. The meaning evidently is, As a jewel of gold would be ill placed in the snout of a swine, which is always raking in the mire; so is beauty ill bestowed on a woman, whose mind, having lost all relish of virtue, carries her from her husband to wallow in filthy lusts and adulterous pleasures. See Bishop Patrick.
Of beauty vain, of virtue void,
What art thou in the sight of God?
A slave to every base desire,
A creature wallowing in the mire.
Go, gaudy pageant of a day,
Thy folly with thy face display:
Set all thy charms and graces out,
And show the jewel in thy snout. C. WESLEY.