Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 16:8
Better [is] a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
8. without right ] Rather, with injustice, R.V., as preserving better the parallelism. Comp. Pro 15:16.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This was in effect said before, Pro 15:16, and is here repeated, partly because of the great importance and usefulness of this truth, and partly because men are very hardly brought to a serious belief of it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. (Compare Pro 15:6;Pro 15:16; Pro 15:17).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Better [is] a little with righteousness,…. Gotten in a righteous way, held by a righteous claim, used in a righteous manner, attended with a life of righteousness and holiness; and also along with an interest in the righteousness of Christ, which renders acceptable unto God, yields peace and comfort, and entitles to eternal glory and happiness. A truly righteous man may have but little of this world’s goods; but his small pittance is better
than great revenues without right; obtained in an unjust way; detained from the right owner of them, and used in an unrighteous manner, in a course of sin and wickedness: or, “without judgment” e; how to make use of them aright, and without a righteousness that will justify them at the day of judgment; [See comments on Pr 15:16]. A little the true church of Christ enjoys in the wilderness; having Christ and his grace, Christ and his righteousness, is better than all the revenues of the church of Rome gotten by the unlawful methods they are; and which, in one hour will come to nought, Re 18:17.
e “absque judicio”, Pagninus, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Five proverbs of the king, together with three of righteousness in action and conduct:
8 Better is a little with righteousness,
Than rich revenues with unrighteousness.
The cogn. proverb Pro 15:16 commences similarly. Of , multitude or greatness of income, vid., Pro 14:4: “unrighteous wealth profits not.” The possessor of it is not truly happy, for sin cleaves to it, which troubles the heart (conscience), and because the enjoyment which it affords is troubled by the curses of those who are injured, and by the sighs of the oppressed. Above all other gains rises (1Ti 6:6).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
Here, 1. It is supposed that an honest good man may have but a little of the wealth of this world (all the righteous are not rich),–that a man may have but little, and yet may be honest (though poverty is a temptation to dishonesty, ch. xxx. 9, yet not an invincible one),–and that a man may grow rich, for a while, by fraud and oppression, may have great revenues, and those got and kept without right, may have no good title to them nor make any good use of them. 2. It is maintained that a small estate, honestly come by, which a man is content with, enjoys comfortably, serves God with cheerfully, and puts to a right use, is much better and more valuable than a great estate ill-got, and then ill-kept or ill-spent. It carries with it more inward satisfaction, a better reputation with all that are wise and good; it will last longer, and will turn to a better account in the great day, when men will be judged, not according to what they had, but what they did.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Right With the Lord
Verse 8 declares that it is better to have little and be right with the LORD than to have great wealth without a right relationship with God. Pro 15:16 states this principle with emphasis on the temporal consequences. This passage embraces the relationship with the LORD which has both temporal and eternal consequences, Ecc 5:19; Pro 28:20; Pro 23:5; Luk 12:16-21; Luk 16:19-26.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
GAMBLING. OR THE HOLE OF GREEN CLOTH
Sermon preached on Sunday afternoon to MEN ONLY.
Pro 16:8
I AM to speak to you this afternoon of one of the oldest sins. Gambling is not a modern art, but in its different forms and phases can be traced back for centuries, and millenniums, and into every nation and tongue that has ever existed beneath the sun.
With some peoples it has been more rank than with others, but no generation has escaped its seductive fascinations.
What new thing, then, could one be expected to say on so old a theme?
I was telling the men who met in our chapel the other Monday evening, that familiar story of a certain parson, whose affectionate, but poor people wanted to express their appreciation of his faithful services; and so they started a subscription to buy the parson a horse.
When the papers had gone their rounds, it was found that $19 had been pledged, and so the original movers made haste to purchase such a steed as could be had for that amount.
They brought him to the parson, who, having duly returned his thanks, put the horse in the side lot.
Shortly, a jockey passed that way and seeing the animal made some scurrilous remarks as to his physical appearance, declaring that he was rather the worst piece of horse flesh he had seen; to which the parson replied with righteous indignation, That is a better horse than my Lord rode into Jerusalem on. Thereupon the jockey climbed over the fence and examined the animals teeth, and turning to the parson he said, cynically, Dominie, that is the very same horse.
I am sure that the things I shall say this afternoon are aged, some of them doubtless nineteen centuries old, and more, but like the Dominies horse, they may be serviceable still, and may properly illustrate and emphasize the truth in our text, Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues without right. It would seem that Solomon must have been thinking of gambling in some form when he penned that sentence, and this afternoon, I want to employ it to impress you with its truth. There are several reasons that might be assigned for saying this with reference to gambling. The first is this:
GAMBLING IS DISHONEST
The basal principal of all honest dealing between men is that business transactions shall promote mutual advantages. When that does not occur, we say somebody was guilty of cheating. When did the professional gambler, or even the greatest novice in the art, ever dream of making the game contribute to another mans wealth, as well as to his own? Does not every visitor to the hole of green cloth go there with fixed purpose to rob his brother, if possible, and thereby enrich himself?
You know Boston is a great center of literary culture, and that culture has affected the speech of the women particularly until they make the most elaborate words do service for small occasions. One day Mr. and Mrs. Emerson were sitting together in their Boston home, when she turned to him and said, Browning, dear, what is a cutaneous pastime? A cutaneous pastime, my love; I never heard of such a thing. Well, on the car this morning, I heard two men talking, and one of them spoke of a skin game.
Thats gambling! The scalp of the other fellow is the purpose of each player. The only difference between the motive of the highway robber and that of the man who throws the dice, or fingers the cards, or bets on the turning wheel, is that one proposes to rob his fellow with his consent, while the other proposes to rob him whether he consents or not. The fact of robbery remains as the ulterior purpose, whether the man accomplishes it with a seven shooter, or in seven up; whether he win by using a sledge hammer, or by his knowledge of old sledge; whether he gets his money by means of an iron poker, or the gamblers poker.
No doubt some of our professional gamblers would loudly protest against this definition of their purpose and act. No question that they pose as if their clean characters were defamed by the preachers words. But though they hold up their hands in holy horror, the definition will stand, and their true infamy will seem to the world to inhere in their chosen pursuit, not in what others have said of them.
Some years ago, I saw a letter written to a member of my church, by a New York counterfeiter. In that epistle the New York shark offered to sell $3,000 in the best counterfeit, such counterfeit, he affirmed as no expert could distinguish from the genuine, for $300 of the United States print. Lest he should offend the conscience of the Christian man by this proposal, he explained at length in his letter, that he was an honest man, and the business was perfectly legitimate. Yes, our penitentiaries were built to husband such honesty and the men of such legitimate business ought to be in them.
I have read of a clergyman who, seeing a certain horse-jockey trying to take in a simple youth by imposing upon him a broken-winded horse for a good one, interfered. Taking the young man to one side, the preacher said, That fellow is a shark. Dont exchange with him. When the trade was declared off, the jockey was quite out of temper. He followed the preacher up and said, Parson, I would a good deal rather hear you preach than see you privately interfere with bargains between man and man. Well, answered the parson, if you had been where you ought to have been last Sunday, you could have heard me preach. Well, where was that? asked the jockey. In the State Prison, returned the clergyman.
And our prisons have in them special departments, which the sense of civil justice has set in order for honest (?) gamblers.
DISHONEST GAIN MEANS DISHONORED GOLD
We often wonder how a man ever reaches the point where he can handle money gotten at gambling without feeling defiled by the touch.
We have sometimes wondered what newspaper men do with the money that they take for Ads that invite the youth to visit the anti-rooms of perdition, in what waters they wash them to take away the stain of a brothers blood. But if that question could be answered, here is a more difficult one still: How shall the gold gotten from some green youth without giving to him any sort of exchange, or from the father, whose children shall cry for bread because he gambled and lost, ever be so cleansed that the winner can buy bread with it that will not choke or poison his own wretched wife and children!
Robert McIntyre, in the keenest: discourse against this business that I ever read, said, touching this corruption of money, Once, when the plague visited an English village, the stricken people resorted to a stream near by to get bread left there for them. They tossed the coins for payment into the brook where they were found hours afterward, by those who had provided the food. They thought the over-passing waters had cleansed the pestilence from the coins. Perhaps it had, but no brook, river or sea hath tide medicinal enough to cleanse the curse from money made at gambling. It is cankered. It is blood-stained and tear-rusted. It will curse him that wins and him that loses. Remember this, young man, that the moment you engage in its blighting business, you either arrange to lose in dishonesty, or else by dishonest methods to grow rich in blood-money.
THE GAME DEGRADES
The dishonesty of the business is not its blackest stripe; blacker still is its power to degrade the men who indulge. Young men are apt to overlook that feature. In the strength and beauty of young manhood, our egotism is slow to admit the possibility of shame) and degradation as our eventual lot. What young men fear is that their seniors or peers shall count them unsophisticated and green. But he has that of which he may be justly proud who is so green that he has not seen the inside of a gambling room. Better be green than degraded.
The first degradation appears in the loss of self-respect. I never gambled but once and when I went away from the place where I had made my contribution to the foul vultures who lay in wait for succors of my sort, I went in shame. In the presence of my father, I felt abashed; and, though my mother was many miles away, when I saw her again, I could not help suspecting that some way she knew about it. The guilty conscience needs no accuser.
Few better men than President Garfield have graced the presidency of the United States; and it is worth while for youth and the aged to listen while he speaks. On one occasion he said, I do not much care what others think and say about me, but there is one mans opinion about me which I very much value. That is the opinion of James Garfield. Others I need not think about. I can get away from them, but I have to be with him all the time. He is with me when I rise up, and when I lie down; when I eat and talk; when I go out and come in. It makes all the difference between happiness and misery as to whether he thinks well of me, or not.
I had rather retain my self-respect, than have all the silver and gold that the gambling houses of the world have ever handled, and I say that in face of the fact that Monte Carlo, alone, handles millions a year.
The second degradation results in the condemnation of society.
The drinking man is often a man who commands social position. It is a sad commentary upon American civilization, but it is a simple fact to say, that the scarlet man, the adulterer, is not excluded from what we call the first circles; and even his indulgent neighbors bow to him their respect, if he hold political position, social station or is in great worldly possessions.
But from the gambler the greater part of society shrink as if they feared contamination from his touch.
In Chicago, I knew a physician who had married a young woman of some means, and inveigled her into the purchase of Chicago property in his name.
After two or three years that ought to have been spent as a honey-moon, that young woman was white-haired, wrinkled-faced, broken-hearted. She was a comparative stranger to me, but because her husband had a few times attended my church, she came one day to my study, and poured out her soul, and told me how he had gambled away all his money, had mortgaged his house for $3,000, and lost that.
I went to talk with him and he attempted to defend his conduct and commiserate himself as unfortunate. He is a great fool who expects to be anything else than unfortunate, and yet attempts to get gold by gambling. But in the course of the conversation he said, This thing has gotten abroad. My friends are giving me the cold shoulder; even the social circles in which we have moved seem not just willing to receive me, though I know that not a one of the members thereof are free from sin, and some of them have habits that are less clean than gambling. But, said he, society seems to condemn the gambler as it does not the drinker, the dishonest, the lustful, or any other, and I dont think it is right.
To his remark I replied, But it is a fact, and I thank God for it. The business that could take the bloom from your wifes cheek in two years, and turn her raven hair to white, and furrow her face as forty years ought not to have done, ought to be stigmatized by every member of society who is not lost to every sense of truth and right, and your suffering is not a sufficient judgment of your sins.
I have often thought that this black art never does its worst for a single man. It is when the husband and father degrades not only himself, but his house and family, that Heaven must weep. It is then that the angels know how this serpent of green has struck venom into the flesh of wife and child, and in its slimy coil is crushing the home.
The most of you have read Hawthornes strange story entitled, The Man of Adamant, in which he describes one Richard Digby, who lived and carried about the world a stone in his bosom just where the heart should have been.
That story is true to life. I knew a young man many years ago, who illustrated it. His wife was surpassingly beautiful, his little girl one of the most winsome of children in that city. When she gave him her hand, and heard his promise to love, cherish, honor and protect, until death do us part, he had property and position. But the fatal night came when from his office he went to that heavily curtained upper room. He was unlucky and lost. Half crazed by his misfortune he borrowed and went again to get back what was gone. Doubtless the Devil deceived him into believing that if he got even, he would quit. But again he lost! Then, more desperate than at first, he borrowed in greater sums, and mortgaged his house; sharks soon had that. Then hardened, he went to his employers drawer and borrowed from that, without the owners knowledge. A few weeks passed and the Companys expert came that way, and found the ticket returns $2,000 short. It was a sad night in August when that sweet young mother and beautiful child found themselves suddenly widowed and orphaned by his flight, and in their poverty and disgrace locked arms and wept as only the innocent sufferers can.
When the next day I learned the awful truth, I thought, and I believe that you will agree with me, Oh, the power of the gambling den to degrade! The man who deserted that wife and darling child was not the same who had married her five years before. Then he had his manhood, and this beautiful woman was in the glad possession of his heart. But a few months of gambling changed his whole character, left him in sullenness and sin, his very soul stained and his conscience seared, little more than a wretched memory of his former selfand those same few months of degradation for him brought permanent misery and burning disgrace to the darlings at home.
David refused to drink water that brave men had risked their lives to obtain for him in the hour of thirst. As he poured out their liquid, in oblation to God, he said, Shall I drink the blood of men who went in jeopardy of their lives?
If David would not get pleasure, at the expense of danger to their lives, shall men at this later century, and in this refined city, this community of Christians, gamble, when the hearts of wife and children, the respect of self, the good-will of society, the happiness of the home, and the interests of eternal souls, are in the stake?
Dr. Lorimer used to tell us that in Asia, it was not uncommon for a reckless and infatuated player, having lost all of his money, to put up his wife, or son, or daughter, and for the possession of their persons throw the dice.
That startled an American audience, but it is no more true of Asia than of our land. For, the man who is destroying his self-respect, parting with his gold in the place where only fools of fortune assemble, inviting social condemnation, moral degradation, and spiritual, is, whether he knows it or not, playing with his own wife and children as the stake.
THE GAME DETHRONES
But gambling degrades to dethrone.
First of all it dethrones character.
It is not a question merely of self-respect, but it is a question of selfa question of manhood.
When an older brother was about to graduate, mother was expecting to witness the final exercises of the school. In the night, previous to the day on which she was to start for the college, she started up in her sleep and screamed until the startled house hurried from their beds to the side of hers. Every one came asking her, What is the matter? She opened her eyes, and looked about for a moment, and then a peculiar joy came into every feature of her face, and she said, Oh, thank the Lord it is only a dream. I thought I was at the college, and had found son in the degradations of strong drink. There are many mothers in Minneapolis this afternoon who would give the world to know that their gambling, drinking sons were safe, and that the thought of lost purity, lost honesty, lost resolution and lost manhood was only a dream.
But breaking hearts notwithstanding, a stubborn fact remains to embitter the waking and sleeping of many a mother, My boys manhood is gone. He lost it in that upper story over the saloon.
It dethrones reason. The strain of such excitement with the alteration of success, and failure, no keen mind can long survive.
Some years ago I was going down the Ohio River, when a well-known minister, formerly of this city, was aboard the boat, and he told me of his visit to Monte Carlo, the gambling hell of the earth.
He spoke of how many minds were unsettled in that beautiful, yet blighting spot. He said it is impossible to learn how many men and women annually commit suicide in that place. The authorities take pains to conceal the number, shuffling the dead Speedily out of sight, lest the vision of these self-destroyed ones should injure the trade. The late Dr. Lorimer, of Boston, in a book published, affirms the same fact as gleaned from his visit to that spot in 1891, saying, Instances are not wanting and indeed are sufficiently frequent to be of the common places of the institution, of those, after prolonged ill luck, apparently a trifle wearied and worn and haggard from the mental strain, wandering forth beneath the silent stars, and there, on the margin of the beautiful sea, ending lifea pistol shot, a hurried funeral, or a wooden-box hastily dispatched to a distant city, and a vacant chair at the Faro table invites another to ruin and despair.
I used to wonder if the mind of Hutchinson old Hutch, as they called him, on the Chicago Board of Trade, would keep its balance to the end of his days. But you know how history finally answered my question. He went the way of a thousand of others, the way of saddest insanity, and most dreadful death.
It dethrones God. There is no business that more absolutely despises Gods law. There is no institution in which His Name is more often blasphemed, and in which the sightless goddess of chance reigns supreme, than in the room given over to gambling. No wonder the drowning man drew a deck of cards from his pocket and cast them to the great deep, saying, I dont care to be in possession of that pack when I meet God. He must have feared that the very sight of the means by which he had robbed his fellows would revive the Divine memory of the godlessness of his life, and the degradation of his chosen pursuit.
It is a serious thing to lose the friendship of a faithful man, more serious still to abuse the love of a faithful wife and beautiful children, but most serious to do that which drives God from the life, unseating Him from His lawful throne.
Some have said a mothers love outlasts all, but many a man has despised the mothers love and divorced himself therefrom.
Years since, in Chicago, I picked up my paper one day and read, Michael Feeley, a painter living at 2855 Union Ave., stabbed his aged mother last evening, at about 8:30 oclock.
The half drunken man started for the saloon; the dear old mother followed and put her arm about his neck to plead with him to come back. Angered by such tender restraints, he drew his knife and plunged it twice into the left breast, and leaving her in her own blood, went to his drinks.
Such a report shocks us and we say, How could it be? But men stab God after the same manner God whose love outlasts a mothers, for the Scriptures say, When thy father and mother forsake thee, the Lord will take thee up.
To dethrone Him from the heart, and by your sins stab His bosom of love, is to set the seal of destruction upon the soul which neither time, nor eternity, will ever remove.
I beg of you, my brothers, that you do not that. That is a poor price for which to part with God, putting ones self forever past pardon.
It is said that Cyrus gave to one of his Generals a cup of gold and to another a kiss. The first complained that he had received the lesser favor.
Surely then the kiss of the Eternal King ought to be precious above any possible wealth of this world, for that kiss brings pardon, peace and everlasting salvation. Instead of further offence, seek His favor and ask His forgiveness and love.
A soldier in England was brought by a sergeant to the Colonel. The Colonel looked at him and said, Why do you bring that man here again? We have tried everything with him. Execute him! Oh, no, said the sergeant, there is one thing you have not tried, and I would like to see you try that. What is it? said the Colonel. Forgiveness, replied the sergeant. The Colonel said, We will, and he called the young man in and addressed him. Well, sir, you have done so and so; what is your excuse? I have no sufficient excuse, was his humble answer, but I am very sorry. Well, said the Colonel, we have made up our minds to forgive you all the past. Start afresh and see if you cannot live right. The tears started. He fell down at the Colonels feet and said, I shall never sin again, and from that hour he was a splendid soldier, a joy to his superior.
That is what God is saying to us, this afternoon. If you want, I will forgive you. The old record shall be blotted out. This Sunday afternoon, take a fresh start, and by my grace, Ill help you to stand, and save you from all your sins. How many of you will accept the offer of love?
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
8. Without right , ( mishpat,) rectitude. The word means what is just, lawful, conformable to law; and which is better than great incomes obtained unlawfully, unjustly. Comp. Pro 15:16; Psa 37:16.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
YHWH Is Concerned About Injustice Whether At The Hands Of The King Or Of Men ( Pro 16:8-12 ).
In this subsection men are urged to act justly and rightly in their business dealings, and kings are urged to act justly in their dealings with their people. In both cases we are assured that both men and kings are subject to His control. Pro 16:8 provides an important reminder that whilst those who follow wisdom are guaranteed future wellbeing, it does not necessarily come at once. There can be a time when the righteous only have ‘a little’. And in the same way, although the unrighteous will in the end lose their wealth, it does not necessarily happen quickly. For a time the unrighteous can be seen to prosper, and the righteous to have little.
The subsection is presented chiastically as follows:
A Better is a little, with righteousness, than great revenues with injustice (Pro 16:8).
B A man’s heart devises his way, but YHWH directs his steps (Pro 16:9).
B A divine sentence is in the lips of the king, his mouth will not transgress in judgment (Pro 16:10).
A A just balance and scales are YHWH’s, all the weights of the bag are his work (Pro 16:11).
Note that in A just dealings are more important than gaining great wealth, whilst in the parallel just weights and balances have YHWH’s approval. Centrally in B YHWH directs men in their steps, and in the parallel He direct kings in exercising judgment.
Pro 16:8
‘Better is a little, with righteousness,
Than great revenues with injustice.’
The point here is that just dealings are all important to YHWH. It is better to only gain a little while acting justly, than to gain great wealth by unjust means. And that can only be because such an attitude pleases YHWH, and it is more important to be acceptable in God’s eyes than it is to be wealthy. One reason that it is better is that YHWH will watch over the one who is pleasing to Him (compare Pro 16:7), whilst another is that he will also enjoy a good conscience and be able to sleep at nights, and have the confidence that no one is out to get him because of his behaviour. In contrast the unjust man is under the wrath of God, and must constantly watch his back.
Pro 16:9
‘A man’s heart devises his way,
But (and) YHWH directs his step.’
This may be seen in two ways. Firstly (translating as ‘and’) as indicating that the righteous man devises his way looking to YHWH to direct each step. Or secondly (translating as ‘but’) as indicating that whatever a man schemes to do, His ways are in the end in the hands of YHWH. Both are true and are reminder that in life, whether we want Him to be or not, YHWH is in overall control of our lives.
In the light of the context it is probably the first which is mainly in view, for the context is about men pondering their ways. Men are to ponder their business dealings, kings are to ponder the ways in which they act in judgment, and if they look to Him YHWH will direct their steps. On the other hand, the use of ‘man’s’ in general may point to the second, for what is said elsewhere makes quite clear that YHWH does not assist the unrighteous.
Pro 16:10
‘A divine sentence (or divine wisdom) is in the lips of the king,
His mouth will not transgress in judgment.’
In Pro 8:15-16 Wisdom assured us that, ‘by me kings reign, and princes decree justice, by me governors rule and nobles, even all the judges of the earth’. That is now turned into the expressed hope that a king, when acting as ‘a judge of the earth’, will do so recognising his responsibility before God. For that is why he has been made king. What is described as being in the mouth of the king is ‘divination’, the ability to speak as from a divine source. God’s wisdom will guide him (Pro 8:15).
Thus a king is to recognise that when pronouncing justice he is doing so in God’s Name, that ‘the powers that be are ordained of God’ (Rom 13:1), and if he does so recognise it he will be scrupulously fair and ensure that justice is done. He will not transgress in judgment, because YHWH will direct his steps (Pro 16:9).
This is not, of course, saying that whatever decision a king comes to will automatically have divine approval. That will depend very much on his motive. It is rather saying that when he seeks to judge rightly he will have divine assistance. God will give him wisdom. Indeed the way in which he should judge is explained in Deu 17:18-20. It is only in that light that he can make this supreme claim to have the mind of God.
Solomon himself had good cause to think like this. YHWH had promised him wisdom above the ordinary in his dealings (1Ki 3:11-12). It is questionable if a later writer could have spoken with such confidence in view of some of the kings who followed Solomon. It would, however, one day be true of the Messiah (Isa 11:1-4).
This is the third reference to the king in the proverbs of Solomon (compare Pro 14:28; Pro 14:35) and it will be noted in each case that such a reference has always come in the context of a prominent mention of YHWH. The king’s authority is always seen in the light of YHWH’s authority (something made plain in this proverb).
Pro 16:11
A just balance and scales are YHWH’s,
All the weights of the bag are his work.’
The subsection closes with the thought that, whether used by kings or businessmen, the accurate balance and scales which ensure fair dealings are the only ones that have YHWH’s approval. They alone are His, and acknowledged by Him. Indeed, the very weights which the businessman keeps in a bag are His work if they are accurate and reliable. And if they are not then He repudiates them. They come under His disapproval. We can compare here Pro 11:1 where we read, ‘a false balance is an abomination to YHWH, but a just weight is His delight’. Among other things this is a vivid way of saying that God is with a king or businessman in his endeavours when he deals honestly, but rejects him when he does not. It is also an important indication of the emphasis that God puts on honest dealings.
Just scales, balances and weights were, of course, a requirement of the Torah, where they were also associated with true justice. ‘You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measuring stick, in weight or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah and a just hin shall you have’ (Lev 19:35-36; compare Deu 25:13-15; Mic 6:11). Whilst the idea of men being weighed in terms of justice is found in Job 31:6; Isa 26:7; Dan 5:27.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
v. 8. Better is a little with righteousness,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right. A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment. A just weight and balance are the LORD’S: all the weights of the bag are his work. It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness. Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right. The wrath of a king is as messengers of death: but a wise man will pacify it. In the light of the king’s countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain. How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver! The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul. Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he. The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning. Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly. The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips. Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. He that laboureth laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of him. An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire. A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends. A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good. He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass. The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.
If the Reader hath his eye constantly waiting upon the Holy Ghost, as he goes through these many verses, very sure I am that that blessed Spirit will give him to see Christ in many a part. And his conclusion therefrom will be like the beginning, and the end of this chapter. It is the Lord that prepares the heart. And it is the Lord that disposeth the heart, and all things, when the lot is cast into the lap.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 16:8 Better [is] a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
Ver. 8. Better is a little with righteousness, &c. ] A small stock well gotten is more comfortably enjoyed and bequeathed to posterity than a cursed hoard of evil gotten goods. The reason why people “please not God, and are contrary to all men” – as this verse refers to the former – is, because they prefer gain before God, and care not how they wrong men so they may have it. See Pro 15:16 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Better. See note on Pro 8:11.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 16:8
Pro 16:8
“Better is a little, with righteousness, Than great revenues, with injustice.”
Many of the proverbs touch this admonition that men should be satisfied with `little,’ and that they should restrain their greed for more. “Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content” (1Ti 6:8).
Pro 16:8. This should be a great passage to keep in mind when one is tempted to take a high-paying job or to get into a lucrative business that is not right. We know that taverns, theaters, gambling casinos, and other businesses connected with evil can make their owners or operators sizable sums, but it is better to work at something else that makes less money. Compare this verse with Psa 37:16 and Pro 15:16. Christians are commanded to work at divinely-approved jobs (Eph 4:28; Tit 3:8-especially the marginal note on the latter). Remember, too, that righteousness is to be sought before even the earthly necessities of food, drink, and clothing (Mat 6:33).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
is: Pro 15:16, Psa 37:16, 1Ti 6:6-9
great: Pro 21:6, Pro 21:7, Jer 17:11, Mic 6:10
Reciprocal: Psa 119:141 – small Pro 12:27 – but Pro 15:6 – in the revenues Pro 19:1 – Better Pro 28:6 – General Ecc 4:6 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 16:8. Better is a little, &c. A small estate, honestly gotten and usefully employed, is much to be preferred before vast incomes, gathered by oppression, and kept without the exercise of mercy and charity. This was, in effect, said before, Pro 15:16, (where see the note,) and is here repeated, partly because of the great importance and usefulness of this truth, and partly because men are very hardly brought to a serious belief of it.