Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 10:22
The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
22. addeth no sorrow ] It is without alloy, free from the drawbacks and anxieties which attach to earthly riches. Or, with Maur. and R.V. marg., toil, or anxiety, addeth nothing thereto. Comp. Mat 6:25-34; Psa 127:2.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Pro 10:22
The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it.
Riches in Gods blessing
I. Gods blessing gives material wealth. The silver and the gold are His, and He gives them to whomsoever He will. He who rules in the highest, reaches down to the minutest concerns of this world, and controls them all.
II. Gods blessing makes rich His blessing is riches, although the wealth of the world should all flee away. There are two ways of acquiring wealth. Some people grow rich without Gods blessing, and some grow rich by it. The god of this world gives riches to his subjects sometimes, when neither giver nor getter own the supremacy of the Almighty; and God Himself gives riches to some who are His children. Wherein lies the difference, since both the godly and the godless have gotten wealth? It lies here: God addeth no sorrow with it, but that other lord does. Sorrow is sure to come with ill-gotten wealth. It lies like a burning spark on the conscience, which will not out all the rich mans days. Sometimes the wealth is scattered by public judgments. Sometimes it becomes the source of family strife. There are many arrows of judgment in the Almightys quiver. If you take God into your counsels, and so grow rich, there will be no bitterness infused into your gains. A human soul is so made that it cannot safely have riches next it. If they come into direct contact, they will clasp it too closely; if they remain, they wither the souls life away; and if they are violently wrenched off, they tear the souls life asunder. Whether, therefore, you keep them or lose them, if you clasp them to your soul with nothing more spiritual between, they will become its destroyer. Certain tortures that savages have invented and applied to the human bodies bear an analogy to the process by which his money makes the miser miserable, alike when it abides with him and when it departs. They wrap the body of the living victim all round in a thick impermeable plaster, and then set him free. If the covering remains all the pores of the body are clogged, the processes of nature are impeded, and the life pines away; if it is torn off, it tears the skin with it,–the pain is sooner over, but it is more severe. Thus the soul of a thorough worldling is either choked by wealth possessed, or torn by wealth taken away. Out of that dread dilemma he cannot wriggle. The laws of God have shut him in. The Maker of the soul is its portion. He made it for Himself. When riches are clasped closest to the heart, He is slighted and dishonoured. If you be Christians, if you have put on Christ, great riches may come and go; you will not be clogged while you have them; you will not be naked when they leave. But if the wealth be the first and inner wrapping of the soul, how shall that soul ever get into contact with the Saviour, that life from its fountain may flow into the dead? It is easy for a Christian to be rich, but hard for a rich man to become a Christian. (W. Arnot, D.D.)
New hopes for a new year
Whatever may be your ideas of your own powers and resources–whatever may be the confidence that you put in man, or the trust that you repose in princes–you may be quite sure of this, that it is only the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich, and that addeth no sorrow. The blessings of God are not marred or mixed with evil. Paraphrase the text thus–All that God gives to do us good really secures our good without any admixture of evil. Two facts in connection with the Divine blessing.
I. It enriches. Some Divine gifts are granted in displeasure. It is possible to connect sorrow with that which God intends ultimately to prove a blessing. Sometimes the blessing of the Lord is material and temporal wealth, as in the case of Abraham and of Job. Much wealth is, alas! gotten by vanity and dishonesty–by treachery and falsehood and over-reaching, and by that indefinable sin, but that exceedingly common sin, covetousness. Sorrow was added in the case of Lots wealth; but then Lot added the sorrow. There was no sorrow with the portion of Abraham. More frequently the blessing is not wealth, but food convenient for us. I know the great number of the poor, but there is a far greater number of persons not poor. Our attention is often directed to the poverty which exists, but I think we do not sufficiently look at the competency which exists. Where poverty is permitted, how often do you see godliness with contentment. You cannot always say of riches, Godliness with riches is great gain. The blessing of the Lord turns every possession into wealth. Children, when blessed by God, are a heritage from the Lord. Friends, when blessed by God, are as so many ministers and servants and priests of God to us. Money, when blessed by God, instead of being the root of all evil, is the source and means of much good. Honour and reputation, when blessed by God, instead of being traps and snares and stumbling blocks, are an exalted position upon which light may shine for the good of others, and the glory of our Father in heaven. Some things wrapped up in the blessing of the Lord are of priceless value. He who has the blessing of salvation is rich indeed. To acquire good things is to prevent all misgiving as to the right of possession. Temporal prosperity, if chosen for you by your Father in heaven, is not only a condition in which you may lawfully be found, but one in which you may feel secure and safe. In this state there is no suspicion as to the power of keeping what we have, and there is no alloy in the use or enjoyment. Providence over both material and spiritual things is fully co-operative with a man whose position is created by the blessing of the Lord. He can look his fellow-men in the face concerning his prosperity–even his temporal prosperity–and can speak of all he has without bringing a blush upon his cheek. Then try to get Gods blessing upon everything–body, soul, and spirit; upon the husband, upon the wife, and upon the children, upon your means of livelihood, upon your property, upon your friendships and connections, and upon all your pursuits. (Samuel Martin.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 22. The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich] Whatever we receive in the way of providence, has God’s blessing in it, and will do us good. Cares, troubles, and difficulties come with all property not acquired in this way; but God’s blessing gives simple enjoyment, and levies no tax upon the comfort.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Riches are not got by wisdom or diligence, but only by Gods favour and blessing.
He addeth no sorrow with it, i.e. with that blessing which gives riches, but gives them content and comfort in their riches, which is a singular gift and blessing of God, of which see Ecc 2:24,26; 3:13; 5:18,19; whereas the riches which wicked men get are attended with Gods curse, with many discontents, with tormenting cares and fears, with horrors of conscience, and with the just dread of a sad account to God for them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22. it maketh, c.”it”is emphatic. Riches from God are without the sorrow of ill-gottenwealth (compare Ecc 2:21-231Ti 6:9; 1Ti 6:10;1Ti 6:17).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich,…. In the diligent use of means; see Pr 10:4; riches are from the Lord, and should be acknowledged as such, and not attributed to the industry, diligence, sagacity, and merit of men; but should be looked upon as had through the blessing of the Lord upon the labours of men; and when they come this way they come as a blessing, and with one: it may be understood of being made rich in a spiritual sense; it is the blessing, good will, and favour of God, that makes men rich in Christ; that bestows upon them his unsearchable riches; that enriches them with all spiritual blessings in him; that makes them rich in faith and in good works, and with the riches of grace and of glory;
and he addeth no sorrow with it; no sorrow goes along with the blessing, but what is a blessing itself, as one observes; riches enjoyed through the blessing of God are not attended with that sorrow in getting, keeping, and losing them, as the riches of wicked men unlawfully gotten are; see 1Ti 6:9; for as the good man comes by them easily, without any anxious care and sinful solicitude, he seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these things are added to him, over and above, without much thought about them, or expectation of them, Mt 6:33; so it is with great delight, pleasure, and cheerfulness, he enjoys them, and readily communicates them to others; while the wicked man is full of anxiety, distress, and sorrow; see Ec 5:12. This is eminently true of spiritual riches; there is no sorrow attending them; the fruit and effect of them are peace, joy, and comfort.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Three proverbs which say that good comes from above, and is as a second nature to the man of understanding:
22 Jahve’s blessing – it maketh rich;
And labour addeth nothing thereto
Like 24a, limits the predicate to this and no other subject: “all depends on God’s blessing.” Here is the first half of the ora et labora . The proverb is a compendium of Psa 127:1-2. 22b is to be understood, according to Psa 127:2 of this Solomonic psalm, not that God adds to His blessing no sorrow, much rather with the possession grants at the same time a joyful, peaceful mind (lxx, Targ., Syriac, Jerome, Aben-Ezra, Michaelis, and others), which would require the word ; but that trouble, labour, i.e., strenuous self-endeavours, add not (anything) to it, i.e., that it does not associate itself with the blessing (which, as the Jewish interpreters rightly remark, is, according to its nature, , as the curse is ) as the causa efficiens , or if we supply quidquam , as the complement to along with it: nothing is added thereto, which goes along with that which the blessing of God grants, and completes it. Thus correctly Rashi, Luther, Ziegler, Ewald, Hitzig, Zckler. the now current accentuation, , is incorrect. Older editions, as Venice 1525, 1615, Basel 1618, have , the transformation of . Besides, has double Segol ( vid., Kimchi’s Lex.), and is written, according to the Masora, in the first syllable plene, in the last defective.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Advantages of the Righteous. | |
22 The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
Worldly wealth is that which most men have their hearts very much upon, but they generally mistake both in the nature of the thing they desire and in the way by which they hope to obtain it; we are therefore told here, 1. What that wealth is which is indeed desirable, not having abundance only, but having it and no sorrow with it, no disquieting care to get and keep it, no vexation of spirit in the enjoyment of it, no tormenting grief for the loss of it, no guilt contracted by the abuse of it–to have it and to have a heart to take the comfort of it, to do good with it and to serve God with joyfulness and gladness of heart in the use of it. 2. Whence this desirable wealth is to be expected, not by making ourselves drudges to the world (Ps. cxxvii. 2), but by the blessing of God. It is this that makes rich and adds no sorrow; what comes from the love of God has the grace of God for its companion, to preserve the soul from those turbulent lusts and passions of which, otherwise, the increase of riches if commonly the incentive. He had said (v. 4), The hand of the diligent makes rich, as a means; but here he ascribes it to the blessing of the Lord; but that blessing is upon the hand of the diligent. It is thus in spiritual riches. Diligence in getting them is our duty, but God’s blessing and grace must have all the glory of that which is acquired, Deu 8:17; Deu 8:18.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Riches Bestowed By the Lord
(Pro 10:22)
Verse 22 declares with emphasis that the blessing of the LORD maketh rich. This is demonstrated in the blessing of Abraham, Gen 24:36; Isaac, Gen 25:11; Gen 26:12-13; Solomon, 1Ki 3:13; Job 42:10. This is not a blanket promise that all shall be made rich, neither does it imply that labor is not necessary. God has promised the righteous would not beg bread (Psa 37:25), subject to His decree that honest labor be performed (Gen 3:19; 2Th 3:10). God blesses with riches according to His wisdom and purpose. And when He does so bless He adds no sorrow such as befall those who acquire wealth by evil and dishonest means, Pro 11:28; Jas 5:1-6; Psa 52:1-7; Mar 10:24; Luk 12:20-21.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 10:22. Delitzsch and Zckler read the second clause, and labour addeth nothing thereto, i.e., Gods blessing is in itself all in all, and makes rich without any effort. Stuart and Miller translate as the authorised version, and the former understands it to signify that sorrow shall not necessarily increase by riches when it is Jehovah Himself who bestows them.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 10:22
THE SOURCE OF TRUE RICHES
This proverb cannot be understood to assert that a man needs nothing but Gods blessing to make him a wealthy man in the ordinary sense of the word, because we know there are many cases in which men would never have been rich if they had not toiled hard to obtain riches. Industry has been joined to the blessing of the Lord, and so they have become rich. Gods favour does not generally make a man rich except he works; it is presumptuous sin to expect God to make us rich without honest toil. But the lesson to be learnt is evidently thisthat diligence cannot command riches, that God must be taken into account in all our efforts to make money, that the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding (Ecc. 9:11), even when the runners and the warriors are men after Gods own heart. Placing the words beside our experience, we learn
I. That when a good man gains riches through hard toil, it is by reason of the Divine blessing on his labour. There are among us many possessors of vast wealth who have risen early and sat up late, and eaten the bread of carefulness, but have acknowledged that, after all, it was the blessing of the Lord that had made them rich. They can point to others equally diligent, and, in some respects, superior to themselves, who have fallen in the race and have died comparatively poor. Such examples are admonitions not to trust to ones own wisdom or effort to the exclusion of the will of God. Jacob worked hard for his riches for twenty years; in the day the drought consumed him, and the frost by nightand the sleep departed from his eyes. But he declares that his wealth was a gift from the God of his fathersI am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant, for with my staff I have passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands (Gen. 31:40; Gen. 32:10). A good man cannot use unlawful means of getting rich, therefore he may enjoy the amount of success which follows his efforts as a token of Divine favour.
II. That when men inherit, or become possessed of wealth for which they have not laboured, it is by the blessing of the Lord. The riches of Solomon were bestowed upon him without so much as the expression of a desire on his part, and were a token of the Divine approval. Because. thou hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment. I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honour (1Ki. 3:11-13). Looked upon as Gods gift, wealth will be rightly used, and will be the blessing that it was intended to be.
III. That there is a moral truth contained here which has nothing to do with material riches or poverty. Solomon has, over and over again, directed his hearers to riches which are far more precious than silver or gold (see chap. Pro. 3:14-15; Pro. 8:11-19; also Homiletics and Comments of those verses). The blessing of the Lord is itself wealth.
1. Because it enriches us with Divine knowledge (1Co. 1:5). Solomons knowledge was a higher kind of wealth than all his gold and precious stones, how much more a knowledge of Him whom to know is life eternal (Joh. 17:3).
2. Because by means of it men obtain a Divine character (2Pe. 1:2-4). This wealth men can claim as theirs in other worlds beside the one upon which they now live; this is their perpetual untransferable property.
IV. That when sorrow comes to men who have been enriched by God, it springs from some other source than the riches. The text does not apply in any sense to ill-gotten gain; that is dealt with elsewhere (chap. Pro. 1:19; Pro. 15:27). It refers only to that which a man may lawfully call his own.
1. But this may be the occasion of sorrow. Solomons great wealth was the occasion of sorrow, insomuch as he used it for sinful purposes, but this sorrow was added by himself and not by God. The misuse of riches, or of any other gift of God, will be followed by a penalty which will bring sorrow; but this is mans work, and not Gods.
2. Or sorrow may spring from another, and an independent source. Sorrow in one form or another is the lot of fallen man. The incarnate Son of God was a Man of sorrows. God-given and sanctified sorrow is often a token of greater Divine favour than temporal prosperity (chap. Pro. 3:12). But there is no necessary connection between wealth and sorrow.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pro. 10:22. The sluggard looks for prosperity without diligence; the practical atheist from diligence alone; the sound-hearted Christian from the blessing of God in the exercise of diligence. This wise combination keeps him in an active habit; humble, and dependent upon God (Joh. 6:27). For, except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it (Psa. 127:1). He addeth at least no sorrow but what turns to a blessing. Accumulation of riches may be the accumulation of sorrows. Lots covetous choice was fraught with bitterness. Gehazi was laden with his bags, but the plague of leprosy was upon him.Bridges.
There is no sorrow added to them which is not a blessing, and, being a blessing, it cannot well be said to be sorrow. Now thus the verse may be understood as well of temporal as of spiritual riches; for it is the blessing of God, with which sorrow cannot stand. It is Gods blessing alone which, being true riches, doth truly make rich. Other things esteemed in the world may be added together in great heaps of plenty; but, having sorrow added with them, they cannot be that weal of man which truly makes wealth. It is the blessing of God which, taking away sorrow, giveth true riches unto man. And, therefore, when Job wisheth that he were as in the mouths pastthe months of his plenty and prosperityit is with this addition, as in the days when God preserved me. He desireth Gods blessing with the things of this world, or else he careth not for them. For that it is, as St. Gregory speaketh, which so bestoweth the help of earthly glory, as that thereby it exalteth much more in heavenly happiness.Jermin.
Those three vultures shall be driven away that constantly feed on the wealthy worldlings heartcare in getting, fear in keeping, grief in losing the things of this life. God giveth to His, wealth without woe, store without sore, gold without guilt, one little drop whereof troubleth the whole sea of outward comforts.Trapp.
The truth here is twofold. The cord, as it lies, seems single, but when you begin to handle it, you find it divides easily into two. It means that Gods blessing gives material wealth, and also that they are rich who have that blessing, although they get nothing more. It is a common practice to constitute firms for trade, and exhibit their titles to the public with a single name and company. Reverently take the All-seeing into your commercial company and counsels. If you cast Him out, there is no saying, there is no imagining, whom you may take in. One peculiar excellence of the riches made in a company from whose councils God is not excluded, is, that the wealth will not hurt its possessors, whether it abide with them or fly away. A human soul is so made that it cannot safely have riches next it. If they come into direct contact with it, they will clasp it too closely; if they remain, they wither the souls life away; if they are violently wrenched off, they tear the souls life asunder. Whether, therefore, you keep or lose them, if you clasp them to your soul with nothing spiritual between, they will become its destroyer.Arnot.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(22) And he addeth no sorrow with itwhereas riches without Gods blessing bring only trouble with them. Or the passage may mean, And labour adds nothing thereto. (Comp. Psa. 127:2. where God is said to give to His beloved while they sleep all that others toil early and late for in vain.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
22. It maketh rich No man can conquer by his toil alone. Wealth, when the Lord bestows it and it is rightly used, does not necessarily bring or increase sorrow.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Blessing Of YHWH, Which Comes As A Result Of The Fear Of YHWH, Makes Rich Without The Bad Consequences That Can Result From Riches, And Produces True Joy, Whilst The Fool Suffers The Worst Possible Consequences ( Pro 10:22-27 ).
The blessing of YHWH, which represents a positive active response toward His people, comes on those who fear YHWH, and will as a consequence have a long and profitable life. In contrast the fool and the unrighteous, who laugh at sin, will experience the judgments of YHWH, distress others, and have a shortened life expectancy.
The subsection can be presented chiastically:
A The blessing of YHWH, it makes rich, and with it he ADDS no pain/sorrow/labour (‘eseb)’ (Pro 10:22).
B It is as laughter to a fool to do wickedness, and so is wisdom to a man of understanding (Pro 10:23).
C What the wicked fears will come upon him, what the righteous desires will be granted (Pro 10:24).
C When the fierce storm (whirlwind) passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is an everlasting foundation (Pro 10:25).
B As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so to those who send him is the sluggard (‘asel) (Pro 10:26).
A The fear of YHWH ADDS days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened (Pro 10:27).
Note that in A the blessing of YHWH makes rich, and He ‘adds’ no sorrow, and in the parallel the fear of YHWH brings about those blessings, and He ‘adds’ days. In B the fool makes fun of wickedness, and laughs at it, and in the parallel he himself turns out to be a misery to all because of his behaviour. In other words, he treats sin as a joke, but there is nothing funny about the effect of his behaviour on others. Centrally in C what the wicked fear will come upon them (compare Pro 1:26-27 a) whilst in the parallel it is a fierce storm or whirlwind which will pass through making the wicked no more (Pro 1:27 b).
Pro 10:22
‘The blessing of YHWH, it makes rich,
And he adds no pain/sorrow/labour with it.’
Blessings on the head of the righteous have already been mentioned in Pro 10:6. Now it is confirmed that this is as a result of the blessing of YHWH, that is, that positive movement of God on behalf of His people that bodes well for them. The blessing was always seen as moving God to act in the matter in question. And this blessing makes rich without any necessary bad consequences. The thought is not that the righteous will not suffer. We know from elsewhere that they sometimes will (Pro 3:11-12). It is that their wealth will come without painful effort on their part (although they will work hard (Pro 10:4) and will not be sluggards, contrast Pro 10:25). It will be a consequence of their walking in wisdom. ‘eseb can mean pain or labour, or indeed painful labour. The idea is that when YHWH is active, whilst hard work is necessary, painful struggle is unnecessary. We only struggle painfully if we are not trusting Him.
Pro 10:23
‘It is as entertainment (laughter) to a fool to do wickedness,
And so is wisdom to a man of understanding.’
But while YHWH is blessing the righteous, fools are laughing at sin. For the mark of ‘the fool’ is that he considers wickedness (the word contains the thought of evil devices) to be a joke. He laughs at it, and does not take it seriously. Indeed he enjoys it. He plots a negative course. In contrast the man of understanding rejoices in wisdom. He plots a positive course. His way ahead is sure. The fool finds great enjoyment in pleasing himself, the man of understanding in pleasing God.
Pro 10:24
‘What the wicked (the unrighteous) fears will come upon him,
What the righteous desires will be granted.’
But while the fool laughs at sin, he is well aware of the uncertainties of life. There is thus in him a fear of what the future holds. And this is what proves him to be a fool. He fears the future because he does not fear YHWH, whilst the wise and righteous man fears YHWH (Pro 10:27), and is therefore unafraid. And the unrighteous does well to be afraid, because for him the future is bleak, whilst the righteous follower of God’s wisdom looks forward to the future with confidence knowing the God will fulfil his desires.
Note that in this and the following proverb we have a repetition of the ideas in Pro 1:26-27 (although the actual Hebrew root for fear is different), and that is that what men fear will come upon them, among which are fierce storms, are sure to come. Thus evildoers have need to be afraid, for what they fear will eventually come on them, because God’s judgment on sin is certain. In contrast the righteous look to God in confident trust knowing that their desires will be granted. Their fear is not of coming events, but of YHWH, and they look ahead positively because they know that God will meet their desires. Note the differing verbs. The evildoer ‘is afraid’ of what is coming. He knows that the future is uncertain. The righteous, on the other hand, are unafraid. They come to YHWH and bring to Him their wants, and needs, and desires. For they trust in God. They thus know that God is on their side and will grant them their ‘desires’.
Pro 10:25
When the fierce storm (whirlwind) passes, the wicked (the unrighteous) is no more,
But the righteous is an everlasting foundation.’
So both unrighteous and righteous will meet the storms of life. For one thing is sure in life and that is that fierce storms will come. But when they do come the unrighteous and the righteous will meet them in a different way. The unrighteous, who do not follow God’s wisdom, will be swept away. They will be no more, because they have no solid foundation (compare the foolish man who built his house on sand – Mat 7:26-27). In contrast those who do follow God’s ways and are righteous, are sure of permanence and stability, for they are founded on an everlasting foundation. Indeed, they know that they are that foundation. They know that they will never be removed (Pro 10:30).
Pro 10:26
‘As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes,
So is the sluggard to those who send him.’
Note the contrast with Pro 10:23. There the unrighteous saw the doing of wrong as a cause for laughter. They saw sin as a joke. But here they themselves, seen in terms of a sluggard (compare Pro 6:6; Pro 6:9; Pro 13:4; Pro 20:4), are seen as the very opposite. The effects of their behaviour is not a joke. To those who send them to fulfil a responsibility they are like vinegar wine to the teeth and smoke to the eyes. They cause discomfort and pain. And this is because they are too lazy to carry out their responsibilities properly. Vinegar wine is wine that has become sour and acidic, and will attack the teeth, especially in the days when dental care was minimal. To drink it was to suffer unpleasantness and pain. Equally unpleasant and painful can be smoke in the eyes.
Especially in Solomon’s mind may be the example of official messengers who, through laziness and carelessness, conveyed their message incorrectly. It was common problem in those days. And it could cause great embarrassment, or even worse. Ptah-hotep had instructed many centuries before, ‘if you are a man of trust sent from one great man to another, adhere to the nature of him who sent you, give his message as he said it.’ The happy-go-lucky man of Pro 10:23 was not the one to send as a messenger.
Pro 10:27
‘The fear of YHWH prolongs days
But the years of the wicked will be shortened.
The subsection commenced in Pro 10:22 with the blessing of YHWH which makes rich. It now ends with the fear of YHWH which prolongs days. In the Prologue both riches and long life were regularly seen as the reward for following God’s wisdom. See especially Pro 3:16; Pro 3:2; Pro 8:18. The ‘fear of YHWH’ was that reverent obedience that a man showed towards an authoritative figure. It would regularly go along with genuine love. As a consequence of following YHWH’s wisdom, such a person would be preserved from many of the dangers and excesses of life (compare Pro 1:10-19; Pro 2:12-22; etc.). In contrast those who failed to follow YHWH’s wisdom would find themselves involved in them, and find their lives cut short. Solomon’s continual aim was to present a glowing picture of the future for those who followed his (and God’s) wisdom, and a bad end for those who did not. For the one there was a future in the presence of God (Pro 1:33; Pro 2:21; Pro 3:33 b, 35 a; Pro 4:18; etc.; compare Psa 16:11; Psa 17:15). For the other there was finally only death and the grave world (Pro 2:18-19; Pro 5:5; Pro 7:27; Pro 9:18).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
v. 22. The blessing of the Lord,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 10:22. The blessing of the Lord, &c. The blessing of the Lord procureth riches, and giveth not sorrow as a companion with them. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 775
GODS BLESSING, THE GREATEST RICHES
Pro 10:22. The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich; and he addeth no sorrow with it.
AMIDST the lessons of practical wisdom which we are taught in the Book of Proverbs, we find a continual reference to God as the source and the end of all. If we attempt to spiritualize the different moral apophthegms, we in fact pervert them, and apply them to a use for which they were never intended: if, on the other hand, we regard them solely in a moral view, without any relation to God, we fall exceedingly short of their true import. In explaining them, therefore, a proper medium must be observed; that we neither strain their meaning, on the one hand; nor enervate it, on the other.
To unfold to you the passage before us, I will shew,
I.
In what respects the blessing of God may be said to make us rich
This effect may well be ascribed to the blessing of God,
1.
Because it is in reality the only source of all wealth
[Men are apt to ascribe their success in life to their own industry, and to the wisdom which they have exercised in the management of their affairs. But this is to rob God altogether of the glory due to him. The people of Israel were guarded against it by God, who particularly cautioned them not, when they should be established in Canaan, to arrogate any thing to themselves; or to say in their heart, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth: for that it was God alone who had given them power to get wealth [Note: Deu 8:17-18.]. Who sees not how often men fail even in their best-concerted efforts? Success depends, in fact, on so many contingencies, which it is altogether beyond the power of man to control, that the wisest and most industrious of men must of necessity rely on God alone; even as the husbandman, who, though he can plough and sow his land, can command neither the clouds to water it, nor the sun to fructify it with his invigorating rays. No man therefore, however successful, should sacrifice to his own net, or offer incense to his own drag [Note: Hab 1:16.]; but all must give glory to God alone, who maketh poor, or maketh rich; and bringeth low, or lifteth up; who raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit a throne of glory [Note: 1Sa 2:7-8.].]
2.
Because it is itself the greatest of all wealth
[What can be compared with the blessing of God upon the soul? If we succeed in life, it is that which constitutes our chief joy; or, if we fail in our earthly pursuits, it is that which will compensate for the loss of all. The poorest man in the universe is rich, if he have the presence of God with his soul: and the richest man in the universe is poor, miserably poor, if he be destitute of that great blessing. Behold Paul and Silas in prison, their feet fast in the stocks, and their backs torn with scourges; and yet singing praises to God at midnight! Were they poor? They were rich, truly rich; as were the Hebrew youths, when, in the fiery furnace, the Lord Jesus Christ came and walked with them [Note: Dan 3:25.]. To the eye of faith Lazarus was rich, though he subsisted only on the crumbs which fell from the rich mans table. And had he been offered an exchange of condition with his opulent benefactor, he would have disdained the offer, and called himself incomparably the richer man. So, in having God for our portion, we are truly rich. St. Paul, under such circumstances, accounted himself the richest man in the universe: and so he was; for, though he had nothing, yet he possessed all things [Note: 2Co 6:10.]. And in like manner of us also, even though we are at this moment destitute of bread for the morrow, it may with truth be said, that all things are ours, if we are Christs [Note: 1Co 3:22-23.]. Thus, if we can say, The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup [Note: Psa 16:5.], we may account ourselves richer than those who have crowns and kingdoms at their command.]
But we are especially informed by Solomon what is,
II.
The peculiar happiness of the person so enriched
With all other riches there is a mixture of sorrow to embitter them
[As for riches obtained by iniquity, the curse of God is upon them [Note: Jer 17:11. Hab 2:6-11.]. But where there has been nothing of rapacity or dishonesty in acquiring them, yet, if the blessing of God be not upon the soul, there is much care in the preserving of them, much grief if they be lost, and little but disappointment and dissatisfaction in the use of them. In truth, they are entitled to no better name than vanity and vexation of spirit [Note: Ecc 2:26.]. Let the whole state of mankind be candidly surveyed, and it will be acknowledged that the most wealthy are far from being the happiest of men: for, partly from the tempers generated in their own bosoms, and partly from the collision into which they are continually brought with persons envious, or proud, or dishonest, or in some way disobliging, it may well be doubted whether the pain occasioned by their wealth do not far exceed any pleasure which they derive from it. It was a wise petition which was offered by Agur, Give me neither poverty nor riches; but feed me with food convenient for me [Note: Pro 30:8.].
But there is another view, in which riches are far from affording any solid satisfaction; and that is, on account of the responsibility attached to them. They are talents to be improved for God: and, whether wasted in extravagance, or hid in a napkin, they will bring down nothing but a curse in the day of judgment. Go to now, ye rich men, says St. James, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. To those who have amassed wealth, he says, Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire: ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. To those, on the other hand, who have wasted their money on personal gratifications, he says, Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter [Note: Jam 5:1-5.].]
But where God gives his blessing with wealth, he addeth no sorrow with it.
[There is then no conscious guilt in the acquisition of it; no anxiety in the preservation: no disappointment in the use; no grief in the loss; no dread of the responsibility attached to it. On the contrary, God has given to his people all things richly to enjoy [Note: 1Ti 6:17.]: and they have a rich enjoyment of every thing, because they enjoy God in it. They receive it all as his gift: they taste his love in it. They consider it, also, as a means of honouring God, and of doing good to man. A benevolent steward, who should be sent by his master to dispense his bounties to a famished multitude, would feel great delight in all the comfort which he was thus empowered to bestow; he would view his master as the author of the benefits, and himself only as the instrument; but his pleasure would still be exquisite, yea, and the more exquisite because his master was honoured in all the good that was done. Such a steward the true Christian feels himself to be: and his final account, also, he contemplates with joy; assured that his stewardship shall be both approved and rewarded in that day.]
From this subject I would take occasion to suggest two important lessons
Learn,
1.
In what spirit to address yourselves to every duty in life
[Be not contented to perform a duty; but look for the blessing of God upon every thing you do. Without his blessing you will have but little comfort in your own souls. I will not hesitate to say, that in every line whatever, from the highest to the lowest, the man who acts to God and for God will be the happiest man. Others, it is true, may exceed him in wealth; but he will have no reason to envy them; for they have sorrows which will not come near him [Note: Psa 91:7.]; and he will have a joy with which the stranger intermeddleth not [Note: Pro 14:10.].]
2.
What to look for as your chief portion
[Earthly things are not to be neglected. Your worldly calling, whatever it may be, should be diligently followed. But the blessing of God should be the one object to which all others should be subordinated. Nothing, either on earth or in heaven, should, in your estimation, bear any comparison with that [Note: Psa 73:25.]. If the question be put, Who will shew us any good? your unvaried answer should be, Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us [Note: Psa 4:6.]. Then will you have durable riches [Note: Pro 8:18.]. And whilst those who seek any other portion will, in the midst of their sufficiency, be in straits [Note: Job 20:22.], you, in whatever straits you are, will have a sufficiency for your support and comfort both in time and in eternity.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 10:22 The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
Ver. 22. The blessing of the Lord it maketh rich. ] As is to be seen in the examples of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others. Whereas there is a curse upon unlawful practices, though men be industrious, as in Jehoiachim. Jer 22:30 And all our policies without prayer are but arena sine calce – sand without lime; they will not hold together.
And he addeth no sorrow with it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
it = itself: i.e. the uttered blessing, like the “words of the wise”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 10:22
Pro 10:22
“The blessing of Jehovah, it maketh rich; And he addeth no sorrow therewith.”
“When sorrow comes to men who have been enriched by God, it springs from some other source than that of the riches. Great sorrow came to Solomon, but God did not add it; Solomon by his sins added it.
Pro 10:22. When Israel did right, God blessed them and enriched them. They were not made rich by their own power but by Gods (Deu 8:17-18). Compare Gen 24:35; Gen 26:12; Psa 37:22. Those who gain riches without regard for God both err from the faith and pierce themselves through with many sorrows (1Ti 6:9-10). When people get money in their own way, they often resort to crookedness, and all kinds of troubles follow. Unsanctified riches bring only trouble and vexation (Pulpit Commentary). Gods riches are a blessing all the way (no sorrow therewith).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
it: Gen 12:2, Gen 13:2, Gen 14:23, Gen 24:35, Gen 26:12, Deu 8:17, Deu 8:18, 1Sa 2:7, 1Sa 2:8, Psa 37:22, Psa 107:38, Psa 113:7, Psa 113:8
he: Pro 20:21, Pro 28:22, Jos 6:18, Jos 7:1-26, 1Ki 21:19, 2Ki 5:26, 2Ki 5:27, Job 27:8-23, Hab 2:6-12, Zec 5:4, Jam 5:1-5
Reciprocal: Gen 1:22 – General Gen 2:3 – blessed Gen 24:1 – blessed Gen 26:14 – had possession Lev 25:21 – I will Deu 7:13 – he will also Deu 15:14 – the Lord Deu 16:10 – according Deu 28:4 – General Deu 28:11 – plenteous 1Ch 4:10 – enlarge 1Ch 13:14 – the Lord 1Ch 29:12 – riches 2Ch 25:8 – The Lord 2Ch 31:10 – the Lord 2Ch 32:27 – exceeding much 2Ch 32:29 – God Job 1:3 – seven Job 1:10 – thou hast blessed Job 42:12 – So Pro 15:6 – in the revenues Pro 15:16 – great Pro 21:20 – treasure Dan 1:15 – their Luk 6:38 – and it 2Co 9:8 – God
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 10:22. The blessing of the Lord maketh rich Riches are not gotten merely by wisdom or diligence, but also, and especially, by Gods favour and blessing; and addeth no sorrow with it Namely, with that blessing which gives riches, but adds content and comfort with them, which is a singular gift and blessing of God: whereas the riches which wicked men gain are attended with the divine curse, with many discontents, tormenting cares, and fears, with horrors of conscience, and with the just dread of being called to an account by God, and punished for the misemployment and abuse of them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
10:22 The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth {k} no sorrow with it.
(k) Meaning that all worldly things bring care and sorrow, where as they who feel the blessings of God have none.