Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 15:6
In the house of the righteous [is] much treasure: but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble.
House, or family; whereby he implies that it is not only enjoyed by him, but also left to his posterity.
In the revenues of the wicked is trouble: though he may obtain great revenues, yet they are attended with much trouble and vexation; either because they are strangely blasted and taken from them, or because they are imbittered to them by their own insatiable desires, or tormenting cares and fears, or the horrors of their guilty consciences, or by divers other ways.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. treasureimplying utility.
troublevexation andaffliction.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
In the house of the righteous [is] much treasure,…. God sometimes blesses the righteous with great riches, as he did Abraham; or, however, if they have but little, it is better than the riches of many wicked; because they have what they have with a blessing, and they are content with it: and they have abundance of spiritual treasure; they have God for their portion; Christ, and all good things along with him; the rich graces of the Spirit; a rich experience of the grace of God; and all this is but a pledge and earnest of what they shall possess hereafter;
but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble; they have much trouble in getting their riches, by which they pierce themselves through with many sorrows; they have much trouble in keeping them; cannot rest nor sleep because of their abundance, lest it should be taken away from them; and they have much trouble in parting with them, when they are, by one providence or another, stripped of them; and, besides, they have them with a curse, and are ever attended with uneasiness, on one account or another.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
6 In the house of the righteous is much treasure: but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble.
Note, 1. Where righteousness is riches are, and the comforts of them: In the house of the righteous is much treasure. Religion teaches men to be diligent, temperate, and just, and by these means, ordinarily, the estate is increased. But that is not all: God blesses the habitation of the just, and that blessing makes rich without trouble. Or, if there be not much of this world’s goods, yet where there is grace there is true treasure; and those who have but little, if they have a heart to be therewith content, and to enjoy the comfort of that little, it is enough; it is all riches. The righteous perhaps are not themselves enriched, but there is treasure in their house, a blessing in store, which their children after them may reap the benefit of. A wicked worldly man is only for having his belly filled with those treasures, his own sensual appetite gratified (Ps. xvii. 14); but a righteous man’s first care is for his soul and then for his seed, to have treasure in his heart and then in his house, which his relations and those about him may have the benefit of. 2. Where wickedness is, though there may be riches, yet there is vexation of spirit with them: In the revenues of the wicked, the great incomes they have, there is trouble; for there is guilt and a curse; there is pride and passion, and envy and contention; and those are troublesome lusts, which rob them of the joy of their revenues and make them troublesome to their neighbours.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Treasure-Good and Bad
Verse 6 declares that the house of the righteous has much treasure. Scripture, such as Deu 30:9; Psa 36:8; Php_4:19; Gen 14:22 to Gen 15:1, reveal that the treasure promised is both material and spiritual, covers needs and desires, and is not obtained from wicked sources. In sad contrast are the revenues of the wicked which bring trouble for the entire house, Vs. 27; Pro 11:17. See example of Achan and his family, Jos 7:24-25.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 15:6. Miller translates the first clause, The house of the righteous is great treasure (see his Comment); revenue, rather gain.
Pro. 15:7. Disperse; some translators read winnow, or sift. Stuart translates the last clause of this verse The heart of the fool is not stable; Delitzsch reads, Direction is wanting to the heart of fools, i.e., it has not the right direction.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 15:6
LIKE IN CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT UNLIKE IN CHARACTER
I. The wicked and the righteous are often on a level as regards material wealth. One may have much treasure and the other great revenues, or gain. The laws of nature have no respect to character. God makes His sun to shine upon the evil and the good, and sendeth rain upon the just and upon the unjust (Mat. 5:45), so that the wicked man reaps a harvest as abundant as that of the righteous man. And all the laws of Providence move with the same even step, certainly showing no favour to the good man over the bad.
II. But though their possessions may be equal, there is a great inequality in the enjoyment of them. Character makes all the difference here. Even a little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked (Psa. 37:16). The wicked man is troubled by a sense of being out of harmony with all that is holy, and just, and true in the universe of God, and with a foreboding of future retribution. The wealth of the spirit is so much more than material wealth as the spirit is so much more than the body. It is wealth to have a conscience purged from, dead works to serve the living God (Heb. 9:14), and to lay up treasure without being thus rich toward God (Luk. 12:21) is only to spend money for that which is not bread, and labour for that which satisfieth not. (See on chap. Pro. 3:14-15; Pro. 8:11-19, etc.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The treasure in the house of the righteous may be understood not of mere wealth, but of whatever is possessed with contentment and cheerfulness, with gratitude to God, with an assurance of His fatherly regard, with the peace that passeth all understanding, with resignation of spirit to the Divine will, with the present enjoyment of spiritual blessing, and the well-founded hope of glory, honour, and immortality. We may suppose the revenues of the wicked to be acquired and enjoyed wickedly. But if notyet if possessed and expended without the fear of God, and if the means themselves of banishing that fear, and preventing the choice of a better portion,it may truly be affirmed that in them there is trouble.Wardlaw.
The house, as we have repeatedly seen (see on chap. Pro. 9:1, Pro. 14:1), means a mans whole interest. The mere interest of the righteous, whether it seem high or low; his lot, whether it be on high or on a dunghill; his hap, just as it is, whether it be easy or under pain, is, under the covenant of the Almighty, an enormous riches; while not the house of the wicked (for the wise man intends another of his climaxes); but stating his condition in the most favourable way, the revenue of the wicked, imagining that to be of the most favourable kind; and not the revenue of the wicked, but in the revenue, as though the trouble were in the revenue itself, is, literally, the being troubled (Niphal). The splendours of the lost will involve but trouble in the whole eternity.Miller.
The treasures of the wicked are too much for their good and too little for their lusts. But is it not the crown of the Christians crown, and the glory of his glory that he cannot desire more?Bridges.
The riches of the wicked, in which they pride themselves, often consist of paper, and if bonds and charters make a man rich, the righteous cannot be poor, when they have bonds upon God Himself for everything they need, and the charter which shows their sure title to an everlasting inheritance. The devil robbed Job, but he could not make him poor, for his chief treasure lay quite out of reach of the enemy.Lawson.
Every righteous man is a rich man, whether he hath more or less of the things of this life. For, first, he hath plenty of that which is precious. Secondly, Propriety; what he hath is his own; he holds all in capite-tenure in Christ; he shall not be called to account as a usurper. All is yours (1Co. 3:22), because you are Christs, and Christ is Gods. And although he hath little, many times, in present possession, he is rich in reversion.Trapp.
His house is Gods treasury, himself is Gods treasure; wherefore God watcheth over his house to defend and preserve it; and himself God keepeth, as the apple of His eye.Jermin.
Even the trifling sum which the righteous keeps in his house is a great treasure, because it has Gods blessing; but all the revenues, the large annual rents of the wicked from all his vast estate, are mere troubles.Burgon.
The thought of Pro. 15:7 has been treated before. (See Pro. 15:2, etc.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Utterance is a gift, and dumb Christians are blameworthy as well as dumb ministers. Speak, that I may see thee, said Socrates. When the heart is full, it overfloweth in speech. We know metals by their tinkling, and men by their talking.Brooks.
In their houses, they catechise their children; in the company of their neighbours, they entreat of Gods word and works; in the church, if they be teachers, they publish wholesome doctrine.Muffet.
Most commentators say scatter or disperse. Winnow, which has usage (Rth. 3:2), bears better upon the second clause. (See renderings in Critical Notes.) Winnowing knowledge, i.e., letting the lips, under the guidance of wisdom, be an instrument for holding folly back and giving utterance to knowledge, must be the finest practice for giving strength to piety; while the second clause shows the incompetence of folly to winnow anything, by saying that the heart of the foolish is not fixed (and therefore lacks the first principles of choice, in separating one thing from the other).Miller.
The foolish sow cockle as fast as wiser men do corn, and are as busy in digging descents to hell as others are in building staircases for heaven.Trapp.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(6) In the house of the righteous is much treasure.For Gods blessing (Pro. 3:33) is upon it; while the wicked, from his recklessness in the pursuit of gain, brings trouble (Pro. 15:27) upon himself and his family.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Treasure Perhaps our word ability would more nearly express the original; great ability of means; great wealth. The word, however, is not to be taken in its usual sense of great riches; but, rather, in the occult signification of what he has, be it much or little, being a source of comfort to the family. This idea is elsewhere more clearly set forth. (See Pro 15:16.) The prosperity of the righteous is a blessing; the gain of the wicked is trouble.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 6. In the house of the righteous is much treasure,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 15:6 In the house of the righteous [is] much treasure: but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble.
Ver. 6. In the house of the righteous is much treasure. ] Every righteous man is a rich man, whether he hath more or less of the things of this life. For, first , he hath plenty of that which is precious. Secondly , Propriety; what he hath is his own; he holds all in capite tenure a in Christ; he shall not be called to account as a usurper. “All is yours,” 1Co 3:22 “because you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” And although he hath little, many times, in present possession, yet he is rich in reversion; rich in bills and bonds, rich in an apparent pledge, that is worth all the world besides – that is, in Christ; for, having given us his Son, “how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Rom 8:32
But in the revenues of the wicked are trouble.
a The name of a tenure (abolished by Act 12:1-25 Chas. II, xxiv.), by which land was held immediately of the King, or of the crown?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the righteous = a righteous one.
treasure. Hebrew “strength”, put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6, for the treasures procured by it.
the wicked = a lawless one. Hebrew. rasha’. App-44. In Pro 15:8 it is plural. Not the same word as in Pro 15:26.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 15:6
Pro 15:6
“In the house of the righteous is much treasure; But in the revenues of the wicked is much trouble.”
“In a good man’s house there is ample treasure, but revenues of bad men go to wreck.” We prefer this rendition, because `ample’ signifies sufficiency rather than `riches.’ A little is often sufficient in the house of good people; and it is always preferable to great riches in a house of wickedness. See verses 16,17, which are parallel with this verse.
Pro 15:6. This was especially true of Israels and Judahs kings. Those who were good gained cities and amassed wealth through the blessing of God, and those who were wicked often lost cities and had to pay off their enemies to keep from being destroyed.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the house: Pro 15:16, Pro 8:21, Pro 13:22, Pro 21:20, Psa 112:3, Heb 11:26
in the revenues: Pro 10:22, Pro 16:8, Job 20:19-23, Psa 37:16, Ecc 4:6, Ecc 5:10-14, Jam 5:1-3
Reciprocal: Pro 24:4 – General Pro 28:10 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 15:6. In the house of the righteous is much treasure A truly just and merciful man is very rich, whether he have little or much, because he is well contented, and what he hath is likely to continue in his family: but there is much disquiet and trouble in the greatest revenues of the wicked; which can neither stay long with him, nor give him satisfaction while he enjoys them. Bishop Patrick.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
15:6 In the house of the righteous [is] much treasure: but in the revenues of the wicked is {a} trouble.
(a) For though they have much yet it is full of trouble and care.