Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 18:13
He that answereth a matter before he heareth [it], it [is] folly and shame unto him.
13. answereth a matter ] Rather, giveth answer, R.V. “Heb. returneth a word,” A.V. marg. Compare:
“Answer not before thou hast heard;
And interrupt not in the midst of speech.” Sir 11:8 .
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 13. He that answereth a matter] This is a common case; before a man can tell out his story, another will begin his. Before a man has made his response, the other wishes to confute piecemeal, though he has had his own speech already. This is foolishness to them. They are ill-bred. There are many also that give judgment before they hear the whole of the cause, and express an opinion before they hear the state of the case. How absurd, stupid, and foolish!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Before he heareth it; before he hath fully heard and considered what another is speaking about it.
It is folly and shame; it is a shameful folly, though he seek the reputation of a wise man by it, as if he could readily and thoroughly understand all that another cart say before he hath uttered it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. Hasty speech evincesself-conceit, and ensures shame (Pr26:12).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He that answereth a matter before he heareth [it],…. Who is impatient, and cannot wait to hear it out, but breaks in upon the speaker before he has finished what he has to say; or is rash and precipitate, and returns an answer at once, without weighing and considering, and thoroughly understanding, what is said:
it [is] folly and shame unto him; his answer must be a foolish one, and bring shame and confusion upon him; men should be “swift to hear”, and “slow to speak”, Jas 1:9.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
13 He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.
See here how men often expose themselves by that very thing by which they hope to gain applause. 1. Some take a pride in being quick. They answer a matter before they hear it, hear it out, nay, as soon as they but hear of it. They think it is their honour to take up a cause suddenly; and, when they have heard one side, they think the matter so plain that they need not trouble themselves to hear the other; they are already apprized of it, and masters of all the merits of the cause. Whereas, though a ready wit is an agreeable thing to play with, it is solid judgment and sound wisdom that do business. 2. Those that take a pride in being quick commonly fall under the just reproach of being impertinent. It is folly for a man to go about to speak to a thing which he does not understand, or to pass sentence upon a matter which he is not truly and fully informed of, and has not patience to make a strict enquiry into; and, if it be folly, it is and will be shame.
| Miscellaneous Maxims. | |
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Answering Before Listening
Verse 13 emphasizes the importance of listening and understanding the question before giving an answer. To answer without doing so identifies one with folly and shame, Vs 2; Deu 1:17; Deu 17:8; Joh 7:51.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 18:13
ANSWERING BEFORE HEARING
I. A man who gives judgment in a matter before he has heard all the facts of the case wrongs himself. If he were to give his opinion upon a building as soon as the builders had dug out the foundation, or were to criticise a picture when the artist had only sketched its outline upon his canvas, he would be deemed a fool, and what he said would have no weight whatever. Men would justly say that the house or the picture had as yet no existence, and therefore could not be judged. And a man who has only heard a part of a matter is in no better position to judge in it, and commits as great a folly if he attempts to do so. He does violence to his own understandingto those mental faculties which enable him to place things side by side and to compare them, and to sift and weigh evidence before he arrives at a conclusion. Unless he does this, the opinion that he forms to-day will be altered to-morrow, and his mind will never be firmly made up on any subject. As a necessary consequence, nobody will give much heed to his judgmentno thoughtful person will attach much weight to his wordsand he will thus deprive himself of that consideration and respect which he might otherwise have enjoyed.
II. Such a man often deeply wrongs others. A half-told story often makes the state of matters appear so different from the truth that it is a gross injustice to condemn or justify any person when that is all that is known. A man who does it proclaims that he values very lightly the reputation of those concerned, and is often a robber of what is more to a man than his purse, viz. his good name.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Secularly, this is beyond a doubt; judicially, here is a great outrage; socially, a something very impolite; but religiously, a thing altogether a shame. Men born yesterday might certainly afford to listen. Life is a wide thing; and might, at least, be acted through, before in the darker points we insist upon a judgment Folly, and therefore, mischief; shame, and therefore, ill desert. These elements often appear together.Miller.
According to Mr. Stuart Mill, it might be plausibly maintained that in almost every one of the leading controversies, past or present, in social philosophy, both sides were right in what they affirmed, though wrong in what they denied; and that if either could have been made to take the others views in addition to his own, little more would have been needed to make its doctrine correct. Nicodemus did well to start the seasonable query, Doth our law judge any man before it hear him, and know what he doth? Festus did well to protest that it was not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die before that he which was accused had the accusers face to face, and had licence to answer for himself concerning the charge laid against him. And in the same spirit and by the same rule, otherwise applied, had Felix done well to defer hearing Pauls defence until Pauls accusers were present. Aristides, they tell us, would lend but one ear to anyone who accused an absent party, and used to hold his hand on the other, intimating that he reserved one ear for the absentee accused. Cicero, the greatest orator, save one, of antiquity, has left it on record, as we are pertinently reminded on the Essays on Liberty, that he always studied his adversaries case with as great intensity as his own, if not still greater. And what Cicero practised as the means of forensic success, requires, as the essayist urges, to be imitated by all who study any subject in order to arrive at the truth. For he who knows only his own side of the case is convicted of knowing little of that; his reasons may be good and no one may have been able to refute them, but if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, what rational ground has he for preferring either opinion?Jacox.
We ought to be the more cautious in forming and pronouncing opinions, because we are so little disposed to admit conviction if we fall into mistakes, or to retract them upon conviction. It is commonly supposed that ministers cannot repent, although they do not claim, like the Pope, the gift of infallibility; and there is too much reason for the supposition, provided it be not restricted to that order of men; for the same pride that makes one set of men stubborn in their wrong opinions is to be found in other men, although it is not perhaps so much strengthened by particular circumstances, nor so visible in their conduct, because they meet not with the same temptations to discover it. How many do we find who will not change their sentiments about religion, or about persons and things, upon the clearest evidence, and give way to anger upon the least contradiction to their favourite notions, as if their dearest interests were attacked! Saints themselves are not entirely delivered from this selfish disposition, as we see in the behaviour of David to Mephibosheth, after he had pronounced a rash sentence in his case.Lawson.
The sources of the evil are various. There is
1. Natural or acquired eagerness of spirit, and impatience of protracted inquiry. Such minds cannot bear anything that requires close and long-sustained attention. They become uneasy, fretted, and fidgetty; and are ever anxious to catch at any occasion for cutting the matter short and being done with it.
2. The sympathy of passion with one or other of the parties. One of them happens to be their friend; and whether it be he or his adversary that makes the statement, partiality for him stirs their resentment at the injury done to him; the blood warms, and, passion thus striking in, they hastily interrupt the narrationwill hear no more of itand at once proceed to load the enemy of their friend with abuse and imprecation. They know their friend, and to them it is enough that he has been a sufferer; they take it for granted that he must be in the right.
3. Indolenceindisposition to be troubled. This is a temper the very opposite of the first, but producing a similar effect. The former jumped to a conclusion from over-eagerness; this comes soon to a close from sheer sluggishness of mind. It is to a man of this stagnant and lazy temperament an exertion quite unbearable to keep his mind so long on the stretch as to listen even to a statement, and still more to an argument or pleading, that cannot be finished in a breath and done with. His attention soon flags; he gets sick of it; he seems as if he were listening when he is not, and with a yawn of exhaustion and misery he pronounces his verdict, and at times with great decision, for no other purpose than to get quit of the trouble. He can stand it no longer.
4. Self-conceitthe affectation of extraordinary acuteness. This would be an amusing character, were it not, at the same time, so provoking. The self-conceited man assumes a very sagacious and penetrating looksits down with apparent determination to hear out the cause on both sides, and to judge righteous judgment. But it is hardly well begun, when the self-conceited man sees to the end of it. It is surprising with what agility this spirit of self-conceit gets over difficulties. It sees noneno, never.
Where others toil with philosophic force,
Its nimble nonsense takes a shorter course;
Flings at your head conviction in the lump,
And gains remote conclusions at a jump.
Wardlaw.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 18:13-24
1.
How is it folly to him (Pro. 18:13)?
2.
How is it shame to him (Pro. 18:13)?
3.
What would a doctor get out of Pro. 18:14?
4.
Locate the parallels in Pro. 18:15.
5.
Cite Bible examples of such gifts (Pro. 18:16).
6.
What lesson should church leaders learn from the first statement (Pro. 18:17)?
7.
Why did the lot end contentions (Pro. 18:18)?
8.
What lesson should Christians gain from the first statement in Pro. 18:19?
9.
Is the first statement in Pro. 18:20 true whether his words are good or bad?
10.
Give examples of death and life resulting from the tongue (Pro. 18:21).
11.
How have Catholics misapplied Pro. 18:22.
12.
When do the poor use entreaties (Pro. 18:23)?
13.
Why do the rich answer roughly (Pro. 18:23)?
14.
When might the first statement of Pro. 18:24 prove to be true?
15.
What friend of Davids seemed to be closer to him than his brothers (Pro. 18:24)?
PARAPHRASE OF 18:13-24
13.
What a shameyes, how stupid!to decide before knowing the facts.!
14.
A mans courage can sustain his broken body, but when courage dies, what hope is left?
15.
The intelligent man is always open to new ideas. In fact, he looks for them.
16.
A bribe does wonders: it will bring you before men of importance!
17.
Any story sounds true until someone tells the other side and sets the record straight.
18.
A coin toss ends arguments and settles disputes between powerful opponents.
19.
It is harder to win back the friendship of an offended brother than to capture a fortified city. His anger shuts you out like iron bars.
20.
Ability to give wise advice satisfied like a good meal!
21.
Those who love to talk will suffer the consequences. Men have died for saying the wrong thing!
22.
The man who finds a wife finds a good thing; she is a blessing to him from the Lord.
23.
The poor man pleads and the rich man answers with insults.
24.
Some people are friends in name only. Others are closer than brothers.
COMMENTS ON 18:13-24
Pro. 18:13. Pre-judging (judging before the facts are known) gives us our word prejudice. Many misjudgments are made because of pre-judging: replacing investigation with rumor or making a judgment of a person on the sound of his or her name or where one is from (Joh. 1:45-46), ones looks, or first impressions. Nicodemus said, Doth our law judge a man, except it first hear from himself and know what he doeth? (Joh. 7:51). Jesus said, Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment (Joh. 7:24).
Pro. 18:14. One who maintains a cherry, hopeful, bright outlook will rebound from his sickness sooner, but one who has a dark, pessimistic outlook does not recover so well. In fact, when one loses the will to live, he often dies. Pulpit Commentary: The influence of the mind over the body, in a general sense, is here expressed.
Pro. 18:15. The heart of the prudent desires knowledge, and it uses the ear as a means of acquisition. Or said again, the ear seeks knowledge, and the heart lays it up. It is too bad that we have many people who have no thirst for useful knowledge.
Pro. 18:16. Pulpit Commentary: The Oriental custom of offering suitable gifts to one in authority, when a favor or an audience is desired, is here alluded to (1Sa. 10:27; 1Ki. 4:21; 1Ki. 10:25). See also Gen. 32:20; 1Sa. 25:27. It is also true today that peoples gifts have opened doors to them in various realms.
Pro. 18:17. Leaders, be careful! The first person to come to you with his side of a story may not be true. See this even in children: Johnny hit me; and while he is speaking, in comes another child of the group and says, And what did you do to Johnny first? You kicked him! An old maxim is so true: One story is good till the other is told.
Pro. 18:18. The ancients sometimes resorted to this to settle important contentions. Moderns in our land sometimes draw straws and other means to settle minor matters. Pulpit Commentary: If it were not for the decision by lot, persons…would settle their differences by violent means. The apostle used this method in determining who was to succeed Judas (Act. 1:26). There is no doubt but what God directed the pagans lot to fall upon Jonah (Jon. 1:7). See comment on Pro. 16:33.
Pro. 18:19. When love is lost, bitterness sets in, and the bitterness is as strong and as intense as the love had previously been. Pulpit Commentary: Bitter are the quarrels of friends; and, Those who love beyond measure also hate beyond measure. Clarke: When brothers fall out, it is with extreme difficulty that they can be reconciled. The verse shows an offended brother is hard to be won, but it does not say it is impossible. Paul and Barnabas had a serious break (Act. 15:36-40), but there is evidence that such was not permanent. Paul refused to take Mark (Act. 15:37-38), which no doubt was an offence to Mark, but later Paul wrote, Take Mark, and bring him with thee; for he is useful to me for ministering (2Ti. 4:11). Jacob and Esau had a notable falling out (Gen. 27:41-45), but later there was a reconciliation (Gen. 33:8-12). This verse gives a strong reason for being careful of what we say and do that may needlessly offend others. Jas. 1:19 says, Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
Pro. 18:20. This verse likens what a man says to the food he eats. If what he says is good, it is like eating good food: there is no bad after-effect. The verse is speaking of good speech. Pro. 12:14; Pro. 13:2 contain similar statements.
Pro. 18:21. The tongue can edify (build up), or it can destroy the heart or the reputation of another. By our words we can bring either the best or the worst out of a person. As Jas. 3:9 says, Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we man. The last statement of our verse speaks of good speech and the pleasant results it brings.
Pro. 18:22. Marriage is Gods plan for the human race (Mat. 19:4-6). His displeasure is against the growing trend in society to by-pass marriage by illicitly living together. A common-law situation is not equal to marriage in Gods sight (Joh. 4:16-18). Other passages that show the divine plan includes marriage: Pro. 19:14; Pro. 31:10; Heb. 13:4. There are at least two abuses of this verse: (1) Jokers quote this in levity as if to prove that a wife is a thing; (2) Catholics have used it as a proof-text that marriage is a sacrament because of the words obtaineth favor of Jehovah. What the verse really means is that when one marries, he is entering into something good and is carrying out Gods will for the human race in that regard. If somebody argues back that many marriages are anything but pleasant and good, it is not Gods fault but the people who have made their marriages that way. If they would follow Gods instructions for marriage (Eph. 5:22-33), they would find that it is good.
Pro. 18:23. The poor man who is behind on his loan payments begs for mercy and consideration, and the rich man who loaned him the money and is afraid he is going to lose that money talks roughly to him. The same is true of the delinquent renter and his landlord. The poor man uses entreaties because he knows he is at a disadvantage and is at the mercy of the rich man, and the rich man answers roughly because he can, because he is afraid he is going to lose some money, and sometimes so that he can take undue advantage of the situation,
Pro. 18:24. In what sense is the first statement true? In the many friends that people make, often there is one or a small handful of them that he would have been better off not to have known: the one or the group that turned against him and ruined him. In the long run they proved not to be true friends and are to be contrasted to the true friend who sticketh closer than a brother, such as Jonathan was to David, Jonathan was closer to David (1Sa. 18:1-4; 1Sa. 19:1-7; 1Sa. 20:17; 1Sa. 20:41-42; 1Sa. 23:15-18) than his own brothers were (1Sa. 17:28).
TEST QUESTIONS OVER CHAPTER 18:13-24
1.
What does our word prejudice mean (Pro. 18:13)?
2.
Give examples of people who pass judgment before they have the facts (Pro. 18:13).
3.
What is one of the best things for helping a sick person get better?
4.
What usually happens when a person gives up and loses his will to live (Pro. 18:14)?
5.
According to Pro. 18:15 what two parts of a person are involved in his getting knowledge?
6.
Cite examples verifying the truth of Pro. 18:16.
7.
Where trouble brews, who is often first to tell his side of it (Pro. 18:17)?
8.
When have people resorted to using the lot to settle their differences (Pro. 18:18)?
9.
What happens when love between people dies (Pro. 18:19)?
10.
Comment upon Pro. 18:20.
11.
What are two uses of the tongue (Pro. 18:21)?
12.
How important can what we say prove to be (Pro. 18:21)?
13.
What is the meaning of Pro. 18:22?
14.
Cite an example of a poor man using entreaties and a rich man answering roughly (Pro. 18:23).
15.
Why does a poor man use entreaties (Pro. 18:23)?
16.
Why does a rich man answer roughly (Pro. 18:23)?
17.
What may come out of some of the friendships that a man makes (Pro. 18:24)?
18.
What friend in the Bible was closer than the mans own brothers (Pro. 18:24)?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(13) He that answereth a matter before he heareth it . . .Comp. Sir. 11:8.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. Answereth before he heareth This proverb condemns the bad manners of those who catch words out of a person’s mouth; the bad policy of those who express an opinion before they hear the state of the case; and the bad morals of those who give judgment before they hear the whole of a cause.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 13. He that answereth a matter before he heareth it,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 18:13 He that answereth a matter before he heareth [it], it [is] folly and shame unto him.
Ver. 13. He that answereth a matter before he heareth it. ] Solomon had said before, that “even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise,” Pro 17:28 and in many passages of this blessed book he sets forth that a great part of man’s wisdom is shown in his words. To be too forward to answer, before the question be fully propounded or expounded is rash, if not proud boldness, and reflects shame upon them that do it. Likewise to be “slow to hear, swift to speak,” – hath not God given us two ears, and one tongue, to teach us better? – to precipitate a censure, or pass sentence before both parties be heard, to speak evil of the things that a man knows not, or weakly and insufficiently to defend that which is good against a subtle adversary; Augustine professeth this was it that hardened him; and made him to triumph in his former manicheeism, that he met with feeble opponents, and such as his nimble wit was easily able to overturn. Oecolampadius said of Carolostadius, that he had a good cause, but wanted shoulders to support it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
before he heareth it. Illustrations: David (2Sa 16:4; 2Sa 19:24-30); Ahasuerus (Est 3:10. Compare Pro 8:5, &c.); Darius (Dan 6:9. Compare Pro 6:14, Pro 6:18); magistrates (Act 16:37-39).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 18:13
Pro 18:13
“He that giveth answer before he heareth, It is folly and shame unto him.”
“To answer a question before you have heard it out is both stupid and insulting.
Pro 18:13. Pre-judging (judging before the facts are known) gives us our word prejudice. Many misjudgments are made because of pre-judging: replacing investigation with rumor or making a judgment of a person on the sound of his or her name or where one is from (Joh 1:45-46), ones looks, or first impressions. Nicodemus said, Doth our law judge a man, except it first hear from himself and know what he doeth? (Joh 7:51). Jesus said, Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment (Joh 7:24).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
that: Deu 13:14, 2Sa 16:4, 2Sa 19:24-30, Est 3:10-15, Est 8:5-17, Job 29:16, Dan 6:9, Dan 6:14, Joh 7:51
answereth a matter: Heb. returneth a word
Reciprocal: Jos 22:21 – answered 2Sa 14:8 – I will give 2Sa 19:29 – Why speakest Job 18:2 – mark Job 32:4 – waited till Job had spoken Pro 18:17 – General Act 25:16 – and have Act 25:27 – General Act 26:1 – Thou Jam 1:19 – slow to speak 1Pe 4:8 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 18:13. He that answereth a matter before he beareth it Before he hath fully heard and considered what another is speaking about it; it is folly and shame unto him It is a shameful folly, though he seek the reputation of a wise man by it; as if he could readily and thoroughly understand all that another can say before he has uttered it.