Proverbs 22

Proverbs 22 is the 22nd chapter of the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of several wisdom literature collections, with the heading in 1:1 may be intended to regard Solomon as the traditional author of the whole book, but the dates of the individual collections are difficult to determine, and the book probably obtained its final shape in the post-exilic period. This chapter records parts of the second and third collection of the book.

Text

Hebrew

The following table shows the Hebrew text of Proverbs 22 with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation.

Verse	Hebrew	English translation
1		A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, And loving favour rather than silver and gold.
2		The rich and the poor meet together— The LORD is the maker of them all.
3		A prudent man seeth the evil, and hideth himself; But the thoughtless pass on, and are punished.
4		The reward of humility is the fear of the LORD, Even riches, and honour, and life.
5		Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward; He that keepeth his soul holdeth himself far from them.
6		Train up a child in the way he should go, And even when he is old, he will not depart from it.
7		The rich ruleth over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.
8		He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity; And the rod of his wrath shall fail.
9		He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; For he giveth of his bread to the poor.
10		Cast out the scorner, and contention will go out; Yea, strife and shame will cease.
11		He that loveth pureness of heart, That hath grace in his lips, the king shall be his friend.
12		The eyes of the LORD preserve him that hath knowledge, But He overthroweth the words of the faithless man.
13		The sluggard saith: ‘There is a lion without; I shall be slain in the streets.’
14		The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: He that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.
15		Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; But the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
16		One may oppress the poor, yet will their gain increase; One may give to the rich, yet will want come.
17		Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, And apply thy heart unto my knowledge.
18		For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; Let them be established altogether upon thy lips.
19		That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made them known to thee this day, even to thee.
20		Have not I written unto thee excellent things Of counsels and knowledge;
21		That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth, That thou mightest bring back words of truth to them that send thee?
22		Rob not the weak, because he is weak, Neither crush the poor in the gate;
23		For the LORD will plead their cause, And despoil of life those that despoil them.
24		Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger; And with a wrathful man thou shalt not go;
25		Lest thou learn his ways, And get a snare to thy soul.
26		Be thou not of them that strike hands, Or of them that are sureties for debts;
27		If thou hast not wherewith to pay, Why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
28		Remove not the ancient landmark, Which thy fathers have set.
29		Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; He shall not stand before mean men.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus.

Analysis

Verse 1–16 belong to a section regarded as the second collection in the book of Proverbs, also called "The First 'Solomonic' Collection". The collection contains 375 sayings, each of which consists of two parallel phrases, except for Proverbs 19:7 which consists of three parts.
Verses 17–29 are grouped to the third collection in the book, which consists of seven instructions of various lengths:

1st instruction
2nd instruction
3rd instruction
4th instruction
5th instruction
6th instruction and
7th instruction

The sayings are predominantly in the form of synonymous parallelism, preceded by a general superscription of the entire collection in 22:17a: "The words of the wise". This collection consists of an introduction that the youths should be instructed and exhorted to listen to and obey their "teachers", followed by a series of admonitions and prohibitions coupled with a variety of clauses, primarily presented in short parental instructions.
The 'thirty sayings' in this collection are thought to be modelled on the 'thirty chapters' in Egyptian Instruction of Amen-em-ope the son of Kanakht, although the parallels extend only in Proverbs 22:17–23:11 and the extent of the dependence is debatable.

Good name (22:1–16)

Verse 1 teaches that a name is 'an expression of the inner character and worth of its bearer' and that it survives one's death.
Verse 2 observes that 'rich and poor' are to be found side-by-side and are equally the creatures of God, and verse 9 urges to show generosity to the poor. Verse 6 emphasizes the importance of parental instruction in the home, with verse 15 reinforcing the value of the rod in educating children. Verse 13 displays the inventiveness of a lazy person in making excuses for doing nothing. Verse 14 resumes the theme of 'the seductress' from the first section of the book, recalling the seductive speech of the loose woman, which, in conjunction with 'pit', may imply the entrance to the underworld.

Verse 1

"A good name": in Hebrew it is only "a name", but the idea of the name being "good" is implied as it has the connotation here of a reputation.
"Loving favor": in Hebrew "favor of goodness".
Sayings of the wise (22:17–29)

This section contains the first of seven sets of instruction in a collection titled "Sayings of the Wise", with verses 17–21 as an introduction. Verses 22–23 warn against the oppression of the poor using the legal system as an instrument for the exploitation, because God as the protector of the poor will take up their cause. Verses 24–25 warn that the 'ways' of hotheads are ultimately the way of death.

Verses 22–23

"Do not rob… neither oppress" presented in Hebrew using two negated jussives form: אַל־תִּגְזָל and וְאַל־תְּדַכֵּא.