Proverbs 10

After the extended instructions of chapters 1–9, Proverbs 10 begins with a new heading, "The proverbs of Solomon," and is the first chapter of a collection of short sayings that runs through 22:16. Chapter 9 closes with Wisdom and Folly each inviting people to come in. From chapter 10 onward, the text takes a form characteristic of wisdom literature: two-line sayings that set two kinds of people against each other within a single verse.

Outline

• Verses 1–5 compare the wise son and the foolish son, treasures of wickedness and righteousness, the slack hand and the hand of the diligent, and the son who gathers in summer and the son who sleeps in harvest.
• Verses 6–14 contrast the head, name, walk, and mouth of the righteous and the wicked. They state that hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.
• Verses 15–17 address the rich man's wealth and the poverty of the poor, the labor of the righteous and the fruit of the wicked, and the one who keeps instruction and the one who refuses reproof.
• Verses 18–21 gather sayings about speech: lying lips that hide hatred, the sin that comes with a multitude of words, and the tongue of the just that is as choice silver.
• Verses 22–25 speak of the blessing the LORD gives, the things in which the fool and the man of understanding delight, and the righteous whose foundation remains when the whirlwind passes.
• Verses 26–32 describe the sluggard as vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, and the long life of those who fear the LORD. The chapter closes by comparing the hope and the mouth of the righteous with those of the wicked.

Key Verses

• Proverbs 10:12 "Love covereth all sins" — frequently cited together with the similar wording of 1 Peter 4:8.
• Proverbs 10:19 "In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin" — representative of the chapter's recurring theme of the mouth and the tongue.
• Proverbs 10:22 "The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich" — prompts reflection on the relationship between wealth and God's blessing.

People and Places

• Solomon — named in the heading in verse 1. The son of David, he became king of Israel and was renowned for his wisdom.
• The LORD — appears in verses 3, 22, 27, and 29.
• No specific places are mentioned.

Interpretive Considerations

• Authorship: Traditionally, this collection has been read as the work of Solomon. Others, noting that Proverbs 25:1 records that the men of Hezekiah copied out proverbs of Solomon, hold that the book was compiled in several stages.
• Antithetic parallelism: A technique of Hebrew poetry in which the first and second lines of a verse pair contrasting ideas. Most verses in this chapter take this form.
• The principle of blessing and calamity: Many interpreters read sayings that the righteous are blessed and the wicked perish not as promises without exception but as statements of how life generally works. These interpreters hold that Job and Ecclesiastes address experiences that differ from this pattern. Verses 4 and 22 are sometimes cited in support of prosperity theology, an application some critics regard as going beyond the context of the text.
• Connections to the New Testament: Verse 12 is linked to 1 Peter 4:8. The sayings about speech are often read alongside the teaching on the tongue in James 3.