Proverbs 17

This chapter stands at the center of the collection of Solomon's proverbs that begins at Proverbs 10:1. Continuing from Proverbs 16, it presents two-line sayings without topical divisions, contrasting the wise with the foolish and the righteous with the wicked.

Outline

• Verses 1–6 A household that eats a dry morsel in peace is better than a wealthy house full of strife. The passage adds that the LORD tests the heart and warns that whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker. Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and fathers are the glory of their children.
• Verses 7–13 These verses address lying lips in a noble person, bribes, and the love that covers a transgression. A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred blows do for a fool. Evil will not depart from the house of one who repays good with evil.
• Verses 14–20 The beginning of strife is likened to water leaking through a dam. The passage warns against justifying the wicked and condemning the righteous, and it speaks of the unfailing love of a friend and of a brother in a time of adversity. It also warns against becoming surety for another's debts.
• Verses 21–28 These verses describe the grief a foolish child brings to parents and declare that a merry heart is good medicine. They denounce the wicked person who accepts a bribe to pervert justice. The chapter closes by saying that one who spares his words has knowledge and that even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace.

Key Verses

• Proverbs 17:3 "But the LORD trieth the hearts" — frequently cited as an image of God testing a person's inner life, as gold and silver are refined by fire.
• Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loveth at all times" — a representative verse on friendship and brotherly love.
• Proverbs 17:22 "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine" — widely known as a verse about the effect of one's state of mind on the body.

People and Places

No specific people or places appear in this chapter. The heading of the collection to which it belongs (Proverbs 10:1) bears the name of Solomon.

Points for Reflection

• Verse 8 says of a gift that "whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth," yet verse 23 calls the one who perverts judgment by a bribe wicked. For this reason, many interpreters read verse 8 not as an endorsement of bribery but as an observation of how bribes operate in the world. Some also point out that the sayings of wisdom literature should be read within the context of the book as a whole rather than as isolated statements.
• The love that "covereth a transgression" in verse 9 is read together with Proverbs 10:12 and with 1 Peter 4:8, "charity shall cover the multitude of sins."
• Verse 13 is often compared with the exhortation in Romans 12:17–21, "Recompense to no man evil for evil."
• Verse 15 condemns a judgment that justifies the wicked; it is sometimes contrasted with the God "that justifieth the ungodly" in Romans 4:1–5 when explaining justification.