Proverbs 10: A Wise Son Maketh a Glad Father

"The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother" (10:1). The collection begins in the family, where all teaching in Proverbs begins.

"Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death. The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish… He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame" (10:2–5). Four sayings, four angles on wealth: ethics, God's care, effort, timing.

Most of the chapter is about words. "The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life" (v. 11). "Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins" (v. 12). "In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise" (v. 19). "The tongue of the just is as choice silver" (v. 20). "The lips of the righteous feed many" (v. 21).

"As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation" (10:25).

How to read a two-line saying

Most sayings in 10:1–15:33 are antithetic: the second line turns the first around ("A wise son… but a foolish son…"). The contrast is not always exact. In 10:1 the wise son gladdens his father, the foolish son grieves his mother: the two parents are not a contrast but a pair, so the saying means both parents are affected either way. Reading the gap between the lines is part of the art.

Harvest and timing

"He that gathereth in summer… he that sleepeth in harvest" (10:5). Grain was harvested in late spring and early summer (barley in April–May, wheat in May–June); fruit in late summer. The Gezer Calendar (10th century BC) lists the agricultural months. Missing the short window meant hunger for a year. The saying is about seizing the right moment as well as working.

A new collection

10:1 repeats the name of Solomon, marking the start of the largest collection, 10:1–22:16. It contains 375 verses, and the numerical value of the consonants of the name Shelomoh (shin 300 + lamed 30 + mem 40 + he 5) is 375. Many scholars think this is deliberate (P. W. Skehan); others think it coincidence. The site checked the arithmetic and the verse count in the library's Hebrew (375 verses in 10:1–22:16, D check), but cannot show intention.

Grouping by catchwords

The sayings were not thrown together at random. Verses 6 and 11 share their second line ("violence covereth the mouth of the wicked"); verses 8 and 10 share theirs ("a prating fool shall fall"); vv. 18–21 all speak of lips and tongue. Scholars such as K. Heim and R. Van Leeuwen have traced clusters joined by sound and theme. Seeing a cluster changes how a saying reads: v. 22's "blessing of the LORD" answers vv. 2–5's talk of effort.

Love covers all sins (10:12)

1 Peter 4:8 quotes the second line ("charity shall cover the multitude of sins"), closer to the Hebrew than to the Greek, which reads "love covers all who do not love strife." James 5:20 echoes it. In the proverb, "covering" means forgiving and not stirring up old offences; compare 17:9.

In the library's Greek

Giguet's Greek of 10:1 has no heading "The proverbs of Solomon": the Greek begins the chapter directly with "The wise son gladdens his father." The heading is missing in the Old Greek (reported, C check). The Greek also differs at 10:10 ("he who reproves boldly makes peace"). Elsewhere in chapter 10 the library's Greek follows the Hebrew closely (D check).