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Friday, November 2, 2018


Thursday, November 1, 2018 – Proverbs 22:8-9
Have a Good Temperament Wielding Your Finances &
Be Blessed Because of Your Generosity 
Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard

Proverbs 22
1. The wise discipline themselves to follow God in everything, vs. 1-16.
2. Wisdom tells us when to speak and when to be silent, vs. 17-21.
3. The wise ones care for and protect the poor, vs. 22-29.


Prov 22:8, “He who sows iniquity will reap vanity, and the rod of his fury will perish.”

In vs. 1, we are exhorted to have a good reputation; in vs. 2, to have good community relationships; in vs. 3, to have good avoidance of evil; in vs. 4, to have a good relationship with the Lord; in vs. 5, to have good in our soul by guarding it from sin through humility; in vs. 6, to have good training in the precepts of God; in vs. 7, we are to have good management of our finances, and now in vs. 8, we are to have a good temperament wielding our authority.

Sow” is the Qal Active Verb ZARA, זָרַע that means “to sow or to bear seed.” The verb is used figuratively here for evil or immoral action, cf. Job 4:8; Prov. 22:8; Hosea 8:7.

Job 4:8, “According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it.”

Hosea 8:7, “For they sow the wind and they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up.”

It can also be used figuratively for good moral action, Psa 97:11; Hosea 10:12.

Psa 97:11, “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.”

Hosea 10:12, “Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD until He comes to rain righteousness on you.”

Iniquity” is the Noun AWLAH, עַוְלָה that means, “wrongdoing, wickedness, injustice, or unrighteousness.” It occurs about thirty times in the OT, and the feminine noun, as here, is used to denote an action that is not morally or ethically right. It can refer to a violent deed of injustice, 2 Sam 3:34, when Joab murdered Abner. It can also refer to injustice in speech, for example, Job 13:7, “Will you speak what is unjust for God, and speak what is deceitful for Him?”

So, as we have noted throughout this chapter, this has context regarding speech, the handling of finances, treatment towards the poor, and involves crimes of a social, property, or commercial nature. Therefore, “sowing iniquity,” generally refers to walking in sin. And, the rest of this verse continues to warn us of the consequences of doing so.


QATSAR, “reaping,” speaks both in the positive and negative sense figuratively, here the negative sense, cf. Hosea 10:13.

Hosea 10:13, “You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice, you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your way, in your numerous warriors.”

Our verse tells us that sowing iniquity (sin or evil) does not produce a harvest of value.

Vanity” is not a good translation here in this compound word, because the second part is made up from the Noun AWEN that is generally used as a term for “sin or evil.” Elsewhere in this book, it means the abuse of power to harm and destroy, Prov 6:12, and it can be used for “deception, or nothingness,” where we get vanity from. But vanity does not quite cut it here.

It is also used in the Proverbs to acknowledge the generally observed truth that God blesses the righteous, but the wicked are followed by trouble, Prov 12:21; 21:15; 22:8.

Prov 12:21, “No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble.”

Prov 21:15, “The exercise of justice is joy for the righteous, but is terror to the workers of iniquity.”

Therefore, the main principle continues in our passage, where the wicked will not simply reap “vanity,” but instead they will reap even further “sin, evil, and trouble,” as they also sow it. As such, the unjust will reap the malevolence of abuse he gave to others.

The second half of this passage tells us, “the rod of his fury will perish.” The saying, “rod of his fury,” is from the Nouns SHEBET, שֵׁבֶט and EBRAH, עֶבְרָה.

SHEBET originally meaning, “rod, staff, stick, or piece of wood,” was broadened to metaphorically mean, “scepter or rod” which a ruler or master of a slave, held as a symbol of authority. The staff was also used as an instrument of discipline, Cf. Prov 13:24; 26:3; 29:15. Therefore, it symbolizes the authoritative power of the unjust oppressor and his powerful means to beat down the oppressed.

EBRAH, for “of his fury,” means, “wrath, outburst, anger, excess, etc.”  It reflects the idea of intense rage and is a title given to the proud, haughty, or arrogant individual, Prov 14:35. This word is also used for the “day of wrath” of the Lord, speaking both to the Lord’s current discipline on His people or children, and eschatologically of His second coming. In our passage, it is speaking of the emotional abuse of authority, be it a parent’s emotional anger towards his children, or the lending wealthy’s emotional outburst towards the poor borrower. It tells us that we are not to abuse our God given authority, and especially not to allow the emotional revolt of the soul to take over when we are dealing with others under our authority. And using “fury” here for wrath or anger tells us of mental attitude sins in emotional revolt of the soul that can lead to further sinful overt actions towards others.

Yet, if there is an emotional abuse of someone’s authority, he and it “will perish,” which is the Qal future Imperfect of KALAH, כָּלָה that means, “to cease, finish, exhaust, come to completion, come to an end, or be destroyed.” It speaks of God’s discipline towards the one who has emotional outbursts of anger in arrogance. So, Divine judgment or discipline is in view here. The verse warns the wicked that not only will their wickedness bring them to grief, but they will eventually lose the ability to injure others. They will lose their power and authority, which may also mean the resources that give them that authority. At the same time, this should comfort the righteous that the wicked will not always be oppressive.

So, we see that “sowing injustice” and “rod of fury,” depict the rich person as an unsympathetic tyrant exercising cruel misconduct toward a neighbor. And, “will reap vanity,” and “will perish,” tell us the tyrant’s iron rod will come to an end. That is, ironically, the unjust sowed a crop of injustice hoping to reap more than his investment, but the riches he gets in return are a delusion, for they will come to nothing; in the first half of this verse, he will lose his property, in the second half, his power and authority.

Divine justice demands that those who abuse their power will end in utter and eternal disappointment, cf. Prov 10:28; 11:7; 11:18, 19; 12:3; 13:9, 25; 21:12; 24:19-20; 28:22.

Therefore, vs. 8, points beyond this harsh reality to the Lord, who will end the wrong, and vs. 9, points to the generous, who remedy it immediately, and receive the Lord’s reward for doing so.

Vs. 9

Prov 22:9, “He who is generous will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor.”

In vs. 1, we are exhorted to have a good reputation; in vs. 2, to have good community relationships; in vs. 3, to have good avoidance of evil; in vs. 4, to have a good relationship with the Lord; in vs. 5, to have good in our soul by guarding it from sin through humility; in vs. 6, to have good training in the precepts of God; in vs. 7, we are to have good management of our finances, in vs. 8, we are to have a good temperament wielding our authority, and now in vs. 9, we are to have a goodness in our giving. This passage also speaks to those who are in authority, the rich, powerful lender, etc., as we will see.

This passage begins with, “He who is generous,” which is the third person singular Personal Pronoun HU, with the Adjective TOB for “good, useful, pleasant, or proper,” and the Noun AYIN that means, “eye, appearance, gleam or spring.” So, literally it means, “a good eye.” But, here it is used metaphorically for, “one who gives or is giving,” meaning one who is generous as the second half of this passage indicates. It is the contrast to the “evil eyed or envious man,” cf. Prov 23:6; 28:22. It is in contrast to the tyrant of vs. 8.

The reward for generosity is then given, “will be blessed,” which is the Pual Imperfect of the Verb BARAK, ‏בָּרַךְ‎ that means, “to bless or to praise.” The Pual stem is the intensive passive. It means he will be blessed abundantly.

This gracious action is continued in the second half of this verse, “for he gives,” KI NATHAN, “some of his food,” MIN LECHEM.

Then, we see the recipient of his generosity, “to the poor,” LE DAL. DAL can mean poor or weak, that is those without power and authority, as we will also see in vs. 16, 22.

Prov 22:16, “He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself, or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.”

Prov 22:22, “Do not rob the poor because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate.”

Therefore, as we have seen, and see in this verse, our generosity is rewarded by being blessed, both by God, Prov 19:17, and by the objects of our charity.

Prov 19:17, “One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed.”

Generosity is encouraged throughout Scripture. It grows out of understanding the person and nature of God and depending upon Him. The source of confidence is not what one has accumulated, but the foundation of one’s trust, cf. Mat 6:19-34; 2 Cor 9:7.

2 Cor 9:7, “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Interestingly, in the Septuagint, (the Greek translation of the OT), there is a passage between Prov 22:8 and 9, that many believe is the genesis for 2 Cor 9:7. It reads something like, “The Lord acts graciously (bestows a blessing) to the cheerful and giving man (cheerful giver). But, a worthless man works towards his own end.” “Towards his own end,” uses the Greek word SUNTELESEI, the word used for “come to an end” in vs. 8, where the Hebrew word is KALAH.

The tyrant out of his excess uses his power to exploit the weak and powerless, who cannot maintain their own life, but the generous person sacrificially shares his food to feed and sustain them. This generosity of the blessed entails his prior hard work and labor of his land, the harvesting of his crops, tending to his animals, and slaughtering them. From his hard work and labor, he has been blessed by God which he recognizes and subsequently, he blesses others from his bounty. As a result, the Lord, (from whom all blessings flow), rewards the generous from His auspicious powers to grant prolonged life, progeny, property, and power, cf. Prov 10:6-7; 11:24-26.

Prov 14:31, “He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, but he who is gracious to the needy honors Him.”

So, we see from these two verses that the greedy loses his property and his power, and the liberal participates in a cycle of endless enrichment. Instead of becoming a professional money-lender, enslaving the poor, these passages instructs us to give to the hapless poor generously, Prov 3:26-27; 11:25; 28:27; cf. Deut 15:9-10; Job 31:17; Psa 34:10; Isa 32:8; 58:7; Ezek 18:7, 16; Neh 5:16-18; Mat 25:31-46; Luke 14:13; 2 Cor 9:6-8; 1 Tim 6:17, 18.

Prov 3:26-27, “For the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. 27Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.”

Prov 11:25, “The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.”

Prov 28:27, “He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses.”

Luke 14:13, “But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.”

2 Cor 9:6-8, “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”

1 Tim 6:17-18, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.”

Interestingly, the Septuagint also has an additional passage with vs. 9, that reads something like, “Victory and honor are obtained by the gift given, however the life is taken away from the acquirer / gainer.”

Therefore, these proverbs exhort us that blessing will be upon those who are concerned, kind, and generous towards others, especially those who are in need. The person who has a good or bountiful eye, i.e., is generous, will be blessed. And, as we have seen, that which we give to the poor, we are in essence giving that to the Lord Himself.


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