Scripture Daily

Context No. 1563 of 4322 · Proverbs

Context · Reflection

Proverbs 14:17-35: in context

17He who is quick to become angry will commit folly, and a crafty man is hated. 18The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. 19The evil bow down before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous. 20The poor person is shunned even by his own neighbor, but the rich person has many friends. 21He who despises his neighbor sins, but he who has pity on the poor is blessed. 22Don’t they go astray who plot evil? But love and faithfulness belong to those who plan good. 23In all hard work there is profit, but the talk of the lips leads only to poverty. 24The crown of the wise is their riches, but the folly of fools crowns them with folly. 25A truthful witness saves souls, but a false witness is deceitful. 26In the fear of the LORD is a secure fortress, and he will be a refuge for his children. 27The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning people from the snares of death. 28In the multitude of people is the king’s glory, but in the lack of people is the destruction of the prince. 29He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a quick temper displays folly. 30The life of the body is a heart at peace, but envy rots the bones. 31He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him. 32The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge. 33Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding, and is even made known in the inward part of fools. 34Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people. 35The king’s favor is toward a servant who deals wisely, but his wrath is toward one who causes shame.

This stretch of Proverbs gathers observations on wisdom and folly, anger and peace, wealth and the poor. He who is slow to anger has great understanding, it says, but the quick-tempered exalts folly. Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life. And in the middle sits a proverb about the inner life: a tranquil heart gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

The proverb worth dwelling on is the one about envy: a tranquil heart gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. It sets two inner states against each other and traces their effect on the whole person. A heart at peace, settled, content, gives life; it is good for the whole self, body included. But envy, the resentment that gnaws at us over what others have, is pictured as a rot in the bones, a corrosion that eats away at us from the inside. And the image is exact, because envy harms the envier more than anyone. The person we envy is untouched by our envy; it does them no damage at all. It is we who are corroded by it, eaten away from within, our peace destroyed, our contentment poisoned, our very health, the proverb suggests, undermined by the acid of resentment we carry. Envy is a rot that consumes the one who harbors it, giving nothing in return but the slow destruction of our own peace. There is a warning in this to guard the inner state of the heart, because it works on the whole person. Envy promises nothing and costs everything; it rots the bones of the one who nurses it while leaving its object unharmed. The tranquil heart, by contrast, at peace with what God has given, free of the gnawing comparison with others, gives life. The proverb invites us to trade the rot of envy for the life of a heart at peace, not for the sake of the ones we envy, who are untouched either way, but for our own sake, since it is our own bones that envy rots.

Is envy quietly rotting my bones, corroding my peace over what others have while doing nothing to them, and can I trade it for the tranquil heart that gives life, content with what God has given rather than consumed by the gnawing comparison with others?

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