BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Proverbs 22 — Wisdom on Wealth, Training, and Conduct
Proverbs 22 gathers sayings contrasting wisdom and folly across social, domestic, and economic life, urging reverence for the Lord, generous care for the poor, careful child-rearing, and avoidance of harmful companionships.
Scripture
1A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, And loving favor rather than silver and gold.
2The rich and the poor meet together: Jehovah is the maker of them all.
3A prudent man seeth the evil, and hideth himself; But the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
4The reward of humility and the fear of Jehovah Is riches, and honor, and life.
5Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse: He that keepeth his soul shall be far from them.
6Train up a child in the way he should go, And even when he is old he will not depart from it.
7The rich ruleth over the poor; And the borrower is servant to the lender.
8He that soweth iniquity shall reap calamity; And the rod of his wrath shall fail.
9He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; For he giveth of his bread to the poor.
10Cast out the scoffer, and contention will go out; Yea, strife and ignominy will cease.
11He that loveth pureness of heart, For the grace of his lips the king will be his friend.
12The eyes of Jehovah preserve him that hath knowledge; But he overthroweth the words of the treacherous man.
13The sluggard saith, There is a lion without: I shall be slain in the streets.
14The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: He that is abhorred of Jehovah shall fall therein.
15Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; But the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
16He that oppresseth the poor to increase his gain, And he that giveth to the rich, shall come only to want.
17Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, And apply thy heart unto my knowledge.
18For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee, If they be established together upon thy lips.
19That thy trust may be in Jehovah, I have made them known to thee this day, even to thee.
20Have not I written unto thee excellent things Of counsels and knowledge,
21To make thee know the certainty of the words of truth, That thou mayest carry back words of truth to them that send thee?
22Rob not the poor, because he is poor; Neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
23For Jehovah will plead their cause, And despoil of life those that despoil them.
24Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger; And with a wrathful man thou shalt not go:
25Lest thou learn this ways, And get a snare to thy soul.
26Be thou not one of them that strike hands, Or of them that are sureties for debts.
27If thou hast not wherewith to pay, Why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
28Remove not the ancient landmark, Which thy fathers have set.
29Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; He shall not stand before mean men.
What this passage means
Proverbs 22 opens by weighing intangible goods against material ones: a good name (H8034 שֵׁם) and loving favor (H2580 חֵן) are said to be 'better' (H2896 טוֹב) than great riches (H6239 עֹשֶׁר) and silver (H3701 כֶּסֶף) or gold (H2091 זָהָב). The comparison is expressed through the preposition מִן (H4480), used three times in verse 1 to mark what is set aside. Verse 2 then levels the ground: the rich (H6223 עָשִׁיר) and the poor (H7326 רָשׁ) 'meet' (H6298 פָּגַשׁ) because Jehovah (H3068 יְהוָה) is their common maker (H6213 עָשָׂה).
A second cluster frames moral cause and effect. The prudent (H6175 עָרוּם) 'sees' (H7200 רָאָה) danger and 'hides' (H5641 סָתַר), while the simple (H6612 פֶּתִי) 'go on' (H5674 עָבַר) and 'suffer' (H6064 עָנַשׁ). Verse 4 links humility (H6038 עֲנָוָה) and the fear of Jehovah (H3374 יִרְאָה) to a 'reward' (H6118 עֵקֶב) of wealth (H6239), honor (H3519 כָּבוֹד), and life (H2416 חַיִּים). Verse 6's call to 'train up a child' and verse 15's pairing of foolishness with the 'rod of correction' place parental discipline at the center of moral formation.
The remainder of the chapter moves through social and economic warnings: the borrower as servant (v. 7), the disaster of sowing iniquity (v. 8), the blessing of a 'bountiful eye' (v. 9), the need to expel the scoffer (v. 10), avoiding angry companions (vv. 24–25), refusing to be surety for debts (vv. 26–27), not moving ancient landmarks (v. 28), and the dignity of diligence before kings (v. 29). Verses 17–21 form a transition, inviting the hearer to receive 'words of the wise' so trust may rest in Jehovah.
Context
The provided material presents Proverbs 22 as a self-contained collection of independent sayings, with no narrative before or after it in the supplied chapter text. Verse 17 explicitly frames the section as instruction: 'Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise,' giving the chapter a didactic frame rather than a narrative one. The supplied cross_references and original_words cover only the opening verses (1–5), so word-level and cross-reference discussion in this page is necessarily concentrated there.
The curated_note describes this chapter as backfilled material from Proverbs outside an initial priority set, which means the reference page treats the text as proverb anthology material without importing external commentary. No geography, history, or authorship discussion is added beyond what the verses and their accompanying Strong's data provide.
Key words in the original
- H8034 שֵׁם (šēm) in verse 1 is rendered 'name,' but the gloss in the provided data extends it to honor, authority, and character — the weight that makes 'a good name' preferable to wealth.
- H6118 עֵקֶב (ʿēqeḇ) in verse 4 is glossed 'reward.' The same root literally means 'heel,' which the data explains as 'the last of anything' or 'result/compensation' — fitting for a proverb that links present humility to future consequence.
- H2580 חֵן (ḥēn) in verse 1 is glossed 'favor,' explained as graciousness either subjective (kindness) or objective (beauty) — paired here with שֵׁם as the non-monetary counterpart to silver and gold.
Related verses
- Ephesians 6:4 Supplied as the highest-voted parallel to Proverbs 22:6 on training children; the Ephesians text shifts the motive from general moral formation to 'the chastening and admonition of the Lord.'
- Deuteronomy 6:7 Pairs with Proverbs 22:6 on child training; Deuteronomy expands the instruction from formal teaching into daily household conversation — sitting, walking, lying down, rising up.
- Ecclesiastes 7:1 Resonates with Proverbs 22:1: a 'good name' set above precious material, and the parallel claim that the day of death surpasses the day of birth — both treat reputation as more enduring than circumstance.
Common questions
Is Proverbs 22:6 a guarantee that a properly trained child will never depart from the way?
The verse states that the child 'will not depart from it' when old. The supplied cross_references (Ephesians 6:4, Deuteronomy 6:7, 2 Timothy 3:15) all treat parental instruction as serious and formative, but the chapter itself does not define the mechanism as unconditional; it frames the outcome as the natural consequence of early 'training in the way he should go.'
Does verse 2 contradict verse 7, since one says the Lord is maker of both rich and poor while the other says the rich rule over the poor?
The chapter presents two different claims rather than a contradiction: verse 2 grounds the equal origin of rich and poor in the Lord as maker, while verse 7 describes observable social reality (rule and debt-servitude). The text itself does not reconcile them; it juxtaposes them so that divine origin and present condition are held together.
Why does the chapter forbid being surety for debts (vv. 26–27)?
Within the chapter's own terms, the reason is given immediately in verse 27: 'If thou hast not wherewith to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?' The proverb treats the act as a risk to one's own basic provision, not as a moral judgment on lending itself.