The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,
while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
The righteous hates falsehood,
but the wicked brings shame and disgrace.
Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless,
but sin overthrows the wicked.
One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing;
another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.
The ransom of a man's life is his wealth,
but a poor man hears no threat.
The light of the righteous rejoices,
but the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
By insolence comes nothing but strife,
but with those who take advice is wisdom.
Wealth gained hastily will dwindle,
but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.Proverbs 13:4-11
The thought in 6 righteousness as a guard has already been discussed in the Notes on 11:3-9. The familiar theme of riches and poverty is dealt with in 7 and 8. The RSV renders 7 quite differently from the AV. If we follow the former, the thought is very similar to that in 12:9, 10 (see Note), and speaks of the kind of person who gives himself airs and plays the great man. This is a fool's game, silly and laughable; and we should laugh at it in amusement rather than boil over in annoyance and resentment. When we do the latter, it may be an indication that something of the same spirit lurks in our own hearts. If the AV is followed, however, the meaning will be that the man who goes all out for riches may in fact be impoverishing himself in the things that matter, whereas the man who impoverishes himself for a worthy cause immeasurably enriches himself (cf 2 Corinthians 6:10). Moffatt's rendering of 8 reads, 'A rich man may pay off his life: a poor man can ignore the robber's threat' - that is, if you are poor, no one is going to go to the trouble of kidnapping you and holding you to ransom, it would be a waste of time (for a similar thought see Ecclesiastes 6:12). The compensation of poverty can be considerable! The contrast of light and darkness in 9 reminds us of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins in Matthew 25. In 10, the emphasis is on 'only', and the meaning is that pride is an ingredient in every continuing quarrel. The contrast to 'well-advised' will therefore be to 'stand on one's dignity'. And how protracted a quarrel becomes when this is done! The thought in 11 has startling relevance for our modern, materialistic society. Wealth easily gotten - and it is perhaps significant that gambling wins are the only things exempt from income tax in our economy! - dwindles with the same ease with which it comes. The principle of hard work commended here is a much more stable basis on which to build national prosperity.