Day 110
Proverbs 13:15-16
Good judgment wins favor,
but the way of the unfaithful leads to their destruction.
All who are prudent act with knowledge,
but fools expose their folly.
What exactly is Solomon saying here? To really understand what Solomon is saying here we need to understand the first word that he starts today’s proverb off with: “good judgment.”
To have “good judgment” is to literally have “good sense.” And “good sense” is literally “insight of good,” or to have a deep knowledge and understanding of what is good and to apply it your situation. So what Solomon is saying in the first part of today’s proverb is: Sensible people can advance by winning the favor of God and men, while those who are treacherous or unfaithful cannot improve the way the go.
And not we come to the last of today’s proverb. We already know that to be prudent is the same as having good judgment or sense. We, also, already know that those who have good judgment or sense will act in accordance to their good judgement or sense. Which only leaves the very last phrase of today’s proverb, “fools expose their folly,” or as the CSB (Christian Standard Bible) translates it “a fool displays his stupidity.” Solomon here is telling us that a fool does not act according to knowledge but spreads out his or her stupidity “like a peddler who openly spreads his wares before the gaze of all men” (Crawford Howell Toy). So which one are you? Are the fool or are you the one exercises good judgement?
Tomorrow’s Bible Readings:
Joshua 22:21-23:16, Luke 20:27-47, Psalm 89:14-37 and Proverbs 13:17-19