Proverbs 22

Verse 22:2 talks about wealth:

Rich and poor have something in common:
    both are created by the Eternal.

This is something that gets us into a spin since you can say if God created rich and poor then He created good and evil. Think about this a bit before reacting. God created everything and therefore must have created Satan and evil. How can this be or did evil just happen out of creation? See the rabbit trail one can go down and spin into some very complex theological problems and see where New Age religion spawned from.

One could argue that God is everything and creation was polluted by evil. Evil made rich and poor to ensure there was envy. Therefore Solomon missed the point and society was originally meant to be truly blind and naked.

Verse 22:7 shows many of Jesus’ teaching come from scripture:

The rich lord it over the poor,
    and the borrower is the slave to the lender.

I think of Polonius’ words “neither a borrower or a lender be” when reading this proverb. Although Jesus did not restate this proverb, his teachings show that one should not live beyond one’s means. I think the most critical passage on lending was in Luke 7 where two men were forgiven their loans, but this was not used to show the “evils” of borrowing rather the grace God gives to all.

Verse 22:13 is one I want to look at in detail:

A lazy person says, “A lion! Right outside!
    I will surely die in the streets!
    Yet another good reason to stay in today.”

Interestingly most versions do not have the last line and the Voice has italicized it meaning it is not translated from the scripture. But the addition gives us a better understanding to what it means. You would have to read in the meaning otherwise. A slothful person could read other versions and say yes I would not want to die either. The point is not that one may die, but rather it becomes another excuse for being lazy.

Verse 22:22 is another one to ponder if wealthy:

Do not cheat poor people just because they are vulnerable
    or use shady tactics in court to crush those already suffering;

We have actually been accused of this on projects. We get a “hard” quote and once the project starts the person feels they need more which justifies stealing from us. I hope we were not trying to cheat the person, but rather give them some work during slow times. But it’s interesting to see how people view “cheating” where often a wage that was agreed upon suddenly becomes a cheat when it’s much less than the owner. A poor person may view something a cheat which a rich would not, so this is a difficult proverb to follow. The key is the way you handle your business, if you know you are taking advantage of a person that IS cheating.