PODCAST
Wisdom Nourishes
June 5th, 2025
Proverbs 10:14-23
Proverbs 10 contrasts the “wise” and “fools.” We learn that fools live only for the now, because “fools hate knowledge” (1:22). To know enough for today is sufficient! We learn that “the wise store up knowledge” (10:14). They live with an eye for its use in the future.
Proverbs 10 speaks several times of “the mouth,” “the lips,” “the tongue,” and “the heart.” The “mouth of a fool,” that is, his speech, leads to “ruin” (v. 14), but “the lips of the righteous [or the wise] nourish many” (v. 21).
The “lying lips” of “a fool” “spreads slander” (v. 18), but “the prudent [or the wise] hold their tongues” (v. 19).
“The tongue of the righteous [or the wise] is choice silver.” That is, each word that the righteous/wise person chooses and speaks has great value. In contrast, “the heart of the wicked [or the fool] is of little value” (v. 20). “Heart” is a metaphor for character. One cannot rely on the fool.
Proverbs 10:23 says, “Just as a fool doing wickedness acts with laughter, so a person of understanding acts with wisdom” (author’s paraphrase).
Author: Barry Ross
