Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death.
Parallel Translations
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Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death.
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Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.
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Treasures of wickedness profit nothing; but righteousness delivereth from death.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Proverbs 10:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 11:4 Riches don’t profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
- Proverbs 12:28 In the way of righteousness is life; in its path there is no death.
- Psalms 49:6-10 Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches— none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him. For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough, that he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption. For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.
- Proverbs 21:6 Getting treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor for those who seek death.
- Ezekiel 7:19 They will cast their silver in the streets, and their gold will be as an unclean thing. Their silver and their gold won’t be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath. They won’t satisfy their souls or fill their bellies; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity.
- Zephaniah 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.
- Romans 5:21 that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Isaiah 10:2-3 to deprive the needy from justice, and to rob the poor among my people of their rights, that widows may be their plunder, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! What will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?
- Daniel 4:27 Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your tranquility.”
- Luke 16:22-23 The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
- Luke 12:15-21 He said to them, “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.” He spoke a parable to them, saying, “The ground of a certain rich man produced abundantly. He reasoned within himself, saying, ‘What will I do, because I don’t have room to store my crops?’ He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ “But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
- Romans 2:5 But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God;
- Philippians 3:9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith,
- James 5:1-3 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, wickedly gotten.
That is, wickedly gotten.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 10:2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness…
Pro 10:2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.
Ver. 2. Treasures of wickedness.] Our Saviour calls it "Mammon of iniquity," {Luk 16:9} that next odious name to the devil. Most men’s care is how to grasp and get wealth for their children - rem rem, quocunque modo rem. Virtus post nummos, &c. But what saith a grave author? {a} "Better leave thy child a wallet to beg from door to door, than a cursed hoard of evil gotten goods." There is for the most part lucrura in arca, damnum in conscientia, {b} - gain in the purse, but loss in the conscience.
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But righteousness delivereth from death.] Piety, though poor, delivereth from the second death, and from the first too, as to the evil of it. For as Christ took away the guilt of sin, not sin itself, so he hath taken away, not death, but the sting of death from all believers, making it to such of a curse a blessing; of a punishment, a benefit; of a trap door to hell, a portal to heaven; a postern to let out temporal life, but a street door to let in eternal life.
{a} Mr Bolton.
{b} Augustine.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Treasures of wickedness: either,
Treasures of wickedness: either,
1. All worldly treasures and riches, which are called the mammon of unrighteousness, Luk 16:9, of which see the reasons there; to which righteousness or holiness, which are spiritual and heavenly riches, may be fitly opposed. Or,
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2. Such treasures as are got by any sort of unjust or wicked practices.
Profit nothing; they do the possessor no good, but, which is implied from the opposite member, much hurt; they do not only not deliver him from death, but oft expose him to it; either from men, who take away his life that they may enjoy his wealth; or from God, who shortens his days, and makes his death more terrible, as being attended with guilt, and with the second death.
Righteousness: either,
1. True holiness of heart and life. Or,
2. Justice and equity in the getting of riches, or an estate honestly obtained, which may be fitly opposed to treasures of wickedness. Or,
3. A liberal and charitable use of riches, which is oft called righteousness, as Psa 112:9; Dan 4:27; 2Co 9:10, &c., and is indeed but an act of justice, of which see on Pro 3:27, which also is conveniently opposed to an unjust getting of riches; and so this contains a great paradox, yet a certain truth, that the charitable laying out of money is more profitable to men than an unjust and covetous laying it up.
From death; ofttimes from temporal death, because men generally love, and honour, and will assist such persons in cases of danger, and God gives them the blessing of a long life; and always from eternal death, when such charity proceeds from a sincere and honest mind, and a good conscience.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain These two verses speak to the same purport, and…
These two verses speak to the same purport, and the latter may be the reason of the former. 1. That wealth which men get unjustly will do them no good, because God will blast it: Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, Pro 10:2. The treasures of wicked people, much more the treasure which they have made themselves masters of by any wicked people, by oppression of fraud, though it be ever so much, as a treasure, and laid up ever so safely, though it be hidden treasure, yet it profits nothing; when profit and loss come to be balanced the profit gained by the treasures will by no means countervail the loss sustained by the wickedness, Mat 16:26. They do not profit the soul; they will not purchase any true comfort or happiness. They will stand a man in no stead at death, or in the judgment of the great day; and the reason is because God casts away the substance of the wicked (Pro 10:3); he takes that from them which they have unjustly gotten; he rejects the consideration of it, not regarding the rich more than the poor. We often see that scattered by the justice of God which has been gathered together by the injustice of men. How can the treasures of wickedness profit, when, though it be counted substance, God casts it away and it vanishes as a shadow? 2. That which is honestly got will turn to a good account, for God will bless it. Righteousness delivers from death, that is, wealth gained, and kept, and used, in a right manner (righteousness signifies both honesty and charity); it answers the end of wealth, which is to keep us alive and be a defence to us. It will deliver from those judgments which men bring upon themselves by their wickedness. It will profit to such a degree as to deliver, though not from the stroke of death, yet from the sting of it, and consequently from the terror of it. For the Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish (Pro 10:3), and so their righteousness delivers from death, purely by the favour of God to them, which is their life and livelihood, and which will keep them alive in famine. The soul of the righteous shall be kept alive by the word of God, and faith in his promise, when young lions shall lack and suffer hunger.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Treasures of wickedness profit nothing,.... By which are meant…
Treasures of wickedness profit nothing,.... By which are meant either a large abundance of riches in general, which for the most part are enjoyed by wicked men, and abused to wicked purposes, Pro 11:4; or an affluence of them, obtained in a wicked way, by fraud, oppression, and the like; see Mic 6:10; Or are either not used at all, or put to wicked uses: what are not used profit not the possessors of them, for they are "kept to the hurt of the owners" of them; and those which are got by ill means, or put to an ill use, "perish by evil travel", Ecc 5:13. Nor can anyone by his riches either redeem himself or his brother from destruction, or give to God a ransom for him; nor can he by them save himself from a corporeal death one year, one month, one day, one hour, one moment; nor will they be of any service to him in the day of judgment, when wrath comes forth against him;
but righteousness delivereth from death; either that which is righteously got, though it be ever so little, is a means of preserving life, and keeps their souls from famishing, Pro 10:3; or else what is liberally dispensed, for alms are called "righteousness", Psa 112:9, Dan 4:27. These are oftentimes the means of saving the lives of persons ready to perish, on whom they are bestowed, and who will venture their lives to save their benefactors; and such liberal persons are oftentimes blessed with long life, and are kept alive when threatened with death, Psa 41:1; and though their good deeds are not meritorious of eternal life, yet they are rewarded with it in a way of grace, Mat 25:34. Moreover, righteousness may be considered as legal and evangelical; a legal righteousness, or the righteousness of men in obedience to the law, cannot deliver from the sentence of death the law has passed; it is not properly a righteousness; it is imperfect, cannot justify, save, or bring to heaven, or entitle to life; notwithstanding this a man must die: but there is an evangelical righteousness; and this is either imparted and implanted in men, is the new man, which is created in righteousness and holiness; and this delivers from a moral or spiritual death, a death in trespasses and sins men are in; for by it they are quickened, live a life of faith on Christ, and have communion with God; have his image stamped on them, and live to him, and to Christ, and to righteousness, being freed from the servitude and dominion of sin; living in which is no other than death: or this righteousness is imputed, which is the righteousness of Christ; wrought out for them, reckoned to them, received by them, and by which they are justified; this delivers them, though not from a corporeal death, yet from the sting and curse of it, and from it as a penal evil, or as a punishment for sin: and it delivers from a legal death, or from the sentence and condemnation of the law, and from the second and eternal death, and entities them to life everlasting.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Of wickedness - Such as are got by any…
Of wickedness - Such as are got by any sort of wicked practices. Death - Often from temporal, and always from eternal death.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. Treasures of wickedness] Property gained by wicked…
Verse 2. Treasures of wickedness] Property gained by wicked means.
Delivered from death] Treasures gained by robbery often bring their possessors to an untimely death; but those gained by righteous dealing bring with them no such consequences.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 10:2. Treasures of wickedness — Such as are…
Pro 10:2. Treasures of wickedness — Such as are got by any sort of unjust or wicked practices; or worldly riches in general, termed by our Lord, the mammon of unrighteousness, Luk 16:9, because they are often used in an unrighteous manner, and made instruments of unrighteousness, and for other reasons there explained; profit nothing — Do the possessor no good at the time here intended, but, as is implied in the opposite member of the sentence, much hurt. They not only do not deliver him from death, but often expose him to it, either from men, who would take away his life that they may enjoy his wealth, or from God, who shortens his days, as a punishment of those luxuries and other sins into which his wealth led him: whence death becomes more terrible, as being attended with guilt and a dread of the second death. But righteousness — True holiness of heart and life; or he may mean justice and equity in the getting of riches, and a liberal and charitable use of them, which is often called righteousness in Scripture, and is indeed but an act of justice; (of which see on Pro 3:27;) delivereth from death — Frequently from temporal death, because men generally love and honour, and will assist such persons in cases of danger, and God often gives them the blessing of a long life; and always from eternal death, when such justice and charity proceed from true piety and a good conscience.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Righteousness - Including, perhaps, the idea of benevolence. Compare…
Righteousness - Including, perhaps, the idea of benevolence. Compare the use of δικαιοσύνη dikaiosunē, in Mat 6:1 (the older reading), and 2Co 9:9-10.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain The most substantial earthly treasures profit nothing. (Pro 23:5…
The most substantial earthly treasures profit nothing. (Pro 23:5 . Mat 6:19 .) Much more do treasures of wickedness. (Jer 22:13 . Ezr 7:19 . Amo 3:10-11 . Hab 2:6-9 .) ’A man may seem to profit by them, and to come up wonderfully for a time.’†1 But what was the profit of Naboth’s vineyard to Ahab, when in his "ivory palace" he was withering under the curse of God? (1Ki 21:4-24, with 1Ki 22:39 .) What was the profit of the thirty pieces of silver to Judas? Instead of delivering from death, their intolerable sting plunged him into death eternal. (Mat 27:5 .) What else will be the fruit of covetousness, but shame (2Ki 5:23-27 . Rom 6:21 ), disappointment (Jer 17:11 ), and ruin? (Pro 21:6-7 . Jos 7:20-26 . Dan 5:1-6 .) "Thou, O man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness." (1Ti 6:11 .) This is "the breast-plate" (Eph 6:14 . 1Th 5:8 ), that covers the vitals in the fearful conflict. This is the path-way to eternal life. (Pro 12:28 . Psa 15:1-5 ; Psa 24:3-5 . Isa 35:8 . Mat 5:8 .) This is the deliverance from the sting, the terror, the taste of death. (Pro 11:4 . Joh 8:51 .) We must not flinch from this Scriptural statement from fear of legality. Lay the foundation of acceptance deep and clear upon the righteousness of Christ. But upon this foundation fear not to raise the superstructure of inherent righteousness. Take up the prayer and confidence of the man of God — "Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee." (Psa 25:21 .)
Footnotes:
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†1 Bishop Sanderson’s Sermon on 1Sa 12:3 .
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Wickedness. Riches ill acquired, or tending to corrupt the…
Wickedness. Riches ill acquired, or tending to corrupt the heart, Luke xvi. 9.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Treasures . . . nothing--that is, Ill-gotten gains give…
Treasures . . . nothing--that is, Ill-gotten gains give no true happiness (compare Pro 4:17; Mat 6:19).
righteousness--especially beneficence (Psa 112:9).
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death--the greatest of all evils.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. Treasures of wickedness — Gotten by unjust and…
2. Treasures of wickedness — Gotten by unjust and fraudulent means; “ill got, ill gone.” The Septuagint renders this clause, “Treasures shall not profit the lawless.”
Righteousness delivereth from death — That is, from the “death” which is the punishment of crime; while treasures obtained by fraud and robbery often bring after them an untimely death. Comp. Pro_10:25; Pro_10:27, also Pro_11:4. On first clause comp. Rom_2:5. etc.; 1Ki_21:19; 2Ki_5:26-27; Isa_10:2, etc.; Luk_19:21 : on second clause compare Jer_33:6; Dan_4:19; Dan_9:24. This righteousness includes liberality to others, (Pro_10:4,) and brings the Lord’s mercy with it. Comp. Psa_41:1-2; Psa_112:9; Dan_4:27; 2Co_9:9.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. Treasures of wickedness … righteousness] The contrast would…
2. Treasures of wickedness … righteousness] The contrast would seem to be between “wickedness” in its highest prosperity and success, when it has amassed “treasures,” when it has “found all precious substance and filled the house with spoil” (Pro_1:13), and “righteousness,” in itself considered, independently of the consequences which may attach to it. Comp. Pro_11:4.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) Treasures of wickedness—i.e., gained by wrong-doing.
(2) Treasures of wickedness—i.e., gained by wrong-doing.
Righteousness delivereth from death.—The Hebrew word translated “righteousness” has a much wider meaning than its English equivalent, which generally bears the sense only of deciding fairly, being especially applied to judges. But a “righteous” man in Hebrew is one who “renders to all their due,” whether to God, as Noah, who was “just and perfect” before Him (Gen_6:9; Gen_7:1; comp. Ecc_7:20), or to man. To his fellow-men his “justice” will show itself in liberality (Psa_37:21), mercy (Pro_12:10), carefulness of speech (Pro_15:28), truthfulness (Pro_13:5), and wisdom (Pro_9:9). He is considerate to animals also (Pro_12:10). So in the sermon on the Mount our Lord (Mat_6:1) says, “Take heed that ye do not your ‘righteousness’ [so the best MSS. read] before men;” and then specifies it under the heads of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. In this passage it forms a contrast to riches gained by wrong, and therefore would seem particularly to signify “almsgiving,” as its Greek equivalent does in 2Co_9:10. It is often: rendered so by the LXX., and it is the most usual sense of the word in late Hebrew. It is so interpreted also in Tob_4:10; Tob_12:9, where this passage is quoted. (Comp. Sir_3:30; Sir_29:12, and our Lord’s advice, Luk_16:9.) It “delivers from death,” as being a sign of the divine life within, which is “hid with Christ in God” (Col_3:3).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 2-7. Moral contrast in earthly lot and destiny.
Vers. 2-7. Moral contrast in earthly lot and destiny.
I ILL-GOTTEN WEALTH AND RECTITUDE. (Ver. 2) The former cannot avert sudden death or shame (vers. 25, 27); the latter is vital, and stands the man in good stead in every hour of human trial, and of Divine judgment.
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II HONEST POVERTY AND PROFLIGATE GREED. (Ver. 3) The former does not hunger, is contented with little, has true satisfaction. The latter is never satisfied, expands with every indulgence, is like the "dire dropsy." It is an unappeasable thirst. God repudiates it by fixing it in perpetual impotency, while the temperate and chastened doilies are rewarded by fulfilment.
III THE LAX AND THE INDUSTRIOUS HAND. (Ver. 4; comp. Pro_12:24) The one leading to poverty, the other to fiches. Languor and energy have their physical conditions; but how much lies in the will? We live in a day when it is the fashion to talk of "determinism," and to extend the doctrine of "causes over which we have no control" beyond all reasonable limits. We need to fall back on the healthy common sense of mankind, and on the doctrine of these proverbs. There is a moral question involved. Laziness is immoral, and receives the condemnation of immorality; industry is a virtue, and brings its own reward in every sphere. The opposition is amplified in ver. 5; active forethought being contrasted with supine indifference. The hard field labour referred to belongs particularly to young men; and to young men idleness is peculiarly corrupting.
IV ASSOCIATIONS OF BLESSING AND THOSE OF VIOLENCE. (Ver. 6) However the verse may be rendered and interpreted, this is the opposition. Blessing leads the mind through such a series of associated ideas as peace, tranquillity, order, security; violence through a contrasted series trouble, disquiet, disorder, and all that implies a curse.
V BRIGHT AND DARK RECOLLECTIONS. (Ver. 7) The good man lives in thankful memories; the bad man"s name is like an ill odour, according to the literal meaning of the Hebrew word. When the saying is quoted, The ill men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones," we should recall by whom this was said, or feigned to be said, and for what purpose. In the memory of Caesar"s ambition Antony is afraid the Romans will forget his services. Momentarily good may be forgotten, but ultlmately must come to recognition and honour. The course of time illustrates the worth of the good, and enhances the odium of evil memories. J.
Vers. 2-6. Four conditions of well being.
That we may enjoy a prosperity which is truly human, we must do well and be well in three directions in our circumstances, in our mind (our intellectual powers), and in our character. And that which tends to build up on the one hand, or to destroy on the other hand, will be found to affect us in these three spheres. The conditions of well being as suggested by the passage are
I RECTITUDE. (Vers. 2, 3) Righteousness before God is essential to all prosperity:
1. Because, if we deliberately choose the path of iniquity, we shall have to work against the arm of Omnipotence. "He casteth away the substance of the wicked" (ver. 3).
2. Because, on the contrary, if we walk in moral and spiritual integrity, we may count on the direction and even the interposition of the Divine hand. "The Lord will not suffer," etc. (ver. 3).
3. Because righteousness means virtue and prudence; it means those qualities which work for health and for security, which "relieve from death" (ver. 2).
4. Because the gains of ungodliness are never satisfactory; "they profit nothing.
(1) They are unattended by the joy of gratitude, and they are (often) accompanied by the miseries of self-reproach;
(2) they are spoilt by the condemnation of the good and the holy;
(3) they are apt to be dispersed far more freely than they are acquired;
(4) they cannot and they do not satisfy the soul, though they may continue to fill the treasury, they leave the heart empty, aching and hungering for a good which is beyond, for a blessing which is from above.
II DILIGENCE. (Ver. 4)
1. The inattentive and sluggish worker is constantly descending; he is on an incline, and is going downwards. All things connected with his vocation, or with his own mind, or with his moral and spiritual condition, are gradually but seriously suffering; decline, decay, disease, have set in and will spread from day to day, from year to year.
2. The earnest and energetic worker is continually ascending; he is moving upwards; his hand is "making rich it may be in material wealth, or (what is better) in useful and elevating knowledge, or (what is best) in the acquisitions of spiritual culture, in the virtues and graces of Christian character.
III WAKEFULNESS. (Ver. 5) This is a very important qualification; we must be ready to avail ourselves of the hour of opportunity. To gather when the corn is ripe is necessary if the toil of the husbandman is to bear its fruit; to let the crop alone when it is ready for the sickle is to waste the labour of many weeks. Readiness to reap is of as much consequence as willingness to work. The wakeful eye must be on every field of human activity, or energy and patience will be thrown away. We must covet and must cultivate mental alertness, spiritual promptitude, readiness to strike when the hour has come, or we shall miss much of "the fruit of our labour." It is the general who knows when to give the word to "charge" that wins the battle.
IV PEACEABLENESS. (Ver. 6) The consequences of violence shut the mouth of the wicked. He that "seeks peace and ensues it will see good days. C. (1Pe_3:10, 1Pe_3:11)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivereth from…
Pro_10:2
Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivereth from death
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The profits of wickedness and of righteousness
In nothing is our common proneness to self-deception more conspicuously manifested than in the erroneous estimate which we form respecting this world and the next.
Of the one we think as though it could never have an end; of the other as though it could never have a beginning.
I. The treasures of wickedness profit nothing. Treasures of wickedness should mean wealth which has been acquired by dubious or unjustifiable methods, or which is applied to unhallowed or forbidden purposes. But it may be used to signify all wealth bearing no relation to the command and will of the Almighty; all wealth in the acquisition and expenditure of which religion has no influence. But take the present life only, and appearances are against the statement of this text. What will not riches do and obtain for men! Some things they will not. They cannot give health to the languid, ease to the tormented, nor life to the dead. Therefore, with all their fair appearances, they profit nothing. They bring with them no solid, substantial happiness; no joy upon which the soul can confidently repose itself; no strength to endure trials in adversity. If they could, we have still to keep in mind that man is destined for an eternal existence, and for him the hour is coming in which all must confess that riches are useless--nothing in the sight of immortal man, much less in the sight of an eternal God.
II. What is meant by righteousness, and in what sense it delivereth from death. The righteousness which delivereth from death is not our own righteousness properly so-called, but the righteousness of Christ. This righteousness, however, involves a righteousness of our own, which is, in its nature, a necessary fruit, and without which it cannot really exist. The righteousness adverted to by Solomon, in the case of the Jews, was first a ceremonial and then a meritorious righteousness. For us there is first an imputation of the perfect righteousness of Christ, and secondly, an actual righteousness of our own; the first being the cause of our justification, and the second its natural and necessary consequence. The righteous man is he who has accepted the salvation of Christ, is in the leading of the Holy Spirit, and has the testimony of his conscience that, in simplicity and godly sincerity, he daily labours to combine a holy life with a humble and contrite heart. Such a righteousness delivers, not from bodily death, but from all those evils that are represented by, and consummated in, death. To disappointment religion opposes hope; to suffering, patience; to the loss of earthly friends, the friendship of One who sticketh closer than a brother. In the hour of calamity, disease, and death itself, righteousness is proved to be the only lasting, sustaining remedy. (Thomas Dale, M.A.)
Treasures of wickedness
may mean either treasures wickedly got or treasures wickedly spent, or both. Such treasures profit nothing unto the bestowment of true happiness. (R. Wardlaw.)
Wealth
No moral system is complete which does not treat with clearness and force the subject of wealth. The material possessions of an individual or of a nation are, in a certain sense, the prerequisites of all moral life. The production of wealth, it not, strictly speaking, a moral question itself, presses closely upon all other moral questions. Wisdom will be called upon to direct the energies which produce wealth, and to determine the feelings with which we are to regard the wealth which is produced. Moral problems mightier still begin to emerge when the question of distribution presents itself. If production is in a sense the presupposition of all moral and spiritual life, no less certainly correct moral conceptions--may we not even say, true spiritual conditions?--are the indispensable means of determining distribution. In our own day this question of the distribution of wealth stands in the front rank of practical questions. Religious teachers must face it. Socialists are grappling with this question not altogether in a religious spirit. But all socialism is not revolutionary. In the teaching of the Book of Proverbs on this subject note--
I. Its frank and full recognition that wealth has its advantages and poverty its disadvantages. There is no Quixotic attempt to overlook, as many moral and spiritual systems do, the perfectly obvious facts of life. The extravagance and exaggeration which led St. Francis to choose poverty as his bride find no more sanction in this ancient wisdom than in the sound teaching of our Lord and His apostles. As poverty is a legitimate subject of dread, there are urgent exhortations to diligence and thrift, quite in accordance with the excellent apostolic maxim, that if a man will not work he shall not eat; while there are forcible statements of the things which tend to poverty and of the courses which result in comfort and wealth.
II. But, making all allowance for the advantages of wealth, we have to notice some of its serious drawbacks. To begin with, it is always insecure. If wealth has been obtained in any other way than by honest labour it is useless, at any rate for the owner, and indeed worse than useless for him. There is wealth of another kind, wealth consisting in moral and spiritual qualities, compared with which wealth, as it is usually understood, is quite paltry and unsatisfying. A little wisdom, a little sound understanding, or a little wholesome knowledge, is more precious than wealth.
III. Positive counsels about money and its acquisition. We are cautioned against the fever of money-getting; we are counselled to exercise a generous liberality in the disposal of such things as are ours. Happy would that society be in which all men were aiming, not at riches, but merely at a modest competency, dreading the one extreme as much as the other. (R. F. Horton, D.D.)
The worthlessness of a wicked mans wealth, the value of a righteous mans character
I. The worthlessness of a wicked mans wealth. It will profit nothing. The wicked man gets treasures here, and often, indeed, the more wicked a man is the more he succeeds. The fool of the gospel became rich. But of what real profit is wealth to the wicked? It feeds and clothes him well as an animal. It may give him gorgeous surroundings.
1. It profits him nothing in the way of making him truly happy. It cannot harmonise those elements of his nature which sin has brought into conflict; it cannot remove the sense of fault from his conscience; it cannot fill him with a bright hope for the future.
2. It profits him nothing in the way of obtaining the true love of his fellow-men. Men take off their hats to the wealthy, but there is no genuine reverence and love where there is not the recognition of goodness.
3. It profits him nothing in the dying hour or in the future world. He leaves it all behind. Money was the curse of Judas.
II. The value of a righteous mans character. The righteous shall be delivered from death, from that which is the very essence in the evil of physical death--the sting of sin; and entirely from spiritual death. The soul of the righteous shall never famish. On the contrary, it shall increase in vigour for ever. There is no want to them that fear Him. (Homilist.)
What money cannot do
A millionaire who had been born a poor boy, and whose money had become his idol, was showing his house and grounds to a Quaker. The genial Friend praised them and said it was all wonderfully beautiful. The almighty dollar has done it all, said the millionaire. What cannot money do? The Quaker looked sadly at him. He said, Thy question reminds me of the people in the desert. They bowed clown to the golden calf and said it was that which brought them out of Egypt. As it turned out it hindered them and kept them out of the promised land. It would be an awful thing if thy gold kept thee out of heaven. You say, What cannot money do? It cannot deliver thy soul.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from…
CHAPTER 11
WEALTH
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"Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death." Pro_10:2
"Oerweening statesmen have full long relied
On fleets and armies and external wealth;
But from within proceeds a Nations health."
-Wordsworth
NO moral system is complete which does not treat with clearness and force the subject of wealth. The material possessions of an individual or of a nation are in a certain sense the prerequisites of all moral life; for until the human being has food to eat he cannot be virtuous, he cannot even live; until he has clothing he cannot be civilized; and unless he has a moderate assurance of necessaries, and a certain margin of leisure secured from the toil of life, he cannot live well, and there can be no moral development in the full sense of that term. And so with a nation: it must have a sufficient command of the means of subsistence to maintain a considerable number of people who are not engaged in productive labor, before it can make much advance in the noblest qualities of national life, progress in the arts, extension of knowledge, and spiritual cultivation. The production of wealth, therefore, if not strictly speaking a moral question itself, presses closely upon all other moral questions. Wisdom must have something to say about it, because, without it, Wisdom, in a material world like ours, could not exist.
Wisdom will be called upon to direct the energies which produce wealth, and to determine the feelings with which we are to regard the wealth which is produced.
Moral problems weightier still begin to emerge when the question of Distribution presents itself. Moral considerations lie at the root of this question; and Political Economy, so far as it attempts to deal with it apart from moral considerations, must always be merely, a speculative, and not a practical or a fruitful science.
If Production is in a sense the presupposition of all moral and spiritual life, no less certainly correct moral conceptions-may we not even say true spiritual conditions?-are the indispensable means of determining Distribution. For a society in which every individual is striving with all his strength or cunning to procure for himself the largest possible share of the common stock, in which therefore the material possessions gravitate into the hands of the strong and the unscrupulous, while the weak and the honorable are left destitute-such a society, if it ever came into existence, would be a demoralized society. Such a demoralization is always probable when the means of production have been rapidly and greatly improved, and when the fever of getting has overpowered the sense of righteousness and all the kindlier human feelings. Such a demoralization is to be averted by securing attention to the abiding moral principles which must govern mens action in the matter of wealth, and by enforcing these principles with such vividness of illustration and such cogency of sanction that they shall be generally accepted and practiced.
In our own day this question of the distribution of wealth stands in the front rank of practical questions. Religious teachers must face it, or else they must forfeit their claim to be the guides and instructors of their generation.
Socialists are grappling with this question not altogether in a religious spirit: they have stepped into a gap which Christians have left empty; they have recognized a great spiritual issue when Christians have seen nothing but a material problem of pounds, shillings, and pence, of supply and demand, of labor and capital. Where Socialism adopts the program of Revolution, Wisdom cannot give in her adhesion; she knows too well that suffering, impatience, and despair are unsafe, although very pathetic, counselors: she knows too well that social upheaval does not produce social reconstruction, but a weary entail of fresh upheavals; she has learnt, too, that society is organic, and cannot, like Pelops in the myth, win rejuvenescence by being cut up and cast into the cauldron, but can advance only by a quiet and continuous growth, in which each stage comes naturally and harmoniously out of the stage which preceded. But all Socialism is not revolutionary. And Wisdom cannot withhold her sympathy and her aid where Socialism takes the form of stating, and expounding, and enforcing truer conceptions concerning the distribution of wealth. It is by vigorous and earnest grappling with the moral problem that the way of advance is prepared; every sound lesson therefore in the right way of regarding wealth, and in the use of wealth, is a step in the direction of that social renovation which all earnest men at present desire.
The book of Proverbs presents some very clear and decisive teaching on this question, and it is our task now to view this teaching, scattered and disconnected though it be, as a whole.
I. The first thing to be noted in the book is its frank and full recognition that Wealth has its advantages, and Poverty has its disadvantages. There is no quixotic attempt to overlook, as many moral and spiritual systems do, the perfectly obvious facts of life. The extravagance and exaggeration which led St. Francis to choose Poverty as his bride find no more sanction in this Ancient Wisdom than in the sound teaching of our Lord and His Apostles. The rich mans wealth is his strong city, {Pro_10:15, Pro_18:11} we are told, and as a high wall in his own imagination, while the destruction of the poor is their poverty. The rich man can ransom himself from death if by chance he has fallen into difficulties, though this benefit is to Some extent counterbalanced by the reflection that the poor escape the threats of such dangers, as no bandit would care to attack a man with an empty purse and a threadbare cloak. {Pro_13:8} The rich man gains many advantages through his power of making gifts; it brings him before great men, {Pro_18:16} "it procures him universal friendship, such as it is, {Pro_19:6, Pro_14:20} it enables him to pacify the anger of an adversary, {Pro_21:14} for indeed a gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it, whithersoever it turneth it prospereth. Not only does wealth make many friends, "it also secures positions of influence and authority, over those who are poorer, enabling a man to sit in Parliament or to gain the governorship of a colony. {Pro_22:17} It gives even the somewhat questionable advantage of being able to treat others with brusqueness and hauteur.
On the other hand, the poor man has to use entreaties. {Pro_18:23} His poverty separates him from his neighbors, and even incurs his neighbors hatred. {Pro_14:20, Pro_19:4} Nay, worse than this, his friends go far from him, his very brethren hate him, if he calls after them they quickly get out of his reach; while the necessity of borrowing from wealthier men keeps him in a position of continual bondage. {Pro_22:7} Indeed, nothing can compensate for being without the necessaries of life: "Better is he that is lightly esteemed, and is his own servant, than he that honoreth himself, and lacketh bread."
Since then Poverty is a legitimate subject of dread, there are urgent exhortations to diligence and thrift, quite in accordance with the excellent apostolic maxim that if a man will not work he shall not eat; while there are forcible statements of the things which tend to poverty, and of the courses which result in comfort and wealth. Thus it is pointed out how slack and listless labor leads to poverty, while industry leads to wealth. {Pro_10:4} We are reminded that the obstinate refusal to be corrected is a fruitful source of poverty, {Pro_13:18} while the humble and pious mind is rewarded with riches as well as with honor and life. {Pro_22:4} In the house of the wise man are found treasures as well as all needful supplies. {Pro_21:20} Drunkenness and gluttony lead to poverty, and drowsiness clothes a man with rags. {Pro_23:21} And there is a beautiful injunction to engage in an agricultural life, which is the only perennial source of wealth, the only secure foundation of a peoples prosperity. As if we were back in patriarchal times, we are thus admonished in the later proverbs of Solomon:- {Pro_27:23-27}
"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, And look well to thy herds; For riches are not forever; And doth the crown endure unto all generations? The hay is carried, and the tender grass showeth itself, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in. The lambs are for thy clothing, And the goats are the price of the field: And there will be goats milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household; And maintenance for thy maidens."
II. But now, making all allowance for the advantages of wealth, we have to notice some of its serious drawbacks. To begin with, it is always insecure. If a man places any dependence upon it, it will fail him; only in his imagination is it a sure defense. {Pro_11:28} "Wilt thou set thine eyes upon it? it is gone. For riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flieth toward heaven." {Pro_23:5 margin}
But further if the wealth has been obtained in any other way than by honest labor it is useless, at any rate for the owner, and indeed worse than useless for him.
As the text says, treasures of wickedness profit nothing. In the revenues of the wicked is trouble. Got in light and fallacious ways, the money dwindles; only when gathered by labor does it really increase. {Pro_13:11} When it is obtained by falsehood-by the tricks and misrepresentations of trade, for example-it may be likened to a vapor driven to and fro-nay, rather to a mephitic vapor, a deadly exhalation, the snares of death. Worst of all is it to obtain wealth by oppression of the poor; one who does so shall as surely come to want as he who gives money to those who do not need it. {Pro_22:16} In fact, our book contains the striking thought that ill-earned wealth is never gathered for the benefit of the possessor, but only for the benefit of the righteous, and must be useless until it gets into hands which will use it benevolently. {Pro_13:22, Pro_28:8}
And while there are these serious drawbacks to material possessions, we are further called upon to notice that there is wealth of another kind, wealth consisting in moral or spiritual qualities, compared with which wealth, as it is usually understood, is quite paltry and unsatisfying. When the intrinsic defects of silver and gold have been frankly stated, this earthly treasure is set, as a whole, in comparison with another kind of treasure, and is observed to become pale and dim. Thus "riches profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivereth from death." {Pro_11:4} Indeed it is only the blessing of the Lord which brings riches without drawbacks. {Pro_10:22} In the house of the righteous is much treasure. {Pro_15:6} Better is a little with righteousness than great treasure without right. {Pro_16:8} In the light of these moral considerations the relative positions of the rich and the poor are reversed; it is better to be an honest poor man than a perverse rich man; the little grain of integrity in the heart and life outweighs all the balance at the bank.
A little wisdom, a little sound understanding, or a little wholesome knowledge is more precious than wealth. How much better is it to get wisdom than gold. Yea, to get understanding is rather to be chosen than silver. {Pro_16:16} There may be gold and abundance of rubies, but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel. {Pro_20:15}
Nay, there are some things apparently very filling which will so depreciate material wealth that if a choice is to be made it is well to let the wealth go and to purchase immunity from these trivial troubles. Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. {Pro_15:16-17} Better is a dry morsel and quietness therewith than a house full of feasting with strife. {Pro_17:1} Yes, the good will and affectionate regard of our fellow-men are on the whole far more valuable than a large revenue. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold. Indeed, when the relations of the rich and the poor are brought up into Gods presence our whole conception of the matter is liable to change; we observe the rich and the poor meet together, and the Lord the maker of them all; {Pro_22:2} we observe that any slur cast on the poor or any oppression of them is practically a reproach against the Maker, {Pro_14:31, Pro_17:5} whilst any act of pity or tenderness to the needy is in effect a service rendered to God; and more and more we get to feel that notwithstanding the rich mans good opinion of himself he presents rather a sorry spectacle in the presence of the wise, even though the wise may be exceedingly poor.
Taking into account therefore the intrinsic insecurity of wealth, and the terrible flaws in the title which may result from questionable ways of obtaining it, and estimating at a right value the other things which are not usually reckoned as wealth, -goodness, piety, wisdom, knowledge, and love, -we can quite understand that enlightened men might be too busy in life to make money, too occupied with grave purposes and engrossed with noble objects of pursuit to admit the perturbations of mammon into their souls. Making all allowance for the unquestionable advantages of being rich, and the serious inconveniences of being poor, we may yet see reasons for not greatly desiring wealth, nor greatly dreading poverty.
III. But now we come to the positive counsels which our Teacher would give on the strength of these considerations about money and its acquisition. And first of all we are solemnly cautioned against the fever of money-getting, the passion to get rich, a passion which has the most demoralizing effect on its victims, and is indeed an indication of a more or less perverted character. The good man cannot be possessed by it, and if he could he would soon become bad.
These grave warnings of Wisdom are specially needed at the present time in England and America, when the undisguised and the unrestrained pursuit of riches has become more and more recognized as the legitimate end of life, so that few people feel any shame in admitting that this is their aim; and the clear unimpassioned statements of the result, which always follows on the unhallowed passion, receive daily confirmation from the occasional revelations of our domestic, our commercial, and our criminal life. He that is greedy of gain, we are told, troubleth his own house. {Pro_15:27} An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning, but the end thereof shall not be blessed. {Pro_20:21} A faithful man shall abound with blessings, but he that maketh haste to be rich (and consequently cannot by any possibility be faithful) shall not be unpunished. {Pro_28:20} He that hath an evil eye hasteth after riches, and knoweth not that want shall come upon him. {Pro_28:22} "Weary not thyself," therefore, it is said, "to be rich"; which, though it may be the dictate of thine own wisdom, {Pro_23:4} is really unmixed folly, burdened with a load of calamity for the unfortunate seeker, for his house, and for all those who are in any way dependent upon him.
Again, while we are cautioned not to aim constantly at the increase of our possessions, we are counseled to exercise a generous liberality in the disposal of such things as are ours. Curiously enough, niggardliness in giving is associated with slothfulness in labor, while it is implied that the wish to help others is a constant motive for due diligence in the business of life. "There is that coveteth greedily all the day long, but the righteous giveth and withholdeth not." {Pro_21:26} The law of nature, -the law of life, -is to give out and not merely to receive, and in fulfilling that law we receive unexpected blessings: "There is that scattereth and increaseth yet more, and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth only to want. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself." {Pro_11:24-25} "He that giveth to the poor shall not lack; but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse." {Pro_28:27} "He that hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and his good deed will He pay him again." {Pro_19:17} "He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor." {Pro_22:9}
Such a wholesome shunning of the thirst for wealth, and such a generous spirit in aiding others, naturally suggest to the wise man a daily prayer, a request that he may avoid the dangerous extremes, and walk in the happy mean of worldly possessions: "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me; lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal, and use profanely the name of my God." {Pro_30:8-9} It is a request not easy to make with perfect sincerity; there are not many who, like Emersons grandfather, venture to pray that neither they nor their descendants may ever be rich; while there have been not a few who in a "show of wisdom in will-worship and humility and severity to the body" have sought for an unnecessary and an unwholesome poverty. But it is a wise request; it finds an echo in the prayer which our Lord taught His disciples, and constantly appears inwoven in the apostolic teaching. And if the individual is to desire such things for himself, he must naturally desire that such may be the lot of his fellow-creatures, and he must make it the aim of his efforts after social reform to indefinitely increase the number of those who occupy this happy middle position, and have neither riches nor poverty.
And now we have followed the lines of teaching contained in this book on the subject of wealth, and it is impossible to miss the wisdom, the moderation, the inspiration of such counsels. We cannot fail to see that if these principles were recognized universally, and very generally practiced; if they were ingrained in the constitution of our children, so as to become the instinctive motives and guides of action; the serious social troubles which arise from the unsatisfactory distribution of wealth would rapidly disappear. Happy would that society be in which all men were aiming, not at riches, but merely at a modest competency, dreading the one extreme as much as the other; in which the production of wealth was constantly moderated and controlled by the conviction that wealth gotten by vanity is as the snares of death; in which all who had become the owners of wealth were ready to give and glad to distribute, counting a wise benevolence, which in giving to the needy really lends to the Lord, the best investment in the world.
If these neglected principles are hitherto very faintly recognized, we must recollect that they have never been seriously preached. Although they were theoretically taught, and practically lived out, in the words and the life of Jesus Christ, they have never been fully incorporated into Christianity. The mediaeval Church fell into the perilous doctrines of the Ebionites, and glorified poverty in theory while in practice it became an engine of unparalleled rapacity. Protestantism has generally been too much occupied with the great principle of Justification by Faith to pay much attention to such a writing as the Epistle of St. James, which Luther described as "a letter of straw"; and thus, while we all believe that we are saved by faith in Christ Jesus, it seldom occurs to us that such a faith must include the most exact and literal obedience to His teachings. Christian men unblushingly serve Mammon, and yet hope that they are serving God too, because they believe on Him whom God sent-though He whom God sent expressly declared that the two services could not be combined. Christian men make it the effort of a lifetime to become rich, although Christ declared that it was easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven; and when they hear that Christ required an intending follower to sell all that he had and give to the poor, they explain it away, and maintain that He does not require such a sacrifice from them, but simply asks them to believe in the Atonement.
In this way Christians have made their religion incredible, and even ridiculous, to many of the most earnest spirits of our time. When Christ is made unto them Wisdom as well as Redemption, they will see that the principles of Wisdom which concern wealth are obligatory upon them, just because they profess to believe in Christ.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_10:2
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_10:2
THE COMPARATIVE VALUE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND RICHES
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I. Wealth when lawfully gotten is profitless for many very important things. Death is mentioned in the text, it has no power over that in any form.
1. Wealth will not deliver from the daily dying, which is the lot of all men. It has been said that as soon as we are born we begin to die, and we know that it is certain that as soon as men have attained their prime, their outward man perisheth day by day (2Co_4:16). The richest man cannot purchase exemption from this law with all his wealth.
2. Neither can wealth prevent the death which we call premature. Men of vast fortunes are often brought down to an early grave; the seeds of disease within them hasten the operation of the law of death which has passed upon the whole human race. A galloping consumption cannot be held in check even with golden reins.
3. Treasures of wealth will not insure a man against sudden death. The morning finds the rich man looking over his vast acres, or counting up his dividends, and saying, “I have much good laid up for many years;” and before the sun sets another has entered into possession of all his riches.
4. Lawfully-gotten wealth will not only not deliver from premature death, but may sometimes bring it on. Wealth is very apt to produce very mistaken views in a man’s mind. When he has amassed a large portion of this world’s goods, and is in a condition of moral bankruptcy, he is very prone to imagine that he is secure in the enjoyment of all that he has acquired, and that nothing can come between his riches and himself. Then God may read him a lesson by saying. “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee” (Luk_12:20). Had the man in the parable been a poor man he would not have died so soon; his wealth not only could not deliver him from death, but it hastened his end. And many men walking in his footsteps have been brought to their graves in a similar manner and for a similar reason even when the wealth has been honestly gained. We have no reason to think that the rich fool amassed his riches dishonestly; his sin consisted, not in his having riches, but in his trusting in them.
II. If treasure gotten by honest toil is profitless to deliver from death and other evils, how much less will the “treasures of wickedness,” i.e., ill-gotten wealth, be profitable to work such a deliverance. The means used to obtain it were opposed to the law of righteousness, which does rule in the universe notwithstanding all the apparent exceptions, and it is as foolish for a man to expect to derive real profit from it as it would be for a man to expect to construct a pyramid which would stand upon its apex. The latter would not be more contrary to natural law than the former is to spiritual law. And treasures of wickedness are not simply profitless, they bring the man who has them under the curse of the Righteous Ruler of the world. They not only bring no profit but they bring great loss. No man can make an unlawful bargain or commit any other dishonest act to gain money without bringing a blight upon his spiritual nature, without entailing upon himself moral death. And if the acquirement of “the treasures of wickedness” must subject a man to this greatest calamity, how impossible it is that they can be profitable to deliver from any lesser evil.
III. Righteousness, on the other hand—
1. Has often delivered from bodily death. All the extraordinary deliverances from death recorded in the Bible took place in connection with righteousness, thereby showing us that righteousness is stronger than death. Enoch did not see death because he was a righteous man. Noah and his family were exempted from the premature death which overtook the rest of the world for the same reason. All the resurrections from the dead were wrought either through the instrumentality of righteous men or by the immediate action of the righteous Son of God.
2. Does deliver always from the curse of bodily death. Death is the penalty of sin; it is therefore a curse. We read that “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law” (1Co_15:56). But “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Gal_3:13). We are justified by His righteousness if we appropriate it by faith (Rom_3:21-26), and thus obtain the “victory” over death “through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Co_15:57). Here a relative righteousness delivers from the condemnation of death. But this is the foundation of a personal and actual righteousness of character which delivers from spiritual death now, and will one day deliver the body from the grave. “If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of Him that raised up Christ from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His spirit that dwelleth in you” (Rom_8:10-11). Here Paul argues from the greater spiritual deliverance to the lesser bodily one, and shows how, in all senses, “righteousness delivers from death.”
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The proverb means the treasures of an unsaved man.… The highest opulence of the dead sinner is of no possible profit: but the righteousness of the saved sinner, even without any opulence at all, is a fortune; for, like the “charm of the lamp,” it makes for him everlasting blessedness.—Miller.
A man may seem to profit by them, and to come up wonderfully for a time. But what was the profit of Naboth’s vineyard to Ahab, when in his ivory palace he was withering under the curse of God? (1Ki_21:4-24 with 1Ki_22:39). What was the profit of the thirty pieces of silver to Judas? Instead of delivering from death, their intolerable sting plunged him into death eternal (Mat_27:5).—Bridges.
Righteousness delivereth from death, to wit, in the time of vengeance; for uprightness is that mark of election and life which the Lord, spying in any when He plagueth the wicked for their transgressions, spareth them, and preserveth them from destruction. Thus, although the righteousness of the just person deserveth nothing at God’s hands, neither is any cause of man’s preservation or salvation, yet it serveth as a sovereign treacle to preserve the evil-doer from that deadly plague, which is sent from the Lord to destroy the disobedient, and as a letter of passport to safe-conduct the faithful person in perilous times, and to protect him from all dangers.—Muffet.
Observe—
I. The excellency of these comforts in themselves. They are treasures—that is, heaps of outward good things. The word includeth a multitude, for one or two will not make a treasure; and a multitude of precious things, for a heap of sand, or coals, or dust, is not a treasure: but of silver or gold, or some excellent earthly things. It is here in the plural, treasures, noting the greatest confluence of worldly comforts.
II. The impiety of the owners. They are treasures of wickedness. The purchaser got them by sinful practices. They were brought into his house slily at some back door. He was both the receiver and the thief. Treasures of wickedness, because gotten by wicked ways, and employed to wicked ends. There is an English proverb which too many Englishmen have made good, “That which is got over the devil’s back is usually spent under the devil’s belly. When sin is the parent that begets riches it many times hath this recompense, that they are wholly at its service and command.
III. The vanity of those treasures: they profit nothing. They are unable to cheer the mind, to cure the diseases of the body, much less to heal the wounds of the soul, or to bribe the flames of hell. Alas! they are so far from profiting, that they are infinitely prejudicial. Such powder-masters are blown up with their own ware. These loads sink the bearer into the unquenchable lake. Aristotle tells us of the sea-mew, or sea-eagle, that she will often seize on her prey, though it be more than she can bear, and falleth down headlong with it into the deep, and so perisheth. This fowl is a fit emblem of the unrighteous person, for he graspeth those heavy possessions which press him down into the pit of perdition. “They that will be rich (that resolve on it, whether God will or no, and by any means, whether right or wrong), fall into temptations, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition” (1Ti_6:9). Men that scrape an estate together unjustly are frequently said in the Word of God to get it in haste, because such will not stay God’s time, nor wait in His way till He send them wealth, but must have it presently, and care not though it be unrighteously. Fair and softly goes far. None thrive so well as those that stay God’s leisure, and expect wealth in His way.…
1. Be righteous in thy works or actions. Deal with men as one that in all hath to do with God. If thou art a Christian, thou art a law to thyself; thou hast not only a law without thee (the Word of God), but a law within thee, and so darest not transgress. Thy double hedge may well prevent thy wandering.… Be righteous in buying.… Take heed lest thou layest out thy money to purchase endless misery. Some have bought places to bury their bodies in, but more have bought those commodities which have swallowed up their souls. Injustice in buying is a canker which will eat up and waste the most durable wares. In buying, do not work either upon the ignorance or the poverty of the seller. Be righteous in selling. Be careful, while thou sellest thy wares to men, that thou dost not sell thy soul to Satan. Be righteous in the substance of what thou sellest, and that in regard of its quality and quantity. God can see the rottenness of thy stuffs, and heart too, under thy false glosses, and for all thy false lights. Be righteous in regard to the quantity. They wrong themselves most who wrong others of their right. The jealous God is very punctual in this particular (Lev_19:35-36).
2. Be righteous in thy words and expressions, as well as in thy works. The Christian’s tongue should be his heart’s interpreter, and reveal its mind and meaning; and the Christian’s hand should justify his tongue, by turning his words into deeds. The burgess of the new Jerusalem is known by this livery: “He walketh uprightly, worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart; he sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not” (Psa_15:2; Psa_15:4). His speech is the natural and genuine offspring of his heart; there is a great resemblance between the child and the parent. There is a symmetry between his hand and his tongue; he is slow to promise, not hasty to enter into bonds, but being once engaged, he will be sure to perform.—Swinnock.
Wickedness is in itself a treasure laid up against the day of wrath; and as that profiteth nothing, so neither do the treasures of wickedness. For as he that setteth himself to any employment, perhaps may lose one way and get another, but if, in the general upshot and confusion, he finds his estate to be bettered, then is his employment said to be profitable; so in the treasures of wickedness, there may be gain of wealth, honour, pleasure, and loss of credit, quiet, comfort, but in the conclusion the loss will be most grievous, and therefore profitable they cannot be.—Jermin.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain v. 2. Treasures of wickedness, such as have been…
v. 2. Treasures of wickedness, such as have been gained by any form of wickedness, profit nothing, they cannot bring lasting happiness nor avert a sudden and unhappy death; but righteousness, righteous living, merciful love and charity, delivereth from death, since it shows the presence of faith in the heart.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 10:2 Tainted wealth . . . right living: The…
10:2 Tainted wealth . . . right living: The book of Proverbs promotes good behavior over having money (see also 11:18; 13:11, 22).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.