One who is greedy stirs up strife; but one who trusts in Yahweh will prosper.
Parallel Translations
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One who is greedy stirs up strife; but one who trusts in Yahweh will prosper.
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He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.
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He that is of a greedy spirit stirreth up strife; but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be abundantly gratified.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Proverbs 28:25 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 11:25 The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself.
- 1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
- Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all wrongs.
- Proverbs 13:4 The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.
- Proverbs 13:10 Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is with people who take advice.
- Psalms 84:12 Yahweh of Armies, blessed is the man who trusts in you.
- Proverbs 15:18 A wrathful man stirs up contention, but one who is slow to anger appeases strife.
- Proverbs 21:24 The proud and arrogant man—“Scoffer” is his name— he works in the arrogance of pride.
- Proverbs 22:10 Drive out the mocker, and strife will go out; yes, quarrels and insults will stop.
- Proverbs 29:22 An angry man stirs up strife, and a wrathful man abounds in sin.
- Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man proves to be a snare, but whoever puts his trust in Yahweh is kept safe.
- Isaiah 58:11 and Yahweh will guide you continually, satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong. You will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters don’t fail.
- Jeremiah 17:7-8 “Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, and whose confidence is in Yahweh. For he will be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green, and will not be concerned in the year of drought. It won’t cease from yielding fruit.
- Proverbs 15:30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart. Good news gives health to the bones.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (19 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Shall have all things in abundance.
Shall have all things in abundance.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 28:25 He that is of a proud heart…
Pro 28:25 He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.
Ver. 25. He that is of a proud heart.] Latus animo. He that through pride and ambition cannot keep within bounds of his calling or condition, but thinks great thoughts of himself, and therefore seeks great things for himself, this man, if crossed, is easily kindled, and shall be made lean; God will tame him, and take him a link lower, as we say. {Isa 2:11-13} {Pro 13:10} {See Trapp on "Pro 13:10"} This largeness of heart is but as the bigness of a blown bladder, &c.
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But he that putteth his trust in the Lord, shall be fat.] He shall laugh and be fat, as the saying is; he shall live at a great deal of heart’s ease, and others shall live quietly by him. That which would break a proud man’s heart will not break a humble man’s sleep. He is content with his present condition, be it better or worse, hath a self-sufficiency, {1Ti 6:6} studies to be quiet, seeks peace and ensues it, depends upon God for direction and success in all businesses, and what should all this man but that he may grow fat? The Irish would ask him, if they knew his wealth, what he meant to die?
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 He that is of a proud heart, whose property…
He that is of a proud heart, whose property it is to overvalue himself, and to trust to himself and his own wit, or wealth, or strength, stirreth up strife, because he makes it his great business to advance and please himself, and hateth and opposeth all that stand in his way, and despiseth other men, and is very jealous of his honour, and impatient of the least slighting, or affront, or injury, and indulgeth his own passions; and therefore shall not be fat, but lean and miserable, as is implied from the opposite clause.
That putteth his trust in the Lord; which is mentioned as a plain and certain evidence of a humble man, who is mean and vile in his own eyes, and therefore trusts not to himself, but to God only, making God’s will, and not his own will, and passion, and interest, the rule of all his actions, and can easily deny himself, and yield to others, all which are excellent preventives of strife.
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Shall be made fat; shall live happily and comfortably, because he avoids that strife which make men’s lives miserable.
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 Note, 1. Those make themselves lean, and continually unquiet,…
Note, 1. Those make themselves lean, and continually unquiet, that are haughty and quarrelsome, for they are opposed to those that shall be made fat: He that is of a proud heart, that is conceited of himself and looks with a contempt upon all about him, that cannot bear either competition or contradiction, he stirs up strife, makes mischief, and creates disturbance to himself and every body else. 2. Those make themselves fat, and always easy, that live in a continual dependence upon God and his grace: He who puts his trust in the Lord, who, instead of struggling for himself, commits his cause to God, shall be made fat. He saves the money which others spend upon their pride and contentiousness; he enjoys himself, and has abundant satisfaction in his God; and thus his soul dwells at ease, and he is most likely to have plenty of outward good things. None live so easily, so pleasantly, as those who live by faith.
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 He that is of a proud heart stirreth up…
He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife,.... Or, of a "large heart" (c), or has an enlarged one; not with useful knowledge and understanding, as Solomon had; nor a heart enlarged with love and affection to the souls of men, as the Apostle Paul had; but either has a covetous one, who enlarges its desire as hell, and is never satisfied with what he has, and so is continually contending with his neighbours, engaging in lawsuits for their property, or unwilling to pay his lawful debts; or of a proud spirit, and despises all around him, and cannot bear opposition and contradiction; and is of a wrathful and revengeful spirit, and always at variance with his neighbours and quarrelling with them; see Pro 18:15;
but he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat; that trusts in the Lord, both for things temporal and spiritual; does not covet his neighbour's goods, nor disturbs his peace, nor injures his person or property to increase his own, but depends upon the Lord for a supply of necessary good things; such an one shall be fat and flourishing, both in his temporal and spiritual estate; all he does shall prosper; he shall want no good thing, Psa 84:11.
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(c) "latus animo", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version; "amplus animo suo": Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "latus anima", Mercerus, Cocceius.
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 Fat - Shall live happily and comfortably.
Fat - Shall live happily and comfortably.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 25. Shall be made fat.] Shall be prosperous.
Verse 25. Shall be made fat.] Shall be prosperous.
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 28:25. He that is of a proud heart…
Pro 28:25. He that is of a proud heart — High-minded, self-conceited, insolent, or ambitious; stirreth up strife — Because he is constantly endeavouring to advance and please himself, and hates and opposes all that stand in his way; and because he despises other men, is jealous of his own honour, and impatient of the least slight, affront, or injury; but he that putteth his trust in the Lord — Who is mean and vile in his own eyes, and therefore trusts not in himself, but in God only, making God’s will, and not his own, nor his passion, honour, or interest, the rule or end of his actions or pursuits, and who therefore can easily deny himself and yield to others, all which things are excellent means to prevent strife, and preserve and promote peace; shall be made fat — Shall live happily and comfortably, because he avoids that strife which makes men’s lives miserable.
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 Shall be made fat - He shall enjoy the…
Shall be made fat - He shall enjoy the two-fold blessing of abundance and tranquility (compare Pro 11:25).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain The contrast between the proud, and him that trusteth…
The contrast between the proud, and him that trusteth in the LORD, is very remarkable. It shews, that pride is the root of unbelief. The man, having cast off God, expects nothing, fears nothing, from him. He lives as if there was no God. His proud heart is large; not, like the wise man’s, in fullness of capacity (1Ki 4:29 ), but in ambitious grasp, and insatiable appetite.†1 Never is he content within his own bounds. In the world he would be a Haman (Est 3:1-2 ), in the church a Diotrephes — one "loving to have the pre-eminence." (3Jn 1:9 .) It is his nature to stir up strife. Every one that does not accord with his own opinion of himself, is supposed to be wanting in respect. Thus "by pride cometh contention." (Pro 13:10 .) And always will there be some thorn of mortified ambition (Est 5:11-13 ), or some fresh craving of unsatisfied desire (Ecc 5:10-11 ), wasting him, so that he "fadeth away in his ways." (Jas 1:11 .) What an empty shadow of fugitive happiness! So contrary to the fatness of him, that putteth his trust in the LORD. ays." (Jas 1:11 .) Wha shall be filled with good and solid things.’†2
Christian! Dread the occasions of stirring up strife — the canker of vital godliness. Keep near to thy Lord. It was when the disciples were talking together by the way, instead of walking in immediate communion with their Master, that strife was stirred up. (Mar 9:33-34 .) Does not this point to the grand preservative? Let it be thine element and thy joy. Here alone we cherish the life of faith. And truly — as Luther says — ’Faith is a precious thing.’ (Compare 2Pe 1:1 .) It rolls away all disquieting care. (1Pe 5:7 .) Our cause is with him, and we are at rest. (Psa 37:5-7 .) How much more, when the great burden is removed! ’Smite, Lord, smite; for thou hast pardoned.’ "Healed with the beams of the Sun of Righteousness, we shall be made fat, as the calves of the stall." (Mal 4:2 . Isa 58:11 .)
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Footnotes:
†1 Heb. Holden. Dathe.
†2 Diodati.
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain of a proud heart--literally, "puffed up of soul"--that is,…
of a proud heart--literally, "puffed up of soul"--that is, self-confident, and hence overbearing and litigious.
made fat--or, "prosperous" (Pro 11:25; Pro 16:20).
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 25. Of a proud heart — Inflated of soul,…
25. Of a proud heart — Inflated of soul, or wide of desire — of large cupidity. Zockler, “Proud spirited, arrogant.”
Shall be made fat — Shall have abundance. Comp. Pro_11:25; Pro_13:10. Miller reads: “A large appetite stirs up quarrels.”
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 25. of a proud heart] Lit. wide of soul.…
25. of a proud heart] Lit. wide of soul. This may mean having his soul enlarged, either by the elation of pride, as A.V. (comp. wide of heart, Pro_21:4; Psa_101:5), or by the desire of gain, He that is of a greedy spirit, R.V. The expression breadth or width of heart is used in a good sense, 1Ki_4:29 [Heb_5:9]. Comp. Psa_119:32; Isa_60:5; 2Co_6:11.
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 (25) He that is of a proud heart.—Who thinks…
(25) He that is of a proud heart.—Who thinks much of himself, “stirreth up strife” by his struggles with others for pre-eminence, and mostly gains only vexation and disappointment for his trouble; “but he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat,” being richly rewarded with that “peace which passeth all understanding.”
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 He that is of a proud heart stirreth up…
He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife; (Pro_15:18 Pro_29:22) literally, he that is of a wide soul. This may certainly denote pride (qui se jactat et dilatat, Vulgate), in which case the gnome says that one who thinks much of himself and despises others is the cause of quarrels and dissensions, occasioned by his struggles for pre-eminence and the ill feeling arising from his overbearing and supercilious conduct. Others, and rightly, take the wide soul to denote covetousness. (comp. Pro_23:2 Isa 14 Hab_2:5) It is the man of insatiable desire, the grasping avaricious man, who excites quarrels and mars all peace, and in the end destroys himself. "Whence come wars," asks St. James, (Jam_4:1) "and whence come fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your pleasures that war in your members? Ye lust, and have act; ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war." Septuagint, "An unbelieving apistov , Alexand. aplhstov , insatiate man judgeth rashly.
But he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat. (Pro_11:25 Pro_16:20 Pro_29:25) The character here opposed to the covetous is that of the patient. God-fearing man, who is contented to do his duty, and leave the result in the Lord"s hands. This man shall be made fat, shall be comforted and largely blessed, while he who puts his hope in material things shall fall into calamity. Septuagint, "He who trusts in the Lord will be in his care (en epimeleia estai ).
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In whom to trust.
They who look forward to human life from the sanguine standpoint of youth may see in it little to be afraid about; but they who have reached the latter end of it, and look back upon it, know how much there is in it to give ground for serious apprehension. It is they who are concerned for the young, and who are so devoutly solicitous that these should put their trust in that which will sustain them. There are three principles which are applicable.
I SELF-RELIANCE IS BETTER THAN LEANING UPON OTHERS. To be kept from "the evil which is in the world" by the authority, or the counsel, or the entreaty of others is quite unsatisfactory in any but the very young. These human props will be taken away, and where, then, is our virtue?
II MORAL PRINCIPLE IS BETTER THAN RIGHT DISPOSITION. It is well enough to inherit or to imbibe right inclinations, pure impulses, honourable feeling. But these may go down before the force of some one very strong temptation, or be (as indeed they often are) worn down and worn out by the droppings of hostile influences. Moral principle, well rooted in the soul, will stand the rough wind and still lift up its head to heaven.
III TO TRUST IN GOD IS INCOMPARABLY WISER THAN RESTING IN OURSELVES,
1. To trust in our own heart" is great folly. For, on the one hand, we do not know what we may have to encounter. Possibly our life may be comparatively free from evil, material and moral; but perhaps it may not be so. There may be before us trials of the utmost severity, for which the very greatest endurance will be required; or there may be temptations of the severest kind, which will assail us with tremendous and overwhelming force; or there may be demanded of us high duties, large services of even heroic order, only to be rendered by a noble self-abnegation; or there may await us splendid opportunities, to be unequal to which would be a lifelong regret, to avail ourselves of which would crown us with joy and honour. And, on the other hand, we do know that, associated even with moral principle, there is some measure of human weakness. Every man has his vulnerable point; and to every man"s strength of mind and character there is a limit which is only too easily reached. Who of us would dare to say that he, of himself, however fortified he may be even by sound convictions as well as excellent inclinations, is strong enough to withstand any storm that may beat against him, to swim any current into which he may be cast, to rise to any height that he may be called upon to climb?
2. To trust in God is the true wisdom. For
(1) God is able to make us stand. (Rom_14:4) He can make us to know "the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe." We can "do all things in Christ who strengtheneth us.
(2) He has promised to sustain and to enable us, if we do put our trust in him. (Psa_32:10 Psa_125:1 Isa_26:3 Isa_40:30, 31 2Ti_1:12) God has given us abundant reason to believe that, if we practically and devoutly trust in him, he will see us safely through every evil we may have to meet and master, and will guide us to his own home and glory. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_28:26, AND LAST CLAUSE OF Pro_28:25
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_28:26, AND LAST CLAUSE OF Pro_28:25
SELF-CONFIDENCE
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I. He that trusts in his own heart is a fool, because he refuses to profit by the experience of others. If a man who has made a perilous voyage declares at the end of it that he has found his compass utterly untrustworthy, we should count him a madman who would set out upon a similar expedition with the same faulty guide; and if he went down in mid-ocean to rise no more, we should certainly say that it was his own fault. To trust to a guide which another man had proved to be unworthy of confidence when so much was at stake, would be universally condemned as obstinate foolhardiness. Yet this is what men do in the voyage of life. The testimony of most men who, rejecting the guidance of a higher wisdom, have shaped their lives according to their own ideas and inclinations, has been at the end that they have trusted a guide that had misled them. Solomon himself steered a good deal of his life by this deceiving compasss, and at the end confessed that he had acted foolishly in so doing (Ecc_1:2). It may be that the words of our text were the expression of his own bitter experience on the subject, and that he is here counselling others to avoid the error into which he had fallen.
II. He is a wise man who seeks guidance from God because he trusts in One who has proved Himself worthy of confidence. He who has declared that the human heart “is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jer_17:9) has offered Himself as the object of man’s trust and as His infallible guide. Millions of the human family have assented to the truth of the Divine statement, and have testified to the blessedness of submission to Divine guidance, and have been manifestly delivered by their submission from the bondage of evil, and elevated into a region of moral purity and freedom to which other men are strangers. They are living proofs that He who exhorts men to trust in Him is not a deceiver, but can justify the demands He makes upon our confidence and submission. Human experience has set its seal to the inspired word:—“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit” (Jer_17:8). Surely, then, he is a wise man who makes the trial for himself.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The heart, indeed, has instrumentality to save us. We must trust everything to that. But it is the heart dwelt in by Christ. He that takes his heart and confides it to the Son of Man, receives for it an altered life, and will be able to trust that heart thus trusted to Christ as the instrument in the battle of deliverance.—Miller.
Though the mariner sees not the pole-star, yet the needle of his compass, which points to it, tells him which way he sails. Thus the heart that is touched with the loadstone of Divine love, trembling with godly fear, and yet still looking towards God with fixed believing, interprets the fear by the love in the fear, and tells the soul that its course is heavenward towards the haven of eternal rest.—Leighton.
Whoever trusts another for his guide must do it upon account of two qualifications to be found in him:—
1. That he is able to direct and lead him.
2. That he also faithfully will give the best directions.… There are two things which may make a trust foolish:—
1. The value of the thing which we commit to a trust.
2. The undue qualifications of the person to whose trust we commit it. In both respects the confidence reposed by men in their own hearts is exceeding foolish.
1. The honour of God is entrusted. So far as the manifestation of God’s honour depends upon the homage of His obedient creatures, so far is it at the mercy of our actions, which are at the command of the heart, as the motion of the wheels follows the disposition of the spring. God is never disobeyed but He is also dishonoured. II. Man trusts his heart with his happiness in this world, and this is two fold—spiritual and temporal. III. He entrusts his heart with the eternal concernment of his soul hereafter.… The heart of man will also be found to have eminently these two ill qualities utterly unfitted for such a trust. I. It is weak, and so cannot make good a trust. Its weakness is twofold.
1. In point of apprehension it cannot perceive and understand certainly what is good.
2. In point of election, it cannot choose and embrace it. II. The heart is deceitful, and so will not make good its trust.… The delusions of the heart may be reduced to three sorts.
1. Such as relate to the commission of sin.
2. Such as relate to the performance of duty.
3. Such as relate to a man’s conversion, or change of his spiritual estate.… The heart if it does not find sins small, has this notable faculty, that it can make them so … and in duty is willing to take up with the outside and superficies of things, and … it will persuade him that he is converted from a state of sin, when perhaps he is only converted from one sin to another; and that he has changed his heart when he has only changed his vice.—South.
On the subject of Pro_28:27, see on chap. Pro_11:24-26, page 234, and chap. Pro_14:31, page 389. The subject of Pro_28:28 has been treated in chap. Pro_11:10, page 206.
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.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain (See Scofield "Psa 2:12"), Also; Pro 29:25.
trust
(See Scofield "Psa 2:12"), Also; Pro 29:25.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 A greedy man
A greedy man
a person who selfishly wants more things, money or food than what he needs
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stirs up conflict
The action of the greedy man is spoken of as if he were stirring up or awakening conflict. AT: "causes conflict" (See: Metaphor)
One who trusts in his own heart
Depending on one's self is spoken of as trusting in one's own heart. AT: "The person who relies on himself" (See: Synecdoche)
whoever walks
"any person who walks"
walks in wisdom
Possible meanings are 1) this is an idiom that means to live wisely. AT: "lives wisely" or 2) this is an idiom that means to follow the teachings of wise people. AT: "follows wise teachings" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
trust
Yahweh
heart
fool
walk
wise
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 28:25 Those who are greedy fight to control circumstances…
28:25 Those who are greedy fight to control circumstances so as to gain riches. Trusting the Lord allows the wise to face life calmly and, ironically, to experience prosperity.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.