Proverbs chapter 17

vs 1

What a perfect Proverb to open the Christmas season. I can inform the world that I bought pretty much exactly the right amount of food to have Christmas day, and then a smaller boxing day. No ham sitting in the fridge for weeks here!

vs 2

There is more to family than blood. A family is like a country - you can betray it, and you can be welcomed into it. Even if it isn't formalised, it's still true.

vs 3

God weighs the hearts of us all. That's the thing he does.

vs 4

Isn't that novel? The idea that the wicked and liars have deceitful lips is a truism. But that they listen to deceit, and are fooled? That's an interesting proposition. Perhaps the liar is more accustomed to lies, and so listens to them.

vs 5

That this proverb even needs to exist at all is a sad testament to humanity.

vs 6

Two things here. Firstly, I think it's just saying that it's great to be around when your kids have kids of their own - seeing your family reach yet another generation is a big blessing. Secondly, as we all know, kids love their parents. Your parents are the people you're most likely to look up to, as the figures of authority and provision for so much of your life. So that's not very surprising either.

One think you realise when reading lots of proverbs is that so many follow a normal order, and only some say something that undermines typical culture. It's the ones that reinforce that show us that this is in fact a wise thing - kids admiring their parents is wisdom, not just a fluke.

vs 7

I love this idea - the old trading places malarkey. It makes so much sense that a fool shouldn't speak like a wise person. But we expect kings to speak like fools.

vs 8

That's an interesting observation. When we do things like give bribes, we just assume that they will make everything go smoothly. But this is simply not so. How many stories have we seen where bribes just complicate things!

vs 9

Blergh. I don't like it, but it's true. Speaking about the wrong someone else has done is almost always bad for relationships.