# Proverbs 22 📖: A Good Name Over Riches [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Proverbs Overview]] | [[Proverbs 21]] | [[Proverbs 23]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#🛤 Life Application]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) [[#Verse 01.]] A good name is to be chosen rather than great wealth, good favor more than silver or gold. [[#Verse 02.]] The rich and the poor are met together; the Lord is the Creator of them both. [[#Verse 03.]] A shrewd person saw danger and hid himself, but the naive passed on by and paid for it. [[#Verse 04.]] The reward for humility and fearing the Lord is riches and honor and life. [[#Verse 05.]] Thorns and snares are in the path of the perverse, but the one who guards himself keeps far from them. [[#Verse 06.]] Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. [[#Verse 07.]] The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. [[#Verse 08.]] The one who sows iniquity will reap trouble, and the rod of his fury will end. [[#Verse 09.]] A generous person will be blessed, for he has given some of his food to the poor. [[#Verse 10.]] Drive out the scorner and contention will leave; strife and insults will cease. [[#Verse 11.]] The one who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious—the king will be his friend. [[#Verse 12.]] The eyes of the Lord watched over a cause and subverted the words of the treacherous person. [[#Verse 13.]] The sluggard has said, “There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the middle of the streets!” [[#Verse 14.]] The mouth of an adulteress is like a deep pit; the one against whom the Lord is angry will fall into it. [[#Verse 15.]] Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him. [[#Verse 16.]] The one who oppresses the poor to increase his own gain and the one who gives to the rich—both end up only in poverty. #### Sayings of the Wise [[#Verse 17.]] Incline your ear and listen to the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my instruction. [[#Verse 18.]] For it is pleasing if you keep these sayings within you, and they are ready on your lips. [[#Verse 19.]] So that your confidence may be in the Lord, I hereby make them known to you today—even you. [[#Verse 20.]] Have I not written thirty sayings for you, sayings of counsel and knowledge, [[#Verse 21.]] to show you true and reliable words, so that you may give accurate answers to those who sent you? [[#Verse 22.]] Do not exploit a poor person because he is poor and do not crush the needy in court, [[#Verse 23.]] for the Lord will plead their case and will rob the life of those who are robbing them. [[#Verse 24.]] Do not make friends with an angry person, and do not associate with a wrathful person, [[#Verse 25.]] lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare. [[#Verse 26.]] Do not be one who strikes hands in pledge or who puts up security for debts. [[#Verse 27.]] If you do not have enough to pay, your bed will be taken right out from under you! [[#Verse 28.]] Do not move an ancient boundary stone that was put in place by your ancestors. [[#Verse 29.]] You have seen a person skilled in his work— he will take his position before kings; he will not take his position before obscure people. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts - Verse 6—“Train up a child in the way he should go”—is one of the most quoted parenting verses in Scripture. - This chapter marks the beginning of the “Sayings of the Wise” section, distinct from the earlier Solomon proverbs. - Proverbs 22:1 places great value on reputation—“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches.” - It emphasizes caring for the poor and warning against oppressing them (vv. 22–23). - Several verses deal with practical wisdom for living in society, such as avoiding anger-prone individuals (v. 24). 1. Proverbs 22:17 begins a new collection called "the words of the wise," which runs through 24:22. 2. Verse 20 refers to "thirty sayings," and scholars have long compared 22:17-24:22 to the Egyptian *Instruction of Amenemope*, a wisdom text arranged in thirty chapters. 3. The Hebrew verb for "train" in 22:6 is used elsewhere for dedicating a house or the temple (Deuteronomy 20:5; 1 Kings 8:63). 4. The phrase "in the way he should go" is literally "according to his way," which many see as training suited to the child. 5. Verse 2 says the rich and the poor have one thing in common: the Lord made them both. 6. The lazy person's excuse that "there is a lion outside" (22:13) shows up again in 26:13. 7. Moving an ancient boundary stone (22:28) was a way of stealing land, and the Law forbade it (Deuteronomy 19:14). 8. Verses 26-27 warn that someone who guarantees another's debt could lose even the bed he sleeps on. 9. A person skilled in his work will serve before kings rather than obscure people (22:29). 10. The long collection of Solomon's proverbs that began in 10:1 ends at 22:16. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary **Main Teaching**: Proverbs 22 teaches that a good name and reverence for the Lord are more valuable than wealth. It stresses wise parenting, ethical business, humility, and generosity as marks of a wise life. **How It Fits in Proverbs**: This chapter closes the main section of Solomon’s sayings (10–22) and transitions into a new collection. It emphasizes long-term consequences, especially in child-rearing and reputation, reinforcing the generational importance of wisdom. **Apologetic Insight**: Proverbs 22 presents a counter-cultural view that integrity and fear of the Lord outweigh riches. It affirms objective moral training in parenting and rejects the modern notion that character formation should be value-neutral. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the Redeemer who pleads the cause of the poor and afflicted (22:22-23). He became poor for our sake so that through His poverty we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9), and He gives us a good name that riches cannot buy. ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application - 📌 A good name is more valuable than great riches. - 📌 Train up children in the way they should go for lifelong direction. - 📌 The Lord is the protector of the vulnerable and just judge of oppressors. #### Today, I can apply this chapter by: - ✅ Choose integrity over popularity, even if it costs you something. - ✅ Avoid debt by living within your means and spending wisely. - ✅ Be intentional about training children in God’s ways through example and teaching. - ✅ Keep your promises and protect your reputation by being trustworthy. - ✅ Distance yourself from angry or hot-tempered people to protect your peace. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. A good name is more desirable than great riches (22:1). What choices this week protect or damage your reputation? 2. Verse 6 calls parents to train a child in the way he should go. What does faithful spiritual training look like in a home today? 3. The borrower is servant to the lender (22:7). How does debt affect our freedom to follow God generously? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 1: A good name and favor are worth more than silver, gold, and great wealth. - 📖 verse 6: Train a child in the way he should go, and the training will shape him for life. Early spiritual and moral training has long-term impact. - 📖 verses 22-23: Do not exploit the poor, because the Lord Himself will plead their case. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Isaiah 01#Verse 17.|Isaiah 1:17]] - Learn to do good, seek justice, and defend the oppressed. - 🔗 [[Amos 05#Verse 24.|Amos 5:24]] - Let justice roll down like waters. - 🔗 [[Luke 06#Verse 45.|Luke 6:45]] - The mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. - 🔗 [[Ephesians 06#Verse 04.|Ephesians 6:4]] - Raise children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. - 🔗 [[2 Corinthians 08#Verse 09.|2 Corinthians 8:9]] - Jesus became poor so we could become rich. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 🛤 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 📂 Internal Notes