Proverbs 11:16 Commentary and Bible Study

There is actually a contrast here. You could substitute 'but' for the 'and', but it does not make a lot of difference. The proverb sets before us two pictures which represent the difference between the believer and the unbeliever in terms of what they regard as having true value. The first is a woman who is perhaps a widow and who by implication has been left on her estate with earthly riches like those in the second picture, but she does not treat these as the most important thing of all. She is a a kind soul, a generous soul and she is ready to bestow kindness upon people and give away her riches. She is pictured here as being without the capacity to earn greatly and yet here she is being generous and giving away. Is that not a recipe for disaster? Oh, no, says the proverb. You see, a gracious woman is not interested in increasing and being rich, she is interested in doing good. She is well-known in the neighbourhood. She has honour, she has respect, she has character. She is a person of value to the community. But there are others who are best characterised as strong men, this is their leading feature. The Hebrew is actually men of awe, men to be feared, translated here ‘strong men’. They use their strength to retain their riches, and clearly they care more about their riches than about honour, therefore they may be cruel, violent, and as the NKJ has it, ‘ruthless’. They have their minds set on this life and not on how God sees them, and therefore they wish to retain at any price what has value to them in this world. So the picture now is of somebody who is not gracious, not kind, not giving out, but a tough fellow and people don't like to trifle with him. Perhaps it could even imply that he is a bit of an extortioner. What is the good of that? implies the parable. What is the good of just having wealth? You may be comfortable, you may be proudly comfortable but the woman has honour, value, and she is flowing out, while he with his strength is just retaining his riches. These pictures represent the difference between the outlook of the believer and the unbeliever. The believer has his eye on eternity. He knows he cannot take his earthly riches with him to heaven and that God has something far greater waiting for him there, and he therefore desires above all to please the Lord and to develop Christian character. But the unbeliever’s heart is set on this life and considers the world to come as too uncertain to let it affect the way he lives now.