Proverbs 11:22 Commentary and Bible Study

The image behind the proverb is very striking. Very unusually, here is a pig that has had a beautiful gold ring placed in its snout – the ring could not be placed in a more inappropriate place. The pig is utterly indifferent to the great value of the ring and continues to behave according to its nature and to shove its snout into the filth, mud, rotting vegetables and anything else that it fancies, regardless of the ring in its nose. Its behaviour has not been altered one iota by the presence of the ring, for its attention is fixed on filling of its belly, and it is oblivious to such things as objects of beauty. As a result the gold ring, which is a thing of quality and deserves to be treated with care and honour, is pushed into all the filth which the undiscerning animal likes to feed on, and the ring might as well be something of no value at all. This powerful image is compared to a beautiful woman who lacks integrity in the way she conducts herself. As the pig is ignorant of the value of the gold ring in its snout, so she is ignorant of the value of her beauty and does not handle it appropriately. Scripture acknowledges that beauty is a gift from God and is not to be despised, but it must be treated as the servant of righteousness and not of sin. Instead she uses it for degrading purposes as if it was something worthless, and makes it the instrument of all her lusts. It becomes a tool for obtaining power, influence, riches, and the gratification of every lust. It is pushed into unclean places without reserve, and every attention is welcomed even though it is obvious that there is an unclean desire behind it on the part of her admirers. She ought to preserve her beauty for noble purposes, and seek the guidance of God, but she fails to appreciate its real value. Solomon reminds us that there is much more to a person than what you can see on the outside. Physical beauty ought to be accompanied by modesty, meekness, and a certain reserve and quiet spirit which better adorn the godly woman. This, however, is only the illustration, but the application does not stop there. It is very sad to see a woman, or a young man come to that, of great and marvellous appearance, fine physique and all the rest of it, with no morals – good on the outside but rotten on the inside. But this is a picture of something else. We may prostitute all our natural gifts to the service of sin. All of God’s gifts ought to be used in his service and not cheapened in the service of unrighteousness. The proverb is a powerful example of the ability of sin to destroy even the most precious and highly valued natural gifts.