Proverbs 12:10 Commentary and Bible Study

The word translated here 'beast' literally means he is dumb, and it is talking of any animal he may keep, whether it is a cow or a horse or a camel – his dumb beast. The point being made here is probably stronger if you bring the word dumb back into it because then you get this sense, a righteous man is sensitive to the needs of even his beast who cannot speak and express them. A Christian is somebody who should be so sensitive and interested and concerned and so feelingful, why even the beast that cannot speak and is not even human, he will know its discomforts, he will register, he will read them. Solomon often compares two extreme positions to make his point. On the one hand there is a believer for whom compassion is such a constant part of his regular behaviour towards others that he even expresses it towards dumb animals, but on the other hand there is an unconverted man who, even when he is acting in kindness ends up being cruel. How does this happen? All that we do comes from our hearts within. The verse is not saying that all animal lovers are good, but that mercy is a prevailing characteristic of the righteous. A tender-hearted man finds his compassion aroused easily, and living in a world of misery which is under God’s curse, he has much cause to feel this way. Although he values man far above the animals, he nevertheless recognises that God has given life at a basic level to the animals also and he wishes to spare suffering even in these. Animals are placed under man’s dominion and we have the right to take their lives whenever we need to, but we are not to exercise needless cruelty to them and may even form some low level bond of relationship with them. We may take their lives, but we cause the minimum of pain in doing so. We feed them and make them comfortable, and seeing nature’s cruelty in the wild we recoil from that and try to rise above this in handling our fellow creatures. Kindness is habitual for the believer and he shows kindness to his wife, his children, his friends and relatives, and his unconverted neighbours. But the wicked do not know how to show kindness properly. They show kindness in one area but at the same time they are cruel in another. They offer comfort in bereavement for instance, but the words they use are so badly chosen, have such little knowledge in them, that they only cause further pain. They probably do it in such a ham-fisted way that it hurts. The wicked are no good at dealing with one another; they are insensitive. They have to be asked for everything; everything has to stand out in black and white before they respond to it.