Proverbs 16:20 Commentary and Bible Study

The Hebrew noun can be translated as ‘word’, ‘matter’, or ‘thing’, and nearly all translations choose ‘word’, but the KJV following the interpretation of the Geneva Bible renders it ‘matter’. Taken as ‘word’ the teaching is about how we listen to the word of God. Do we listen as those who are affected by it? May it speak to me, not just as a textbook, but may I come as one who knows that they need to learn from God. The Bible is our lifeline and the situation is serious. We need to respond to its message that our only hope is the Mediator revealed in its pages and his work for us. To benefit we must be converted through repentance and faith, and we will have the status of those who belong to Christ’s kingdom and prosperity in the soul. Have we gained those things?But if we translate ‘He that handleth a matter wisely’, then the proverb is about the balance between two things: human action aimed at a certain outcome, and trust in God for that outcome. No matter that is not handled wisely no situation that is not approached with understanding can be expected to have a good outcome. No one who does not consider carefully how to deal with men, how to promote righteousness and avoid evil, how to bring honour to God in every situation, can expect that things will turn out well. Understanding of life and of people is not acquired instantly; it grows with our increasing knowledge of God that comes through study of Scripture - all the more reason for starting to gather it early. There is a world of difference between a wise man and a fool. The wise man brings his wisdom with him and applies it to every situation, avoiding snares and pitfalls that others fall into. He is warned from Scripture how to avoid danger and even the deliberate traps set by men. If the first translation is taken, then the second part of the proverb is an amplification of the first and contains a closely related thought. To heed the word is to trust in the Lord because his word is all that he has given us in order to know his being, his character and his will. But if the KJV rendering is taken, then two seemingly different thoughts are put together in an instructive way. It teaches that trust in God is the foundation of the Christian’s life, and yet he must be exercising his faculties of discernment constantly, and be studying to use all the skill that God has given him in negotiating the paths of life. God does not live the Christian life for us, but expects us to hold the sword in our own hand, and yet all that we do is done in faith, relying on his overruling in matters that go far beyond our skill to control. Our efforts in life are but a token, and yet they are an essential token required by the Lord. And the result is that we will find good – comprehensive good. The word is used to cover a vast range of blessings that come to us, in knowledge, in appreciation of God, in thankfulness and joy, in instrumentality, in friendships and relationships, in security and peace, in victory and final triumph over sin and death and Satan.