Proverbs 17:21 Commentary and Bible Study

The birth of a child is normally a cause for celebration for it is the beginning of a life that has great potential. The mother rejoices that a child is brought into the world and the father has high hopes for his child’s progress in the world. But if the child turns out to be a fool, then what should have been a cause for celebration rapidly becomes a cause for great mourning. There is sorrow not just because of the evident foolishness, but because things could have been so different. For the believer who knows the value of true wisdom that comes from heaven, the tragedy is all the greater for the disaster of folly is that it leads to death. What is the cause of this folly? A wise parent knows how to teach wisdom to the child. Here the parents’ training is not mentioned; it is as if the child is born foolish from the start. Solomon intends however to include the whole of childhood in making the child what he is. The father of a fool is then largely responsible for his son’s foolishness. Men must face the consequences of their lives, their deeds, their words, and what they train their children to be. The parent regards their child as very much the product of their own being, for the child is made in the image of the parent, not only physically but in character, since a father and mother invest much of themselves in the child. They look forward to seeing a person grow up who is the product of their labour. But what if the child turns out to be a fool? They are worse off than if they had had no children. Here then is another value of wisdom, the pleasant consequences that follow from it, the harvest which a wise man can expect to enjoy. The father of a fool has no joy – a vast understatement since in fact his foolish child becomes the major source of sorrow in his life as he is constantly reminded of the hopes that have turned sour. The Christian parent has no power to make his child a believer other than to pray fervently to the Lord. Even Mary had to wait for the resurrection of Christ before her son James came to faith. But training has a huge effect on the character of the child. There are immense and unexpected problems with some children that seem to be nothing of the parents’ making and they need great wisdom to deal with these, but wisdom is justified of all her children is the normal law that God has put in place.We learn that if we beget an unhappy situation we will be the sufferer. Fellowship involves effort. How do you get a fool? Someone gave birth to him; he did not just happen. All our situations are created and we have a hand in them. Our friends and relationships are only there because we gave birth to them. A foolish child has not only been born but brought up. We are the architects of our misfortunes. Are we anxious to know how to be good friends?