---
title: "Proverbs 14 - Study King James Bible with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary"
description: "Read Proverbs 14 with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary commentary. 1 Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. 2 He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD: but he that"
image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/proverbs/14"
---

[ Read](/kjv/proverbs/14)[ Commentary](/study/proverbs/14)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/proverbs/14) Audio

 1 Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

 2 He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD: but *he that is* perverse in his ways despiseth him.

 3 In the mouth of the foolish *is* a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.

 4 Where no oxen *are*, the crib *is* clean: but much increase *is* by the strength of the ox.

 5 A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.

 6 A scorner seeketh wisdom, and *findeth it* not: but knowledge *is* easy unto him that understandeth.

 7 Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not *in him* the lips of knowledge.

 8 The wisdom of the prudent *is* to understand his way: but the folly of fools *is* deceit.

 9 Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous *there is* favour.

 10 The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.*

 11 The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish.

 12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof *are* the ways of death.

 13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth *is* heaviness.

 14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man *shall be satisfied* from himself.

 15 The simple believeth every word: but the prudent *man* looketh well to his going.

 16 A wise *man* feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.

 17 *He that is* soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated.

 18 The simple inherit folly: but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

 19 The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

 20 The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich *hath* many friends.*

 21 He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy *is* he.

 22 Do they not err that devise evil? but mercy and truth *shall be* to them that devise good.

 23 In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips *tendeth* only to penury.

 24 The crown of the wise *is* their riches: *but* the foolishness of fools *is* folly.

 25 A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful *witness* speaketh lies.

 26 In the fear of the LORD *is* strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.

 27 The fear of the LORD *is* a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

 28 In the multitude of people *is* the king’s honour: but in the want of people *is* the destruction of the prince.

 29 *He that is* slow to wrath *is* of great understanding: but *he that is* hasty of spirit exalteth folly.*

 30 A sound heart *is* the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.

 31 He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.

 32 The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.

 33 Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but *that which is* in the midst of fools is made known.

 34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin *is* a reproach to any people.*

 35 The king’s favour *is* toward a wise servant: but his wrath is *against* him that causeth shame.
 
[Proverbs 13](/study/proverbs/13) [Proverbs 15](/study/proverbs/15)

## Commentary

 To verse 1
 
1 The wisdom of the woman buildeth her house, 

And folly teareth it down with its own hands. 

Were it חכמות נשׁים , after [Judges 5:29](/kjv/judges/5/29), cf. [Isaiah 19:11](/kjv/isaiah/19/11), then the meaning would be: the wise among women, each of them buildeth her house. But why then not just אשּׁה חכמה , as [2 Samuel 14:2](/kjv/2-samuel/14/2), cf. [Exodus 35:25](/kjv/exodus/35/25)? The Syr., Targum, and Jerome write *sapiens mulier*. And if the whole class must be spoken of, why again immediately the individualizing in בּנתה ? The lxx obliterates that by its ᾠκοδόμησαν . And does not אוּלת [folly] in the contrasted proverb (1b) lead us to conclude on a similar abstract in 1a? The translators conceal this, for they translate אולת personally. Thus also the *Venet*. and Luther; אוּלת is, says Kimchi, an adj. like עוּרת , *caeca*. But the linguistic usage does not point אויל with אוילי to any אוּל . It is true that a fem. of אויל does not occur; there is, however, also no place in which אולת may certainly present itself as such. Thus also חכמות must be an abstr.; we have shown at [Proverbs 1:20](/kjv/proverbs/1/20) how חכמות , as neut. plur., might have an abstr. meaning. But since it is not to be perceived why the poet should express himself so singularly, the punctuation חכמות is to be understood as proceeding from a false supposition, and is to be read חכמות , as at [Proverbs 9:1](/kjv/proverbs/9/1) (especially since this passage rests on the one before us). Fleischer says: “to build the house is figuratively equivalent to, to regulate well the affairs of a house, and to keep them in a good condition; the contrary, to tear down the house, is the same contrast as the Arab. 'amârat âlbyt and kharab albyt . Thus *e.g.*, in Burckhardt's *Sprüchw*. 217, harrt ṣabrt bythâ 'amârat , a good woman ( *ein braves Weib*) has patience (with her husband), and thereby she builds up her house (at the same time an example of the use of the preterite in like general sentences for individualizing); also No. 430 of the same work: 'amârat âlbyt wla kharâbt , it is becoming to build the house, not to destroy it; cf. in the Thousand and One Nights, where a woman who had compelled her husband to separate from her says: âna âlty 'amalt hadhâ barwḥy wâkhrnt byty bnfsy . Burckhardt there makes the remark: 'amârat âlbyt denotes the family placed in good circumstances - father, mother, and children all living together happily and peacefully.” This conditional relation of the wife to the house expresses itself in her being named as house-wife (cf. *Hausehre* [= honour of a house] used by Luther, [Psalms 68:13](/kjv/psalms/68/13)), to which the Talmudic דּביתי (= *uxor mea*) answers; the wife is noted for this, and hence is called עיקר הבית , the root and foundation of the house; *vid*., Buxtorf's *Lex*. col. 301. In truth, the oneness of the house is more dependent on the mother than on the father. A wise mother can, if her husband be dead or neglectful of his duty, always keep the house together; but if the house-wife has neither understanding nor good-will for her calling, then the best will of the house-father cannot hinder the dissolution of the house, prudence and patience only conceal and mitigate the process of dissolution - folly, viz., of the house-wife, always becomes more and more, according to the degree in which this is a caricature of her calling, the ruin of the house.

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