Winkers and Talkers (Proverbs 10:10)

In most of the proverbs we see a dichotomy of the righteous and the wicked. Today, this is not the case. For some reason, Solomon desired to just focus on the wicked aspects of man in this proverb. There is, however, in this verse that two different persons will be effected by the wicked.

"He who winks with his eye [craftily and with malice] causes sorrow; the foolish of lips will fall headlong, [but he who boldly reproves makes peace]." Proverbs 10:10, Amplified

There are those who wink with their eyes, whose intent is to cause trouble. I remember watching a movie a long time ago and seeing someone on the big screen wink at someone else. I had asked my mother what that meant and she explained it to me. She said, "They knew something that no one else knew." As kids we tended to use the wink a lot when playing pranks. That wink was used to allow that other person to not blurt out the truth because we knew that they knew. But putting childish things aside we turn to the adult. I have never seen an adult take on this type of behavior, but it is not really the behavior that we are after, it is the intent of the heart. His whole demeanor is to cause harm, his intent is to hurt.

But the foolish of lips will fall. This is that word "prating" again. The babble will be sealing his own fate. He is the talker that just will not shut up. The one who winks with his eyes are a little more covert, their intent is not to be caught. But the prater will be known by everyone. When the mouth opens, heads will turn and eyes will focus. It seems that there is also no shame with the prater.

In the second set of brackets, though it may be a truism, does not appear in the other texts. If we are to reprove the prater and the winker, then yes peace is a product. I feel that maybe the author of the Amplified Version saw what I saw, the was no dichotomy in this verse. There does not always have to be that dichotomy in life, however. Sometimes we just need our attention drawn to the good or to the bad.

Acceptance of Commands (Proverbs 10:8)

The Proverbs are full of comparisons between the foolish and the wise. In today's reading, nothing has changed. However, today we will encounter a word that we will come across only two other times in the Bible and one in this same chapter.

"The wise in heart will accept and obey commands, the the foolish of lips will fall headlong." Proverbs 10:8, Amplified

The wise in heart listen and obey any command given by an authority. The the person in the armed forces it is the commanding officer, to the Christian it is God. In either case, the obedience will bring him or her blessing. In the original King James, we only get the word "receive" in this verse, so it reads, "The wise in heart receive commands..." Reception brings with it the idea of acceptance. As Christians I do not feel that the Lord will ever give us commands that would violate our good conscience, however they may be contrary to our flesh. Though the command may be contrary to the flesh, the wise in heart still receive, accept and obey that command. This is the qualifier for any real Christian, to be able to deny his flesh to follow his Master.

In the second portion of this verse we hear about the fool. The Amplified Version already translates the word "prating" for us as one who is "foolish of lips". Prating appears only two other times in the Bible; one more time in this chapter in verse 10 and the third time in the New Testament in 3 John verse 10. The "prater" is a babbler or a trifler according to Strong's Concordance. This prater will fall for one reason, he is to busy talking and listening to the commands. It is like the commanding officer giving instructions to a raid that is to be executed. The babbler is too busy babbling to hear what is being said and places himself in grave jeopardy.

Another aspect that is not covered in this verse is that of placing others around him in jeopardy as well. The babbler must babble to someone. However, the wise in heart keep their attention glued to the commanding officer. The wise in heart take the place closest to the commanding officer so as not to miss anything that he has to say. I suggest that if we are one's who enjoy talking to inspect our hearts and see if we are wise in heart. Do we babble over the word of the Lord? Are we talking so loud that we cannot receive His commands?