The One Who Fears YHWH Walks In Uprightness, Is Preserved By What He Says, Enjoys Prosperity, Is A True Witness And Easily Comes To Understanding (Proverbs 14:2-6).
The one who fears YHWH walks in uprightness (Proverbs 14:2); speaks in such a way that his lips and words preserve him (Proverbs 14:3); takes full advantage of the strength of the ox which is God's gift to man in order to enjoy abundant harvest (Proverbs 14:4); speaks truthfully and is a reliable witness (Proverbs 14:5); and through the understanding that God has given him, easily comes to true knowledge (Proverbs 14:6).
In contrast the one who despises YHWH is perverse (crooked) in his ways (Proverbs 14:2); speaks in foolish pride which will rebound on him (Proverbs 14:3); is sluggardly in his ways (Proverbs 14:4 a); is untruthful in his speech (Proverbs 14:5); and while seeking true wisdom is unable to find it, because it is only found in God (Proverbs 14:6).
The subsection is presented chiastically:
A He who fears YHWH walks in his uprightness, but he who despises him is perverse in his ways (Proverbs 14:2).
B In the mouth of the foolish is a rod (or ‘branch') of pride, but the lips of the wise will preserve them (Proverbs 14:3).
C Where no oxen are, the manger is clean (Proverbs 14:4 a)
C But much increase is by the strength of the ox (Proverbs 14:4 b)
B A faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness utters lies (Proverbs 14:5)
A A scorner seeks wisdom, and does not find, but knowledge is easy to him who has understanding (Proverbs 14:6).
Note that in A we have the one who fears YHWH, (which is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7)), compared with the one who despises YHWH, and in the parallel the one who has understanding and finds knowledge is compared with the one who is cynical and fails to find such knowledge. In B the foolish betray themselves by their mouths, whilst the wise by their lips preserve themselves, and in the parallel the false witness utters lies, while the faithful witness does not lie (and thus preserves himself from repercussions). Centrally in C the foolish avoid having oxen, and thus have an empty, and therefore clean, manger, (on which being foolish they probably congratulate themselves), whilst the wise have a strong ox, (have to clean out their mangers), and thus enjoy good harvests.
‘He who fears YHWH walks in his uprightness,
But he who despises him is perverse in his ways.'
The fear of YHWH is a central feature of Proverbs. Among other things it is ‘the beginning (or first principle) of knowledge' (Proverbs 1:7). Those who fear YHWH find the knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:5) and receive from Him knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:6). That is why they walk in uprightness (straightness). Their way is true and right. They walk in the way of righteousness (Proverbs 8:20; Proverbs 12:28). And because the fear of YHWH has given them understanding, true knowledge (the knowledge of YHWH) comes easily to them (Proverbs 14:6).
In contrast the one who despises YHWH and does not fear Him is crooked (‘turns aside') in his ways. He does not walk in the way of righteousness, which includes obedience to YHWH. Instead he walks in many ways unable to find the right way. As a despiser of YHWH and a scorner he seeks wisdom but does not find it (Proverbs 14:6).
‘In the mouth of the foolish is a rod (or ‘branch') of pride,
But the lips of the wise will preserve them.'
This could mean that as a consequence of his being perverse in his ways his tongue (the rod in his mouth) is proud and speaks arrogantly, and even falsely (Proverbs 14:5), eventually bringing repercussions on himself. He beats himself with his own rod (tongue). Alternately his tongue can be seen as a ‘flourishing branch' (compare Isaiah 11:1 for the use of the word) which is full of pride and causes pride in others. The proud look and the lying tongue are two of the abominations which God hates (Proverbs 6:17).
In contrast the lips of the wise preserve them. They do not bring repercussions on themselves by what they say (compare Proverbs 11:12; Proverbs 12:6; Proverbs 13:3). They speak carefully and thoughtfully (Proverbs 10:13; Proverbs 10:32). Nor do they perjure themselves (Proverbs 14:5) bringing on themselves the wrath of the law. Thus they preserve themselves rather than bringing a rod on themselves.
The word for ‘rod' only occurs here and in Isaiah 11:1 (where it means ‘shoot, branch'), but in Aramaic it indicates a rod for punishment.
‘Where no oxen are, the crib is clean,
But much increase is by the strength of the ox.'
Note that the person in question has a manger for feeding animals. Why then does he not have an ox? It may be that because of his folly he cannot afford an ox, or has had to dispense with it. Or it may be that he does not want to do the work which having an ox would involve. Nor does he want to have to clean the manger. Either way his folly does result in a clean manger, but it also results in no harvest. As a sluggard he has avoided work and will find himself in poverty (Proverbs 6:6-11; Proverbs 10:4-5). As he lies in bed slumbering he may even pride himself on not having to clean the manger like others have to. But not only is his manger clean, so is his grain store, and so is his larder. He is left without a means of survival. This is what his perverse ways have led him to (Proverbs 14:2).
In contrast is the wise man. He has an ox and gathers in an abundant harvest. The ox enables him to multiply the effect of his labours. He obtains ‘much increase' due to the oxen's strength. His manger may be dirty, and need cleaning, but his reward is a multiplicity of grain. And the provision of the ox is one of God's mercies to man. Without the ox man's toil would be almost unbearable. It is a gift of God.
The whole proverb is a reminder of the fact that if we want our lives to count for anything we must allow them to be disturbed. We must be prepared for interference in our cosy lives if we are to serve our God. If we are not prepared to sacrifice our cosiness, we will never achieve great things, for the things that matter most make great demands upon us. We can compare the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, ‘he who would save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for My sake and the Gospel's, the same will save it' (Mark 8:35). The cross is uncomfortable, but it is essential for those who would experience life.
‘A faithful witness will not lie,
But a false witness utters lies.'
The faithful and true witness does not lie. He is a wise and righteous man. He tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Thus he walks with a satisfied conscience, and without fear of repercussions. He walks uprightly (Proverbs 14:2). He preserves himself with his mouth (Proverbs 14:3). If he testifies in court his witness can be relied on. If he declares something in his community he is believed. Even his enemies believe him. His ‘yes' is ‘yes, and his ‘no' is ‘no', for whatever is more than this is of evil (Matthew 5:37).
In contrast the false witness does lie. He does it because he despises YHWH and His commandments (Proverbs 14:2), and in essence despises justice, as a consequence he comes under the condemnation of both God and man.
‘A scorner seeks wisdom, and does not find,
But knowledge is easy to him who has understanding.'
In Proverbs 14:2 the one who despised YHWH was perverse in his ways. This would often result in false pride (Proverbs 14:3), failure to take advantage of his resources (Proverbs 14:4), and lying in court (Proverbs 14:5). Now we learn that the scorner seeks wisdom and cannot find it. But why can he not find it? It is because he does not look to God. He despises the fear of YHWH (Proverbs 14:2). Thus his search for true wisdom is in vain. He may be worldly wise, he may have great earthly knowledge, but he fails to find true wisdom, which is why he behaves as he does.
In contrast is the one who has understanding. He has no difficulty in finding wisdom because he submits to the fear of YHWH (Proverbs 14:2). He seeks the knowledge of God in the right way (Proverbs 2:5). And because God reveals to him His wisdom (Proverbs 2:6) and gives to him understanding (Proverbs 2:9-11) he finds knowledge easily.