YHWH Is A Refuge And A Wellspring Of Life To His People Whose Glory Is Revealed, Firstly, When His People Are Self-Controlled And Show Compassion On The Needy And Secondly, By His Providing Them A Refuge In Death (Proverbs 14:26-32).
In this subsection we have the first mention of kingship by Solomon, and it is in contrast to the greatness and supremity of YHWH. YHWH is the One In Whom His people can have confidence' He is a wellspring of life, and One in Whom they can find a refuge, even in death. They are wholly dependent on Him, whilst He is dependent on no one. In contrast an earthly king's greatness and splendour is dependent on the quantity of his subjects without whom he can accomplish little. We can compare in this respect Solomon's prayer in 1 Kings 8:22 ff. in which he brings out the uniqueness and incomparable greatness of YHWH, and his and his people's whole reliance on Him.
And what does YHWH require of His people in return? It is that they be self-controlled, quiet of heart, and compassionate to the needy.
The subsection is presented chiastically:
A In the fear of YHWH is strong confidence, and his children will have a place of refuge, the fear of YHWH is a wellspring of life, that one may depart from the snares of death (Proverbs 14:26-27).
B In the multitude of people is the king's glory, but in the lack of people is the terror of the prince (Proverbs 14:28).
C He who is slow to anger is of great understanding, but he who is hasty of spirit exalts folly (Proverbs 14:29).
C A tranquil heart is the life of the flesh, but envy is the rottenness of the bones (Proverbs 14:30).
B He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, but he who has mercy on the needy honours him (Proverbs 14:31).
A The wicked is thrust down in his evildoing, but the righteous seeks a refuge in his death (Proverbs 14:32).
Note that in A YHWH is His people's REFUGE, and a wellspring Who saves from the snares of DEATH, and in the parallel the righteous seeks A REFUGE in DEATH. In B a large number of subjects is a king's glory whilst in the parallel to have mercy on the needy ‘honours' his Maker (is YHWH's glory). In C he who is slow to anger parallels he who is tranquil of heart.
‘In the fear of YHWH is strong security (confidence),
And his children will have a place of refuge.'
The ‘fear of YHWH' has been a major theme of Proverbs. His people are to fear Him like a son fears his father (Leviticus 19:3), with respectful awe and obedience to his commands. In this is the beginning, or prime element, of true knowledge (Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 1:29), and of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). Indeed, we should note how in Proverbs 2:5; Proverbs 9:10 the fear of YHWH is paralleled with the knowledge of God, of the Holy One. The fear of YHWH and the knowledge of God as the Holy One go together. Furthermore those who fear YHWH will depart from evil (Proverbs 3:7; Proverbs 8:13).
And Solomon now tells us that in that fear of YHWH is ‘strong security'. He who fears YHWH can have total confidence, both now and in the future, because in Him he has a place of refuge. YHWH is his protection and his help, his strong security, his sphere of confidence. And this applies not only to the person himself but also to his children. They too will learn to fear YHWH and place their confidence in Him. Note the assumption that the well instructed children will also walk in the fear of YHWH.
‘The fear of YHWH is a wellspring of life,
That one may depart from the snares of death.'
And it is right that they place their confidence in Him and see Him as their strong security, for the fear of YHWH is a wellspring of life, giving them life and enabling them to avoid the snares of death. Experiencing life in Him through His wisdom means that there is for those who fear Him no fear of death (they depart from the snares of death). Wellsprings were literally a source of life in those days. They supplied the water that men and their cattle drank, and the water that would bring life to their vegetation and trees. In the same way does the fear of YHWH bring life to those who fear Him.
This picture of the fear of YHWH as a wellspring of life is a forerunner to the ideas in the New Testament of the Holy Spirit as being a wellspring of life in the lives of believers, ‘he who drinks of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst, for the water that I shall give him will become in him a wellspring of water springing up to eternal life' (John 3:5; John 4:14; John 7:38-39). The Spirit was active in those who heeded God's wisdom in Solomon's day as He is in us (Proverbs 1:23; Psalms 51:10-11; Psalms 143:10).
And as a consequence they will ‘depart from the snares of death'. The contrast between ‘the wellspring of life' and ‘the snares of death' is well drawn. On the one hand abundant life, on the other encroaching death which is like a series of traps designed to ensnare its victims. On the one hand long life, wellbeing and honour, pleasantness and peace (Proverbs 3:16-17) with a confidence that death is not the end (Proverbs 15:24; Psalms 16:11; Psalms 17:15). On the other a living death, ‘she who live in pleasure is dead while she lives' (1 Timothy 5:6), with final entry into the grave world (Proverbs 7:27; Proverbs 9:18).
Elsewhere in Proverbs ‘the mouth of the righteous is a wellspring of life' (Proverbs 10:11), for he urges the fear of YHWH, and ‘the instruction of the wise is a wellspring of life, to depart from the snares of death' (Proverbs 13:14), for the same reason. Note there also the departing from the snares of death. It is difficult to avoid the impression that Solomon does not see death as ending life for the believer.
‘In the multitude of people is the king's glory,
But in the lack of people is the terror of the prince.'
In this first reference to the king in Proverbs 10:1 ff. he is placed in strong contrast to YHWH. As we have seen YHWH is the place of security and confidence, of refuge from the storms of life, and requires nothing but Himself in order to be so, whilst here the king is dependent for his splendour on the quantity of his subjects, and this will partly be a consequence of him ruling wisely (Proverbs 8:15-16). Indeed, the king's constant fear is that his subjects will become few, for then his splendour will have gone, and, we may add, he will no longer be able to be a refuge for his people (it is ironic that this is precisely what happened to his son Rehoboam who almost overnight lost a large proportion of his subjects by his own folly and thus became a prey to Pharaoh). The king is thus seen as very much dependent on his people, and requires their goodwill. In contrast YHWH is seen as dependent on no one. No one was more conscious than Solomon of the greatness and uniqueness of YHWH (1Ki 8:23; 1 Kings 8:27; 1 Kings 8:60).
The contrast is further drawn out by the chiasmus in that here the large numbers of his subjects is what gives the king his splendour, whilst in contrast in the parallel verse what gives YHWH ‘honour' is His people showing compassion on the needy (Proverbs 14:31). The king's glory lies in the number of his subjects, he is ‘honoured' by might, but YHWH, Who is almighty, and Who as man's Maker has all the subjects He can want, requires no such glory. He is rather honoured by the compassion of His people. If only Solomon had followed his own spoken wisdom, seeking out compassion rather than splendour, he would not have attained the reputation of being ‘the wisest fool in Jewry'.
Solomon may well have intended ‘his son', those who carefully listened to his instruction, to see in this an indication that if they would be ‘king' in their own sphere they too could only do so by gaining widespread support. If it was true of a king, it was also true of all. (The isolated nature of the proverb suggests that it is to be seen as referring to more than kings). So the point would be that in order to be a genuine success a man must have good support from his compatriots. No man is an island. Thus those who lose the support of their compatriots will never attain to anything.
‘He who is slow to anger (relaxed of nostrils) is of great understanding,
But he who is hasty of spirit exalts folly.'
There now follow two verses which indicate what YHWH, as the wellspring of His people, seeks in them. The two verses also supply the ways for maintaining support among one's compatriots. In this initial verse it is the one who is slow to anger (who does not quickly lose control of himself) who demonstrates the greatness of his understanding, revealing himself as a man of God's wisdom. Self-control contributes towards wisdom. And in demonstrating such wisdom a man becomes beloved of all. In contrast the one who is ‘hasty of spirit' (quick-tempered and soon angry - Proverbs 14:17) ‘exalts folly'. Either he makes a god out of folly, as his life soon reveals, for quick temper results in folly, or he lifts it up before people's eyes so that they see what a fool he is. Such a man will soon lose support. It is only the man who makes his decision when his head is cool, and when he is thinking rationally, who makes wise decisions.
The phrase ‘slow to anger' is more literally ‘relaxed of nostrils' (and therefore revealing his longsuffering by his face). He controls himself well, not allowing his nostrils to distend in anger, or his face to show anger. And he does this simply because he is always under control. ‘Hasty of spirit' is more literally ‘short of (a controlled) spirit (i.e. short of temper)'. He snaps quickly.
‘A tranquil heart is the life of the flesh,
But envy is the rottenness of the bones.'
For it is a tranquil heart which enables a man to live truly and fosters the life which God has given him. It is the life of the ‘fleshes' (besarim - an intensive plural which indicates the totality of a man's being and behaviour) in contrast with rottenness in the bones. It is what characterises the wise man. Being slow to anger and being of a tranquil heart go together. But the parallel clause suggests that largely in mind here is the one who does not succumb to jealousy and envy. He is calm and quiet. He is not easily aroused by human passions. For it is envy, in contrast with the tranquil heart, which is rottenness in the bones. Nothing eats into a man's wisdom like envy. It makes a man behave irrationally, and it destroys him inside.
‘He who oppresses (or denigrates) the poor reproaches his Maker,
But he who has mercy on the needy honours him.'
In Proverbs 14:28 the king was honoured because he had many subjects, but here YHWH is honoured because His people demonstrate compassion. For YHWH is man's Maker, and therefore the poor as well as the wealthy are important in His sight, and indeed are made in the image of God. He made them. Thus to oppress or denigrate the poor is to oppress or denigrate one of YHWH's creations. In contrast those who treat the needy well by showing compassion to them, by this means honour the One Who made them. This concern for all people, both small and great (including slaves and animals who serve man) comes out in Exodus 20:10; Exodus 23:2; Deuteronomy 5:14).
A similar thought is expressed in Job 31:15, where Job, when realising his own wrong attitude towards his manservant (Proverbs 31:13) says, ‘Did not He Who made me in the womb make him? And did not One fashion us in the womb?'
‘The wicked is thrown down in his evildoing,
But the righteous seeks a refuge in his death.'
And the final consequence for the unrighteous is that they are ‘thrown down'. They have no security, for the life that they have built by their evildoing is not secure. Its foundations are shaky, and it will be brought to ruin when calamity comes upon it (Proverbs 1:27). We can again compare Jesus parable of the foolish man who did not heed His words and thus discovered that his house was built on unstable sand and collapsed when the storm came (Matthew 7:26-27). In the final analysis the unrighteous have no hope. When death comes they are lost.
In contrast is the righteous man. He has a refuge to Whom he can turn in death (Proverbs 14:26). This can only indicate that he has hope beyond death (compare Proverbs 15:4). Such a hope was not spelled out. But it was sure (Proverbs 14:27; Proverbs 15:24; Psalms 16:11; Psalm 17:19; Psalms 23:6). For YHWH is depicted as a wellspring of life who delivers from the snares of death (Proverbs 14:27).