All Is In Accordance With YHWH's Purposes, With The Consequence That The Proud Will Be Punished, Whilst Those Who Fear YHWH Will Depart From Evil And Find That Both YHWH And Their Enemies Are At Peace With Them (Proverbs 16:4-7).
In s specific YHWH subsection, we learn that YHWH has made everything for a purpose, even the unrighteous for the time of calamity (Proverbs 16:4); that the proud in heart are an abomination to Him and will be punished (Proverbs 16:5); that the iniquity of those who turn to Him is atoned for through His compassion and faithfulness (Proverbs 16:6 a); that by the fear of YHWH men will depart from evil (Proverbs 16:6 b); and that YHWH will make even the enemies of the righteous man to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7).
The subsection is presented chiastically as follows:
A YHWH has made everything for its own end, yes, even the wicked for the day of evil (Proverbs 16:4).
B Every one who is proud in heart is an abomination to YHWH, though hand join in hand, he will not be unpunished (Proverbs 16:5).
B By covenant love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of YHWH men depart from evil (Proverbs 16:6).
A When a man's ways please YHWH, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7)
Note that in A everything has been determined and brought about by YHWH with His determined purpose in view, including the disposition of the unrighteous, and in the parallel that includes the attitude of the enemy of the righteous to the truly righteous. In B the proud in heart are an abomination to YHWH, and will be punished, whilst in contrast in the parallel men depart from evil by the fear of YHWH, and will find atonement through His (or their) covenant love and faithfulness.
YHWH has made everything for its own end,
Yes, even the wicked for the day of evil.'
We are reminded in this bold statement that God has made everything for a purpose, for ‘its answer'. There are no loose ends or exceptions. All that is has God's aims in view, and will at some time be brought into the reckoning. And this would especially so of what we ‘roll on YHWH' of all that we do, which is why our purposes will be established (will come to accomplishment) (Proverbs 16:3). This is the kind of majestic statement that ties in Solomon's vision of YHWH, when he says of Him, ‘even the heaven of heavens cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built' (1 Kings 8:27). It is a description of the universality of YHWH's sovereignty.
‘For its own end, for its appropriate end' is literally ‘for its answer' connecting up with Proverbs 16:1. In Proverbs 16:1 men devised their own schemes, but it was the answer of YHWH's word (tongue) that decided issues. Here in the same way everything will be determined by YHWH's ‘answer', that is, by His word, as He brings all things into His reckoning, including the activities of both the righteous and the unrighteous.
Thus there is even a purpose for the unrighteous, who are also His creations, and that purpose is that they might face the evil day, the day of calamity (Proverbs 1:26-27; Proverbs 6:15). The indication would appear to be that in order for God's purposes to be fulfilled the existence and punishment of the unrighteous was necessary.
‘Every one who is proud in heart is an abomination to YHWH,
Though hand join in hand, he will not be unpunished.'
And this included the ‘high of heart' who are ‘an abomination to YHWH'. They see themselves as raised above others, as not having to take others into account, as superior beings. They are thus contrary to all that God, Who is a God of compassion Who lowers Himself in order to meet with man, is (see Genesis 11:1-9). His very nature revolts against them. Nothing could bring out more the situation of YHWH as Moral Governor of the Universe, not on the basis of some objective standard, but on the basis of what He is.
And they too were ‘made -- for the day of evil' (Proverbs 16:4), the day when calamity comes on men. They ‘will not be unpunished'. This reference to the proud, the high of heart, is a repetition of the thought in Proverbs 6:16-19 where among those things which were an abomination to YHWH was ‘the proud (haughty) look' (Proverbs 6:17), those who raised their heads or noses in order to express superiority. This indicates that God has no time for people who think themselves superior to others. As the writer will say elsewhere, ‘the rich and poor -- YHWH is the Maker of them all' (Proverbs 22:2).
And whatever attempts such people might make in order to avoid their inevitable fate, even if they come to agreements among themselves, or join hands against YHWH, they will not go unpunished. For they have been made for the day of evil (Proverbs 16:4). Others, however, see ‘hand to hand' as an expression of the writer as meaning ‘let us be sure of this'.
‘By covenant love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,
And by the fear of YHWH men depart from evil.'
The root for ‘atoned for' is cpr. Some see this as the equivalent of the Arabic kafara = to cover up/over'. Others as derived from the Akkadian kuppuru = ‘to clear, to expiate, to wipe of, to ritually purify'. Even others see it as connected with koper = ransom. But whichever we choose its significance in Scripture appears to be to deal with sin in such a way that YHWH can be approached. The one who is ‘atoned for' is put in the right with YHWH.
The next question is as to whose covenant love and faithfulness is in mind. Is it YHWH's or man's? The parallel with ‘the fear of YHWH', which is the response of righteous men to YHWH, might at first sight suggest that ‘covenant love and faithfulness' is the response of the righteous to God's merciful covenant (compare Proverbs 3:3), just as the fear of YHWH is man's response to the awesome otherness (that quality which makes Him wholly different and fills men with awe) of YHWH. The thought is then that they respond with covenant love and faithfulness to the requirements of His covenant, and therefore, through His mercy and compassion as revealed in that covenant, find atonement from iniquity. In other words, just as the sacrifice of the unrighteous is an abomination to YHWH (Proverbs 15:8), so the sacrifice of the righteous, those who respond to Him in love and faithfulness, makes atonement.
On the other hand we could equally argue from the parallel (and from the whole YHWH context), that we should paraphrase it as;
‘By the covenant love and faithfulness of YHWH iniquity is atoned for,
But by the fear of YHWH men depart from evil.'
This would then indicate that both YHWH's covenant love and faithfulness, and YHWH's awesomeness, have an effect on men, the first to make atonement for them, the second to make them depart from evil.
And this suggestion is supported by the general impression that the whole context could be seen as suggesting that it is rather YHWH's covenant love and faithfulness which is in mind, for it is YHWH and His activity which is central in the subsection. It is He Who has made everything for its purpose (Proverbs 16:4). It is to Him that everyone who is proud is an abomination (Proverbs 16:5). It is He Who makes the righteous man's enemies to be at peace with Him (Proverbs 16:7). Thus we would be justified in arguing that it is He Whose covenant love and faithfulness makes atonement for iniquity. Then the idea would be that it is His mercy and faithfulness, revealed through the covenant and the sacrificial system, that is the means by which iniquity is atoned for, by which He is made at peace with them.
Indeed with this in mind Proverbs 16:7-8 might be seen as a minor chiasmus:
A ‘By covenant love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,
B And by the fear of YHWH men depart from evil.
B When a man's ways please YHWH,
A He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.'
This might then be seen as confirming that through His covenant love and faithfulness (as revealed through the covenant which provides a way of atonement) He makes Himself at peace with those who respond to Him, just as in the parallel He makes even their enemies to be at peace with them. As a consequence peace is seen to come to them from both Himself and from men. Departing from evil by the fear of YHWH then parallels a man's ways being pleasing to YHWH.
But what we must not lose sight of in the end is the importance of both the covenant love and faithfulness of God, through which atonement is offered, and of the responsive covenant love and faithfulness of men, through which it is accepted.
‘When a man's ways please YHWH,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.'
The central thought behind these words is that we should not allow outward circumstances to affect our loyalty to YHWH, that if we walk faithfully with Him we can look to Him to guard our ways. In other words, that pleasing YHWH should come before pleasing men. And as a consequence God's promise is that if we do this, He Himself will ensure that our enemies are made to be at peace with us. For as we saw in Proverbs 3:17, the ways of wisdom were pleasantness and peace, and we can see that as partially fulfilled here. When a man's ways please YHWH (when he walks in God's wisdom) YHWH makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. He lives in tranquillity and peace because YHWH watches over his ways, and also, of course because he behaves wisely towards his enemies (Proverbs 15:1; Proverbs 15:18; Proverbs 15:28).