Peter Krol recently wrote (or actually re-wrote) an article called “Why ‘Proverbs Aren’t Promises’ is Misleading”. In the opening paragraph he admits that he is really directing his argument against those who intensify this admittedly ubiquitous argument beyond all reasonable bounds:
“Though it has roots in careful thinking about the genre of wisdom literature, this advice often goes too far and misses the point of the proverbs.”
Thus, contrary to the very clickable title, it would seem to be those who go too far with their interpretation and who intensify the principle beyond appropriate limits that are the target of his literary ire.
But wouldn’t that be true of every hermeneutical principle? A person can intensify the importance of context in such a way as to undermine the contemporary relevance of the doctrine being taught. Many things are true, that if overstated and left unrelated to other balancing principles, become distorted. Pointing out the danger of over intensification however, does not invalidate the original premise. It is undeniably true that Proverbs are not promises. Consider the following examples:
“A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.” (Proverbs 10:4 ESV)
“The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace.” (Proverbs 3:35 ESV)
Is the Bible promising that all who work hard will be rich? Is the Bible promising that all who are wise will receive honour? Or is it stating general principles?
Anyone who has studied the Book of Proverbs knows the answer. Proverbs itself acknowledges that in a fallen world, things often do not work out the way they should:
“The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food, but it is swept away through injustice.” (Proverbs 13:23 ESV)
“Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up: a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is filled with food; an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.” (Proverbs 30:21-23 ESV)
Some people work hard and don’t get rich.
Sometimes the system does not reward excellence and does not punish foolishness.
Sometimes things happen that our view of the world would not lead us to expect, which is why, many would argue, it is best not to refer to proverbs as promises.
The article cites R.C. Sproul, John Piper, Richard Pratt, Douglas Stuart and Gordan Fee as examples of people who wrongly teach that “proverbs aren’t promises”; the only scholar cited by Krul in support of his position is Bruce Waltke, but Waltke’s position is a little more nuanced than Krul allows. The citation in the article reads as follows:
“The popular evangelical solution that these are not promises but probabilities, though containing an element of truth, raises theological, practical, and psychological problems by stating the matter badly…A psychologically well person could scarcely trust God with all his heart (Prov 3:5) knowing that he usually, but not always, keeps his obligations.” (The Book of Proverbs, Chapters 1-15 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004), pp. 107-8)
Waltke’s point here seems to be that it is best not to refer to Proverbs as “probabilities” because that implies a lack of certainty and that undermines faith.
To that I would heartily agree!!
Proverbs are certainly true and can be trusted entirely!
However, it remains true that it is best not to think of Proverbs as “promises” lest that phraseology lead one to expect immediate and inevitable fulfillment in this life. Waltke himself cautions against that type of interpretation. Consider Proverbs 23:21:
“the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.” (Proverbs 23:21 ESV)
Commenting on proverbs of this type, Waltke says:
“The sober, not the drunkard, the cool-tempered, not the hothead, and the diligent, not the sluggard, usually experience health and wealth.”[1]
Keyword: usually.
That’s the entirety of what most people mean when they use the phrase “proverbs aren’t promises.” They mean that the general principles cited in Proverbs don’t always and inevitably work out in this world because it is presently fallen. The system has a virus and so sometimes it is possible to do the right things and not experience the expected result. Likewise, it is possible to do the wrong things and not experience the expected consequence. In a perfectly ordered system, proverbs would be promises, but in the present disorder, reward and justice are often delayed.
This complexity is acknowledged within the Wisdom Corpus itself.
“There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve.” (Ecclesiastes 8:14 NIV11)
The author of Ecclesiastes seems to understand all too well that proverbs are not promises, per se. Sometimes the righteous get what the wicked deserve and the wicked get what the righteous deserve.
I’m not sure how anyone living on planet earth could deny that.
However, to argue, as the vast majority of Bible commentators will do, that proverbs are not promises, is not to say that they are untrue or that they cannot be trusted. If someone meant that when they said “proverbs aren’t promises” – though I’ve never encountered anyone who did – then they would be wrong. Proverbs are true and can be trusted, but because the world is fallen, a person may have to wait until the Final Judgment and the resurrection for the full enjoyment of that truth and the full possession of the rewards associated therewith. Bruce Waltke affirms this reading as well, saying:
“The righteous rises in a blessed future that outlasts death … the book’s concept of justice demands such a hope.”[2]
Everything said in the Book of Proverbs is true, but many of those truths will be resisted and delayed until the Final Judgment, which again, suggests to many bible commentators that it would better, perhaps, not to refer to proverbs as “promises”. That doesn’t seem to be the best word to capture what the Book of Proverbs is offering to its readers.
To his credit, Krol acknowledges that there is a valid pastoral concern behind the tendency of most scholars and preachers to use the phrase “proverbs aren’t promises”; the need to avoid crushing parents with an unrealistic application of Proverbs 22:6, which says:
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6 ESV)
In his article, Krul says helpfully here:
“Too many people have seen too many people bludgeon the hurting parents of wayward children through immature and thoughtless reference to this crucial verse about parenting. (“If you had trained your child right, he would not have walked away from the Lord.”) And the pastoral reflex is just right. This is not how to use Scripture.”
That is well, and necessarily said.
However, Krul then goes on to offer an alternative interpretation of Proverbs 22:6 that is somewhat bizarre. He says:
“The verse doesn’t promise superhero children to those who follow the correct parenting techniques. Instead, it threatens selfish, miscreant children to those who refuse to use God’s means (the rod and the word of patient, faithful exhortation) to drive the folly from their children’s hearts. In other words, the verse does not promise good kids to all good parents. But it does threaten bad kids to all bad parents. Train up your child according to his way. Teach him to continue loving himself and putting himself at the center of the universe. Show him over time that there are no consequences to his foolish choices. And even when he is old, he will not depart from his natural inclinations toward himself and himself alone. This is a promise.”
Krul argues that Proverbs 22:6 is a promise, but only when interpreted in a negative sense. If we raise children according to their natural bent, they will surely and inevitably turn out poorly.
Is that true?
How many poorly raised children have been miraculously and entirely transformed by the grace of God in Jesus Christ?
No.
Casting the proverb in a negative sense does not change the underlying hermeneutical principle. In a fallen world, ordered by a Holy and Good God, under the curse, subject to grace and Divine intervention, things are not as neat and tidy as all that.
I prefer the interpretation of Tremper Longman III here who, referring to Proverbs 22:6, says:
“It sounds like a promise, but a proverb does not give a promise. The Book of Proverbs advises its hearers in ways that are most likely to lead them to desired consequences if all things are equal. It is much more likely that a child will be a responsible adult if trained in the right path. However; there is also the possibility that the child might come under the negative influence of peers or be led astray in some other way. The point is that this proverb encourages parents to train their children, but does not guarantee that if they do so their children will never go astray.”[3]
Yes.
It is generally true that the things we teach children in their formative years will exert tremendous influence upon them throughout the course of their adult lives. Every Bible story read, every prayer prayed, every lesson taught and every example set will function like ballast in the bottom of their souls. It will keep them steady, and it will give them an inward lean that will make it more likely that they will avoid deceptions and make choices that lead to life, salvation and stability.
But.
They may fall subject to deceptive influences. They may be led astray by foolish companions. They may give undue authority to their own internal feelings and desires.
The Book of Proverbs accounts for that reality as well:
“the companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20 ESV)
The agency of human beings is taken seriously in the Book of Proverbs, and that extends to the agency of children:
“A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.” (Proverbs 10:1 ESV)
Parents can raise a child well, only to see him, or her, make foolish decisions. Nevertheless, it is true, that a well raised child will have better resources for recovering from those choices and a greater likelihood of turning back toward God and home.
Proverbs aren’t promises, but they are truths you can build your life upon – thanks be to God!
Pastor Paul Carter
If you are interested in more Bible teaching from Pastor Paul you can access the entire library of Into The Word episodes through the Audio tab on the Into the Word website. You can also download the Into The Word app on iTunes or Google Play.
[1] Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs Chapters 1-15 in The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 108.
[2] Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs Chapters 1-15 in The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 108.
[3] Tremper Longman III, Proverbs in Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom And Psalms (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006), 405.