Chapter 17 contains twenty-eight couplets and opens immediately with one of the book's clearest statements about the relationship between material conditions and domestic peace: better is a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of sacrifices and strife. A modest table with peace is superior to feasting in the middle of conflict.
Several observations in this chapter are among the most striking in Proverbs. The fining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tries the hearts , God's refining of human character parallels the metallurgist's refining of metal. Whoso mocks the poor reproaches his Maker , an attack on the poor is an insult to God who made them. He that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.
The beginning of strife is as when one lets out water , once the flow starts it is very hard to stop. Therefore leave off contention before it begins. He that justifies the wicked and he that condemns the just , both are an abomination to the LORD. Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly , encountering a furious mother bear is preferable to dealing with a fool who has already committed himself to stupidity.
On friendship and loyalty: a friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. He that covers a transgression seeks love, but he that repeats the matter separates close friends. A reproof enters more into a wise man than a hundred stripes into a fool , one honest correction does more for the wise than physical punishment can accomplish in the foolish.
A merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.
Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he has no heart to it? , what good is opportunity for learning in the hands of someone who doesn't actually want to learn?
The chapter closes: he that has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise, and he that shuts his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
Coming Up in Chapter 18
Next, Solomon turns to speech itself: fools prefer airing themselves to understanding, deep waters hide wisdom, and the tongue holds power to build life or destroy it Chapter 18 contains twenty-four couplets with a strong concentration on speech, pride, judgment, and refuge. The chapter opens with a contrast: the one who separates himself seeks wisdom and intermingles with all understanding , solitary pursuit of.
