Chapter 22 falls into two distinct sections, and the division is important.
The first sixteen verses continue the Solomonic couplet sequence and contain several of the book's most quoted lines. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold. The rich and poor meet together , the LORD is the maker of them both. A prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself; the simple pass on and are punished. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. He that has a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor. He that oppresses the poor to increase his riches, and he that gives to the rich, shall surely come to want. Do you see a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before obscure men.
At verse 17, the text shifts register entirely: "Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge." This is not another Solomonic proverb , it is a heading for a new section called "The Words of the Wise," a distinct collection that scholars recognize as one of the older embedded sources within Proverbs. The author of this section speaks in first person and states his purpose explicitly: that the reader's trust may be in the LORD, and that the reader will know the certainty of the words of truth and be able to answer them that send to him.
The Words of the Wise section includes: rob not the poor because he is poor, neither oppress the afflicted in the gate , for the LORD will plead their cause and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them. Make no friendship with an angry man; with a furious man thou shalt not go, lest thou learn his ways and get a snare to your soul. Do not be among those who strike hands or are sureties for debts , if you have nothing to pay, why should he take your bed from under you? Remove not the ancient landmark which your fathers have set.
Coming Up in Chapter 23
Next, Solomon warns about dining with rulers, deceptive dainties, and riches that sprout wings, alongside the command to buy truth and refuse to sell it Chapter 23 continues "The Words of the Wise" and covers dining with the powerful, the instability of wealth, parenting, the fear of the LORD, alcohol, and the strange woman , moving through these subjects with more rhetorical energy than.
