Bible Commentaries
Proverbs 20

Pett's Commentary on the BiblePett's Commentary

Verses 1-30

Proverbs Of Solomon Part 2 (Proverbs 15:22 to Proverbs 22:16 ).

At this point there is a sudden switch from proverbs which contrast one thing with another, which have been predominant since Proverbs 10:1, to proverbs where the second clause adds something to the first. Whilst we still find some contrasting proverbs, especially at the beginning, they are not so common. This may suggest a deliberate intention by Solomon to separate his proverbs into two parts.

Furthermore such a change at this point would also be in line with seeing verse Proverbs 10:1 and Proverbs 15:20 as some kind of inclusio. The first opened the collection with ‘a wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a grief to his mother’ (Proverbs 10:1), whilst Proverbs 15:20 may be seen as closing it with the very similar ‘a wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother’. Proverbs 15:21 may then be seen as conjoined with Proverbs 15:20 and as a kind of postscript summing up the fool and the wise who have been in mind throughout the proverbs up to this point.

Proverbs 15:22, in fact, provides a particularly suitable introduction to a new section with its emphasis on the need for a ‘multitude of counsellors’, who can partly be found in the authors of the proverbs which follow (Solomon and the wise men).

Bibliographical Information
Pett, Peter. "Commentary on Proverbs 20". "Pett's Commentary on the Bible ". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/pet/proverbs-20.html. 2013.