Postings on Proverbs 12:9

“Better is he who is lightly esteemed and has a servant

Than he who honors himself and lacks bread” (NASB)

At first glance, this proverbs seems to be about hypocrisy, that what you are vs. how you present yourself to others.  Let’s see if that’s what it’s really about after studying it.

Since one of my goals in this blog is not to just give you my conclusions, but to show you how I got there let’s make some observations and ask some questions (again, I am determining what the proverb says before asking what it means):

1.  It is an antithetic parallelism, the second line contrasting the first, so “light esteem” is contrasted with honoring himself and having a servant is contrasted with lacking bread.

2.  Questions: What does “lightly esteemed” mean? What does having a servant indicate? What does lacking bread have to do with honoring oneself?

3.  What are the key words?  Better, lightly esteemed, honors

4.  This is about an individual (“he,” “himself”)

5.  The first situation described is “better” than the second, so being lightly esteemed while having a servant, is better than having honor and no bread.

6.  This is true anywhere and at anytime.

7.  More questions: How does one have a servant while the other lacks bread?  Is this about the importance of having money rather than the acclaim of people?

Proverbs don’t give up their treasures easily. When it’s hard to figure out what the wisdom is in a given proverb you need to take some time to meditate on it.

I can see someone saying "I’m not sure why it’s better to have less honor with a servant than it is to have honor and no bread." In fact, in Southern California (where I grew up), obeying this proverb would not be considered wise. Many eat Ramen and off dollar menus while going into serious debt just to appear to be more rich than they are. This, while unhealthy, can help them get more attention from the opposite sex or more opportunities to make money.

Upon further reflection, the key to understanding the wisdom in this proverb is that the man honors himself.  He doesn’t deserve the honor he gets (he can’t even provide for his family) while the first man may deserve honor (he has a servant), but doesn’t have it nor does he seek to get it for himself. He would rather be overlooked by society than live above his means because he is modest and humble, not at all given to a showy pretentiousness.

In contrast, the man who “falsely esteems” (IBHS 430-1) himself by declaring that he is worthy of honor is a proud poser, who really has nothing at all to be proud of (Bridges 136). This petty person is pretending to have wealth he doesn’t have, spending “his sparse resources to keep up a vain show” (Waltke 526).

Though focusing on undeserved honor for being something you aren't, this proverb has far-reaching ramifications. It could just as easily read:

“Better is she who is lightly esteemed and has integrity, then she who honors himself and lacks it.”

“Better is he who is lightly esteemed and holds his tongue, then he who honors himself with gossip & slander.”

“Better is she who is lightly esteemed and does his job, then she who is lazy and honors herself through politics.”

“Better is he who is lightly esteemed though reading his Bible and praying for others, then he who tells people he does when he doesn’t.”

“Better is he who is lightly esteemed and committed to Christ, then he who says he is when he isn’t.”

“Better is he who is lightly esteemed and pleases God, then he who gains honor by pleasing men.”

“Better is she who is lightly esteemed and bold for Christ, then one who says she is when she's really a coward.”

Writing your own proverbs after understanding what is says and what it means can be a great way to applying the wisdom to your life.  In the end, Proverbs 12:9 not saying that reputation is unimportant (cf. 10:7, 22:1; Eccl 7:1), but that it’s just “not as important as reality” (Longman 273). Our one-liner of wisdom for this is “Be who you are.”

Do you deserve your reputation? Do you project an image of yourself that isn't the real you? Be who you are. Live one life not two, so that your reputation and your character are one, and you will experience the smile of God.

I hope that helps! TII!!!