29 He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind. The foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
He that troubleth - The temper, nigardly and worrying, which leads a man to make those about him miserable, and proves but bad economy in the end.
Shalt inherit the wind - He who dissipates his property by riotous living, shall be as unsatisfied as he who attempts to feed upon air.
He that troubleth his own (q) house shall inherit the wind: and the fool [shall be] (r) servant to the wise of heart.
(q) The covetous men who spare their riches to the hinderance of their families, will be deprived of it miserably.
(r) For though the wicked are rich, yet they are only slaves to the godly, who are the true possessors of the gifts of God.
He that troubleth his own house,.... His family, his wife, and children, and servants; by being bitter to the one, and by provoking the others to wrath, and continually giving out menacing words to the rest; or through idleness, not providing for his family; or through an over worldly spirit, pushing on business, and hurrying it on beyond measure; or through a niggardly and avaricious temper, withholding meat and drink, and clothes convenient for them; see Proverbs 15:27; or through profuseness and prodigality. Such an one
shall inherit the wind; nothing but vanity and emptiness; he shall come to nothing, and get nothing; and what he does, be shall not keep, and on which he cannot live;
and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart; he who has both got and lost his substance in a foolish way shall be so reduced as to become a servant to him who has pursued wise measures, both in getting and keeping what he has; and to whom perhaps the fool formerly stood in the relation of a master. Such a change will be with respect to antichrist and the saints, Daniel 7:25.
He that brings trouble upon himself and his family, by carelessness, or by wickedness, shall be unable to keep and enjoy what he gets, as a man is unable to hold the wind, or to satisfy himself with it.
troubleth--as Proverbs 15:27 explains, by greediness for gain (compare Proverbs 11:17).
inherit . . . wind--Even successful, his gains are of no real value. So the fool, thus acting, either comes to poverty, or heaps up for others.
29 He that troubleth his own household shall inherit the wind,
And a fool becomes servant to the wise in heart.
Jerome well translates: qui conturbat domum suam, for עכר closely corresponds to the Lat. turbare; but with what reference is the troubling or disturbing here meant? The Syr. translates 29a doubly, and refers it once to deceit, and the second time to the contrary of avarice; the lxx, by ὁ μὴ συμπεριφερόμενος τῷ ἑαυτοῦ οἴκῳ, understands one who acts towards his own not unsociably, or without affability, and thus not tyrannically. But עכר שׁארו Proverbs 11:17, is he who does not grudge to his own body that which is necessary; עכר ישׂראל is applied to Elijah, 1-Kings 18:17, on account of whose prayer there was a want of rain; and at Proverbs 15:27 it is the covetous who is spoken of as עכר בּיתו. The proverb has, accordingly, in the man who "troubles his own house" (Luth.), a niggard and sordid person (Hitzig) in view, one who does not give to his own, particularly to his own servants, a sufficiency of food and of necessary recreation. Far from raising himself by his household arrangements, he shall only inherit wind (ינחל, not as the Syr. translates, ינחיל, in the general signification to inherit, to obtain, as Proverbs 3:35; Proverbs 28:10, etc.), i.e., he goes always farther and farther back (for he deprives his servants of all pleasure and love for their work in seeking the prosperity of his house), till in the end the reality of his possession dissolves into nothing. Such conduct is not only loveless, but also foolish; and a foolish person (vid., regarding אויל at Proverbs 1:7) has no influence as the master of a house, and generally is unable to maintain his independence: "and the servant is a fool to him who is wise of heart." Thus the lxx (cf. also the lxx of Proverbs 10:5), Syr., Targ., Jerome, Graec. Venet., Luth. construe the sentence. The explanation, et servus stulti cordato (sc. addicitur), i.e., even the domestics of the covetous fool are at last partakers in the wise beneficence (Fl.), places 29b in an unnecessary connection with 29a, omits the verb, which is here scarcely superfluous, and is not demanded by the accentuation (cf. e.g., Proverbs 19:22).
Troubleth - He who brings trouble upon himself and children, either by prodigality, or by restless endeavours to heap up riches. Wind - Shall be as unable to keep what he gets as a man is to hold the wind in his hand.
*More commentary available at chapter level.