Proverbs 20:21 - Exposition

An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning —or, which in the beginning, is obtained in haste— but the end thereof shall not be blessed; or, its end shall not be blessed. The Khetib gives מְבֹהֶלֶת , which (comp. Zechariah 11:8 ) may mean "detested," but this gives no sense; it is better, with the Keri, to replace kheth with he, and read מְבֹהֶלֶת ( meboheleth ) , "hastened," "hastily acquired". The maxim, taken in connection with the preceding verse, may apply to a bad son who thinks his parents live too long, and by violence robs them of their possessions; or to one who, like the prodigal in the parable, demands prematurely his portion of the paternal goods. But it may also be taken generally as denouncing the fate of those who make haste to be rich, being unscrupulous as to the means by which they gain wealth (see on Proverbs 23:11 ; Proverbs 28:20 , Proverbs 28:22 ). A Greek gnome says roundly—

οὐδεὶς ἐπλούτησεν ταχέως δίκαιος ὤν .

"No righteous man e'er grew rich suddenly."