Proverbs 28:20 - Exposition

A faithful man shall abound with blessings . "Faithful," as in Proverbs 20:6 , one on whom one can depend, honest and upright. Septuagint, ἀξιόπιστος . The blessings signified are such as come from God and man. Men will utter his name with praise and benediction (comp. Job 29:8 , etc.), and God will show his approval by sending material prosperity. He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent (comp. Proverbs 20:22 , and note there; Proverbs 13:11 ; Proverbs 20:21 ; Proverbs 21:5 ). One who is only anxious to become quickly rich, and is unscrupulous as to means, cannot be "a faithful man," and therefore cannot be blessed. Instead of "innocent," many expositors render "unpunished" (as Proverbs 17:5 ), which better contrasts with the blessings mentioned in the first hemistich, though the two ideas are coordinate. On this haste of covetousness, Juvenal writes ('Sat.,' 14.173)—

" Inde fere scelerum causae; nec plura venena

Miscuit aut ferro grassatur saepius ullum

Humanae mentis vitium, quam saeva cupido

Immodici census; nam dives qui fieri vult,

Et cito vult fieri. Sed quae reverentia legum,

Quis metus aut pudor est unquam properantis avari? "

The Septuagint waters down the gnome, "But the wicked shall not be unpunished."