Commentary for Proverbs 16:34

The preparations of the heart are man’s He arranges his counsel and his words in his heart.

but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord When he comes to answer, the Holy One, blessed be He, causes him to stumble with his words—or if he merits, He prepares a good reply for him.

but the Lord counts the spirits and counts the hearts; who is the good one, and who is the bad one.

Commit your affairs to the Lord גל. Roll and cast your necessities upon Him, and your plans will be established. Another explanation: Commit your affairs to the Lord pray to Him for all your necessities.

will be established Will be founded and will endure.

The Lord made everything for His praise Heb. למענהו. He made everything for His praise, as in (Ps. 147:7): “Praise (ענו) the Lord with thanksgiving.” Another explanation: To testify concerning Him. That is to say that His work testifies concerning Him, about His mighty acts. Both are in the Aggadah of Psalms (Midrash Tehillim 19:1).

even the wicked man He made, to leave him for the day of evil. All this is for His praise.

hand to hand he will not go unpunished From hand to hand the punishment for his haughtiness will come to him.

and through fear of the Lord turn away from evil Through the fear of the Lord turn away from evil.

When the Lord accepts a person’s ways, He will cause even his enemies to make peace with him He will appease [them] for him that they should make peace with him.

A man’s heart plans his way to walk on the straight way.

but the Lord prepares his step as we learned: He who comes to purify himself is granted assistance.

There is magic on a king’s lips On the lips of a wise man sitting in judgment.

The balance and scales of justice are the Lord’s etc. to requite a person according to his deed. משפט is (justice in French, in German Gerechtigkeit, and so in Isaiah 7,) the retribution for a person’s sins with a balance and scales.

all the weights in the bag Just as among the weights in the bag, there are large weights and small ones, so is everything according to a person’s deeds.

It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness It is an abominable thing for judges, and it is not proper for them to commit wickedness.

The king’s wrath is like messengers of death, like messengers of death [but not angels of death].

will pacify it Will placate it.

In the light of the King’s countenance is life The one to whom the Holy One, blessed be He, shows a bright countenance—it is life to him. Therefore, a person must straighten his way before Him.

and His delight is like a cloud of the late rain Whoever is accepted by Him—His delight is beneficial to him like the cloud that brings the rain.

It is better to be of humble spirit It is better to join the lowly and to be of humble spirit with them than to divide spoils with the haughty.

He who considers a matter One who sets his heart to consider his matters, to weigh his ways, will find good.

and he who trusts in the Lord is fortunate When he weighs his ways and sees that a commandment involves danger or monetary loss, but he trusts in the Holy One, blessed be He, and [still] does that good deed.

is fortunate They are his fortunes.

The wise-hearted shall be called understanding He who learned wisdom from his teacher.

shall be called understanding. Ultimately, he will be understanding in matters and keen in his wisdom, and they will call him understanding.

and the sweetness of speech increases learning When a person explains his words to a pupil and makes his words sweet with reasons, he increases learning.

Intelligence is a fountain of life to one who has it lit. a fountain of life is the intelligence of its possessor. And this is the interpretation of the verse: The intelligence of the one who has it is a fountain of life to him.

but the chastisement of the fools is folly But the chastisement of the fools comes to them because of folly. And this is the apparent meaning: Folly is chastisement to the fools.

The heart of a wise man gives his mouth intelligence His heart teaches his mouth to speak lucidly.

a honeycomb Heb. צוף דבש, sweet as honey (bresche in O.F.).

Pleasant words Words of Torah.

There is a way that is straight in a man’s view.

labors for him It labors for his needs.

when his mouth forces him When his mouth forces him and demands food, then his labor stands up for him, for he eats what he has already worked for.

digs up evil In his heart, he plots evil.

and on his lips is a kind of searing fire The evil burns on his lips until he expresses it with his mouth and executes it.

a kind of searing fire Heb. צרבת burning, as in (Ezek. 21:3): “And all faces shall be scorched (ונצרבו) by it.”

and a grumbler alienates the Lord And through his grumbling, he alienates the Lord of the world from himself.

He winks his eyes Heb. עצה, an expression of winking, and so (Ps. 32:8): “I will wink (איעצה) to you my eye.”

bringing evil to pass כלה, as in (Esther 7:7) “that the evil was determined (כלתה) against him by the king.” He causes evil to come to the world.

it will be found in the way of righteousness Through righteousness, they live long.

and one who rules over his spirit He conquers his evil inclination.

The lot is cast in the lap By himself, a person cast lots.

but all his judgment to choose for each one his share.