Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Proverbs 17

• It’s impossible for a man to “lie about lying”. If what he says is true then he isn’t lying and remains a liar and the lie cannot be both truth and a lie.
  
• Therefore; he is neither lying about lying nor telling the truth about lying; instead, he is a paradox, an impossible enigma of unsustainable non-reality destined to eventually implode in on itself.
  
• The above is a scenario as described by Jesus when he says a foolish man builds his house on nothing more than shifting sand. It cannot achieve any other future than to be swept away by time.
  
• However; if the title said “I am a truth-teller”, is he telling the truth or is he lying?
  • If he is lying about telling the truth then he is lying.
  • If he is telling the truth about being a truth-teller then he is truthful and NOT lying. Only truth-tellers can tell the truth. Liars can only mimic truth. Satan is a “mimic” truth-teller, a mimic “messiah”, and a mimic “god”.
    
• The ONLY plausible, sustainable culture MUST be built on truth and only by truth-tellers.
• Therefore; a “real” reality can only be built with truth, and ONLY TRUTH. Anything less will eventually destroy itself.
  
• Jesus said “I AM the WAY (to build a sustainable foundation), (I AM) THE TRUTH (of reality), and (I AM) Life (in every sustainable way).
  
• When Satan lied in the Garden of Eden, he set the entire universe on a collision course of self-destruction, making it necessary for Jesus to create a new heaven and a new earth unpolluted with lies.

Proverbs 17

The Lord Tests Hearts

Proverbs 17:¹ Better is a dry morsel with quietness,
Than a house full of feasting (Or sacrificial meals) with strife.

Proverbs 17:² A wise servant will rule over a son who causes shame,
And will share an inheritance among the brothers.

Proverbs 17:³ The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
But the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) tests the hearts.

Proverbs 17:⁴ An evildoer gives heed (pays attention) to false lips (liars);
A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful (Lit: destructive) tongue.

• Traditional Jewish Saying: The liar’s punishment is that even when he speaks the truth, no one believes him (Sanhedrin 89b)

Proverbs 17:⁵ He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker;
He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 17:⁶ Children’s children are the crown of old men,
And the glory of children is their father.

• When Grandchildren are raised by a father of righteousness they are the shining crown for the “old man”.

Proverbs 17:⁷ Excellent speech is not becoming to a fool,
Much less lying lips to a prince.

Proverbs 17:⁸ A present is a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor;
Wherever he turns, he prospers.

Proverbs 17:⁹ He who covers a transgression seeks love,
But he who repeats a matter separates friends.

Proverbs 17:¹⁰ Rebuke is more effective for a wise man
Than a hundred blows on a fool.

Proverbs 17:¹¹ An evil man seeks only rebellion;
Therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

• Evil loves itself and has no desire to be anything else than what it is.

Proverbs 17:¹² Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs,
Rather than a fool in his folly.

Proverbs 17:¹³ Whoever rewards evil for good,
Evil will not depart from his (own) house.

Proverbs 17:¹⁴ The beginning of strife is like releasing water;
Therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts.

• Seal up the dam.

Proverbs 17:¹⁵ He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just,
Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).

Proverbs 17:¹⁶ Why is there in the hand of a fool the purchase price of wisdom,
Since he has no heart for it?

• A fool, if defined by having no wish to be anything other than what it is, is a liar and therefore, evil.

Proverbs 17:¹⁷ A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.

• Being tied to another by friendship is a relationship of choice.
  Tied to a brother by kinship is not a relationship of choice.

17:¹⁸ A man devoid of understanding (Lit. heart) shakes hands (Lit. strikes the hands) in a pledge,
And becomes surety (guaranty or collateral) for his friend.

• If a man is devoid of understanding, he is a fool, given to the destruction for a fool.

Proverbs 17:¹⁹ He who loves transgression (sin) loves strife,
And he who exalts his gate seeks destruction.

Proverbs 17:²⁰ He who has a deceitful (crooked) heart finds no good,
And he who has a perverse tongue falls into evil.

• The heart devises the lie and the tongue delivers it.

Proverbs 17:²¹ He who begets a scoffer does so to his sorrow,
And the father of a fool has no joy.

Proverbs 17:²² A merry heart does good, like medicine (Or makes medicine even better),
But a broken spirit dries the bones.

Proverbs 17:²³ A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back (undercover, lit. from the bosom}
To pervert the ways of justice.

• If a wicked man and an evil man meet, together they become one dangerous fool of two bodies in one, each destroying the other.

17:²⁴ Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding (he sees the project to its end),
But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth (unrealistic).

17:²⁵ A foolish son is a grief to his father,
And bitterness to her who bore him.

17:²⁶ Also, to punish the righteous is not good,
Nor to strike princes for their uprightness.

17:²⁷ He who has knowledge spares his words (shuts up),
And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit (stays quiet).

• When one opens their mouth to speak it is a sign of requesting an audience.
• When requesting an audience, speak from wisdom.

17:²⁸ Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace;
When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.

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