Commentary - Proverbs 10:1

Bird's-eye view

Proverbs 10:1 marks a significant shift in the book. The first nine chapters have been a series of extended, fatherly discourses on the nature of wisdom, personified as a noble lady, and folly, personified as a seductive adulteress. Now, with this verse, we launch into the heart of the book, a vast collection of pithy, two-part sayings that present a series of sharp contrasts. This is where the rubber of wisdom meets the road of everyday life. The structure is deliberately scattered, like a collection of tools you might need for any number of jobs. You don't read this section for a developing argument, but for individual nuggets of divine insight.

This opening proverb sets the tone for everything that follows by grounding wisdom and folly in their most immediate and tangible context: the family. The life of a family is the proving ground of faith. The relationship between a son and his parents becomes the quintessential illustration of the relationship between a man and his God. A wise son brings joy; a foolish son brings grief. This is not just a statement about domestic tranquility. It is a foundational principle of God's created order. Obedience, wisdom, and righteousness produce blessing and gladness. Disobedience, folly, and wickedness produce sorrow and ruin. The home is the first place this cosmic reality is played out.

Outline

Context In Proverbs

This verse, "The proverbs of Solomon," serves as a title for the large section that runs from chapter 10 through 22:16. While Solomon is the principal author, the book as a whole is a collection of wisdom literature from various sources, as the book itself later indicates (Prov. 22:17; 24:23; 30:1; 31:1). Having laid the theological groundwork in chapters 1-9 by establishing that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the book now moves into the practical application of that principle. The proverbs in this section are almost all structured as antithetical parallelisms, meaning the second line contrasts with the first. This structure forces the reader to constantly make a choice: this way, or that way? The way of wisdom, or the way of folly? The way of righteousness, or the way of wickedness? The way of life, or the way of death? This first proverb immediately personalizes this choice within the covenant family, making the stakes clear not just for the individual, but for the entire household.

Key Issues

The Proverbial Nature of Proverbs

Before we dive in, we must be clear on what a proverb is. A proverb is not a promise in the same way that "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved" is a promise. Proverbs are divinely inspired generalizations about the way the world, under God's governance, typically works. They are axioms for living, not geometric axioms that admit no exceptions. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like an armed man (Prov. 6:10-11). Is that true? Absolutely. But does a lazy man occasionally inherit a fortune from a rich uncle? Yes, but you shouldn't build your life around that possibility.

So when we read that a wise son makes a father glad, this is a statement of what is normative in God's world. It describes a moral reality with tangible, emotional consequences. It is a truth that is generally and reliably true. To treat it as a flat, mathematical formula is to misunderstand the genre. Wisdom requires that we know how to apply these general truths to the particular situations of our lives, which is precisely what the book of Proverbs trains us to do.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a father glad, But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

The proverbs of Solomon. This is the heading for this new section. Solomon, the son of David, was endowed by God with unparalleled wisdom, and these sayings are the fruit of that gift. He is the fountainhead of Israel's wisdom literature. This attribution gives divine authority to what follows. This is not just a collection of quaint folk sayings; this is revealed truth from God, given through His anointed king.

A wise son makes a father glad, The first half of the contrast sets the ideal. What is a "wise son"? In the context of Proverbs, wisdom is not about IQ points or academic achievement. A wise son is one who fears the Lord (Prov. 1:7). He listens to instruction, receives correction, honors his parents, works diligently, controls his tongue, and walks in righteousness. His life is ordered according to God's created design. The result of this godly character is that he brings gladness to his father. This is more than just a feeling of parental pride. It is the deep-seated joy a father feels when he sees the covenant promises being passed down to the next generation. It is the joy of seeing his labors, his prayers, and his instruction bear fruit. This gladness is a taste of heaven, a reflection of the pleasure our Heavenly Father takes in His obedient Son, Jesus Christ.

But a foolish son is a grief to his mother. Here is the antithesis, the dark shadow. The "foolish son" is the one who despises wisdom and instruction. He is lazy, rebellious, quarrelsome, and walks the path of the wicked. He lives as though there is no God, and consequently, no consequences. The result is grief for his mother. Why is the mother specified here? It is not that the father is not also grieved. But the text highlights the particular sorrow of a mother. A mother's connection to her child is unique; she carried him, bore him, and nursed him. Her grief has a visceral, heart-wrenching quality. This is the woman who invested her life in this child, and to see him throw it all away on folly is a source of profound and constant pain. This grief is a taste of hell. It is a picture of the sorrow that sin brings into God's good world. The contrast is stark: the son's character directly determines the emotional atmosphere of the home. He will be a source of either covenantal joy or covenantal sorrow.

Application

This proverb is a foundational building block for a Christian worldview, and it applies in several directions. First, for sons and daughters, the application is straightforward. Your life is not an isolated affair. Your choices to walk in wisdom or folly have a direct and profound impact on your parents. To honor your father and mother, as the fifth commandment requires, is to live wisely. To bring them gladness is a form of honor; to bring them grief is a form of dishonor. This is not a call to a slavish people-pleasing, but a recognition that your life is intertwined with theirs in a covenantal bond. Your pursuit of holiness is a gift you give to them.

Second, for parents, this verse is both an encouragement and a warning. It is an encouragement because it sets before us the goal of our parenting: to raise wise children who will be a source of joy. This is a worthy and noble task. It is also a warning, because it reminds us of the stakes. The grief of a foolish child is a heavy burden. This should drive us to our knees, begging God for the grace and wisdom to bring our children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). We cannot make our children wise, for wisdom is a gift from God. But we are the means God has appointed to teach, model, and discipline them into that wisdom. We plant and water, but God gives the growth.

Finally, we must all see ourselves in this proverb. In relation to our Heavenly Father, we are all sons. When we walk in the wisdom of the gospel, trusting and obeying our Lord Jesus Christ, we bring gladness to the heart of God. The Father declared from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Through our union with that Son, our faltering attempts at obedience are accepted, and God the Father delights in us. But when we stray into folly, when we sin, we grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30). The ultimate contrast is not between a happy home and a sad one, but between the eternal joy of heaven and the eternal grief of hell. This proverb, in its simple domesticity, points us to that ultimate reality and calls us to choose the path of wisdom, the path of life, the path that is Jesus Christ Himself.