Commentary - Proverbs 12:2

Bird's-eye view

Proverbs 12:2 presents a foundational principle of God's moral government in just two sharp, contrasting lines. It sets before us the two paths, the two kinds of men, and the two ultimate destinies that the book of Proverbs constantly revisits. On one side, you have the "good man," who is not good by his own native righteousness, but is good because God has been good to him. This man lives in such a way that he obtains favor from Yahweh. This favor is not earned through a meticulous tallying of good deeds, but is the natural atmosphere in which a man reconciled to God lives. On the other side is the "man of evil schemes," the conniver, the man whose mind is a workshop of wicked contrivances. God's response to this man is not passive disapproval but active condemnation. The verse is a stark reminder that character matters, that our internal disposition and the plans we hatch in our hearts have consequences that reverberate into eternity. God is not an indifferent observer; He is a moral judge who actively blesses goodness and condemns wickedness.

This proverb, then, is a distillation of the covenant. To the man who walks in the grain of God's created order, whose heart is aligned with divine wisdom, God shows Himself favorable. But to the man who seeks to twist reality to his own wicked ends, who schemes and plots against the good, God sets Himself in opposition. It is a promise and a warning, establishing the fundamental antithesis between the righteous and the wicked, and grounding their respective futures in the unwavering character of God Himself.

Outline

Context In Proverbs

This verse sits within a chapter full of contrasts. Chapter 12, like much of Proverbs, is structured around a series of antithetical parallelisms, setting the righteous against the wicked, the wise against the foolish, the diligent against the lazy. For example, verse 1 contrasts the love of discipline with the hatred of reproof. Verse 3 contrasts the stability of the righteous with the rootlessness of the wicked. Verse 5 contrasts the just thoughts of the righteous with the deceitful counsel of the wicked. Proverbs 12:2 fits seamlessly into this pattern. It provides the ultimate theological grounding for all these other comparisons. Why does one man love discipline and another hate it? Why is one rooted and another unstable? It all traces back to their fundamental standing before God. One man is "good" and therefore lives in the sunshine of God's favor, while the other is a "man of evil schemes" and therefore lives under the shadow of His condemnation. This verse is not just another proverb in a list; it is a key that unlocks the divine logic behind the entire chapter.

Key Issues

The Great Antithesis

The Bible is a book of sharp lines. It does not deal in the murky grays that our modern sensibilities prefer. There is light and darkness, life and death, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. This proverb is a perfect example of this great, foundational antithesis. You are one of two things: a good man or a man of evil schemes. Your destiny is one of two things: favor from God or condemnation from God.

Of course, we know from the rest of Scripture that this "good man" is not a man who is sinlessly perfect. As Paul says, "None is righteous, no, not one" (Rom 3:10). The good man of Proverbs is the man who has been declared good by faith. He is the man whose heart has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, whose fundamental orientation has been turned from self to God. He is good in the same way a tree is good, not by trying really hard to be a tree, but simply by being what it was created to be. Its fruit is the natural overflow of its nature. In the same way, the man of evil schemes is not just a fellow who makes a few bad choices. His very nature, his heart, is a fountain of wickedness. His schemes are not aberrations; they are the natural product of who he is. This proverb forces us to ask the most basic question: which man am I? The answer determines everything.

Verse by Verse Commentary

2A A good man will obtain favor from Yahweh,

First, who is this "good man"? In the ultimate sense, there is only one good man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Any goodness we possess is a derived goodness, a gifted goodness. A "good man" in the biblical sense is not a self-made moralist. He is a man who has been made good by grace. His heart, what Jesus called the "good treasure," has been filled by God (Matt 12:35). Because his nature has been changed, his life begins to align with God's design. He loves what God loves and hates what God hates. The result of this, Solomon says, is that he will "obtain favor from Yahweh." This favor (ratson in Hebrew) is not a wage earned, but a gift received. It means delight, pleasure, and acceptance. It's the atmosphere of the covenant of grace. When you walk in fellowship with God, you experience His good pleasure. This is not to say the good man's life will be free of trouble, but it does mean that underneath it all, he lives with the smile of his Father upon him. He is on the right side of the ultimate reality.

2B But a man of evil schemes He will condemn.

The contrast is stark. The second man is not just a sinner; he is characterized by his "evil schemes" (mezimmah). This word carries the idea of plotting, devising, and contriving. This is not a man who stumbles into sin; he architects it. His mind is always working, always planning ways to get ahead at the expense of others, to twist the truth, to satisfy his lusts. He is a strategist for the kingdom of darkness. And what is God's response? He "will condemn" him. The Hebrew verb here means to declare guilty, to pronounce wicked. This is not just a future event at the final judgment, though it certainly includes that. It is a present reality. The man who lives by wicked schemes is living under the constant, active condemnation of God. His plans may seem to succeed for a season, but the verdict of the supreme court of the universe has already been rendered against him. He is fighting a battle he has already lost, because he has made an enemy of the God who holds all things together.

Application

This proverb demands that we look in the mirror. It cuts through all our self-justifications and forces a fundamental evaluation. We cannot be a little of both. We are either, by grace, being conformed to the image of the "good man," Jesus Christ, or we are operating as "men of evil schemes."

For the believer, this is a verse of profound comfort and encouragement. The "favor of Yahweh" is not something you have to strive for in order to be saved; it is the reality in which you live because you are saved. Your task is not to earn His favor, but to walk in it. This means cultivating a heart that delights in God's law, that seeks justice and mercy, and that despises the convoluted and dishonest schemes of the world. It means living a life of integrity, where your inner man and your outer man are in harmony. When you do this, you are not twisting God's arm to bless you; you are simply enjoying the blessing that is already yours in Christ.

For the unbeliever, this verse is a terrifying warning. You may think you are clever. Your schemes may be working out. You may be getting away with it. But this proverb tells you that the God of the universe sees your heart. He sees the blueprints of your sin before you ever lay the foundation. And He has already condemned your way of life. The only escape from this condemnation is to abandon your own schemes and cast yourself upon the mercy of God. It requires you to confess that your heart is a factory of evil devices and to plead with God to give you a new one. The good news of the gospel is that He delights to do just that. He takes men of evil schemes and, through the cross of Christ, transforms them into good men who can walk, for the first time, in the glorious favor of God.