Commentary - Proverbs 14:23

Bird's-eye view

This proverb sets up a stark and practical contrast between two activities: productive labor and empty talk. It establishes a fundamental principle of wisdom literature, which is that God has structured the world in such a way that fruitful effort generally leads to gain, while mere verbalizing, detached from action, leads to ruin. The verse is not simply contrasting work with laziness in the sense of sleeping all day. It is a more subtle and therefore more dangerous form of sloth. It is the laziness that disguises itself as activity, the idleness that mimics productivity through meetings, brainstorming sessions that never end, and endless chatter about future plans. The core lesson is that reality rewards substance, not air. Painful, difficult, toilsome labor is the path to profit, while the easy path of lip service is the certain road to destitution.

In the final analysis, this proverb drives us to the ultimate Worker, Jesus Christ, whose labor on the cross was supremely painful and infinitely profitable for us. It also exposes our own tendency to substitute pious talk for genuine obedience. The gospel rescues us from the want that our empty words deserve and empowers us, through the Spirit, to engage in the kind of fruitful labor that brings glory to God.

Outline

Context In Proverbs

Proverbs 14:23 fits squarely within the book's central theme of contrasting the way of the wise with the way of the fool. The book of Proverbs consistently teaches that wisdom is not an abstract, intellectual affair; it is eminently practical and demonstrates itself in action. The wise man builds his house, works his land, and controls his tongue. The fool is lazy, shortsighted, and full of words. This particular verse refines the common biblical contrast between diligence and sloth (Prov 10:4, 12:24). It specifies a particular kind of sloth, the kind that is all talk and no action. This is the fellow who is always going to start a business, always about to fix the leaky roof, always planning to get his life in order. His mouth is in constant motion, but his hands are still. This proverb, therefore, is a sharp diagnostic tool for distinguishing true diligence from its counterfeit.

Key Issues

The Talking Idler

Everyone knows that Proverbs champions hard work and condemns laziness. This is, as we might say, proverbial. Diligence leads to wealth, and sloth leads to poverty. But this verse gives us a particular variation on the theme. This is not about the difference between a man plowing his field and a man asleep in his bed. The contrast is more subtle; it is between a man working and a man talking about working.

Now, we must be careful. There is a kind of talk that is an integral part of work. We call it planning, strategizing, outlining, or giving instructions. This is the necessary preparation for labor, the first stage of the work itself. In fact, this is precisely what gives the talking idler his cover. Because productive talk exists, he can pass off his unproductive talk as the same thing. He can sit in on the meeting and sound like he is contributing, but his words are not connected to any intention of actual toil. He wants to substitute the conversation for the perspiration. He wants the credit for planning the project without the calluses from building it. This proverb tells us where that road ends. It leads to penury, a state of utter destitution. Talking about how you are going to get rich is a surefire way to become very poor.

Verse by Verse Commentary

23a In all painful labor there is profit...

The first clause lays down the foundational principle. The Hebrew word for "labor" here is etseb, which carries the connotation of pain, toil, and grief. This is not leisurely, enjoyable activity. This is the hard, sweaty, back-aching work that came as a result of the curse in Genesis 3. After the fall, the ground would only yield its fruit through painful toil. But the wisdom here is that God, in His mercy, has embedded a blessing within the curse. In that very pain, in that toil, there is "profit." There is gain, advantage, and abundance. This is a law of God's creation. He has wired the world to reward effort. The farmer who painfully labors in the field will have a harvest. The craftsman who toils in his shop will have goods to sell. The student who puts in the agonizing hours of study will gain knowledge. Profit does not come from wishing; it comes from working, and specifically from the kind of working that costs us something.

23b But mere words from the lips lead only to want.

Here is the contrast. The phrase could be translated "the word of the lips." It is talk, and nothing more. It is disembodied speech, words unattached to hands and feet. This kind of talk, Solomon says, has a predictable outcome. It "leads only to want." The Hebrew word for want is machsor, meaning poverty, lack, or need. While the man engaged in painful labor is moving toward profit, the man engaged in mere talk is moving just as surely toward destitution. Notice the exclusivity of it: it leads only to want. There is no other possible destination. The man who builds castles in the air will soon find he has no roof over his head in the real world. This is because words are cheap, but reality is expensive. You cannot pay your bills with good intentions, nor can you feed your family with elaborate plans that are never executed. The world God made is a world of substance, and it simply does not yield to a man who offers it nothing but vapor.

Application

The application of this proverb must begin with a frank self-examination. In what areas of our lives are we substituting talk for labor? A husband can talk about how he loves his wife, but the painful labor of putting her needs before his own is where the profit of a good marriage is found. A father can talk about wanting his children to follow the Lord, but it is the painful labor of consistent, patient discipline and instruction that leads to the profit of a godly heritage. In the church, we can have endless meetings about evangelism, but it is the often awkward and painful labor of actually speaking the gospel to our lost neighbors that profits the kingdom.

Ultimately, this proverb, like all of Proverbs, should drive us to Christ. We are all, by nature, talking idlers. We have offered God "mere words from the lips," promising to do better, promising to obey, while our hands remained idle in rebellion. Our words have led us to the ultimate want, a spiritual bankruptcy before a holy God. But Jesus Christ was the ultimate man of painful labor. His whole life was a toil of perfect obedience, culminating in the agony of the cross. In that supremely painful labor, He secured an infinite profit, an inexhaustible treasury of righteousness, which is given freely to all who cease from their own verbal justifications and trust in His finished work.

Once we are clothed in that righteousness, the Holy Spirit begins to transform us from talking idlers into fruitful workers. The Christian life is not one of sitting around and talking about our justification. It is one of rolling up our sleeves and engaging in the painful labor of putting sin to death and learning to walk in love and good works. We do not work for our salvation, but we do work out our salvation (Phil 2:12), and in that labor, by the grace of God, there is great profit for us, for our families, for the Church, and for the glory of God.