Commentary - Proverbs 17:19

Bird's-eye view

This proverb, like so many in this book, is a masterful piece of parallelism that diagnoses a spiritual disease by observing its external symptoms. The verse is divided into two clauses, and both are talking about the same kind of man, just from different angles. The first line deals with his contentious spirit, and the second with his arrogant architecture. At first glance, a love for quarreling and a high doorway might not seem related, but Solomon, by the inspiration of the Spirit, yokes them together. The connecting tissue is pride. The man who loves to fight and the man who builds a pretentious entryway are both suffering from the same root malady: a love of self that puts them at odds with both God and their neighbor. This is a proverb about how a proud heart inevitably manifests itself in ways that court destruction. It shows us that sin is never just an internal affair; it always builds something, and what it builds is always structurally unsound.

The first man loves transgression, and the clear evidence of this is that he loves to quarrel. He is a brawler, a pot-stirrer, an agitator. The second man exalts his gate, his entryway, and in so doing, he is actively seeking his own ruin. Both men are in love with death, but they think they are in love with their own importance. The proverb is a warning, showing the logical and covenantal connection between a certain kind of character and a certain kind of destiny. A contentious spirit is a sinful spirit, and a prideful spirit is a foolish one. Both are on a collision course with reality, which is to say, on a collision course with God.

Outline

Context In Proverbs

Proverbs 17 is situated in a collection of Solomon's proverbs that deal extensively with the themes of righteousness and wickedness, wisdom and folly, often expressed in the relationships between neighbors, in the courtroom, and within the family. This particular verse fits neatly into the book's overarching teaching that a man's character determines his destiny. Just a few verses earlier, we are told that "a fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calls for blows" (Prov 18:6). The theme of strife as the product of wickedness runs throughout the book. "A man of wrath stirs up strife, and a man given to anger causes much transgression" (Prov 29:22). Likewise, the warning against pride and haughtiness is a constant refrain. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Prov 16:18). This proverb is not an isolated observation but a reinforcement of a central biblical truth: God resists the proud, and a heart that loves sin will inevitably create conflict and invite ruin.

Key Issues

The Quarrelsome Sinner and His High Gate

The structure of this proverb is what we call synthetic parallelism. The second line does not simply repeat the first in different words; it builds upon it, it develops the thought. The first line gives us the internal disposition and its immediate social consequence. The second line gives us another manifestation of that same internal disposition, but this time connects it to its ultimate consequence. A love for sin blossoms into a love for fighting. That same prideful heart also builds a high gate, and that high gate is like a lightning rod for destruction.

We must see that the man who loves quarreling and the man with the high doorway are the same man. His problem is not, at root, a temper problem or an architectural problem. His problem is a worship problem. He is worshiping at the altar of self, and the liturgy of that worship involves constant strife and ostentatious displays of importance. He is a man who is fundamentally out of alignment with the grain of God's universe. And when you fight the grain, you will always get splinters. In his case, the splinters are quarrels, and the final result is the complete destruction of his proud project.

Verse by Verse Commentary

19a He who loves transgression loves quarreling;

This is a profound piece of spiritual psychology. The proverb does not say that he who transgresses will sometimes find himself in a quarrel. It says that the one who loves transgression also loves quarreling. The two affections are intertwined. Why? Because at the heart of all transgression is rebellion against God's established order. It is an assertion of the self against the Creator. And a man who is at war with God will necessarily be a man who is at war with his fellow man, who is made in the image of God. His love of strife is not an unfortunate character flaw; it is the natural expression of his love for sin. He enjoys the fight. He thrives on the conflict. He feels most alive when he is asserting his will against others, because this is a small-scale reenactment of his rebellion against the ultimate Other. Quarreling is the static electricity that sparks off a soul that is bristling with the pride of sin.

19b He who makes his doorway high seeks destruction.

Now we move from the man's mouth to his house. To "make his doorway high" is a potent metaphor for arrogance and pride. In that ancient world, a high, ornate gate was a statement of wealth, power, and importance. It was a way of saying, "Look at me. See how great I am." It was a piece of architectural boasting. But the proverb says that in building his monument to himself, he is actually, whether he knows it or not, seeking destruction. The word is seeks. He is actively pursuing it, inviting it, sending it a gilt-edged invitation. Why? For two reasons. First, such a display of wealth would naturally attract the attention of robbers and enemies. It makes his house a target. This is the practical wisdom of the proverb. But the deeper, theological reason is that God Himself is pledged to bring down the proud. "A man's pride will bring him low" (Prov 29:23). By exalting his gate, he is setting himself up in opposition to the God who dwells on high, and God will not be mocked. That high doorway is an act of defiance, and destruction is the covenantal response to such defiance. He thinks he is building a fortress, but he is actually building his own tomb.

Application

The application for us is direct and searching. We must examine our own hearts for the love of strife. Do we secretly enjoy arguments? Do we nurse grievances? Are we quick to take offense and slow to forgive? If so, this proverb tells us to look deeper. The problem is not the irritating people around us; the problem is a love of transgression in our own hearts. A contentious spirit is a red flashing light on the dashboard of the soul, indicating that our engine is burning the oil of pride. We must confess the sin of loving sin, and ask God to replace it with a love for the peace that flows from righteousness.

And what about our doorways? We may not be building literal high gates, but we have a thousand other ways of exalting ourselves. We do it with our resumes, with our social media profiles, with the way we talk about our accomplishments or our children's accomplishments. We build high doorways in our conversations. Every time we boast, every time we subtly put another person down to elevate ourselves, we are raising our gates. And in doing so, we are seeking destruction. The gospel is the great leveler of all our high doorways. It tells us that the only gate that matters is the narrow gate that leads to life, and we must stoop to enter it. Christ is that gate, and He humbled Himself, even to the point of death on a cross. He had no proud gate, but was born in a stable and buried in a borrowed tomb. The way up in the kingdom of God is the way down. We must therefore repent of our architectural pride and embrace the humility of the cross, for it is only in losing our life for His sake that we will truly find it.