Commentary - Proverbs 28:25

Bird's-eye view

Proverbs 28:25 sets before us two men, two ways of life, and two ultimate destinies. It is a proverb of sharp contrasts, laying bare the foundational difference between a life oriented around the self and a life oriented around God. On the one hand, we have the arrogant man, literally the man of a "wide soul" or "puffed up appetite," whose defining characteristic is a grasping pride. The inevitable fruit of this pride is strife. He is a walking conflict generator. On the other hand, we have the man who trusts in Yahweh. His posture is not one of grasping, but of reliance. The result for him is not strife, but enrichment; the old King James says he "shall be made fat," which in the biblical world is a picture of health, prosperity, and abundant blessing. This proverb, then, is a diagnostic tool for the heart. If your life is marked by constant friction and contention, the root is likely pride. The pathway to peace and true prosperity is the abandonment of self-trust and a whole-hearted reliance upon the Lord.

At its core, this is a gospel proverb. The arrogant man who trusts in himself is a picture of fallen humanity, trying to be his own god, and finding only conflict with his neighbor and, ultimately, with his Maker. The man who trusts in Yahweh is a picture of the redeemed man, who has learned that true security and blessing are found not in puffing himself up, but in humbling himself before the God who gives grace to the humble. The ultimate fulfillment of this is found in Christ, who humbled Himself to the point of death, and was therefore highly exalted by God. The enrichment promised here is not just a fatter wallet, but a fat soul, a life made rich and full by the blessing of God, which adds no sorrow with it.

Outline

Context In Proverbs

This proverb sits within a collection of "the proverbs of Solomon" that comprises the bulk of the book. Chapter 28, in particular, contains a series of antithetical proverbs, contrasting the wicked and the righteous, the fool and the wise, the poor and the rich. Verse 25 fits perfectly within this pattern. It follows a verse condemning the one who robs his parents (v. 24) and precedes a verse condemning the one who trusts in his own heart (v. 26). The theme is clear: reliance on self, whether through theft, pride, or foolish self-confidence, leads to ruin. In contrast, those who walk in integrity, trust in the Lord, and give to the poor will find life and blessing. The "arrogant man" of verse 25 is a close cousin to the fool who trusts his own heart in verse 26. Both are manifestations of the central folly condemned throughout Proverbs: the failure to begin with the fear of Yahweh.

Key Issues

The Fat Soul and the Lean

The language of this proverb is wonderfully earthy. The Hebrew for "arrogant man" is literally "he who is wide of soul" (nephesh). This is not a man with a big intellect, but a man with a big, grasping appetite. He wants more, he deserves more, and he is willing to push others out of the way to get it. He is puffed up with his own importance, and this internal inflation naturally creates external friction. He is constantly bumping into people, treading on toes, and taking offense because the world is not arranged to his satisfaction.

The contrast is the man who "shall be made fat." In our modern, health-obsessed culture, being called fat is an insult. But in the ancient world, a world where famine was a constant threat, fatness was a sign of health, abundance, and God's blessing. A fat land was a fertile land. A fat sacrifice was the best sacrifice. A fat soul is a soul that is well-nourished, satisfied, and prosperous in the things of God. The arrogant man, with his wide and grasping soul, ends up in leanness of soul, full of strife and dissatisfaction. The humble man, who trusts in God, ends up with a fat soul, enriched by the provision of his Lord. It is a beautiful paradox: the one who grasps for everything gets nothing but trouble, while the one who entrusts everything to God receives abundance.

Verse by Verse Commentary

25a An arrogant man stirs up strife...

The proverb begins with a diagnosis of a chronic troublemaker. Where does strife come from? James asks the same question in the New Testament: "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?" (James 4:1). Solomon gives us the same answer here. The source of strife is not primarily found in external circumstances, but in the internal disposition of the heart. The arrogant man, the proud man, is a strife-stirrer. His pride makes him impatient of contradiction. It makes him jealous of the success of others. It makes him thin-skinned and easily offended. He cannot let things go because his honor is at stake. He must have the last word. He sees every disagreement as a referendum on his own worth. Consequently, he is a walking powder keg, and the world is full of sparks. He doesn't just stumble into strife; he actively "stirs it up." He is the chef in the kitchen of conflict.

25b But he who trusts in Yahweh will be enriched.

The contrast could not be more stark. The alternative to the arrogant man is not simply a "nice" man or a "passive" man. The alternative is the man whose fundamental orientation has shifted from self to God. He "trusts in Yahweh." This trust is the very essence of humility. The proud man's functional trust is in himself, his abilities, his resources, his cleverness. The humble man has abandoned that project as a fool's errand. He knows his own heart is deceitful (Prov. 28:26) and that his own strength is insufficient. So he places his confidence, his security, and his future in the hands of the covenant-keeping God, Yahweh.

And what is the result? He will be "enriched," or "made fat." This is a promise of God's blessing. This certainly can include material prosperity, as the book of Proverbs often teaches that diligence and righteousness generally lead to it. But it is much deeper than that. He is enriched with peace, because he does not have to fight for his own honor; God is his defender. He is enriched with contentment, because his portion is from the Lord, not from what he can grab. He is enriched with wisdom, because he is teachable. He has a fat soul, satisfied in God, which is the true wealth that the arrogant man, for all his striving, can never attain.

Application

This proverb is a mirror. If we look at our lives, our homes, our churches, and our online interactions, and we see a constant pattern of strife, this verse tells us where to look for the cause. The problem is not "out there." The problem is a proud heart. The constant temptation for all of us, especially in an age that worships self-esteem, is to be "wide of soul," to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. This proverb calls us to repentance. It calls us to mortify our pride, to put to death the grasping, self-justifying impulse that creates so much relational wreckage.

But how do we do that? The proverb gives us the answer: by trusting in Yahweh. Pride is ultimately a failure of faith. We are arrogant because we do not truly believe that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do. We fight for our own reputation because we don't trust God to guard it. We grasp for our own security because we don't trust God to provide it. The gospel is the only cure for this. The gospel shows us a God who is so glorious that our pride is revealed as absurd, and yet so gracious that we have no need for it. Christ, the truly humble one, took the strife we deserved upon Himself on the cross. He absorbed the ultimate conflict, the wrath of God against our sin. And in exchange, He offers us His riches. He offers to make our souls fat with His grace, His forgiveness, His peace. The path out of a life of strife is the path of faith, a daily, conscious, deliberate choice to stop trusting in our inflated selves and to place all our trust in the crucified and risen Lord Jesus.