Proverbs 25 Bible study: A word fitly spoken

The chapter opens with a heading: "These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out" (25:1) (tap copied out). It is the second heading in the book to begin These also. The first was "These also are sayings of the wise" (Proverbs 24:23), and in Hebrew both begin with the same two words, gam elleh. Proverbs is mashal, the word of the book's first heading, "The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel" (Proverbs 1:1), and of "The proverbs of Solomon" (Proverbs 10:1). Proverbs names Hezekiah only here. 2 Kings tells of his reign: "Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign" (2 Kings 18:1), and "He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel" (2 Kings 18:5). 2 Chronicles tells of him from "Hezekiah began to reign" (2 Chronicles 29:1) to "Hezekiah slept with his fathers" (2 Chronicles 32:33). The heading says who copied these proverbs out, and no more: it doesn't say when, from what, or how many, and these notes don't either.

Proverbs 25:6→leads toLuke 14:8-10

"Don’t exalt yourself in the presence of the king, or claim a place among great men" (Proverbs 25:6), "for it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,” than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince" (Proverbs 25:7). At a meal in the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees (Luke 14:1), Jesus "spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats" (Luke 14:7): "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the best seat" (Luke 14:8), or the host may come and say, "Make room for this person" (Luke 14:9). "But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’" (Luke 14:10). Jesus doesn't cite Proverbs, so setting the two together is a reading. It rests on a shared subject, not on shared words: in both, you don't take the high place for yourself, and it is better to be called up than sent down. The saying Jesus adds after it, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 14:11), is on 1 Kings 1's line on the map; this line is about the seat. One reading hears Jesus giving at a wedding feast the counsel Proverbs 25:6-7 gives before a king. Another hears his words as his own parable, told at that meal to guests he saw choosing the best seats (Luke 14:7), and doesn't look back to Proverbs. These notes don't choose, and they don't say who is meant at that meal or at any table today.

כָּבוֹדkavodsay ka-VOD

Brown-Driver-Briggs: "abundance, honour, glory". Strong's: "properly, weight, but only figuratively in a good sense, splendor or copiousness". "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter" (25:2): glory is kavod both times. It comes twice more near the chapter's end, where the WEB gives it as honorable and honor: "nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor" (25:27). Proverbs has it 16 times in Hebrew. It is the honor of "Before honor is humility" (Proverbs 15:33), and of "A man’s pride brings him low, but one of lowly spirit gains honor" (Proverbs 29:23).