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Proverbs 13 · a question people ask

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick" (13:12). Is the saying about waiting on God?

In the text

The chapter never names God, and the saying names no one hoped in and nothing hoped for. It says two things: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick", and "when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life" (13:12). 13:19 says the second again with the same word for longing: "Longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul" (13:19). Hope is tochelet, which Proverbs has twice more: "The prospect of the righteous is joy" (Proverbs 10:28), and "When a wicked man dies, hope perishes, and expectation of power comes to nothing" (Proverbs 11:7), where it is prospect and expectation (tap Hope). A psalm uses the same word of hope in God: "Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you" (Psalm 39:7), and the notes on Psalm 39 look at it. Proverbs 13:12 itself says only what deferred hope does and what fulfilled longing is, and these notes don't say what anyone's hope is, or when it will come.

The verses

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.”
Proverbs 13:12 · World English Bible
“Longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil.”
Proverbs 13:19 · World English Bible
“The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish.”
Proverbs 10:28 · World English Bible
“When a wicked man dies, hope perishes, and expectation of power comes to nothing.”
Proverbs 11:7 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Proverbs 13

Proverbs 13: A wise son listens

The scoffer "doesn’t listen to rebuke" (13:1) and the poor "hear no threats" (13:8): in Hebrew the same three words. And "The teaching of the wise is a spring of life, to turn from the snares of death" (13:14) comes back in the next chapter, of the fear of the LORD, with the same five Hebrew words (Proverbs 14:27).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions