When is luxury harmful? (19:10)
Luxury is not fitting for a fool, much less for a slave to rule over princes.
Luxury is easily abused, so it can be unhappy for some.
Trading wealth for luxury requires careful handling, as proven by the sad fate of most lottery winners. The wise know how to govern their luxuries, but their luxuries govern the foolish.
Some teach that luxury is inherently evil, and only a Spartan lifestyle is noble, but luxury is simply a tool to be used, wisely or foolishly.
Translation: Luxury, Fool
This proverb has the first of the Bible’s five uses of the Hebrew word for luxury, תענוּג (tă•’ănȗḡ, pronounced “ta-a-noog”). tă•’ănȗḡ is also translated as “daintiness,” “pleasures,” or comforts.
The word for “fool” here is the Hebrew word, כּסיל (kesîl, pronounced “kě-seel”), referring to a dull or obstinate person. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT) says that its Hebrew root word, “kasal,” apparently has an original meaning, ‘to be sluggish,’ what is thick, plump or fat.
Three Hebrew words in Proverbs are translated as “fool,” says TWOT, meaning the “propensity to make bad choices” (and not a mental deficiency). The other two terms are אויל (ʼevîl, pronounced “ě-veel”), referring to an insolent character, and the word, נבל (nā•ḇāl, pronounced “nah-vahl”), meaning a boorish or mean disposition. So the three “fools” are lazy, insolent, or boorish. And the “fool” in this text is the lazy or stubborn, those who simply refuse to expend physical or spiritual energy. They may be intelligent, but undisciplined and weak-willed.
Luxuries and Their Abuse
Luxuries are an expenditure of wealth, not for ordinary necessities, but for out-of-the-ordinary pleasures, comforts, or splendours. And they’re generally the product of the efforts of many. The definition of luxury obviously changes from culture to culture, a staple in one society being a luxury in another. Two good meals a day would be a great luxury in much of the world, but not in North America or Europe. Luxuries and some examples of their foolish abuse:
- Abundant food: Overeating or gluttony;
- Extravagant food: Gourmet pretensions or obsessions;
- Expensive clothing: Obvious exhibitionism and inaccessible closets;
- Remarkable cars: Road rage and fender anxiety;
- Plush accommodations and furnishings: Immobility and idleness;
- Leisure time: Vices and idleness;
Gluttony
Toddlers, naturally foolish, will eat a box of chocolates until their stomach’s ache. Adult human beings will wolf down hors d’oeuvres, pastries, “chocolate waterfalls,” desserts, and delicacies until they’re writhing in pain. The Roman “nobility” in the days of the Caesars would gorge on stuffed mice and flamingo tongues” at sumptuous banquets, vomit up their food, and then gorge again. The dining rooms in Nazi officers’ clubs would have a “vomitorium,” as much for overdrinking as overeating.
The Christian teaching on “original sin” points to the undeniable fact that any healthy, natural human desire, left to its own devices (or our own devices) becomes unnatural and unhealthy. In our selfishness, our desires can and do destroy us.
Classic Comments
In his Exposition of the Entire Bible (ca. 1750) John Gill comments that fools “do not know how to make a right use of their prosperity; nor to moderate their enjoyments, pleasures, and delights.” Fools are characterized by excess. Likewise, Matthew Henry says “delights are fitting” for those who need refreshment after strenuous work, but not for fools who live in idleness and abuse their recreation.
It’s precisely those with great wealth who most need to learn temperance and habitual moderation. Immoderation—ungovernable appetites—cause so many lottery winners to end up with wrecked lives and broken families. Just as it takes training to handle power tools properly, it takes wisdom to use luxuries appropriately. The Message puts it this way: “Blockheads shouldn’t live on easy street.”
- Memorize the text in your favourite Bible translation and think about it often.
- Give up your luxuries or grow in wisdom.
- Give luxuries only to those who can handle them well.
- Watch your diet—eat for proper nutrition.
Which of these steps, if any, does Jesus want you to take now? Ask Him.
Luxury is easily abused, so it can be unhappy for some.
Trading wealth for luxury requires careful handling, as proven by the sad fate of most lottery winners. The wise know how to govern their luxuries, but their luxuries govern the foolish.
Some teach that luxury is inherently evil, and only a Spartan lifestyle is noble, but luxury is simply a tool to be used, wisely or foolishly.
Translation: Luxury, Fool
This proverb has the first of the Bible’s five uses of the Hebrew word for luxury, תענוּג (tă•’ănȗḡ, pronounced “ta-a-noog”). tă•’ănȗḡ is also translated as “daintiness,” “pleasures,” or comforts.
The word for “fool” here is the Hebrew word, כּסיל (kesîl, pronounced “kě-seel”), referring to a dull or obstinate person. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT) says that its Hebrew root word, “kasal,” apparently has an original meaning, ‘to be sluggish,’ what is thick, plump or fat.
Three Hebrew words in Proverbs are translated as “fool,” says TWOT, meaning the “propensity to make bad choices” (and not a mental deficiency). The other two terms are אויל (ʼevîl, pronounced “ě-veel”), referring to an insolent character, and the word, נבל (nā•ḇāl, pronounced “nah-vahl”), meaning a boorish or mean disposition. So the three “fools” are lazy, insolent, or boorish. And the “fool” in this text is the lazy or stubborn, those who simply refuse to expend physical or spiritual energy. They may be intelligent, but undisciplined and weak-willed.
Luxuries and Their Abuse
Luxuries are an expenditure of wealth, not for ordinary necessities, but for out-of-the-ordinary pleasures, comforts, or splendours. And they’re generally the product of the efforts of many. The definition of luxury obviously changes from culture to culture, a staple in one society being a luxury in another. Two good meals a day would be a great luxury in much of the world, but not in North America or Europe. Luxuries and some examples of their foolish abuse:
- Abundant food: Overeating or gluttony;
- Extravagant food: Gourmet pretensions or obsessions;
- Expensive clothing: Obvious exhibitionism and inaccessible closets;
- Remarkable cars: Road rage and fender anxiety;
- Plush accommodations and furnishings: Immobility and idleness;
- Leisure time: Vices and idleness;
Gluttony
Toddlers, naturally foolish, will eat a box of chocolates until their stomach’s ache. Adult human beings will wolf down hors d’oeuvres, pastries, “chocolate waterfalls,” desserts, and delicacies until they’re writhing in pain. The Roman “nobility” in the days of the Caesars would gorge on stuffed mice and flamingo tongues” at sumptuous banquets, vomit up their food, and then gorge again. The dining rooms in Nazi officers’ clubs would have a “vomitorium,” as much for overdrinking as overeating.
The Christian teaching on “original sin” points to the undeniable fact that any healthy, natural human desire, left to its own devices (or our own devices) becomes unnatural and unhealthy. In our selfishness, our desires can and do destroy us.
Classic Comments
In his Exposition of the Entire Bible (ca. 1750) John Gill comments that fools “do not know how to make a right use of their prosperity; nor to moderate their enjoyments, pleasures, and delights.” Fools are characterized by excess. Likewise, Matthew Henry says “delights are fitting” for those who need refreshment after strenuous work, but not for fools who live in idleness and abuse their recreation.
It’s precisely those with great wealth who most need to learn temperance and habitual moderation. Immoderation—ungovernable appetites—cause so many lottery winners to end up with wrecked lives and broken families. Just as it takes training to handle power tools properly, it takes wisdom to use luxuries appropriately. The Message puts it this way: “Blockheads shouldn’t live on easy street.”