The Bold and the Wicked
The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty. Proverbs 28:19 · Berean Standard Bible
Someone who actually works their land will have plenty to eat, but someone chasing get-rich-quick schemes will end up poor.
This is intensely practical. Steady, honest work produces real results—you have food, you have security. But someone pursuing fantasies—daydreaming about easy money, gambling, get-rich schemes—will chase those fantasies straight into poverty. Hard work beats wishful thinking every time.
Solomon, grounding wisdom in everyday reality
This runs through Proverbs constantly—the value of diligent work, the danger of laziness and fantasy. It's connected to the principle that we reap what we sow and that there's no substitute for faithful, consistent effort.
Someone who invests labor in productive work will have abundant food, while someone who pursues unrealistic fantasies will be impoverished.
The contrast between 'avad adamato' (works his land) and 'rodeph riqim' (chases emptiness/fantasies) presents the fundamental choice between grounded, disciplined effort and wishful thinking divorced from reality. The Hebrew 'riqim' (empty, vain) suggests not merely unrealistic hopes but pursuits that inherently yield nothing. This verse embodies the proverbialist privileging of observable cause-and-effect over wishful thinking, a sophisticated epistemology based on experience.
The wisdom teachers drawing on agricultural observation—noting which farmers prosper and which don't.
This principle saturates Proverbs (6:6-11; 10:4-5) and reflects the conviction that reality rewards those who align themselves with it. It anticipates Paul's principle that 'if anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat' (2 Thessalonians 3:10), establishing industry as a fundamental ethical good.
17A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.
18He who walks with integrity will be kept safe, but whoever is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.
19The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.
20A faithful man will abound with blessings, but one eager to be rich will not go unpunished.
21To show partiality is not good, yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.
Read all of Proverbs 28 — The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. Courage is a fruit of clear conscience.
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