Proverbs 17:2

A slave who acts wisely will some day be the boss of his master’s disgraceful son and when his master dies, the slave will receive part of his master’s possessions.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.

In Context

1It is better to eat a dry piece of bread and not have strife/quarrels than to have a big feast in a house where everyone is quarreling.

3Workers put silver and gold in a very hot furnace to burn out what is impure, and Yahweh similarly examines people’s inner beings to see if they are pure.

Read all of Proverbs 17

Cross References

Proverbs 10:5Those who are wise, harvest the crops when they are ripe; it is shameful/disgraceful to sleep and not work during harvest time.

Proverbs 14:35Kings are pleased with officials who do their work competently/skillfully, but they punish [MTY] those who do their work in a manner that causes the kings to be disgraced.

Proverbs 29:15If children are punished/spanked and reproved/warned, they become wise; but if they are allowed to do whatever they want to do, they do things that cause their mothers to be ashamed of them.

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 17:2

Falsehood and Oppression Reproved. 1 Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife. These words recommend family-love and peace, as conducing very much to the comfort of human life. 1. Those that live in unity and quietness, not only free from jealousies and animosities, but vying in mutual endearments, and obliging to one another, live very comfortably, though they are low in the world, work hard and fare hard, though they have but each of them a morsel, and that a… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Proverbs 17:2