Good help is hard to find! (Proverbs 10:26)

כַּחֹמֶץ ׀ לַשִּׁנַּיִם וְכֶעָשָׁן לָעֵינָיִם כֵּן הֶעָצֵל לְשֹׁלְחָיו׃

ka-KHO-mets la-shi-NEYE-eem u-khe-a-SHAN l’-ay-NEYE-im KAYN he-a-TSAYL l’-sho-l’-KHAV

Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes—so is a lazy person to the one who sends them.

The message of this proverb is transparent enough. Its placement in the book/section less obvious. We can particularly appreciate the artfulness of this proverb, which includes its alliteration of לַשִּׁנַּיִם (la-shi-NEYE-eem; ‘teeth’) and לָעֵינָיִם (l’-ay-NEYE-im; ‘eye), and the colorful word pictures—vinegar in the teeth (referring to any acidic, grape-based drink and the affect of the acid on the teeth) and smoke in the eyes.

Sociologically this proverb belongs to a number of sayings in the book that contain warnings about messengers (13:17; 22:21; 25:13; 26:6). Faithful and diligent messengers were, of course, much more crucial to ancient commerce than to modern business, but the lesson is not lost: successful business requires faithful and diligent workers.

Transience and permanence (Proverbs 10:24–25)

מְגֹורַת רָשָׁע הִיא תְבֹואֶנּוּ וְתַאֲוַת צַדִּיקִים יִתֵּן׃
כַּעֲבֹור סוּפָה וְאֵין רָשָׁע וְצַדִּיק יְסֹוד עֹולָם׃

m’-go-RAT ra-SHA HEE t’-vo-e-NU v’-ta-a-VAT tsa-dee-KEEM yi-TAYN
ka-a-VOR su-FA v’-AYN ra-SHA v’-tsa-DEEK y’-SOD o-LAM

The wicked’s dread—it will come on them, and the desire of the righteous ones is granted.
When the stormwind passes by, the wicked is no more; but the righteous will be established forever.

These verses return to the dominant theme of righteous-wicked in this chapter, and may be closely related to each other: neither the “dread” of the wicked nor the “stormwind” that destroys them is defined, but it is hard to avoid taking them as mutually referential in one sense. However, there is a limit to how much these two may be identified since the stormwind may be envisioned as overtaking both the wicked and the righteous, the contrast being the sustainability of the righteous in the face of the stormwind and not the avoidance of its onslaught. It is clear in any case that the general conviction of the ends of the wicked and righteous is affirmed in these verses.

Sport (Proverbs 10:23)

כִּשְׂחֹוק לִכְסִיל עֲשֹׂות זִמָּה וְחָכְמָה לְאִישׁ תְּבוּנָה׃

kis-KHOK likh-SEEL a-SOT zi-MA v’-khokh-MA l’-EESH t’-vu-NA

As sport for a fool is acting wickedly, and wisdom for a person of understanding.

My translation conveys some of the syntactic ambiguity of this proverb. The most persuasive understanding is as a chiastically ordered saying in which כִּשְׂחֹוק is gapped in the second half. Thus, just as committing iniquity (זִמָּה ‘plan, cunning’ is usually negative, and clearly so here in contrast with וְחָכְמָה in the second part) is “sport” for the fool, so is (acting) with wisdom for the person of understanding.

Thus, כִּשְׂחֹוק receives both a negative and positive nuance in this proverb. Negatively, the fool fails to take seriously the moral dimensions of life, and thus acting wickedly is no more than jesting on their part. Positively, the person of understanding takes delight in (cf. 8:30–31; 21:15) wisdom—ambiguously referred to as the principle by which the person acts or an object of contemplation in itself.

The Lord’s blessing (Proverbs 10:22)

בִּרְכַּת יְהוָה הִיא תַעֲשִׁיר וְלֹא־יֹוסִף עֶצֶב עִמָּהּ׃

bir-KAT a-do-NEYE HEE ta-a-SHEER v’-lo-yo-SEEF E-tsef i-MA

The blessing of the Lord—it enriches, and toil cannot add to it.

This proverb is not directly—either verbally or topically—related to the surrounding proverbs, though it relates to earlier evaluations of wealth (vs. 15) and diligent work (vs. 16). The most notable connection to the context is between this proverb and 10:4b: וְיַד חָרוּצִים תַּעֲשִׁיר׃. Bridges in his commentary notes of the two, “Both are consistent. The one marks the primary, the other the instrumental and subordinate, cause. Neither will be effective without the other. The sluggard looks for prosperity without diligence; the practical atheist from diligence alone.”

From the earliest ancient versions onward, there have been differences of opinion on the second part of this proverb, hinging on the interpretation of עֶצֶב: ‘toil’ or ‘pain, sorrow’? The interpretation reflected in my translation here seems least banal (but of course God’s blessing would not come with sorrow or pain as an additional component of it!) and most consonant with other wisdom teachings: Qoheleth condemns both laziness (4:5) and endless striving after wealth (4:6–8); wealth hastily obtained is condemned by the sages (Prov 20:21; 28:22); and the instruction of Ptah-hotep describes well the interaction between human diligence and divine blessing: “It is their [the gods'] law for him whom they love: his gain, he gathered it himself; it is the god who makes him worthy and protects him while he sleeps” (ll. 180–81; AEL 1.66; cf. Ps 127:1–2).

If excessive striving and laboring for wealth is seen as vanity and evil, what does all this say about our modern western society of work-a-holics—both those who work endless hours in search of monetary security and those who set themselves to the endless pursuit of academic prestige?