Proverbs 12:11

“He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread, etc.] This was man’s work in innocence; this he was doomed to do with the sweat of his brow after his fall; every man has his land to till, or some calling, work, or business, to be employed in, either civil or sacred; and it becomes him to be diligent therein, and such as are shall not want bread, but shall have a sufficiency of it; but he that followeth vain [persons is] void of understanding: that neglects his business, loiters away his time, spends it in the company of vain, empty, and unprofitable persons; as he shows himself by such a choice that he is void of understanding, or “wants a heart”f331, to improve his time and talents;…”

“The idler's fate is the result of indolence and want of principle (Pro 6:32; Pro 7:7).”

“The contrast is carried on between the life of industry and that of the idle, “vain person” of the “baser sort” (the “Raca” of Matthew 5:22). We might have expected that the second clause would have ended with such words as “shall lack bread,” but the contrast goes deeper. Idleness leads to a worse evil than that of hunger. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Tilleth - That employs his time in an honest calling. Vain persons - In an idle course of living. Proverbs 12:12”

“12:11 This proverb is repeated but with a different conclusion in 28:19.”

“tilleth: Pro 13:23, Pro 14:4, Pro 14:23, Pro 27:27, Pro 28:19; Gen 3:19; Psa 128:2; Eph 4:28; Th1 4:11, Th1 4:12; Th2 3:8 he that followeth: Pro 1:10-19, Pro 4:14, Pro 4:15, Pro 6:32, Pro 7:7, Pro 9:6, Pro 9:13, Pro 9:16, Pro 13:20; Jdg 9:4; Psa 26:4; Jon 2:8; Tit 1:10, Tit 1:11 Proverbs 12:12”

“11 He that tilleth his own ground is satisfied with bread, And he that followeth after vain pursuits is devoid of understanding. Yet more complete is the antithetic parallelism in the doublette, Pro 28:19 (cf. also Sir. 20:27a). The proverb recommends the cultivation of the field as the surest means of supporting oneself honestly and abundantly, in contrast to the grasping after vain, i.e., unrighteous means of subsistence, windy speculations, and the like (Fl.). ריקים are here not persons (Bertheau), but things without solidity and value (lxx μάταια; Aquila, Theodotion, κενά), and, in conformity with the contrast, not real business. Elsewhere also the mas. plur. discharges the function of…”