NOTES for Pro 13:1-25

Self-control begins with holding back the words about to slip off the tongue. This ancient wisdom, affirmed by both the Old and the New Testament (Jas. 3:3–10), is hard for many people to grasp today, when the ‘strongest’ swearing has become normal and insults are delivered as easily and unconsciously as breathing. Yet freedom of speech remains freedom only when we do not become slaves to our own impulses, when language does not impose stereotyped patterns on us but we master it. A compulsive tendency not only to swear but also to use verbal fillers, many of which are disguised swear words—such as the extremely popular Russian ‘blin’—shows an inability to control dark impulses and resist temptations.

There are no trifles: everything matters and everything is connected. That is why reflections on false and truthful speech are interspersed not only with reflections on the importance of wisdom but also with advice on managing wealth. Yes, earthly wealth is not always acquired righteously. But if it has been earned through work and has not become an end in itself, it benefits both the person who possesses it and their neighbours.

Those fond of using their fists like to invoke the proverb about the rod. Yet it speaks not of a right to beat someone, but of the need not to let evil go without consequences. Another, non-physical means of influencing someone may prove more effective than a flogging motivated by the desire to ‘show who is in charge’ and assert one's ego under the pretext of ‘putting things in order’…