The wicked worketh a deceitful work; but he that soweth righteousness hath a sure reward.
This proverb sets two workers side by side. Both expect something back for their work, but only one of them will get what he expects.
Older translations read that the wicked "does a deceitful work." One writer keeps both sides in view: the work is crooked, and so is the pay it brings.
The force of verse 18 seems to be not only the deceitful work the wicked man does, but also the matching and disappointing wages he earns. That work deceives him as much as, or more than, the people he harms. But the man whose life is consistent with his relationship to God and to others sows and reaps in keeping with it. He has a sure reward.
The deceit starts before the work does. It comes out of what the man has chosen to be, and the next verse follows each road to its end.
Because a wicked man chooses to be a deceiver, he therefore does deceptive work (v. 18). For righteousness leads to life, while one who chooses evil will follow the evil to his own death. Dreadful result! (v. 19).
So what does the sower actually plant? One writer starts by defining the word itself.
Righteousness is being consistent with our relationships. The first of those is with God, who is out of sight and forgotten. Now Solomon admitted openly, at the height of his earthly blessing, that "there is no one who does not sin." So no man can be righteous without looking away from himself to the One God always meant to send... To be self-satisfied, or indifferent, is to be unrighteous at the root. Only believing God and looking for the Saviour is right. He gives a person to be righteous as well as justified.
Writing on another proverb in the same book, this commentator names the New Testament passage that matches it.
It is the Old Testament parallel to Galatians 6:7-8: "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."
Sowing does not return the same amount. It multiplies — which makes both halves of the proverb heavier than they look.
One more thing to notice before we leave the harvest: we may always expect to reap more than we sow... This is true whether the seed is good or bad, and whether the ground is good or bad. Jacob deceived his old father and stole his brother's birthright. That was bad sowing, but he did not expect the harvest he received. Laban deceived him about his wife, and he had to work another seven years to win her... Then his own sons deceived him about Joseph. He spent twenty-two years in bitter sorrow, mourning him as dead. This was part of the harvest of his own sowing.
So the reward is certain. But what place should it have in the worker's heart?
"In due season we will reap," says the apostle, "if we do not give up." The love of Christ compelled him too, along with the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. Yet he also knew that a crown of righteousness was waiting for him, and that the Lord, the righteous judge, would give it to him on that day. Where reward is the motive, all is wrong. But the gracious Lord encourages us in our work with His approval, and with His promise of reward at the end.
What makes that reward sure? It rests on God's own character.
God's very nature and character make it impossible for Him to overlook the evidence of true faith... His own righteousness requires Him to recognize fully every work and act of love shown for His Name.
- Deceptive — the wicked man's pay does not only cheat other people. It lies to him most of all, promising a return it cannot deliver.
- Chosen — deceptive work is not bad luck. A man who has decided to be a deceiver produces it, and the next verse traces that road to death.
- Sown — righteousness means living in step with your relationships, starting with God. Since no one is sinless, it begins by looking away from yourself to the Saviour God meant to send.
- Multiplied — a harvest always exceeds its seed. Jacob's deceptions came back on him for decades, so take both halves of this proverb seriously.
- Sure — God's own righteousness will not forget work done in love, so the reward is certain. Let it encourage you rather than drive you. Where reward is the motive, the sowing goes wrong.
As righteousness [tendeth] to life, so he that pursueth evil [doeth it] to his own death.
The proverb sets two directions side by side and follows each to its end. The question is not what a person does once, but where his settled course is heading. Older translations put the first half as "righteousness tends to life," and several writers below quote it that way. One writer gives the verse in this form:
He who is steadfast in righteousness is so unto life, and he who pursues evil does so unto his own death.
The contrast is not between a good deed and a bad one. One man stands firm in righteousness. The other is in motion, chasing evil. Each is "so unto" his own end: the road itself carries him there.
Proverbs links these two words again and again. One writer gathers the pattern across the book:
The teaching of Christ truly keeps us healthy and full of happy life, free from the deadly influences of the world. Again, "In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death" (12:28). As we have seen, righteousness and life go together. The believer is in the path of righteousness, and the living Bread is provided for him there. So it is also said, "Righteousness tends to life" (11:19). And again, "the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he who wins souls is wise" (11:30).
Life here is not a prize waiting at the finish line. It belongs to the path itself.
If righteousness leads to life, everything depends on how a sinner gets it. One writer defines the word, then points to the only place it can come from:
Righteousness means being consistent with our relationships. The first of them is with Him who is out of sight and forgotten. Now, at the height of his earthly blessing, Solomon publicly admitted that "there is no man that sins not." So righteousness cannot be for any man without looking outside himself to Him whom God always meant to send. All who feared Him knew this... To be self-satisfied, or indifferent, is to be unrighteous at the root. To believe God and look for the Saviour is the only right thing. He gives a person to be righteous as well as justified; "he shall live by his faith"; and there is no other way.
The second half of the verse does not describe a man overtaken by evil. It describes a man running after it. One writer reads this verse with the one before it, and keeps the blame where the proverb puts it:
Because a wicked man chooses to be a deceiver, he therefore does deceptive work (v. 18). For righteousness leads to life, while one who chooses evil will follow the evil to his own death. Dreadful result! (v. 19).
In the older rendering the man goes "unto his own death," and the word "own" matters. Nobody else drives him there. One writer describes how the path gathers speed:
One sin leads to another. We cannot stop just when we choose in the path of sin. As someone has said, "A man cannot stop his boat at will in the strong currents just above Niagara, though he might have avoided them altogether."
The verse names a destination for each road, and one writer traces the darker one back to its author:
Righteousness certainly tends to life, as he who pursues evil to his own death. The devil is not only a liar but a murderer from the beginning until his end comes. Those whom he sways must share his doom, since they reject the Righteous One who alone gives life to those who believe.
So the proverb is about more than two lifestyles. It is about two masters, and about a Person who gives life.
- Direction — the verse weighs a settled course, not a single act. One man stands firm in righteousness. The other chases evil. Each road runs to its own end.
- Root — righteousness means being consistent in our relationships, starting with God. No one is sinless. So it comes only by looking outside ourselves to the Saviour: "he shall live by his faith."
- Path — righteousness and life travel together in Proverbs. In the path of righteousness there is life, and in its pathway there is no death.
- Momentum — a man chooses evil first, and then he cannot stop when he pleases. He is like a boat already caught in the current above Niagara.
- Destination — those who follow the murderer from the beginning share his doom. The Righteous One alone gives life to those who believe.