Proverbs 23:17

My Notes

What Does Proverbs 23:17 Mean?

Solomon commands a daily discipline: "Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long." The prohibition (don't envy sinners) and the prescription (fear the LORD all day) create a replacement strategy: the envy is displaced by the fear. The space in your heart that envy would occupy is filled with reverence instead.

The word "envy" (qana — to be jealous of, to burn with desire for what someone else has) targets the specific temptation of watching sinners prosper and wanting what they have. The sinners' success produces a burn in the observer: why do they get away with it? Why does their path produce results? The envy isn't just comparative. It's combustive — it burns.

The "all the day long" (kol-ha-yom) makes the fear-of-the-LORD prescription continuous: not morning devotions and then envy the rest of the day. All day. The reverence must be sustained through every waking hour because the envy's trigger (watching sinners prosper) operates through every waking hour. The disease is continuous; the remedy must be equally continuous.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What sinner's prosperity currently triggers your envy — and how often does it flare?
• 2.How does the 'all day long' requirement (continuous reverence) match the continuous nature of the envy trigger?
• 3.What does verse 18's promise ('surely there is an end') add to the motivation for sustained fear-of-the-LORD?
• 4.What practical habit helps you maintain reverence at the same frequency as the temptation to envy?

Devotional

Don't envy sinners. Fear the LORD. All day long. Solomon prescribes a 24-hour replacement therapy: the reverence that fills your day displaces the envy that would otherwise consume it.

The envy isn't theoretical. Solomon addresses people who are watching sinners succeed and burning with jealousy. The sinner's new house. The dishonest person's promotion. The morally compromised person's thriving social life. You see it. You want it. And the wanting burns because you've been doing the right thing and have less to show for it.

The fear of the LORD is the prescription — not as a one-time pill but as a sustained infusion. All day long. The reverence must be as constant as the temptation. You can't fear the LORD in the morning and envy sinners by noon. The daily discipline of sustained reverence is the only thing that prevents the sustained temptation of envy from winning.

The verse's future promise (verse 18: 'surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off') provides the reason: the sinner's prosperity has an expiration date. Your faithfulness doesn't. The end the verse promises is the end of the sinner's success AND the fulfillment of your expectation. The patience the fear-of-the-LORD produces is the patience that outlasts the envy's burn.

The all-day-long requirement means the discipline is hourly, not just daily. The envy doesn't attack once a day. It attacks every time you see the sinner prospering — which, in the age of social media, is approximately every seven minutes. The fear of the LORD must operate at the same frequency. Every time the envy flares, the reverence must respond.

What sinner's prosperity is burning you right now — and is the fear of the LORD operating at the same frequency as the envy?

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture