“Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.”
My Notes
What Does Proverbs 20:18 Mean?
"Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war." Solomon addresses two domains — planning and conflict — and prescribes the same medicine for both: don't go alone.
"Every purpose" (machashabah) means thought, plan, intention, design. The word covers everything from a business strategy to a life decision. And "established" (kun) — the same word used for God establishing the heavens — means made firm, set in place, secured. Your purposes become solid through counsel. Without it, they remain vapor.
"With good advice make war" — the Hebrew for "good advice" (tachbulot) literally means steerings, as in the skilled maneuvering of a ship. It's strategic guidance from experienced navigators. Solomon isn't talking about collecting opinions from everyone with a mouth. He's talking about seeking skilled, wise direction from people who know how to steer through complexity.
The pairing of planning and war is deliberate. If counsel is necessary for everyday purposes, it's essential for conflict. When the stakes are highest — when you're entering a battle, facing opposition, making a decision that could cost you dearly — that's when you most need people who can see what you can't.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What decision are you currently facing that you haven't brought to anyone else? What's stopping you from seeking counsel?
- 2.Solomon says counsel 'establishes' your purposes. Can you think of a time when someone else's input made your plan stronger than it would have been alone?
- 3.When you're in conflict, do you tend to seek counsel or charge ahead? How has that worked out?
- 4.Who are the skilled 'navigators' in your life — the people whose counsel you trust to steer you through complexity? If you can't name them, what does that tell you?
Devotional
The temptation to go it alone is strongest when the decision feels most personal. It's my career. My relationship. My conflict. My money. And the more personal it feels, the less likely you are to ask for counsel — which is exactly when you need it most.
Solomon says every purpose is established by counsel. Not some. Every. The plan you're working on, the decision you're weighing, the next step you're considering — it becomes solid when other voices have shaped it. Not because you're incapable. Because you're limited. You can only see from your own vantage point. Counsel adds angles you don't have.
And when it comes to conflict — "make war" with good advice — the instruction is even more urgent. When you're in a battle — relational, professional, spiritual — your vision narrows. Adrenaline replaces wisdom. Emotion replaces strategy. You need people who aren't in the fight, who can see the field from above, who can tell you things you're too close to see.
The kind of counsel Solomon recommends isn't just someone who agrees with you. Tachbulot — steerings — implies skilled navigation, course corrections, redirections. Good counsel might tell you to turn when you want to charge straight ahead. It might tell you to wait when you want to attack. The question isn't whether you need it. Solomon's already settled that. The question is whether you'll seek it before you act.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Every purpose is established by counsel,.... Or "the thought" (f) of a man, everyone of them, what he has thought to do,…
Note, 1. It is good in every thing to act with deliberation, and to consult with ourselves at least, and, in matters of…
with good advice or, by wise guidance, R.V., make war. Comp. Luk 14:31-32.
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture