Hope deferred

Another one of those proverbs that might belong together but, if so, I’m not sure how.

Wealth gained hastily will dwindle,
but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

Pretty straightforward, you would think. But what about this?

Wealth gained hastily will dwindle,
but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

Do they belong together–are then side by side for a reason?

If so, is this a warning that you have to endure a sick heart to build sustainable wealth?

Or is it a saying that you do indeed need to accumulate a little rather than nothing? You need some “easy wins” sprinkled throughout your life.

Or is the “hope deferred” really what happens to the “wealth gained hastily”? Maybe Solomon is saying that the person who rapidly rises and then falls will not be able to easily recover.

The Bible is a short book. But Proverbs has such a multitude of interpretive possibilities, that I wonder how anyone is supposed to master it in one life time.

I suppose they need to keep reading and building up their understanding little by little.

2 thoughts on “Hope deferred

  1. Sam H

    Perhaps the issue is the heart and the “position” or “state” it needs to be in in order to accumulate wealth properly. “Sick” according to The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament:

    The verb is also used in the sense of “sick of heart” or “mind,” as a girl sick with love (Song 2:5; 5:8).

    –be or become sick, weak, diseased, grieved, sorry, et al.

    –beseech, entreat, pray, make prayer, suit, application.

    Hope deferred puts the heart in a position of humility, keeps it from pride.

    Maybe it’s akin to the idea expressed here:

    (Psa 119:71) “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.”

    afflicted = humbled

    Reply

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