Notes on Proverbs 10:12

[I plan to teach this passage tonight at Kosmosdale Baptist Church.]

Translation:

Hatred stirs up disputes, but love covers over all transgressions.

The “5 Ws”:

Who: The one with hatred = the one stirring up disputes; the one with love = the one covering over all transgressions.

What: hatred, disputes, love, and transgressions.

Where: in nations, in our court systems, in our homes, and in our churches.

When: whenever we harbor hatred, we find disputes; whenever we find love, we find the covering over of transgressions.

Why: Hatred stirs up disputes because hatred focuses on selfish desires; love promotes the covering over of transgressions because love focuses on the good desired for the other person.

How: Hatred stirs up disputes through self-seeking at the expense of others; love promotes the covering-over of transgressions by seeking close, edifying relationships.

So what? We must guard against hatred and pursue love if we are to avoid disputes and to

Christological consideration- Jn. 5:39 and Lk. 24:27 hermeneutic

Those who would reject hatred and embrace love are those who follow the example of Christ as He explains in Luke 22:24-27 [a passage chosen because it uses the same word for “disputes” that the LXX uses in Prov 10:12].

How are our sins “covered over”? Ultimately, it is through the blood of Christ. As we sing in the hymn “Come Thou Fount:” “He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.” Our sins– our rebellion, our crimes, our transgression– had earned us a mortal blow from God, who is a perfect, holy Lawgiver and Judge. In Christ– on the Cross– the Son of God took our place, taking our condemnation, and bearing the wrath that we deserve. Jesus died, was buried, and was raised again on the third day, showing that He has conquered sin, death, and Hell; He now sits in Heaven at His Father’s right hand, offering forgiveness, freedom, and eternal life to all who place their faith in Him. 1 Peter 2:21-24.

Faith in Christ is brought about by a work of the Holy Spirit. Love, the first and foremost, absolutely necessary gift of the Spirit is perfectly described in 1 Corinthians 13. Note, for example, verses 4-5:

Love is patient; love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (1 Cor 13:4-5 NIV 1984)

Love is an active thing, closely tied to the work of evangelism, as an examination of the closing verses of the book of James demonstrates:

My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. (Jas 5:19-20 NIV 1984)

Within the church, transgression-covering love is manifested in hospitality and service to one another (as, again, Christ was hospitable to His disciples and served them). 1 Peter 4:8-10.

II Tim. 3:16 hermeneutic

Teaching: This passage teaches us about the results of hatred and the activity of love.

Rebuking: This passage rebukes those who are clinging to hatred, stirring up disputes.

Correcting: This passage corrects those who, in defending the faith, may have begun to love conflict and corrects those who may wrongly hold on to offenses out of a misguided sense of justice (rather than seeking to cover them over).

Training in righteousness: This passage trains the godly person to seek a love that is active in covering over offenses.

Additional note

x-refs. Prov 17:9[-10]; 30:[32-]33; Luke 22:24[-27]; 1 Cor 13:4-5; Jas 5:20; 1 Pet 4:8[-10]

Interpretive notes

Grammatical:

“stirs up:” a metaphor drawn, it seems, from a culinary term; Prov 30:33 (a somewhat parallel passage) speaks of “churning” milk to produce butter.

“disputes:” a word used in national, judicial, and personal relationships: understood as grievances, disputes, and quarrels in various contexts.

“covers over:” a verb meaning exactly what it sounds like: to place something over another thing in order to conceal it.

“transgressions:” another word used in national, judicial, and personal relationships: understood as rebellions, crimes, and sins in various contexts.

Commentaries

“This exhortation is of a piece with the recurring NT theme that evil is not overcome merely by refraining from doing it: we are to overcome evil with good. It is not enough to break a bad habit; it is essential to love Jesus more, to want eternal things more. It is not enough not to retaliate against an enemy; it is essential to love one’s enemy.” [G.K. Beale and D.A. Carson, eds., Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 1012.]

“Yahweh sets his character on display in people’s lives as he renders to them according to their works. This can be seen in how… the lifestyles of the righteous and the wicked bear fruit.” [James Hamilton, God’s Glory in Salvation Through Judgment (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 296.]

“Hatred looks for and exaggerates faults, but love seeks ways to make sin disappear.” [NET Bible]

“True love seeks the highest good of another.” [MacArthur Study Bible]