“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men” Proverbs 22:29 KJV.
I heard this scripture one day while watching Sam Adeyemi on The Word Network station on my cable service. I questioned at that time if the Holy Bible actually contained the word “business.” So I looked up this scripture verse and found the word “business” in my King James Version. The word “business” was there!
In this verse of scripture the word “diligent” or “mahiyr” means quick; hence, skilful:– diligent, hasty, ready (The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Of The Bible, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers). The Merriam-Webster definition for the word “diligent” is “characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort: painstaking.”
The word “business” or “melakah” means deputy-ship, i.e. ministry; gen. (generally) employment (never servile) or work (abstr. [abstractly] or concr. [concretely]); also property (as the result of labor): — business, +cattle, +industrious, occupation, (+ -pied), +officer, thing (made), use, (manner of) work ([-man], -manship), (see Strong’s).
So to be in business, one must be diligent or quick, skilful, hasty (archaic meaning of “hasty” which is “rapid in action or movement” from Merriam-Webster), and ready. To be ready for a business, it may or may not take years to prepare for a business, but quick and hasty may happen after some time that you have acquired your skill (skilful). For example, I started taking piano lessons at age 8, and started teaching piano at age 14.
Having a business according to this verse includes the word “ministry” (see Strong’s and “ministry” in Merriam-Webster meaning “a person or thing through which something is accomplished”). The word “ambassador” is a synonym to the word “minister” (See Merriam-Webster meaning of “minister”).
So in ministry, are we ambassador’s of Christ in our business? From the verb “minister” (see Merriam-Webster) do we “give aid or service” to others in and from our business?
As such, the verse goes on to say, “he shall stand (“stand” or “yatsab” meaning (be able to, can, with-) stand (fast, forth, -ing, still, up) before kings; he shall not stand (or “yatsab”) before mean men.”
The diligent business, with the aforementioned definitions, “shall stand,” not collapse, “before kings.” The diligent business “shall not stand” before mean (“mean” or “chashok” meaning “dark, obscure” (see Strong’s and “obscure” in Merriam-Webster meaning “not well-known; difficult to understand: likely to be understood by only a few people; difficult or impossible to know completely and with certainty”) men.
God in His infinite wisdom has given us this one verse to meditate on of which there are such thoughts or ideas for and from this one verse. So much to think about concerning doing business. In Matthew Henry’s Commentary On The Whole Bible, Complete and Unabridged, Hendrickson Publishers, concerning this verse he states, “A moral prognostication of the preferment of such a man; though now he stands before mean men, is employed by them and attends upon them, yet he will rise, and is likely enough to stand before kings, as an ambassador to foreign kings or prime-minister of state to his own. Seest thou a man diligent in the business of religion? He is likely to excel in virtue, and shall stand before the King of kings.”
Always meditate on or think about the goodness of God! Read your Bible everyday — Psalm 63:1 KJV!
God Bless You All!
Brenda A. McGee has attended New York Theological Seminary in New York, NY, and Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA as a Master of Divinity student.
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