What the Bible says about Cleverness
(From Forerunner Commentary)
This verse to the end of the chapter speaks primarily of hypocrisy. Verse 23 describes a person who claims to be a friend yet deceitfully works against another through "clever" language. The lips "glitter," but the heart is false. Silver dross hides the reality of a clay pot just as clever words can hide a corrupt heart.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Ninth Commandment (1997)Related Topics: Cleverness | Corrupt Heart | Hypocrisy | Ninth Commandment | Speech | The Ninth Commandment
The manager of an estate, accused of wasting the owner's goods, cunningly reasons through the situation using his worldly wisdom. However, he continues to deal deceitfully with the rich man's estate. By clever thinking, he devises a plan to defraud his master still more and prepare the way for future employment. He turns the owner's debtors into his friends by forgiving up to half their debts. Reluctantly, the master commends the unjust steward for dealing shrewdly in the worldly ways of cleverness, level-headedness, and forethought. The master does not commend him for wasting his estate, for which he fires him.
Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Unjust StewardRelated Topics: Cleverness | Planning | Preparedness | Shrewdness | Wisdom of Man | Wisdom, Worldly | Wise of the World