Potent righteousness

A class discussion of Proverbs brought out some interesting points. Proverbs 11:18 says that whoever sows righteousness will receive a sure reward. The verb “sow” is zr’ , the verbal form of “seed.” Righteousness is a seed sown, and the metaphor implies that righteousness is potent. What a seed produces is far greater than itself, and so with righteousness. Righteousness is to its results as the acorn is to the oak. This is the righteousness that surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees. It’s possible to have a sterile righteousness, but true righteousness yields a harvest, 30-, 60-, 100-fold.

A few verses later, in 11:21, Solomon says that the “seed of the righteous will be delivered.” The same two Hebrew roots are used, and the proximity of the two verses is tantalizing. Raising righteous seed is part of the sowing of righteousness, the sowing that produces far more than what is sown.