Proverbs 11:31 - Meaning and Application

This, I think, is the only one of Solomon’s proverbs that begins with that word of attention, “Behold!” That shows it holds not only an obvious truth that can be seen, but also an important truth that deserves close thought.

Some understand both parts as a warning of punishment. They think the righteous, if they do wrong, will be punished for their sins in this world, and that wicked people will be punished even more for their sins, because they sin not from weakness only, but with a defiant heart. If judgment begins with God’s own house, what will become of the ungodly? (1 Peter 4:17-18; Luke 23:31)

I think it is better to understand the verse as speaking of reward for the righteous and punishment for sinners. We should notice God’s providential retributions, his ordered ways of rewarding and punishing in this world. There are some rewards and punishments in earthly life that show there is truly a God who judges on earth (Psalm 58:11). But they are not complete or universal. Many sins go unpunished here, and many faithful acts go unrewarded, which points to a coming judgment and a future life where God will repay more fully and more exactly.

Often the righteous are rewarded for their righteousness in this life, though that is not their main reward, and far less the only one they should seek. Yet whatever God has promised them, or whatever his wisdom sees fit for them, they will receive in this world. The wicked and the sinner are also sometimes strikingly punished in this life, whether as nations, families, or individual people.

If the righteous, who do not deserve even the smallest reward, still receive part of their reward here on earth, then far more will the wicked, who deserve the greatest punishment, receive part of their punishment here, as a sign of worse to come. Therefore, stand in awe and do not sin. If those who deserve nothing can have two heavens, much more will those who deserve both have two hells.