Treasure gathers in the wise man's house and disappears in the fool's, because the fool eliminates margin the moment it appears.
Two kinds of households get contrasted in Proverbs 21:20: There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, But a foolish man swallows it up (v. 20). The verse contrasts what gathers in the wise person's home with what disappears in the fool's.
Wisdom accumulates because it knows how to keep what it has gained. Folly does not. The fool consumes the surplus the moment it appears, leaving nothing in reserve.
This is one of the marks Proverbs uses to distinguish the two kinds of men: the wise builds margin, the fool eliminates it. Margin is what allows a household to weather a hard season; the fool's house has no margin to weather anything.
Proverbs 21:20
20 There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise,
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Proverbs 21:20 meaning
Two kinds of households get contrasted in Proverbs 21:20: There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, But a foolish man swallows it up (v. 20). The verse contrasts what gathers in the wise person's home with what disappears in the fool's.
Wisdom accumulates because it knows how to keep what it has gained. Folly does not. The fool consumes the surplus the moment it appears, leaving nothing in reserve.
This is one of the marks Proverbs uses to distinguish the two kinds of men: the wise builds margin, the fool eliminates it. Margin is what allows a household to weather a hard season; the fool's house has no margin to weather anything.