Plenty Of Nothing

“He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty” (Prov 28:19).

There is a meaningful repetition here, not captured in all translations: the diligent person will have “plenty [Hebrew yisba] of bread,” but the lazy person will have “plenty [yisba again] of poverty” (RSV). What an irony — more than enough poverty to be satisfied with!

“Fantasies” is the Hebrew word reyq, derived from a word meaning “empty.” This may refer to empty or worthless things, “daydreams” (NET) or “worthless pursuits” (see Gen 41:27), including idle or empty words (Deut 32:47). Sometimes, more specifically, it refers to empty people, or in the words of the KJV, “vain persons” (as in: Jdgs 9:4; 11:3; 2 Chron 13:7).

Islip Collyer writes that Proverbs 28:19…

“applies not only to the tilling of the land but to all humble callings which will give bread. From such humble security men are lured in every year that passes, and many of them follow vain persons to poverty and sorrow. Closely following this passage — in the next verse [Prov 28:20] — we have the warning against making haste to be rich.

“The exhortation is needed now as much as ever. Often those who are most bitter in their criticisms of the rich are those who have tried hastily and unsuccessfully to follow in their wake. The Government has had to warn people against ‘share pushers.’ All such swindlers use a golden bait, and it is surprising how many people who ought to know better have succumbed to their blandishments. There are still plenty of fraudulent enterprises even on the right side of the law, and men ready to take the money of those who ‘make haste to be rich’ ” (Principles and Proverbs, p. 244).

George Gershwin, in an old Broadway song entitled “Plenty of Nothing,” puts a positive spin on the phrase. Porgy, a crippled black man living in the slums of Charleston, South Carolina, sings the song. Even though Porgy is poor in material things, he is rich in more meaningful things:

Oh, I got plenty of nuthin,’

And nuthin’s plenty for me.

I got no car — got no mule,

I got no misery.

The folks with plenty of plenty

Got a lock on the door,

’Fraid somebody’s a-goin’ to rob ’em

While they’s out a-makin’ more –

What for?

I got no lock on the door

(That’s no way to be).

They can steal the rug from the floor.

That’s okay with me.

’Cause the things that I prize,

Like the stars in the skies,

Are all free.

Oh, I got plenty o’ nuthin,’

And nuthin’s plenty for me.

If we understand poverty as a relative thing, and appreciate the simple blessings of life, this viewpoint of “plenty of nothing” well reflects Jesus’ words, in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:19-21). To this he adds:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt 6:25-33).

Poverty often does not arise from laziness and indifference to work. Its cause may be circumstances without easy remedy, where idleness has played no part. Or, it can be a deliberate choice of those who labor for their daily bread and could easily afford more than they consume — more of this, that, and the other luxury items — but instead they choose less. This latter kind of poverty recognizes that human life does not consist in the abundance of possessions (Luke 12:15), but in character, and in the thoughts of the heart.

Although this proverb — and others in the book of Proverbs — may appear to focus exclusively on practical wisdom, it is very much about the spiritual life. The reality is that a wise man will labor for his daily bread, while never losing sight of his foremost object: “Seek first the kingdom of God” (Matt 6:33). Money and material things with which he has been blessed will be put to good use, not to hinder but to help his walk toward God’s Kingdom.