Contradictions and Paradoxes in Proverbs 11:23

Check out Contradictions Catalog of Proverbs 11:23 for the comprehensive list of verses that contradicts Proverbs 11:23. Some key contradictions and paradoxes are described below.

According to Solomon, good people want things that help and make others happy, but bad people hope for things that cause trouble and hurt.

Proverbs 11:23: The desire of the righteous [is] only good: [but] the expectation of the wicked [is] wrath.

Contradiction with Psalm 37:4

This verse encourages delighting in the Lord, promising fulfillment of desires, whereas Proverbs 11:23 suggests that the desire of the righteous leads only to good.

Psalm 37:4: Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Contradiction with Matthew 5:6

Here it states that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled, implying a need for pursuing righteousness that contradicts the inherent assurance in Proverbs 11:23.

Matthew 5:6: Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Contradiction with James 4:3

This verse claims that prayers can go unanswered if asked with wrong motives, contrasting with Proverbs 11:23’s implication that the desires of the righteous are inherently good.

James 4:3: Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume [it] upon your lusts. [lusts: or, pleasures]

Contradiction with Ecclesiastes 2:11

This reflects on labor and desires as ultimately vanity, which contradicts the assertion in Proverbs 11:23 that the desires of the righteous are positive.

Ecclesiastes 2:11: Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all [was] vanity and vexation of spirit, and [there was] no profit under the sun.

Contradiction with Jeremiah 17:9

This verse describes the heart as deceitful and desperately wicked, conflicting with the notion in Proverbs 11:23 that the heart’s desires of the righteous are good.

Jeremiah 17:9: The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Contradiction with Romans 7:18

Indicates that nothing good lives in our sinful nature, opposing the belief that the desires of the righteous as stated in Proverbs 11:23 lead to good things.

Romans 7:18: For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not.
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