Chap. Xxvi. 1-28. 221
CHAP. XXVI.
1-28.
Starke (on ver. 28) : A man who cannot govern himself cannot be usefully employsd in conducting public affairs.
[Bates :
Satan hath an easy entrance into such men, and brings along with him a train of evils]. a rigbteous man will in due time be revealed again in its purity; I's. xxxvii. 6.—(On ver. 27) Tbe laborious and diligent will never lack work, and the more vigorous and systematic he is in it, the more honor does it bring him.
Calwer Handb.
(on ver. 27) : Search not into things too hard.
Various Warnings, viz. : a) Against dishonorable conduct, (^especially folly, sloth and malice).
Chap. XXVI.
As snow in summer and rain in harvest, so honor befitteth not the fool.
2 As the sparrow flitting, as the swallow flying, so the curse undeserved : it cometh not.
3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back.
4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou be like him.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes.
6 He cutteth oS'the feet, hedrinketh damage, who sendeth a message by a fool.
7 Take away the legs of the lame, and the proverb in the mouth of a fool.
8 As a bag of jewels on a heap of stones, so is he that giveth honor to a fool.
9 As a thorny staff that riseth up in the hand of a drunkard, so is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
10 An archer that woundeth everything, and he that hireth a fool, and hireth vagrants (are alike).
11 As a dog that returneth to his vomit, so the fool (ever) repeateth his folly.
12 Seest thou a man wise iu his own eyes, there is more hope of a fool thau of him.
13 The slothful saith : There is a lion in the way, a lion in the midst of the streets.
14 The door turneth on its hinges, and the slothful on his bed.
15 The slothful thrusteth his hand in the dish; he is too sluggish to bring it to his mouth again.
16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes, than seven (men) who give wise judgment.
17 He layeth hold on the ears of a dog who passing by is excited by .=trife that is not his,
18 As a madman who casteth fiery darts, arrows and death,
so is the man that deceiveth his neighbor, and saith: Am I not in sport i* 20 Where the wood faileth the fire goeth out, and where there is no talebearer the strife ceaseth.
THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON.
Coal to burning coals and wood to fire ; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.
22 The words of the talebearer are as sportive (words), but they go down to the innermost part of the breast.
Silver dross spread over a potsherd, (so are) glowing lips and a wicked heart.
24 With his lips the hater dissembleth, and within him he layeth up deceit.
25 When he speaketh fair believe him not; for seven abominations are in his heart.
26 Hatred is covered by deceit, (yet) his wickedness shall be exposed in the assembly.
27 He that diggeth a pit falleth into it, and he that rolleth a stone, upon himself shall it return.
28 The lying tongue hateth those that are wounded by it, and a flattering mouth will cause offence.
GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. 3. [The form )} (comp. x. 13; xix.
23) is ordinarily explained as derived from HIJ the more common 1J TT T (Lex., IJ) as from nj; Bott. (g 49S, 17) suggests that the form
)} is need, as in numerous similar cases the foTmu — -y with weaker, flatter vowels are employed, to convey in their very soand the idea of the weak, the suffering, the miserable:
1J then, in every instance except perhaps one, is used to describe a back that is beaten or threatened.—^10117,
* form with the article, as is indicated not by the vocalization alone, but by the parallel
D^D/ ; BiiTT. I., p. 403, n.
1.—A.J.
Ver.
6. [nypO a Piel part., therefore active in its meaning, and not to be rendered by a passive, nor need it be exchanged for the Pual (pass.) part, as Ewald proposes.
The emendations of D" /J'^ H-XpO in clause a which have been proposed by recent expositors are unnecessary
; «.*?., Esvald's reading H Hi'pO " is deprived of his feet, e/c."
HirziG would read IT HVpO immediately connecting the following words ; " from the end of the feet he swallows injury (? !) who sends messages by a fool."—A.].
Ver. 7.
^^7T is taken most simply as Imper. Pie] from Tl/^, to "lift out, draw out"
(Ps. xxx. 2).
[SoFderst; Grbih, J141,l; NORDH. §452.
BiiTT. ? 1123, 4, and J 300 6, makes it from SSHThis resolution of ^ and snbstitntion of * for the second
BoTT. regards as a probable sign and characteristic of the Ephraimite dialect which be is inclined to find in this section of the Book of Proverbs.
Oessn., Thes., was at first disposed to take it from 7 7n, but in the supplement brought out by Rodiger appears to have changed his view, taking it as a fuller form of l7l.
The rendering of T BoTT., <£c., would be " the legs of the lame hang useless."—A.].
Ver. 14.
[mon, illustrates BiJTTCaER's i^ie?LSS(*Ztfum, " is wont to turn," and in ver. 20
HSDri and pHK'*' his Pitms debttum : " must go out, must cease."
See I>hrb. g 950, 6, and c, e.—A.J.
Ver. 18. n7n7nD from T\7\l or perhaps from a root 71771 still preserved in the Arabic.
Ver. 26.
[nD3i'1
; the r\ of the Ilithp. prefix is elsewhere not assimilated.—A.J.
Ver. 28.
[Tlii?7 as here used BiJTT. regards as one of the traces of an Ephraimite dialect, the noun with this meaning being otherwise feminine.—V3T Gesen. derives from ^1 in the active sense the form being plural with suff. and the construction ace. as object.
Fcerst makes it a peculiar derivative (without suffix) from HDI in the sense of " bowed T T down, humble, pious."
BiiTT. pointing V^T as the E'tbibh, makes it from 'JT with the suffix of the singular.
See ; T • t:
Exegetical notes for the v.irions interpretations.—A.J. tober or November, and the sky is almost always clear," etc.—Comp. furthermore the remarks above on chap. xxv.
13, as well as, for clause i, chap. xi."c.
10; and also ver. 8 below.—-Ver.
'2.— As the sparrow flitting, as the swallow flying: lit. "as the sparrow for fleeing or wandering, as the swallow flying," viz. i^i jiilcil.
Comp.
EXEGETICAL.
1. Vers. 1-3. Three proverbs against folly, symmetrical in their structure (in each case bringing two related ideas into comparison).—As snowin summer and rain in harvest.
Aecoiding to Jf.komb, Comm. in Am. iv.
7, rain in harve=t time I lie similar construction in chap. xxv. 3, and also the similar comparison in xxvii.
[The Inf. i.s in Palestine a thing not lieard ol', and even impossible.
Comp.
Sam. xii.
sq., where a tiudden thunderstorm at this season appears as a miracle from God, and also the confirmatory statements of modern observers, like Robinson, with
may be rendered by the abl. as readily as by the dative of the gerund or verbal noun
: by or in respect to flying, e(c]—So the curse (that is) undeserved: it cometh not.
"A curse that is in vain, that has been uttered without jusl /'at.
11. 307:
"In ordinary years no rain at ail i'.iUs from the end of tlie spring-showers till Oc-
CHAP. XXVI.
1-28.
2:!3 ound, that is unmerited," like that, e.g., in 2 I planation of H., N., S., M.
; he acts as though Sam. xvi. 5 sq., or that in 1 Kings ii.
For ihe he cut off the feet of his messenger who chooses a fool for the errand.
N. errs in completing a proposition in clause a:
" he that has his tcet in vain " comp. xxiv. 28 and Ihe remarks on the Instead of xbn X7 K'ri caUs for i'? passage cut off drinks damage."
A.] The second phrase " he drinketh injury or wrong," according to Job xxi.
; xxxiv.
7, is equivalent to " he sufl'ers abuses, he experiences iu the largest measure an injury self-devised."
For similar use of the term "words" in the sense of commands, directions, a mess.age, comp.
Ex. iv.
13; 2 Sam. xv.
3(!.
For the general meaning compare like complaints of bad and foolish messengers in x. 20; xxv.
13.
Ver.
7. Take away the legs from the lame.
The verb HIT appears lobe used here with Ihe meaning, which it is true is not lo be discovered elsewhere, of tollere, to take away.
For Ihe meaning of the comparison, according to b, seems to be this: Always take from the lame his legs, Xb/I:
"to him, to the fool who utters it, will it T return," it will find its fultilnient in his own case (thus the Vulg. and Jabcui).
But the verbal expression agrees poorly enough with this rendering, and moreover the two comparisons in a plainly favor rather the idea expressed by the K'thibh.
[Such a curse is then fugitive, transient as a bird; it does not come to stay.
The E.
V. suggests the idea very blindly.
Trapp explains:
"As these may fly where they will, and nobody cares or is the worse; so here."
He would carry the comparison farther: as birds after their aimless flight return to their nest, "so the causeless curse returns to the authors.
Cursing men are cursed men."
A.].—Ver.
3. Comp. x.
\^; xix.
29; Ecclesiast. xxx. 2-5-27.—The assertion of J.
D MicHAEHs that the ideas "whip" and "bridle" in clause a are not rightly distributed between the horse and the ass, is refuted by Nah. iii. 2; Ezek. xxxix.
9, where express mention is made of riding whips in connection with horses, as well as by Ps. xxxii.
9, where with horses mules are also mentioned as bridled animals.
[Gesen.
Thes , s.
11. , abundantly illustrates Ihe nobler nature of the Eastern ass, and the higher estimate put upon it.
See also Houghton's article in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, I. 182, Am. Ed. A.]
(i. e., his lame legs), /or they are really useless lo Aim, just as the "proverb,"
(i.e., the maxim of wisdom, the Maschal) in the mouth of the fool is useless, something that might without loss be never there ; for the fool is and continues still a fool (ver. 9; xii.
16; xiv. 24, etc.).
Thus UmBREiT, Beetheau, Stier [Stuart, Kamph.] correctly expLain, while the rest take some one and some another w.ay to explain the peculiarly obscure and difficult '"/'l.
So Luther takes the phrase altogether arbitrarily in the sense of " to dance "
("as dancing to a cripple, so does it befit a fool to speak of wisdom"); in like manner Jakchi and Levi ben Gerson ("his legs are too long 2.
Vers.
4—12.
Eight additional proverbs directed against the folly of fools (among them one consisting of two verses, vers.
4, 6).—Ans^ver not a fool according to his foUy, i. e., speak not with him in accordance with his folly, confirming tliyself to it, imitating it, and thereby becoming tliyself a fool.
On the oilier hand, ver. 5:
Answer a fool according to his folly, i. e., .serve him in his senseless babbling with an appropriate, sharply decisive retort, use with the coarse block (blockhead) the he.avy wedge that belongs lo it.
The proverb in ver. 5 does not then st.and as a restriction on the meaning of ver.
(as Ew.\LD holds), but yet adjusting it, and guarding against what might be misunderstood in the former language.
[S.iys Andrew Fuller:
The terms in the tirst instance mean "in a foolish manner," as is manifest from the reason given.
In the second instance they mean "in Ihe manner which his folly requires."
This is also plain from the reason given.
A foolish speech is not a rule for our imitation; nevertheless our answer must be so framed by it as to meet and repel it.
"This knot will be easily loosed," says MupFET, "if it be observed that there are two sorts of answers, the one in folly, the other unto folly."
A.] Ver.
6. He cutteth off the feet, he clrinketh damage, who sendeth a message by a fool.
Comp. the two figurative expressions in clause a, the first ("he cutteth off the feet," i. e., his own feet, amputat sihi peden—Michaelis, ScHELLiNO, Beetheau, Elster, Stieb, [Kamph.
WoRnsw.] f(c.,) means: he deprives himself of the means of attaining the end, he puts himself for the lame."
V7T being taken as equivalent to in3.3), and also Geier, Rosenm, J. H.
Mi- : t'
CHAELis, SciiELLiNG, etc., who take V 7T as a substantive equivalent to nV/T in the sense of elrvatio.
[TheE. V. renders "the legs of Ihe lame are not equal"].
Ewald and Elster read V/l, "the legs of the lame are too loose"
(.\bi:n |T T ^ ^ Ezra had already given a similar rendering) [Gesen., "hang down," so De W., N., Wordsw.;
" are weak," H. M.].
Hitzig finally gives ihe Inf. ab.s.
JlvT:
"leaping of the legs on the part of a lame man— so is a proverb in I lie mouth of a fool,"
(the same meaning, therefore, substantially as in Lutheb's conception.) Ver.
8. As a bag of jewels on a heap of stones, so is he that giveth honor to a fool, li Ihe noun HOJID which occurs only here expresses the idea "heap of stones," ocervus lapuiu^n, which is altogether probable from its derivation from DJI. lo stone, to heap up stones, then ihe |3X "ins must be a parcel not of common, but of precious stones (comp. Ex. xxviii. 9; xxxv.
27, where ]3S alone stands for lapis preliosior), and this all the more since the 2d clause makes this rendering peculiarly natural.
So R. Levi be.n Gerson, then Luther, Geier, Schultens, GeSF.Nius, Umbreit, Stieb, Elsteb.
[E. V. in margin, De W., N., W.].—of whom Luther, Geieh.
Schultens, Stier [Worosw.] think particularly of a heap of stones raised by the stoning of a malefactor, a tumulus agyestus supra corpus lapida- ~iilo a helpless condition; [and the idea is better »';pressed in this way than if we adopt the extum, which is certainly more natural than with
THE rROVEllBS OF SOLOMON.
' 'A master formeth all aright," magister format omnia recte; in a similar way Elster:
"An able man formeth all himself"
(in contrast with the fool, who seeks to hire others, and even incompetent persons of all sorts, stragglers and vagrants, etc., to transact his business).
[The E. v., which is followed against his will by HoLDEN, interprets the "master" as God:
"the great God," e/c.].
Umbkeit and HiTzio [with another common meaning of 2")]:
'• Much produceth all," as though the meaning were similar to that in the otrnf f^« doOi/cerni amC, Matt. xiii.
Words w. ] render :
Jekome, (Vulg., acervus Mercurii), several of the early Rabbis, Jarchi, V.
Loscher (iq the " Unschuldigen Nachrkhlen," Vol. 13, p. 496), and Oetinger, to think of a Hermes, a heap of stones dedicated to Mercury (Au(Jof ipnalov, slatua mercurialis).
Others (Bertheau, Ewald [Fuekst, Kamph., E. v., in text, H., S., M.] e(c.,)loUowiug the LXX and Chald., talie HDJID in the sense of "sling," and regard 111X as an Infin.
; "as the binding a stone fast to the sling"
;—but against this may be maintained the inappositeness of the figure as compared with the idea in clause b, and 11; XXV. 20.
Others read 3T instead of y\ e.g., tlie fact that such a meaning cannot be proved to the Vulg., Judicium determinat causas, and of recent expositors Ziegler, etc. belong to the noun, and the circumstance that the gling is elsevphere always called i'^p..—HiTZio :
Ver.
11. As a dog that returneth to his vomit (comp. the New Testament citation of this passage in 2 Pet. ii. 22) so the fool (ever) repeateth his folly; lit., "so comes tlie fool for the second time again with his folly," comp. xvii.
" as a little stone on the beam of a balance," etc.,—forhe says the noun W means, according to the Arabic, the "beam of a balance," and IX l!f signifies a "bit or kernel of stone," a little stone
Here is plainly meant not merely a constantly renewed return to foolish assertions in spite of all the rational grounds adduced against them, but a falling again into foolish courses of action after brief endeavors or beginnings at improvement
(comp.
Matt. xii.
4li ; John v.
14; Heb. vi. 4-8.) Ver, 12. Seest thou a man wise in his O'wn eyes, ;'. e., who holds himself as wise, and by this very blind over-estimate of himself thoroughly and forever bars for himself the way serving to bind the balance (?).
Vcr. 9. A thorny staff that riseth up in the hand of a drunkard, (so is) a (wise) proverb in the mouth of a fool.
If in ver. 7 a Masch.il, a maxim of wisdom, taken into the mouth of a fool was represented as something useless, destitute of all aim and effect, it here appears rather as something working absolute harm, wounding, injuring like thorns, and in particular like an instrument of correction heedlessly carried, striking in the wrong place, and so grossly misused.
Comp.
Luther's marginal note, which in the main point certainly interprets correctly : when to true wisdom (comp. xxx. 12), like the PJiarisees mentioned in John ix. 41, who gave it out that they saw, but were in truth stone-blind.
With i compare chap. xxix. 20, where this 2d clause recurs literally. a drunkard carries and brandishes in his hand a sweet briar, he scratches more with it than lie allows the roses to be smelled ; so a fool with the 3.
Vers. 13-16. Four proverbs against sloth.
Ver.
13.
Comp. the almost identical proverb in Scriptures or a judicial maxim oft causes more harm than profit."
Hitziq following the LXX, chap. xxii. 13.—A lion is in the way. vPE' a synonym of 'IX designates the lion as a roaring reads in clause b TOD instead of 7C'0, and furthermore takes the verb of clause a in the sense animal, as rugiens sive rugilor; it does not conof "to shoot up," and therefore renders: Thorns trast the male lion with the lioness (Vulg.), or again the young lion with the full grown, (Luther). shoot up by (under) the hand of the hireling (?) and tyranny by the mouth of fools."
But we do not need to give to the verb here even as a secondary meaning the sense of growing up (as Ewald,
Umbreit, Stier propose), as the simple original meaning of rising up; raising itself gives a meanVer.
14. Comp. vi.
10; xxiv.
33.
With this figure of the door ever turning on its hinges but nevermovingfrom its place comp. the well-known words of ScHJLLEK—" dreht sick trdg und dumm wie ing in every way satisfactory.
[The rendering des Fdrber's Gaul im Ring fteriem" [turns lazy and stupid like the dyer's nag round in its circle.] of the E. v., H., W., "as a thorn goelh up into the liand," etc., wounding unconsciously, is less Ver.
15. Comp. the almost identical proverb, chap. xix. 24. forcible every way than that of the author, with whom DeW., K., Bertheau, N., S., M., etc., Ver.
16.—The sluggard is V7iser in his own eyes. (comp. ver.
12) than seven men vrho give a wise answer.
The number seven stands here not because it is the sacred number, but to express the idea of plurality in a concrete and popular way.
Comp. ver.
2.5
; also vi.
agree.
A.] Ver.
10. An archer that Tj^oundeth everything (for this meaning comp. 3^, "an archer or dartsman," comp. Jer.
1. 29; Job xvi. 43; for the verb in this sense.
Is. li.
9), and he that hireth a fool, and he that hireth vagrants ('passers by," i. e., therefore untried, unreliable xxiv.
16; Jer. xv.
Sam. ii. 5; Ecclesiast. xxxvii. 14.—With this use of D.ya " taste " in persons, who soon run away again)—are alike; one of the three is as foolish as another.
This the sense of "understanding, judgment," comp.
1 Sam. xxi. 14
; xxiii. 33
; Ps. cxix. 66
; Job xii.
20; also remarks above on Prov. xi.
22, where interpretation, which is followed by Sciiellino, EwALu, Bertheau, Stier, [DeW., KAm-ii., and is denoted in addition a quality of the moral life.
"To give back understanding" is naturally equivalent to giving an intelligent, wise answer, virtually S. and M.], involves it is true a certain hardness, especially in the relation of the figure in a to the two ideas in b; it corresponds best, liowas a sign of an intelligent disposition; comp. ever, with the simple literal meaning of the passage.
Luther, Gbiee, Seb.
Schmid, [N., xvii.
18.
CHAP. XXVI.
1-28.
(So are) burning lips, ;'. e. fiery protestations 4.
Vers.
17-19.
Ag;unst ilelight in strife and wilful provocation.
He layeth hold on the ears of a dog (and so provolies the jinimal outof friendship, or it may be warm kisses (which Bertheau understands to be the specific meanright to barking and biting) -who passing by ing), which in connection with a genuinely good heart on the part of the giver are a sign of true is excited by strife that is not his, lit , "over a dispute not for him " (comp. Hab. ii.
6).
For love, but with a " wicked heart" are on the contrary repulsive demonstrations of hypocrisy, the use of this verb "to provolie or excite one's witliout any moral worth (comp. the kiss of Judas, Matt. xxvi. 48 so.).
It is unnecessary to self," comp. the remark on xx. 2.
This ^3^7I'3 with the Part.
13J? forms an alliteration or poread with Hitzig D"p7n, " smooth lips," instead lyptoton which (with Stier) may be substantially reproduced in German: "wer voriibergehend sick of D'p/i, "burning" lips. iib^rgehen [sick die Galle iihrrlau/en) lUsst,^^ etc.
There is no occasion for Hitzig's assumption, Vers. 24, 25. 'With his lips the hater dissembleth.
For the verb which may not here, as in XX.
11, be translated "is recognized" (so Luther, following the Chald. and Vulg.), comp. the Hithp. of IDJ, which elsewhere expresses that Instead of ^3.^'^p there stood originally in the text the D'^i'jTD which is expressed by the Syriac and Vulg.
; "he who meddleth in strife," the idea of "dissembling." e. g.
Gen. xlii.
7; etc.
[The E.
V. has taken this doubtless under the influence of those early versions.] 1 Kings xiv.
5, 6.
And within he prepareth Vers.
18, 19. As a madman who casteth deceit.
Comp. Jer. ix.
7, and with HO'^O iT't;'
" to set, contrive, prepare deceit," compare the "setting or preparing snares," Ps. cxl.
For seven abominations are in his heart.
See remarks above, en ver. lij, and comp. the seven fiery darts, arrovrs and death.
The n^Hin'p which occurs only here, signifies, according to Symmachcs, the Vers. Venet., and Aben Ezra, one beside himself or insane (ifccrruf, irsipuftem^).
For the combination of the three ideas, tiery devils of Matt. xii. 45, which represent an intensified power in present moral deformity. That there is a specific reference to the six or seven abominations mentioned in chap. vi.
16-19, is an darts, arrows and de.ath (i. e. deadly missiles), comp. the similar grouping in xxv. 18 a.—So the man that deceiveth his neighbor. arbitr.ary conjecture of Aben Ezra.
T\^3^ is to "deceive, to deal craftily," not to " atHict " (Umbreit), or " overthrow"
( Va.n Ess).
—And (then) saith: Am I not in sport?
The meaning of the simple "and saith" llie Vulgate paraphrases correctly when it renders:
"elciim deprehensus fuerit, dicit," etc.
["Quipping and flouting," says Muffet, "is counted the flower and grace of men's speech, and especially of table talk; but the hurt that conielh by this flower is ,as bitter as wormwood, and the disgrace which this grace castelh upon men is fouler than any dirt of the street."— .\ ]
Ver.
26.
Hatred is covered by deceit.
PXBO from Ntyj, " to deceive," is doubtless corI T T T rectly understood by the LXX, %vhen they express the idea by iSuAof (comp. also the fraudulenter of the Vulg.); here it designates specifically " iiypocrisy, the deception of friendly language used to one's face" (Umbreit).
The suffix in IJ^i'l refers then by an obvious construclio ad scnsmn to him who conceals his hatred in this hypocritical way.
The second clause gives assurance then of the certain occurrence of an exposure of this flatterer " in tlie assetnbly,"
/. e. before the congregation of his people assembled for judgment, who perliaps through some judi5.
Vers. 20 28.
Nine proverbs against malice and deceit.
'Where the wood faileth the fire goeth out, etc.
Comp. the .\rabic proverb expressing the same idea, aimed at slander (in ScHEiD, SeUcta, p.
18): "He wlio layeth no wood on the fire keeps it from burning.''
For this description of the "slanderer" comp. xvi. cial process that ends unfortunately for him come to the knowledge of his villanies.
Hitzig partially following the LXX [o Kpv-Tuv ex'^P"-" am'iGT7jaL do'Xov), renders:
He who concealeth hatred, devising mischief ('?), his vileness is exposed in the assembly."
28.
Ver. 21. The direct opposite to the contents of the preceding verse.
Coals to burning coals ; Ver. 27. He that diggeth a pit faileth into lit., black coals to burning coals.
For the " man of contentions" in clause b comp. xxi. 9; xxvii. it.
Comp.
Eccles. x.
; Ecclesiast. xxvii.
; Ps. ix.
16. and with respect to the "falling back of the stone that has been (wickedly) rolled" in clause 6, comp.
Ps. vii. 17:
Matt. xxi. 44.
Ver.
28. The lying tongue hateth those that are wounded by it.
If the reading 15.
With ver. 22 compare the literally identical proverb xviii 8.
Ver. 23. Silver dross spread over a potsherd.
"Silver of dross" is impure silver not yet properly freed from the dross, and therefore partly spurious (Vulg., arffentum sordidum). and not some such thing as a glazing with the glitter of silver made of plumbago (LithaTgyrus), and so imitation of silver, as many think, and as Luther seems to have expressed in his "Silberrj'l is correct this may be the rendering, and the "crushed"
(plural of ^T [E.
V. the oppressed], Ps. ix. 10:
X. 18; Ixxiv. 21), ;. e. the bruised (or oppressed or wounded—see Umbreit and Stiek on this passage) of the lying tongue, are then those whom this tongue has bruised or wounded, the victims of its wickedness—and not those possibly whom it proposes to wound ot oppress (Umbreit, De W., Van Ess), or again those who wound, i. e. punish, it [conferentPs sir^ tchaum." t^'in, potsherd (Isa. xliv. 11), seems to be used intentionally instead of ty^n^'/S " an earthen vessel," to strengthen the impression of the worthlessness of the object named. castigantes ipsam—Luther, Geier.
Grsenius).
THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON.
accordance with the saying : truth may indeed be repressed for a time, but not perish (Ps. xciv.
; 2 Cor. iv.
9).
[" Truth crushed to earth shall rise again ; the eternal years of God are hers."
Lawson : The curses of such men instead of being prejudicial, will be very useful to us, if we are wise enough to imitate the conduct of David, whose meekness was approved, his prayers kindled into a flame of desires, and his hopes invigorated by them].
Geieu (on ver. 3) Inasmuch, however, as the proposition is by no means universally and in every case true, that the lying tongue, or that detraction hates its own victims, and since besides the second clause seems to demand another sense, it might be justifiable to read with Ewald and Hitzig VjnS; T ~: accordingly " the lying tongue hates Us own master," i. e. it hurls him into calamity, brings him to ruin—-a meaning which also corresponds admirably with ver.
27.
[See Critical notes for One may not flatter his own unruly flesh and blood, but must seek to keep it properly in check.
Starke (on vers.
4, .5) :
Great wisdom the three chief explanations of tlie form and derivation of the word.
The passive rendering hns this advantage, that it makes the fourth instance correspond with the otlier three in which the word is used; this presumption must be decidedly overthrown.
This we do not think is done; sotheE. V., H., N., S., M., W., Kamph., etc.
—.\.] For the noun rendered •' offence," in clause is needful to meet the different classes of our adversaries in an appropriate way.— (On ver. 6)
Important concerns one should commit to skilful and .able servants.
Vers.
7-12.
Luther (Marginal comment on ver.
7) :
Fools ought not to be wise and yet will be always affecting wisdom.
[Trapp :
If thy tongue speak by the talent, but thine hands scarce work by the ounce, thou sh.alt pass for a Pharisee (Matt, xxiii. 3).
They spake like angels, lived like devils; had heaven commonly at their tongue ends, but the world continually at their finger ends].
Starke (on vers.
7, 9): He who will teach others in divine wisdom, must first have mastered it himself (Ecclesiast. xviii. 19); then he will not only teach with profit, but also have honor from it.—(On ver. 9): He who misuses God's word does himself thereby llic greatb, oomp., moreover, the cognate verb in clause a of xiv. 32.
DOCTKINAL, ETHICAL, HOMILETIC AND
PRACTICAL.
It is mainly three forms of dishonorably and morally contemptible conduct, against which the condemning language of the proverbs in this section is directed; foolishness or folly in the narrower sense (vers. 1-12;) sloth (vers. 13-16); and a wicked maliciousness (vers. 17-28), which displays itself at one time as a wilful contenest injury.—(On ver. 8) : Beware of all flattering of the ungodly; forone prepares himself thereby but a poor reward..— (On ver.
10):
As is the master so is the servant.
Bad masters like bad servants.—(On vers. II):
If all relapses in sickness are dangerous, so much more relapses into old sins.—(On ver. 12):
Self-pleasing and selfrelaxation is the prolific mother of many other tiousness .and disposition to annoy (17-19), and at another as an artful calumniation and hypocritical slandering (20-28).
Original ethicnl truths, SHcli as have not appeared in previous chapters, are expressed only to a limited extent in the proverbs which relate to tliese vices.
The novelty is found more in the peculiarly pointed and figurative form which distinguishes in an extraordinary degree the maxims of this chapter above others.
Yet there are now and then esfollies.—WoHLFAKTii (on ver.
12) :
Let no one esteem himself perfect, t)ut let every one strive for humility and cherish it as his most sacred possession.
[Lawson (on ver. 8): But does not God Himself often give honor to fools?
Yes.
8cn!i.iUy new ideas; what is said in ver. 2 of the futility of curses that are groundless ; in vers. lie is the judge of nations who has a right to punish men by subjecting them to the power of 4, 5 of uttering the truth staunchly to fools without becoming foolish one's solf
; in vers. 7 and 9 of the senselessness and even harmfulness of proverbs of wisdom in the mouth of a fool; in fools.
We are to regulate our conduct not by His secret but His revealed will.
Arnot (on ver.
II): When the unrenewed heart and the pollutions of the world are, after a tempor.ary separation, brought together again, the two in their unholy wedlock become *' one flesh."
Man's true need—God's sufficient cure is "Create in me a clean heart, .and renew a right spirit within me."—J. Edwards (on ver.
12): Those who are wise in their own eyes are some of the least likely to get good of any in the world.
Bridges :
The natural fool has only one hinderance—his own ignorance.
The conceited fool has two ignorance and .self-delusion]. vers.
of the incapability of improvement in conceited fools who deem themselves wise; and finally in vers. 27, 28 of the self-destroying reflex power of malicious counsels formed against one's neiglibor. llninil;/ on llie chapter as a whole. —Of three kinds of vices which the truly wise man must avoid:
1) folly; 2) sloth; 3) wicked artifice.
Si'ocKKii: What kinds of people are worthy of no honor:
1) fools; 2) sluggards or idlers; 3) lovers of contention and brawling.
Staiike:
A (warning) lesson on folly, sloth and deceitfulVers.
13-lti.
Lange:
That the weeds of sin are ever getting the upper hand as well in hearts Vers.
1-G.
WUrtemherj Bible (on ver.
1):— Honor is a reward of virtue and ability; wilt thou be honored, then first become virtuous and wise!
Mklanchthon (on ver. 2):
As a consolanesa. as in the Church, comes from this, that men do not enough watch and pray, but only lounge, are idle and sleepy:
I Thess. v.6.— Bcrleburij Bible:
The sluggard remains year in year out sitting on the heap of his self-chosen convenient Christion against all calumnies and unjust detr.-iotion the assurance of the divine word serves us, that false (groundless) curses, lliough they momentarily harm ami wound, yet in the end appear in their nothingness, and are cast aside, in tianity, reads, hears, pr.avs, sings in the Church year after year, and makes no progress, never comes to an inner complete knowledge of truth;
; ; ; !
CHAP. XXVII.
1-27.
one alleges quite innocent intentions in injuring another, and yet with all is only watching an opportunity to give him a blow. just as the door always remains in one place, although it turns this way and that the whole year through, and swings on its hinges.
This Vers. 20-28.
Hasius (on vers. 20 sq.): There would not be so much dispute and strife among men if there were not so many base spirits who nourish and promote it in every way.
Starke:
Slanders and contentions are to be regarded as a flame to which one should not supply wood, but rather water to quench them.
[Trapp (on slothfulness is the mother of all the doctrines which encourage the old Adam, and in the matter of sanctification throw out the *' cannot,'' where it is a "will not" that hides behind.
WoHLFARTH
: The sluggard's wisdom.
Rest is to him the sole end of life ; only in indolence does he feel happy, elc.
Vers.
17-19.
Starke (on ver.
17) : To mix one's self in strange matters from forwardnesss and with no call, has usually a bad issue.—OsiANDER (on vers.
18, 19) :
In the sight of God the wantonness and wickedness of the heart are not hid; moreover He does not let tiiem go unpunished.
Zeltner:
Crafty friends are much more dangerous and injurious than open enemies.— Lange:
It testifies of no small wickedness when ver. 23) :
Counterfeit friends are nought on both sides].
Von Gerlacu (onver. 2G): Though a deceitful man may succeed in cheating individuals, yet this is not possible before the whole Church (Acts v.
1-11).—(Onver. 27): A hypocritical tongue if it has injured any one followj him still further with lies to defend itself, and sa it causes universal confusion. i) Against vain self-praise and presumption.
Chap. XXVII.
( With an admonition to prudence and frugality in agriculture : vers. 23-27). t Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day will bring forth.
2 Let another praise thee and not thine own mouth, a stranger and not thine own lips.
3 Stone is heavy and sand weighty; the fool's wrath is heavier than them both.
4 Anger is cruel and wrath is outrageous but who can stand before jealousy ?
Better is open rebuke than secret love.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
7 The satisfied soul loathetli a honeycomb to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
8 As a bird that wandereth from her nest so is a man that wandereth from his home.
Oil and perfume rejoice the heart, but the sweetness of a friend is better than one's own counsel.
10 Thine own friend and thy father's friend forsake not; and into thy brother's house enter not in the day of thy calamity better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off
11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may know how to give an answer to him that reproacheth me,
12 The prudent man seeth the evil (and) hideth himself; the simple pass on and are punished.
13 Take his garment, for he hath become surety for a stranger, and on account of a strange woman put him under bonds!
14 He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, let it be reckoned a curse to him
; ; ; :
THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON.
15 A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
16 He that will restrain her restraineth the wind, and his right hand graspeth after oil.
17 Iron sharpeneth iron ; so doth a man sharpen the face of his friend.
18 Whosoever watcheth the fig-tree eateth its fruit, and he that hath regard to his master is honored.
19 As in water face (answereth) to face so the heart of man to man.
20 Hell and destruction are never full, and the eyes of man are not satisfied.
21 The fining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but man according to his glorying.
22 Though thou bruise a ibol in a mortar among grain with a pestle, his folly will not depart from him.
23 Thou shalt know well the face of thy sheep direct thy mind to thine herds
for riches are not forever, and doth the crown endure forevermore?
25 The grass disappeareth, and the tender grass is seen, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered.
26 Lambs (are) for thy clothing and the price of thy field (is) goats 27 and abundance of goat's milk for thy food, for the food of thine house, and subsistence for thy maidens.
GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver. 4. riV^OX is nsed here ooly in the Old Testament.
Ver. 5. [n^lti is regarded by Bott. Q 1133, 1 and n 3_) as the 3d sing. fern, of the verb and not as the fem. of the adj.;
T the chief evidence being found in the participles following, which, according to Hebrew usage, more naturally follow a finite verb.—A.) Ver. 9. [In ^ny"1 we have one of the examples found in Hebrew in connection with words in wide and frequent use, in which the suffix loses all distinct and specific application ; comp. in modern languages Monsieur, Madonna, Mynherr, etc.; therelore out's friend, a friend, and not his friend.
Bott., g 876, c. r^^)} is regarded by Gehen., Fuerst, 1>oderlein, Dathe, eic., as a fern, of VV used collectively; the meaning in connection with 1^3 J ia then, "more than fragrant wood."
Bott. (^ 543. 5) pronounces all the examples cited in the lexicons for this use of the noun " more than doubtful
;'' and, as the esegetical notes show, nearly all commentators give to rii'j.* its ordinary meaning.— A.j
Ver. 10.
[711?"^ is one of three nouns whose full and original form appears only in the stat. cnnstr.; the K'ri therefore points as though the a&soZ. were used J*1. while the K'thibh exhibits the form n>^'^See Green, g 215, 1, e; Bott.
Jg721, 8; 794, Peel. IV— A.] Ver. 11. (n3'tyXl an Intentional, or paragogic Imperf, connected to Imperatives by 1 used as a final conjunction, T T ; "in order that ;" Bott . § 965. B, c.
And let me=that I may.—A.] Ver. 14. D'^UTI. an Infin. abs. nsed adverbially, as in Jer. xxv. 4; here on account of the pause written with *_ instead of simple _.
Ver. 15. On the question whether ninD'J is to be accented and explained as a 3d pers. Nithpael, or whether, with KiMcai, NoRzi. and the most recent editors and expositors, we should point the form as Mile! [witli penultimate accent], and accordingly regard it as perhaps a viiluut.itive Hiihpael, with the Hot motion (therelore "let us compare"), conT rtiilt Berthbau. Stier and Hitzio on the passage.
[Geben,, Rod. ^Gesf.n.
Tfifs., p. 1376, add. p. 114^ Vvf-nsT. etc.. make the form a Nithpael; BoiT. (^^_ 47-4,4. a and lU7l!, 8) agrees with Hitzig in making it a simple Niphal with a different transposition of consonants, and argues at length for this view.
Fderst pronounces the form participial, in opposition to nearly aU lexicographers and commentators who make it 2d sing. fem.
Gesen. and some others, f 'Mowing Chaldee analogies, rcn iered, "are to be feared."
Kodiqer (ubi supra) ami most others render, "are esteemed alike," or "are alike."
Comp. also EWALD, Lehrb. ^ j32. d : Green, g 83, c (2).—A.] Ver. 16. N'^p' =n'ip\ according to an interchange which is common of X with H- [In clause a we have a singular verb following a plural participle taken distributively as in xxii. 21
; xxv. 13, etc.— A.] Ver. 17. nrr is best regarded, as Qeier, Bertheac and Stier take it, aa an Imperf. apoc. Hiphil from HIH = ^^^
" to sharpen."
Kwald, Elster, etc., needlessly take the first in"* in clause a as a Hophal : in* (comp. the Vulg. ej^acuitur) and would have only the second recognized as a Voluntntive Hiphil (to be pointed "in"* or Hri')- [Bott. g 1124, 3insists that the Masoretic forma can be regarded as nothing but the ordinarv adverb " together," and that the pointing must be changed to in", "in\ or in\ nn\ Green, g 140, 1, mak.-3 it a simple Kal Imperf.
Fderst regards it as a NiphhaJ