Chap. Xxiv. 1-22. 205
CHAP. XXIV.
1-22.
Vers. 13-18. Luther (marginal comm. on ver. the eyes of wicked children nothing is wont to seem more worthy of contempt than the old mother ; and yet he is accursed of the Lord who troubles his mother, Kcclesiast. iii. 18.—Sadrin (on ver. 23) 13) :^If Ihou scourgest thy son the executioner need not scourge him.
There must be scourging once; if the father does not do it, then Master John does il ; there is no help for it.
No one has ever escaped i(, for this is God's judgment.—J. Lanoe;— Many parents deserve hell in their own children, because they have neglected to train them in holiness.
Cr.\.mek (on :—The investigation of truth involves the seven following duties:
1) be attentive; 2) do not be discouraged at labor; 3) suspend your judgment; 4) let prejudice yield to reason; 5) be teachable; (5) restrain your avidiiy of knowing ; 7) in order to edify your mind subdue your heart.— [.\. Fuller :—Solomon does not name the price of truth, because its value was beyond ver.
1.5) :—Next to the experience of God's grace there is no greater joy on earth than when one finds joy and honor in his children.— [H. MelVIL!.
:— If a child do that which will make a parent happier he does that which will also make himself so.
Heart-wisdom is the thing desired.
No wisdom is thought worthy of the name that has not heaven for its origin and end, and the heart for its abode.
Trapp (on ver.
17) ;—Men must wake with God, walk with Him, and lie down with Him, be in coniinual communion with Him, and conformity unto Him.
This is to be in heaven aforehand.
Bp. Hopkins:— Il is the properly of grace and holiness, when there are no actual explicit thoughts of God, then to be habitu.ally in the fear of God, possessing the heirt and overawing it].
Starke (on ver.
18) all price.
Buy it at any ratel II cannot be too dear!
And having got it make much of it! sell il not, no, not for any price!] Zeltner (on vers. 26 sq.) :—The best and most welcome present that thou canst bring thy God is thy heart with all its desires and powers.
Is it ruined?
He alone can amend and cleanse it.
Starke:— He who opens his heart to the prince of this world thereby shows himself the enemy of God and of eternal wisdom.
[Bp. Hopkins:—Whatever else we tender unto God if the heart be wanting, it is but the carcass of a duty].
Vera.
29-35.
Cramer:—All sins come in agreeably and taste well in the mouth ; but afterward they are as bitter as gall, and fatal as the poison of vipers.
Osiander :—Wine is a noble gift of God ; but its abuse is only the more ruinous, and therefore to be shunned like deadly poison.
.Starke :—That man only is really and in the spiritual sense drunken who does not discern the great peril of his soul, but under all correction becomes only the more confident and defiant (Jer. v. 3).
[Trapp:—Such is the drunkard's lethargy; neither is he more insensib'e than sensual and irrecoverable.
Lawson :
.\n inferior master in the art of moral painting gives us a just picture of drunkenness in these words,
"Drunkenness is a distemper of the bead, a subversion of the senses, „ tempest of the tongue, a elorm in the body—the shipwreck of virtue, the loss of time, a wilful madness, a pleasant devil, a sugared poison, a sweet sin, which he that has has not himself, and he that commits it, doth not only commit sin, but is himself altogether sin "].
—The true good of the pious is still future ; so much the less may they be enamored of the present seeming good of the ungodly.
Rei.nhard [Gesam. Predd., Bd.
II., 1804; Sermon on vers. l7, 18) ;—How much cause we have to hold true to the old unchangeable principles of a genuine fear of God.
Sackreuter (Fast-day Sermon on vers.
17, 18,—see '' Sonnlagsfeier"
1839):—Of three excellent preservatives from sin, t'('z.
; 1) the avoidance of evil example ; '1) reverence for God ; 3) frequent remembrance of the blessing of virtue.
Vers. 19 sq.
[Trapp (on ver. 19) :—Lei knowledge and affection be as twins, and run parallel ; lei them mutually transfuse life and vigor, the one into the other.
.John Foster:—On the self-discipline suitable to cert;jin mental states].
— Tdhingen Bible (on ver.
20, 21):—Gluttony and drunkenness are works of the tlesh ; they that do such things cannot inherit the kingdom of God, Gal.
19.
Lanqe (on ver.
22) ;—In d) Warning against intercourse with wicked and foolish men.
Chap. XXIV. 1-22.
Be not envious of evil men, and desire not to be with them, for tlieir heart studieth violence, and their lips talli of mischief By wisdom is the house builded, and by understanding is it established ; by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all treasure that is precious and pleasant.
; ; ; ;
THE rROVERBS OF SOLOMON.
5 The wise man is full of strength, and the man of understanding increaseth strength;
for with wise counsel shalt thou make war, and victory is in abundance of counsellors.
7 Wisdom is too high for the fool; he openeth not his mouth in the gate.
8 He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person.
9 The device of folly is ein, and the scorner 'u an abomination to men.
If thou faint in the day of adversity thy strength is small.
Deliver them that are taken to death, and them that totter toward destruction, oh rescue them I 12 If thou sayest, Lo, we knew it not!
He that weigheth hearts will He not mark it ?
He that watcheth over thy soul, will He not know it ? and He requiteth man according to his work.
13 My son, eat honey because it is good, and honey comb which is sweet to thy taste
so acquaint thyself with wisdom for thy soul when thou hast found it and the end cometh thy hope also shall not be cut off.
15 Plot not as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteouB, assauh not his dwelling-place ;
for seven times doth the righteous fall and riseth again, but the wicked shall plunge into destruction.
17 When thine enemy falleth rejoice not, and if he stumbleth let not thine heart be glad
lest Jehovah see it, and it be evil in His eyes, and He turn away His anger from him.
19 Be not enraged at evil doers, envy not the wicked.
20 For no future shall there be to the evil the light of the wicked shall be put out.
21 My son, fear thou Jehovah and the King, and go not with those who are given to change
for suddenly shall their calamity rise, and the destruction of them both, who knoweth it ?
GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL.
Ver.6. a"7 ada(ititiscomTm)di["forthyself, thy advantage or interest"]; comp.
JD7, chap, xiiii. 20.
Ver. 7. ni'DNI, scriptio plena, as in 1 Chron. Ti. 58
; Zech. xiv. 10.
[Comp. aaBEH, g 166, 3, etc.].
Ver. 8. For the construction of N'^p with
comp. xvi. 21.
Ver. 11. DN stands here for ?S> tUinam, as in Pa. Ixxxi. 9; cxxxix. 19; it is not to be regarded (as the LXX,A'uIg.,
Chbreit, etc., take it) as a neg^itive particle of a^ljuration, in the sense of jit), ja nicht, by no means.
[See also Fdehst, suit V.
For tlie time implied in the Part.
D'nT^i comp. reiu. on xxii. 15; eucb as have been taken and are now in iljat condition.
For tiie fiiM (urm lltynn corap.'Crit. NotfS on xxii. 7, 8.—A.].
Ver. 13. [r\3J an apparent fern, construed here as masc.
See BolT. g 648, h, ani n.
1.—A.J.
Ver. 14. rii'l or aa the best MSS. roail, T\])'\ is an Iniper. from J?T instead of the usual form n^^- [CnnirBoTT. § ? 396, 9j6,' c, 960, a ; and Green, g ? 97, 1, h, 148, 3.— A.].
Tor. 17. |For the form hv32 instead of the fuller Niphal form, see BoTT. g ? 990, 1, 1, 1036, 2; and Gebbm, ? g 91. h,
S31, 6, o.—A.J. comp. ver. 19; xxiii. 17; with ver.
1, a, comp.
FXFOFTirAT "^^^ ^''"'- ^'
*^ '
"''"'
"' """P- ''"; -"^^ , i!,Aj!,u±!.tiUAi^.
2. Vers. 3
6, Praise of wisilom ami its salutary 1. Vers. 1,2. Warning against intefcourae with results.—By wisdom is the house builded wicked men (lit. "men of evil," comp. xxviii. 0;) Comp. xiv.
1, where it is Bpccifiualiy the wisdom
; ; ;
CHAP. XXIV.
1-22.
der Klemme—klamm ist dein Muth" ["in the day of straits—straight is thy courage "]. Bertheau connects the verse closely wilh the two following:
" Hast thou shown thyself faint in the day of trouble, was thy strength fearful, oh deliver," elc.
(?).
At all points Ewald has the right view, and in phrase in I's. xxix.
The LXX, Syr., Chald., general Luther also :
" He is not strong w read IliTD, i. e., more than, better than strength of woman that is commended as builder of the house.
For the expression in 3, b, comp. iii. 19 for Ter. 4 comp. also iii. 10; viii. 21.
Ver.
5. The -wise man is full of strength, lit., is *' iu strength," i. e., furnished with strength, powerful; comp. the correspondin not firm in need."
[The principle is familiar enough that courage and hopefulness are half of man's strength. ^A.] comp. xvi.
32.
But the Masoretic reading plainly gives us a simpler and more pertinent meaning.
And the man of understanding (lit.
--man of knowledge") increaseth strength, lit., 4.
Vers.
11, 12.
An admonition to a sympathizing and compassionate demeanor toward such as are in their innocency condemned to death, and are being borne to the place of execution.
Comp.
L. MosHEiM :
Commnitatw ad loc.
Prov. xxiv.
11, 12; Helmstadt. 4to.
[Kamph. suggests an easy and natural transition to this exhortation from the preceding.
That had reference to courage in time of one's own need, this to quick and sympathizing helpfulness in others' extremity.
—.\.] Deliver them that are taken to death (the participle here used has thesime meaning as the forms of the verb found in Isa.
Ivii. 13; Ps. xlix.
16).
That this appeal is made specifically to a judge (Umbreit), is, according to ver. 12 a, very improbable.
He who is addressed seems rather to be one who is accidentally passing by in the vicinity of the place of execution, who is on the point of going on afier the manner of the priest and the Levite in Luke
X. 30 sq., with no sympathy, and without lifting a helping hand.
That the author of the proverb, notwithstanding the singular which is immediately employed, still has in his eye a plurality, a ivhole host of such passers by, appears from the "Lo, we know it not," which in ver.
12, a, he supposes to be the answer to his appeal.
Hitzig's assumption is arbitrary, that the hard-hearted judges are Persians, and those who are in their innocence condemned to death, Jews, or Syrians,
Samaritans, or some other Persian subjects of the period next succeeding the exile, possibly of tlie time of Ezra (ix.
9).
The same is true likewise of Bertheau's opinion that there is no reference whatever to a judicial execution, but to a bloody battle, during which one ought courageously lo protect those assailed by tlie foe, ami not timidly to leave them to the threatening destruction.
[Hardly any two of our English expositors agree as to the structure of this sentence, although they are nearly or quite unanimous in explaining its general meaning.
N. and M. agree with the E. V. in making the first verb an Infinitive (which is possible) depending on the final verb of the sentence ; E. V.; " if thou forbear lo deliver," etc.; N.:
" to deliver, etc., spare thyself not;" M,: "dost thou forbear to deliver, '* maketh power strong,"
(comp. ii.
14) he develops mighty strength (comp. the phrase in Job ix. 19), he makes it available as a quality of his own.
Ver.
(5. For with wise counsel must thou make V7ar, lit.
"must (hou carry on war for thyself,"
!. c, must thou bring thy war to an end, carry it through.
[So M., Wordsw., K., elc.].
Comp.
XX.
18, and for clause b, xi. 14
IV. 22.
3. Vers. 7-10. Four separate proverbs, directed against folly, imrigue, scoffing and fainl-heartedness.
Wisdom is too high for the fool. niDNI is strictly "heights"
{excelsa, Vulg.), i. e., unuttainably distant things, objects which are altogether too high; comp.
Ps. x. 5; Isa.
XXX.
18.
HiTZiG conjectures a double meaning, so far forth as the word in the form before us could have meant at the same time also " corals, costly ornamenis" (in accordance with Jobxxviii.
18) —He openeth not his mouth in the gate ; i. f., injudicial consultations and transactions of his fellow-citizens (comp. xxii. 22) he can bring forward nothing.
[" He were two fools if he should," says Trapp, "for while he holds his tongue he i-^ held wise "].
Ver.
8. Shall be called (him they call) a mischievous person—a masier or lord of mischief (an expression equivalent to that in chap, xii.
2, " a man of wicked devices").
["This is his property and ownership, mischief and wrong."
Wordsw.] Ver. 9. The device (meditation) of folly is sin;—i. e., there also where folly (or the fool. abstr. proconcr.) acts with consideration, and goes to work with a reflective prudence (iTSI, a similar term to that in ver.
8), it still brings to pass nothing good, but always only evil.
It is indeed even worse with the scoffer, who. according to clause 6, is an abhorrence and abomination to all men, because he, with his evil plans and counsels, unites furthermore great shrewdness, subtle wit, refined speculation—in general the exact opposite of folly. etc.
H., S. and Worusw. agree with our author in making it an Iniper., altliough H. and W. make the last clause conditional, like 12, a.
The explanation of Z., S., Kamph., etc., is probably to be preferred which makes the DN a particle of wishing, find the verb transitive rather than reflexive or neuter.— A.].—Lo! we knew it not!
— HiTziG, in agreement with the LX.\, " Lo, we know him not !"
But in verse 11 there is plainly enough mention made of a number who are dragged to death [As Kamph. suggests, the lime when a plea of ignorance could fitly be put Ver.
10. If thou hast shown thyself faint in the day of adversity (anxiety, distress), thy strength is small;—i.e., thou art a coward and weakling, whose courage is feeble, and whose moral power and capacity for resistance is, as it were, crippled.
Less appropriately Umbreit, Elster, etc. (following the Vulg., Targum, etc.) "then sinketh thy strength also"
[imminuetur foTtiludo tun).
But Hitzeg's emendation is also needless, njnn, "thy courage," for HDnil, "thy strength,"—as is .also his marvellous reproduction of the paronomasia (DIY—IVj by -."am Tage ill, as well as the nature of t!iu plea itself, tells
THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON.
from him— i. e., from the enemy (Vt^'O referring back to ver.
16, " thine enemy "), to turn it upon thee thyself instead of him. against this personal interpretation.
And it is also to be observed how idle the plea of ignorance becomes when it is God rather than man to whom one's omissions are to be jugtifled.—A]
And he will requite mau according to his 7.
Vers.
19-22.
Warning against intercourse with wicked and seditious persons Be not thou enraged at evil doeis,— i. e., be not exwork.—The interrogative K/H of the second cited, envious (inrUl^^X. " burn not," here equiclause plainly has no further influence on this general sentence which concludes (comp. Ps. Ixii. valent to the "envy not" of ver.
1) with regard to the undeserved prosperity of ungodly men, which perhaps might only stimulate to the imitation of their wicked conduct; comp. Ps. xxxvii.
8; Ixxiii.
2, 3 ; also Prov. i.
sq.
[Fuebst and some others understand this of excitement, impatience agamst evil doers, which cannot wait for God's recompenses.
This explanation, we think, is to be preferred here, although the other
; Job xxxiv. 11
; Rom. ii. 0).
Vers.
13, 14.
Admonition to a diligent striving after wisdom.
My son, eat thou honey because it is good, etc—A figuraiive injunction of a preparatory sort, serving as a basis for the admonition to strive after wisdom, contained in ver. 14.
For this figure of lioney and the honey -comb as the designation of something especially lovely and agreeable, comp. Ps. is clearly and frequently enough an injunction of the Scriptures.— A.] xix.
11.
Ver.
14. So acquaint thyself with wisdom also for thy soul;— lit., "know wi.sdom Ver. 20. For no future shall there be to the kicked.—iT*>nX here in a diiferent sense from for thy soul, appropriate it to tbyself, recognized that found in ver. 14 and in xxiii.
18.
[The two ideas most frequently conveyed by this noun, which is literally an "after," something subsequent to the present, are a "future," and an "end or issue," i. e., to present relations.
It \a this last idea that Z. finds in ver. 14 and xxiii. as precious and exceedingly palatable !"
[The E. v., following the Vulg., takes the peculiar form of the Imperf. for a peculiar form of the noun " knowledge," and supplies the substantive verb.
H. and M. are in the same error.—A.] When thou hast found it, and the end Cometh.—This last clause is still part of the 18, the first in ver. 20.
In the first two passages the " end " of the present suggests by implication and contrast a blessed future: this our verse denies to the wicked, not by implication, but by express assertion.
It does not assert that he shall reach no end to his present relations, nor that he shall have no future whatever, but no future blessing.
Some commentators are less exact conditional protasis, corresponding to the common use of U''.
DX, to introduce a conditional clause; comp.
Gen. xxiii.
8; xxiv. 49; Judges vi. 36, etc.
For making it a transition to the apodosis ("then comctli an end—then a future remaineth "—Hixzia, following the LXX, Vulg.,
LuTiiER, etc.
[so K.; E. V : "then there shall be in these discriminations, finding one general meaning in all the passages.—A.] With the general sentiment compare Job xx.
; Ps. xxxvii. a reward ;" so also H., N., M., W., while S. takes our author'sview.—A.]), not a single supporting
2, 9, 38.
With b in particular comp. chap. xiii. case can be cited, in which !?'1 introduces the apodosis, in the sense "then or so will be"
(comp. Berthe.^u on tliis passage).
For the ge-
; xxi.
Ver. 21.
With a comp. Eccles. viii. 2 sq.; x.
20; 1 Pet. ii.
17.
Go not w^ith those iwho are given to change.—D'Jlt'
[cognate with neral sentiment compare furthermore xxiii. 18.
Vers.
15-18.
Warning against malicious violence and delight in misoliief Lie not in wait as a wicked man (that is, with wicked and iniscliicvous intent) against the d'welling of the righteous ; assault not ( verb as in xix.
D'JiV, two], those "otherwise disposed, wishing otherwise," i. e., opposing [the present order], seditious, revolutionary (Vulg., detractores). "Go not with them," lit., "mingle thyself not," as in -lij his resting place.— Hitzig changes the XX. 19.
Ver. 22. And the destruction of them both— viz., of those who rebel against God and verb in clause a to 37.pi^ and the noun to CJ^"^' and thus obtains the meaning : " Bring not alarm near to the dwelling of tlie righteous," elc.
('?).
Ver. l(i. For seven times doth the rightecus fall and riseth again ; i. e., many a misfortune overtakes him in life, yet he gives way before none, but always comes up again (Hitzig).
Comp. Ps. Ixxxvii. 24; Jer. viii. 4; and with reference to the symbolical number seven, particuof those who rebel against the king.
Others (Umbueit, Bebtheau, etc.
[De W., N., S., M., WoBDSW., the genitive being treated as a genitive of source, "the vvan proceedingfrom them both "];
" and the penalty, the retribution of them both," i. e., the punishment that goes forth from both,
God and the king; Hitzig (in accordance with larly Job V.
19.
But the wicked shall plunge into destruction—lit., "stumble, are brought to a downfall by calamity ;" comp. chap, the Targ. and Syr.), "and the end of their years" (comp. Job xxxvi.
11).
Our interpretation, as the simplest, is supported by the Vn's., Luther, Ewald, Elster [Kami'h.]—'Who knoweth it?— i. c. who knows the time of iv.
19.
Vers.
17, 18 are closely connected with both the verses preceding, not merely by tlie recurrence of the ideas " fall" and "plunge"
(stumtheir ruin ; who knows how soon it will be precipitated'?
Comp. xvi. 14.
[The LXX, etc., introduce here several verses ble), but also by the substance of the thought; for which there is no authority in the present Hebrew texts.
"A son that keeps the father'.^ commandment shall escape destruction ; for such a one has fully received it.
Let no falsehood be for delight in injury is the twin sister to a plotting intrigue ami violence.
Lest Jehovah see it and it displease him—lit., " and it be evil is his eyes."
And He turn away His anger
CHAP. XXIV.
1-22.
spoken by the king from the tongue; yea, let no are cast into prison with other less reputable debtors.
Nor will any thing be received in payment but the genuine coin of the kingdom ; it must be love with a living soul in it and a substantial body on it."—A.] falsehood proceed from l;!? tongue, the iing's tongue is a sword, and no^ "ne of flesh ; and whosoever shall be given up to it shall be destroyed : for Vl his wrath should be provoked, ho destroys men with cords, and devours men's In the homdetic treatment of the whole passage one might take just this demand that is contained in bones, and burns I hem upas a flame, so that ihey are not even til to be eaten by the young eagles.
My son, reverence my words, and receive iheni, and repent."
Some of the editions also introduce vers.
11, 12, of a compassionate love of one's neighbor, that will not shun even deadly perils, as the highest exemplification of wisdom, to the attainment and preservation of which all the counselling and dissuasory suggestions of the section summon us : the topic might then be announced :
"Mercy the highest wisdom," or again : "The contrast between the wise man and the fool reaches its climax in the timid selfishness of the latter, and the former's self-sacrificing love for his neighbor."—Comp. Stocker : On patience and sociability.
In what the virtue consists at this point chap. xxx. 1-14.—A.]
DOCTRINAL,
ETHICAL,
HOMILETIC AND
PRACTICAL.
To refer the ideas of this section, which are -'ery various in their substance and their applications, to the one fundamental category of a *' Warning against intercourse with wicked ajidjool- (ver.
1—1:;). and how one is to practise it (vers.
13 sq ).
Calwer Handb.: Shun evil, choose wisdom. ish men," would not indeed answer in all respects and at all points ; and yet the introductory and the concluding verses at least (vers.
1, 2, 19-22) do relate to this subject ; and besides, the eulogiuma upon wisdom which are interspersed (vers.
Vers.
sq.
Tubingen Bible (on vers.
1-2) :
It is one element in tlie prudence of the righteous to have no fellowship with the ungodly and to avoid their society.
Luther (marg. comment ou vers. 3 sq.) : When all is well ordered in a house 3-6, 7, 1.3, 14), and the counsels against malicious intrigue, mockery, trickery and delight in mis chief (vers. 8, 9, 15 sq., 17 sq.), may without any peculiar violence be brought under the same it avails more than great labor; as, e.g., when one gives, where, to whom, and as one ought, etc.
—Geier (on vers. 3 sq.
) : A household, if it is to be blessed, must not merely be wisely organized, but also prudently regulated and constructed.— classification.
There remains isolated, therefore, only the censuring criticism on an unmanly, faint-hearted bearing in hours of peril (ver.
Id), and the warning against a heartless indifference to those who are innocently sufl'ering (vers.
11, Filling the chambers with temporal good is accounted great prosperity; but much more beau12).
The latter passage in purticular deserves attentive consideration, and a careful estimate of tiful is it when the heart's chamber is filled with the treasures of heavenly wisdom and virtue.
(On vers.
5, 6) :
Strength of body without wisdom and prudence of heart, is like a giant who is robbed of the sight of his eyes. its practical bearings, for it belongs among tliose prefigurations and precursors of tlie distinctively
Christian ethics, which occur somewhat rarely in the stage of revelation reached in the law of the Old Testament, and, in general, in any specific form in the literature of wisdom which centres in the name of Solomon.
For even in a higher degree than the warning contained in vers.
17, 18 of our chapter, against delight in injury, in one's attitude towards his enemies,—.and, if one is so disposed to view it, even in a higher degree than the demand of love to cue's enemies in chap. xxv.
21 sq.,—does this powerful enforcement of the duty of a courageous protection and deliverance of the innocent who are doomed to death, correspond with the culmination of ethical justice, and the perfect fulfilling of the law, which Christ exhibits for the members of the New Covenant, in the narrative of the good Samaritan (Luke x.
30 sq.), in His admonition to visit those in prison, and to the loving sacrifice of life itself in imitation of His own example, etc.
(Matt. xxv.
36 sq.; John xii. 25
; xv. 12-14).
[Only a few of the exegetical and practical interpreters of our book have so well brought out this important point.
Lawson suggests it when he says : "The wise man represents this piece of charity as a duty which we owe to our neighbors without exception; and with him agrees our Lord in the parable of the good Samaritan.
We are not the disciples of Solomon or of Christ if we show love Ver. 7-10. Zeltner (on vers.
8, 0) : As true piety has its degrees, so has ungodliness.
But they are followed by righteous retribution and punishment.
Starke (on ver.
10):
Want and trouble is a genuine touchstoue, with which one m.ay determine how strong or how weak one is in faith and reliance on God.
Von Gerlach (same verse) :
In times of adversity the man whose strength stands fast in God has more power than usual.
It is the fault of one's own indolence if this is not the case, thougli liis strengtli be scanty and restricted.
[]3p. Hopki.vs : That thy patience may be perfect, it must be strong, as well as lasting.
It must have nerves and sinews in it, to bear weighty burdens.] Vers.
11, 12. Mela.nchthon : To uurigliteous cruelty one should give no impulse ; even private indiviiluals ought, according to their strength and calling, 10 oppose tyrannical injustice without uproar or tumult.
Geier: Man never lacks excuses; but many of them are by the Lord found to be too light, Luke xiv. 18 sq.
Starke: To deliver men from bodily death is a great thing; but more glorious is it to aid a soul toward deliverance from spiritual and eternal death, James V. 20.
Vers.
sq.
Berleburg Bible (on ver.
13):
Charge it upon thyself that thou h.ave such inward experienoe of wisdom, that thou shall relisli its sweetness like honey and the honey-comb.
Stabke (on ver. 16) ; To fall into sin and to fall to those only," etc.
Arsot puts the principle with more characteristic vigor:
" Under God as Supreme ruler, and by His law, we owe every human being love ; and if we fail to render it, we