Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 10:5

He that gathereth in summer [is] a wise son: [but] he that sleepeth in harvest [is] a son that causeth shame.

5. sleepeth ] Sleeps heavily, goes fast to sleep. Stertit, Vulg. Comp. Jon 1:5-6, where the Heb. word is the same.

This is an example of an exactly balanced proverb in the wording of the two clauses, especially if with R.V. marg. we render literally, a son that doeth wisely that doeth shamefully.

The LXX., having introduced another proverb at the beginning of this verse:

“A son who receives instruction shall be wise,

And shall serve himself of the fool as his minister,”

gives as the equivalent of our present proverb,

“A prudent son shall be saved from the heat,

But a son that is a transgressor shall be carried away by the wind in harvest.”

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The son is called upon to enter upon the labors of others, and reap where they have sown. To sleep when the plenteous harvest lies ready for the sickle is the most extreme laziness.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Pro 10:5

He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

Summer and harvest

I. God affords you opportunities for good. He favours you with seasons which may be considered as your harvest.

1. You are blessed with a season of gospel grace.

2. You have a season of civil and religious liberty.

3. Some are living in a religious family, where they have the benefit of instruction, prayer, and example.

4. Some have seasons of disciplinary trouble.

5. Some have seasons of conviction.

6. All have the susceptible time of youth.

II. The necessity of diligence to improve your reaping season.

1. Consider how much you have to accomplish.

2. Consider the worth of the blessings that demand your attention.

3. Remember that your labour will not be in vain in the Lord.

4. Your season for action is limited and short.

5. Reflect upon the consequences of negligence.

Having made no provision for futurity–for eternity–your ruin is unavoidable. A strict account will be required of all your talents and opportunities. (William Jay.)

Using our opportunities

Our efforts in life must be seasonable. There is a religious forethought. He who neglects to gather in summer neglects the bounties of the Lord as well as neglects his own future necessities. The man who sleeps in harvest is pronounced a fool, because he lets his opportunity slip. The historian writes concerning Hannibal that when he could have taken Rome he would not, and when he would he could not. We are to be men of opportunity–that is to say, we are to buy up the opportunity, to redeem the time. When God opens a gate He means that we should go through it, and pass into all the inheritance beyond. There was a king of Sicily who was called The Lingerer, not because he stayed till opportunity came, but because he stayed till opportunity was lost. There is a time to wait and a time to act. Overlong waiting means loss of chance, for the king has passed by, and the gates are closed; but to wait patiently until everything is ripe for action is the very last expression of Christian culture. (J. Parker, D.D.)

Summer, the Christians gathering-time

I. The person spoken of. A wise son.

II. The season in which the wise son exerts himself. In summer. And why is the gospel dispensation represented by summer?

1. Winter is over and gone. His reign was tyrannical and cold. But now summer returns. So the gospel dispensation reveals to us the bright extended beams of the Sun of Righteousness.

2. In winter the face of nature is squalid and deformed. But summer comes; and, by a touch surpassing magic, beauties on beauties start into view. So the gospel dispensation mollifies the hard heart, removes the deformity of sin from the soul, adorns the temper and the conversation with all the beauties of holiness.

3. In winter the heavens distil no kindly influence; all is adverse to vegetation. But when summer returns the air breathes balm, the clouds drop fatness, and the earth is fertilised. So the gospel brings along with it refreshing clouds of spiritual influences.

4. In winter no flowers adorn the earth; their beautiful tints, their savoury smell and delicate forms sleep in the earth; but in summer these appear in rich profusion and of variegated colours. In like manner the gospel dispensation is attended with a rich profusion of gracious young converts, whose souls are endowed with knowledge, faith, and affection, and breathe forth a precious perfume, as the Holy Spirit breathes on them.

5. In winter we search the orchard and garden in vain for fruit. But when summer returns we mark with grateful pleasure the pleasant contrast, and gather the mellow fruits of various hues and flavours. In like manner the gospel dispensation is attended with a variety of fruits to the praise of God the Father.

III. I would now direct your attention to the exercise in which the wise son is engaged. He gathereth in summer, or during the gospel dispensation.

1. He gathereth a knowledge of God and of his duty to Him, as these are revealed in Gods Word and the dispensations of His grace.

2. He gathereth holy tempers, which cause him to resemble his heavenly Father in watchfulness, patience, meekness, and forbearance.

3. He gathereth an experimental knowledge of Gods providence. These are heavenly fruits; they will not corrupt, nor can they be pilfered; they will last for ever, and the happy soul will relish them through the endless ages of eternity.

In conclusion, see from this subject–

1. The character of one who believes and practises the true religion: he is a wise son.

2. The excellency of the gospel dispensation. It is a season which affords every means and opportunity to promote the peace and comfort of the soul.

3. The duty and responsibility of the young. (James Logan, M.A.)

Youthful neglect

Walter Scott, in a narrative of his personal history, gives the following caution to youth: If it should ever fall to the lot of youth to peruse these pages, let such readers remember that it is with the deepest regret that I recollect, in my manhood, the opportunities of learning which I neglected in my youth; and through every part of my literary career I have felt pinched and hampered by my own ignorance, and I would this moment give half the reputation I have had the good fortune to acquire if by so doing I could rest the remaining part upon a sound foundation of learning and science.

Thrift of time

Every moment lost in youth is so much character and advantage lost; as, on the other hand, every moment employed usefully is so much time wisely laid out at prodigious interest. It was to the young Mr. Gladstone was speaking when he said, Thrift of time will repay you in after-life with a usury of profit beyond your most sanguine dreams.

Opportunity to be used

In our present career a man has but one chance. Time does not fly in a circle, but forth, and right on. The wandering, squandering, desiccated moral leper is gifted with no second set of early years. There is no fountain in Florida that gives perpetual youth; and the universe might be searched probably in vain for such a spring. Waste your youth; in it you shall have but one chance. Waste your middle life; in it you shall have but one chance. Waste your old age; in it you shall have but one chance. It is an irreversible natural law that character attains final permanence, and in the nature of things final permanence can come but once. This world is fearfully and wonderfully made, and so are we, and we shall escape neither ourselves nor these stupendous laws. It is not a pleasant thing to exhibit these truths from the side of terror; but, on the other side, these are truths of bliss, for, by this very law, through which all character tends to become unchanging, a soul that attains a final permanence of good character runs but one risk, and is delivered once for all from its torture and unrest. It has passed the bourne from behind which no man is caught out of the fold. (Christian Age.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 5. He that gathereth in summer] All the work of the field should be done in the season suitable to it. If summer and harvest be neglected, in vain does a man expect the fruits of autumn.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

He that gathereth the fruits of his field in summer; in harvest, as it follows, which is a part of summer. He that watcheth for and improveth the proper seasons and opportunities of doing good to himself, and to others.

That causeth shame; both to himself for his folly, and that poverty and misery caused by it; and to his parents, to whose negligent or evil education such things are oft, and sometimes justly, imputed.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

5. sonas Pro 1:8;Pro 1:10, and often.

sleepethin indolence,and not for rest.

causeth shameliterally,”is base” (compare Pro 14:35;Pro 17:2).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

He that gathereth in summer [is] a wise son,…. Which is the time of gathering the fruits of the earth, and laying them up against winter, as the ant is said to do, Pr 6:8;

[but] he that sleepeth in harvest [is] a son that causeth shame; to himself, and to his parents and relations. The sum of the proverb is, that, in the time of health and youth, persons should be active and industrious in their several callings and stations, and provide against a time of sickness and old age; and that they should lose no opportunities, neither in a natural nor spiritual way, of doing or receiving good.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

There is now added a proverb which, thus standing at the beginning of the collection, and connecting itself with Pro 10:1, stamps on it the character of a book for youth:

He that gathereth in summer is a wise son;

But he that is sunk in sleep in the time of harvest is a son that causeth shame.

Von Hofmann (Schriftb. ii. 2. 403) rightly interprets and , with Cocceius and others, as the subject, and not with Hitzig as predicate, for in nominal clauses the rule is to place the predicate before the subject; and since an accurate expression of the inverted relation would both times require referring to the subject, so we here abide by the usual syntax: he that gathers in summer time is… Also the relation of the members of the sentence, Pro 19:26, is a parallel from which it is evident that the misguided son is called as causing shame, although in the idea to put to shame (= to act so that others are ashamed) and to act shamefully (disgracefully), as in the ideas to have insight and to act intelligently, lie into one another (cf. Pro 14:35); the root-meaning of is determined after , which from , complicare , designates the intellect as the faculty of intellectual configuration. , properly disturbari , proceeds from a similar conception as the Lat. confundi ( pudore ). and fall together, for (from = qat , to be glowing hot) is just the time of the ; vid., under Gen 8:22. To the activity of a thoughtful ingathering, , for a future store ( vid., Pro 6:7), stands opposed deep sleep, i.e., the state of one sunk in idleness. means, as Schultens has already shown, somno penitus obrui, omni sensu obstructo et oppilato quasi , from , to fill, to shut up, to conclude; the derivation (which has been adopted since Gesenius) from the Arab. word having the same sound, rdm , stridere , to shrill, to rattle (but not stertere , to snore), lies remote in the Niph., and also contradicts the usage of the word, according to which it designates a state in which all free activity is bound, and all reference to the external world is interrupted; cf. , Pro 19:15, of dulness, apathy, somnolency in the train of slothfulness. The lxx has here one distich more than the Hebr. text.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

      5 He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

      Here is, 1. The just praise of those who improve their opportunities, who take pains to gather and increase what they have, both for soul and body, who provide for hereafter while provision is to be made, who gather in summer, which is gathering time. He who does so is a wise son, and it is his honour; he acts wisely for his parents, whom, if there be occasion, he ought to maintain, and he gives reputation to himself, his family, and his education. 2. The just reproach and blame of those who trifle away these opportunities: He who sleeps, loves his ease, idles away his time, and neglects his work, especially who sleeps in harvest, when he should be laying in for winter, who lets slip the season of furnishing himself with that which he will have occasion for, is a son that causes shame; for he is a foolish son; he prepares shame for himself when winter comes, and reflects shame upon all his friends. He who gets knowledge and wisdom in the days of his youth gathers in summer, and he will have the comfort and credit of his industry; but he who idles away the days of his youth will bear the shame of his indolence when he is old.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 10:5

THE USE AND THE NEGLECT OF OPPORTUNITIES

I. Man has opportunities given to him which it is a mark of wisdom to embrace.

1. He has the literal and temporal summer. When the harvest is ripe the reaper must take down his sickle and toil at the ingathering of the grain if he would have bread to eat in the days of winter. The fisherman must spread his net in the season when the fish are abundant and watch his opportunity to catch the passing shoal. The merchant must take advantage of the flood-tide of commercial prosperity to make money so that he may not be brought to bankruptcy in times of depression. These things cannot be done at any time, but the opportune time must be laid hold of and improved.

2. He has a mental summer. Youth is the season usually given to man to develop his mental faculties and lay up stores of knowledge for use in after life. Those who embrace this season and industriously improve it, that gather in this summer, are wise sons, and reap an abundant reward in the time of manhood and old age.

3. He has an opportunity given to lay the foundation of a godly character. The season of youth is most favourable for this work. The youthful mind is more susceptible of moral impressions than those of a man who has grown to manhood without yielding to their influence. The young tree can be easily trained to grow in the desired direction, but it is impossible to bend the trunk when it has acquired any degree of strength. So it is comparatively easy to form habits of godly thought and action when we are young, although by the power of Gods grace it is not impossible at any time. He who subjects his will to the Great Teacher in his early days will enjoy an abundant blessing in old age from this gathering in summer.

II. He who neglects thus to improve his opportunities is

1. Likened to a man who sleeps through the season of harvest. He sets one blessing of God in opposition to the other. Toil and rest are both Divine ordinances, and both are good and blessed in their season. Sleep is felt to be an incalculable boon at the end of each day of toil. The rest of the Sabbath is a priceless gift of God, and is needed to renew both body and mind after the six days labour. Longer seasons of rest are good and needful at certain periods of life, and it is a sin against God not to use the ordinary opportunities of rest which are given to all, or ought to be, or to refuse to make use of extraordinary opportunities when they are given to us by the providence of God. But this is quite a different thing from making life a time of indolencefrom neglecting to do work either belonging to the body, mind, or spirit; which, if done at all, can only be done in the given opportunity, or cannot be done so well at any other time.

2. Such a sleeping in harvest brings shame

(1) To the man himself. He is accused by his own conscience. Conscience will recognise the authority of Gods institutions, and the lazy man will be brought to feel that he is out of harmony with the Divine ordinations which govern the world. A time will come in his experience when he will feel the want of the material good, or of the knowledge, or of the favour of God, which he would have possessed if he had used his opportunities, and his poverty in one or all of these respects will make him ashamed when he compares himself with those who gathered in summer.

(2) It brings shame upon others. No man can suffer alone for his own sin. Those related to him suffer also in proportion to the nearness of their relationship and to the affection which they bear to him. The son who fritters away the season of youthful opportunity disgraces his parents. By-and-by he becomes a father, and his children partake of his shame. The whole subject reminds us that bare admission into the Divine family is not the end, but the beginning of a Divine life. There must be a gathering ever going on. And beside this (see Pro. 10:1-4), giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity (2Pe. 1:5-7).

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS

Look at the large harvest of opportunity in labouring for God. The great and diversified machinery of religious societies, needing direction and energy; the mass of fellow sinners around us, claiming our sympathy and helpfulness. While we have time, let us do good (Gal. 6:10). How high is the privilege of gathering with Christ in such a harvest! (Mat. 12:30). How great the shame of doing nothing, where there is so much to be done! What a harvest also is the present accepted time (2Co. 6:2). Mark the abundance of the means of grace, the living verdure of the gospel. Can I bear the thought of that desponding cry of eternal remorseThe harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not saved? (Jer. 8:20).Bridges.

The opportunity is in all matters carefully to be observed. He gathereth in summer who, redeeming the time, maketh his best advantage of the season; for the summer is that fit season wherein the fruits are got into the barn for the whole year following. He that thus in due season provideth for his body or soul, is worthily called a son of understanding, or a wise man; for he hath not only prudently foreseen what is best to be done, but wisely took the occasioned offered unto his best advantage. On the contrary side, he sleepeth in harvest who fondly letteth slip the most convenient means or opportunity of doing or receiving good. Such a one is a son of confusion, that is to say, one that shall be ashamed or confounded, by reason of the want or misery whereunto he shall fall through his own folly.Muffett.

The use of the word son in both clauses implies that the work of the vine-dresser and the plough had been done by the father. All that the son is called to do is to enter into the labours of others, and reap where they have sown.Plumptre.

As the former verse commendeth labour and pains and therein diligence, so this commendeth the diligence of watchfulness, in taking opportunity and not omitting it. For there may be much labouring, but there will be little benefit, unless there be a gathering in summer. The taking of pains may show a mind to gather, but the unseasonableness of the pains will not show the wisdom of the mind.Jermin.

I. God affords opportunities for good. In this view we may regard the whole period of life.

1. You are blessed with a season of gospel grace while many are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, upon you hath the light shined.

2. You have a season of civil and religious liberty. What advantage do we possess above many of our ancestors who suffered for conscience sake! They laboured, and we have entered into their labours.
3. Who has not experienced a day of trouble?
4. Where is the person who does not know what we mean by a season of conviction?

II. I would enforce upon you the necessity of diligence to improve your reaping season.

1. Consider how much you have to accomplish. The salvation of the soul is a greatan arduous concern. Religion is a race, and you must run; it is a warfare, and you must fight. The blessings of the gospel are free, but they are to be sought, and gained.
2. Consider the worth of the blessings which demand your attention. Is it not desirable to be redeemed from the curse of the law; to be justified freely from every charge brought against us at the bar of God; to be delivered from the tyranny and rage of vicious appetites and passions? Great is the happiness of the good here; but who can describe the exalted glory and joy that await them hereafter?
3. Remember that your labour will not be in vain in the Lord. The husbandman has many uncertainties to contend with, but probability stimulates him; how much more should actual certainty encourage you.

4. Remember that your season for action is limited and short. Harvest does not last long. Your time is uncertain as well as short.

5. Reflect upon the consequences of negligence. Is a man blamed for sleeping in harvest? Does every one reproach him as a fool? You act a part more absurd and fatal, who neglect this great salvation. Having made no provision for eternity, your ruin is unavoidable. It will also be insupportable.Jay.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

5. A wise son , ( ben maskil,) a prudent or prosperous son, in whom his parents glory.

A son that causeth shame Or, causing disappointment; that is, to his parents, acting shamefully or wickedly. “A bad son.” Zockler. “He that stores in summer; he that snores in harvest.” Miller. Comp. Pro 6:8-9, seq.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments