Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 12:2
A good [man] obtaineth favor of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
2. obtaineth ] See Pro 3:13, note. Comp. Pro 8:35.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Pro 12:2
A good man obtaineth favour of the Lord.
The blessing of the righteous and misery of the wicked
There is s marked difference between the righteous and the wicked both in their characteristics and in their condition.
I. The teaching of the passage regarding the blessing of the righteous.
1. The righteous has the favour of the Lord (Pro 12:2). In the Divine favour is the guarantee of all good.
2. The righteous is firmly fixed (Pro 12:3).
3. He is wiser in his speech (Pro 12:6).
4. His blessings are continued to his children (verse 71.
5. He wins the confidence of his fellow-men. In spiritual privileges, at least, the good man gains advantages of inestimable worth. Some of the advantages of the righteous man are specified. Because he is industrious, he–
(1) Shall have plenty of bread.
(2) His labour shall not be without results.
(3) He shall somehow come out of trouble triumphant.
(4) He shall be satisfied with good (Pro 12:11-14).
The longings of the child of God are so controlled and directed that in time they are fully met. They keep themselves within the channels of the Divine will, and so are never stranded and wrecked by their self-will.
II. The passage pictures the misery of the wicked. This consists, first of all, in the disapproval of God; then in the disapproval of his fellow-men. By their misdeeds the wicked forfeit the esteem of the public, and this is a blow they find hard to bear. A wrong course of conduct is also sure to ensnare one in difficulties. Each sin is a misstep which brings one into new entanglements. One lie necessitates another to bolster it. The immediate results of sin may not be seen to be evil. But the end is sure to come. Sin persisted in brings ruin. The end of unrepented wrong is sure. The law of moral turpitude cannot be broken.
III. The characteristics of both these classes. The wicked are marked by a dislike for reproof. Their very sinfulness is an indication that they are void of understanding. They are self-conceited. An indifference to the opinions of others, a certain self-assurance, an unwillingness to learn, these are some of the characteristics of the wicked. Another almost certain indication of wrong-doing is the keeping of bad company. The wrong-doer followeth after vain persons. He naturally seeks those of his own kind. His conduct is all in the line of injury to others. Selfishness has in it the seeds of cruelty. Self is steadily seeking its own gratification, and does not stop at any injury to others who chance to stand in its way. The characteristics of the righteous are–
1. He loveth knowledge. He is honestly seeking to find out what it is best to do. Hence he gladly welcomes correction. He does not shrink from reproof.
2. His thoughts are just. He desires to treat all rightly and to give every man his just dues. His thoughts even are under control in this matter. Not only does he not do others wrong, but he has no wish to; nor even does the thought of evil rise up in his mind. (A. F. Foster.)
The man of wisdom
I. The relation of the man of wisdom to God. He is in favour with God, whereas the man of unwisdom is condemned of God (Pro 12:2). The ethics of Proverbs is most deeply religious. All moral obligations derive from the Creator, and the foundation of wisdom is over and over again stated to be in the fear of the Lord. Many a moral teacher fails because he tries to induce men to act right without first setting their hearts right.
II. The traits of character belonging to the wise man are set forth partially here.
1. He is truthful.
2. He is receptive.
3. He has good practical judgment.
4. He is industrious.
5. He is kind-hearted.
III. The wise man in his relations with other men is here set forth.
1. He has honour from others. That man only has true honour whose name is honestly revered. Such reverence comes only to that nobility of character whose spring is in that heart-wisdom which consists in the fear of the Lord.
2. Such a character brings honour to others.
3. Such a man is safe from embroilments with others. A man without principle is always getting into troubles from which the righteous escape.
IV. The results to himself of the wisdom Of the good man.
1. The wise man has a return for his devotion to that which is good. Satisfaction is dealt out to him.
2. In this passage the character of the result is described.
3. Stability is specially noted as one of the rewards of the good. (D. J. Burrell.)
The good man
By a good man we are to understand a benevolent man; that is, a man who always wills happiness to others and carries forward his benevolence into the active form of beneficence. The good man is not an intellectual fop, or a moral phenomenon, but is well disciplined, thoroughly chastened, adjusted in all his faculties, and sometimes concealing exceptional excellences under a general average of fine nature; that is to say, instead of living in his eccentricities and making a reputation out of his occasional excellences he brings down these mountains and irregularities and smooths them so as to consolidate a general average of true worth. Whoever does good is an ally of God; he is in immediate co-operation with Him. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. A good man obtaineth favour] First, it is God who makes him good; for every child of Adam is bad till the grace of God changes his heart. Secondly, while he walks in the path of obedience he increases in goodness, and consequently in the favour of the Lord.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Obtaineth favour; whereby he is and shall be acquitted and justified.
A man of wicked devices, who designeth and industriously committeth wickedness, will he condemn, when he standeth in judgment, howsoever he may for the present justify himself, and deceive others into a good opinion of him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
A good [man] obtaineth favour of the Lord,…. One that is made so by the grace of God, for no man is so naturally; there is none good, nor does good, no, not one, until some good thing is put into him, or the good work of grace is begun in him. And such a man obtains favour or good will from the Lord; that is, as Gersom explains it, what he himself wills, for the will of God is his will; or rather the good will of God, his grace, and layout; fresh manifestations and discoveries of which he obtains and enjoys, not by merit, through any goodness of his own, or by means of his obedience but he draws it out, as the word l signifies, as out of a fountain, by prayer and supplication, and by fresh repeated acts of faith upon it; which may be said to be ad and enjoyed, when it is remembered to him, he is encompassed with it, or it is shed abroad in his heart, or his heart is directed into it; and he also obtains and enjoys all the blessings, of grace here, and glory hereafter, as springing from it;
but a man of wicked devices will he condemn; whose thoughts, and the imaginations of his heart, are evil continually; who is always contriving mischief to others: such a man shall be so far from enjoying the favour of God, that he shall be pronounced guilty of death, and condemned to it; he shall be banished from the presence of the Lord, and be punished with everlasting destruction. As the man of sin is continually devising wicked things against God, against Christ, against his interest and people; he shall be condemned by the Lord, consumed with the breath of his mouth; go into perdition, and be cast into the lake burning with fire and brimstone: and this will be the portion of all his followers, that join with him in forming and executing his wicked devices.
l “educet”, Pagninus, Montanus, “hauriet”, V. L. “haurit”, Mercerus, Gejerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2 A good man obtaineth favour with Jahve,
But the man of wicked devices He condemns.
He who is an (Pro 14:17, cf. Psa 37:7) is defined in Pro 24:8: he is a man of devices, namely, that are wicked, one who contrives evil against his neighbour. The meaning of the subject-conception is defined according to this, although in itself also it is clear, for , used of God ( e.g., Psa 73:1; Psa 86:5) and of men (Pro 13:22; Pro 14:14), denotes the good ( bonus ) in the sense of the benevolent ( benignus ); the Scripture truths, that God is love, that love is the essence of goodness and is the fulfilling of the law, are so conformed to reason, that they stamp themselves as immediate component parts of the human consciousness. A is thus a man who acts according to the ruling motive of self-sacrificing love; such an one obtains ( vid., on , educit = adipiscitur , at Pro 3:13) the favour of God, He is and shows Himself kind to him, while on the contrary He condemns the wicked intriguer. Hitzig translates: the former of intrigues is punishable (as the Syr.: is condemned; Targ.: his contrivance is shattered to pieces); but to become a = reus does not denote, but either to practise , Job 34:12, or to set forth as = to condemn, Isa 50:9. Taken in the former signification (Jerome, impie agit ), a declaration is made which is not needed, since the moral badness already lies in the reference of the subject: thus will be used also of Jahve. In proof that the poet did not need to say , Zckler rightly points to Pro 10:6; Job 22:29.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
2 A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
Note, 1. We are really as we are with God. Those are happy, truly happy, for ever happy, that obtain favour of the Lord, though the world frown upon them, and they find little favour with men; for in God’s favour is life, and that is the fountain of all good. On the other hand those are miserable whom he condemns, however men may applaud them, and cry them up; whom he condemns he condemns to the second death. 2. We are with God as we are with men, as we have our conversation in this world. Our Father judges of his children very much by their conduct one to another; and therefore a good man, that is merciful, and charitable, and does good, draws out favour from the Lord by his prayers; but a malicious man, that devises wickedness against his neighbours, he will condemn, as unworthy of a place in his kingdom.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Righteous Vs Wicked
Verse 2 repeats the principle set forth in Pro 11:7; Pro 11:27 that the LORD bestows favor on the righteous and condemns the wicked. See also Pro 14:9; Pro 14:35; Pro 19:12; 1Sa 22:21-22.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(2) A good man.The corresponding phrase, a man of wicked devices, i.e., who plots against his neighbour, fixes the sense of good as signifying benevolent (comp. Psa. 73:1); and for the sentiment, Luk. 6:35.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. A good man , ( tobh,) an unusual word to express moral qualities.
Obtaineth Hebrew, draws out. There is some disagreement on the proper rendering of the latter clause, but the weight of criticism is in favour of our version.
Wicked devices Plots, usually with a bad sense, and supposed to be so used here.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 2. A good man obtaineth favor of the Lord,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 12:2 A good [man] obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
Ver. 2. A good man obtaineth favour of the Lord. ] Or, “Hath what he will of God”; id quod vult a Domino impetrat; quia eius voluntas est ipsissima Dei voluntas, nec aliud vult. Thus Mercer out of Rabbi Levi. Thus it is written of Luther, that by his prayers he could prevail with God at his pleasure. When great gifts were offered him, he refused them with this brave speech, Valde protestatus sum me nolle sic satiari a Deo: – I solemnly protested to God, that I would not be put off with these low things. And on a time praying for the recovery of a godly useful man, among other passages, he let fall this transcendent rapture of a daring faith, Fiat mea voluntas, “Let my will be done”; and then falls off sweetly, Mea voluntas, Domine, quia tua; ” My will, Lord, because thy will!” Here was a good man, here was a blessed man; according to that rule, Beatus est qui habet quicquid vult, et nihil male vult; – Blessed is he that hath what he will, and wills nothing but what he should.
But a man of wicked devices.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
man. Hebrew. ‘ish. App-14,
wicked = lawless. Hebrew. rasha’. App-44.
will He condemn: or will pronounce him guilty, as Job 40:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 12:2
Pro 12:2
“A good man shall obtain favor of Jehovah; But a man of wicked devices will he condemn.”
“He that is good shall draw grace from the Lord; but he that trusteth in his own devices doth wickedly.” This is only another way of saying that God will reward righteousness and condemn wickedness. This is the basic assumption of holy religion.
Pro 12:2. A good man obtains Gods favor, so does a righteous man (Gen 7:1), and so does a wise man (Pro 8:35). Rom 5:7 draws a distinction between a good man and a righteous man. Righteousness has to do with doing right rather than wrong; goodness has to do with whether one is good to others or not. A man of wicked devices is neither right nor good. The first goal of life should be to obtain Gods favor. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Daniel, and a host of others did-and we can. Ahab, Jezebel, Judas Iscariot, Ananias and Sapphira didnt-and many today dont.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
good: Pro 8:35, Psa 112:5, Ecc 8:8, Act 11:24, Rom 5:7
a man: Pro 1:31, Pro 6:18, Psa 9:15, Isa 32:5-7
Reciprocal: Gen 6:8 – General Pro 14:9 – among Pro 14:17 – a man Pro 14:22 – err Pro 19:21 – many Eze 38:10 – think an evil thought Mic 2:1 – to