Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 14:13
Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth [is] heaviness.
13. that mirth ] Rather, mirth. The statement is general though not universal. “The bright talker, the merry jester, the singer of the gay song, goes home when the party separates, and on his threshold he meets the veiled sorrow of his life, and plunges into the chilly shadow in which his days are spent.” Horton.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Sorrow of some kind either mingles itself with outward joy, or follows hard upon it.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 14:13
Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.
On a life of dissipation and pleasure
We have much reason to beware lest a rash and unwary pursuit of pleasure defeat its end, lest the attempt to carry pleasure too far tend, in the issue, to sink us into misery. It would be unjust to infer, from the serious admonition of Scripture, that religion is an enemy to all mirth and gaiety. It circumscribes our enjoyment, indeed, within the bounds of temperance; but as far as the sacred limit permits, it gives free scope to the gratifications of life. It even heightens their relish to a virtuous man. The text is applicable only to that set of men to whom temperance is no restraint. A mediocrity of enjoyment only is allowed man for his portion on earth. Whatever a mans rank or station may be, there are certain duties required of him, there are serious cares which must employ his mind.
1. The obvious consequences of a life of pleasure and dissipation to health, fortune, and character. To each of these it is an enemy, precisely in the same degree to which it is carried. A temporary satisfaction is admitted. But no sensual pleasure, except what is regulated by temperance, can be lasting.
2. The ruin which a life of pleasure and dissipation brings upon the moral state and character of men, as well as on their external condition. As the love of pleasure gains ground, with what insidious steps does it advance towards the abolition of all virtuous principles! Without the assistance of reflection and of serious thought, virtue cannot long subsist in the human mind. But to reflection and serious thought the men of dissipation are strangers. Men become assimilated to the manners of their loose associates; and, without perceiving it themselves, their whole character by degrees is changed. From a character originally stamped only with giddiness and levity shoots forth a character compounded of dishonesty, injustice, oppression, and cruelty.
3. The disquieting sensations which are apt to intrude upon the men of pleasure, even in the midst of their enjoyments. Often a show of mirth is put on to cover some secret disquiet. At the bottom of the hearts of most men, even amidst an irregular life, there lies a secret feeling of propriety, a sense of right and wrong in conduct. Though conscience be not strong enough to guide, it still has strength to dart a sting. Can that be reckoned sincere joy which is liable to be interrupted and mingled with so many sensations of the most disagreeable nature?
4. How unsuitable a life of dissipation and pleasure is to the condition of man in this world, and how injurious to the interests of society. Amid the sorrows that surround us, and in view of the brevity of life, should we be pursuing giddy amusement and perpetual pleasure? Such persons scatter poison in society around them. They are corrupting the public manners by the life they live. They create discontent and indignation in the poorer classes of men, who see them indulging in wastefulness and thoughtless profusion, when they and their families are not able to earn their bread. To serve God, to attend to the serious cares of life, and to discharge faithfully the duties of our station, ought to be the first concern of every man who wishes to be wise and happy. Amusement and pleasure are the relaxation, not the business, of life. (Hugh Blair, D.D.)
Sorrow amid laughter
A description of Mr. Opie Read, the American humorist, reveals heart-sorrow where the reader has seen nothing but mirth. Sometimes, says the writer, his work is marked by the deepest pathos. He had lost two of his children, to whom he was devotedly attached, and these melancholy events made very marked impressions on the man and his work. When one of my babies died, said he, in talking of the matter to me, I was working for a magazine, and I was required to do just so much work every day. I was compelled to do it–it was my only means of support. During that awful time I would frequently rock the cradle of my dying babe for hours at the time. With one hand I rocked that cradle of death, and with the other I was writing stuff to make people laugh. I sobbed and wept, and watched that angel and wrote that stuff, and I felt every minute as if my heart would burst. And yet some people think this funny business is all sunshine. Sometimes even now I see articles floating around that I wrote while under the shadow of death, and occasionally some editor will preface these very things with some such remark as, The genial and sunny-souled Opie Read says so and so,–yes, about these same things that I penned when my babe was dying and my heart was bursting. (J. F. B. Tinling.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 13. Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful] Many a time is a smile forced upon the face, when the heart is in deep distress. And it is a hard task to put on the face of mirth, when a man has a heavy heart.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The outward signs of joy are commonly mixed with or end in real and hearty sorrow. The design of the proverb is to declare the vanity of all worldly joys and comforts, and to teach men moderation in them, and to persuade us to seek for more solid and durable joys.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. The preceding sentimentillustrated by the disappointments of a wicked or untimely joy.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful,…. As Belshazzar’s was in the midst of his feast and jollity, when he saw the writing on the wall; so sin may stare a man in the face, and guilt load his conscience and fill him with sorrow, amidst his merriment; a man may put on a merry countenance, and feign a laugh, when his heart is very sorrowful; and oftentimes this sorrow comes by sinful laughter, by mocking at sin and jesting at religion;
and the end of that mirth [is] heaviness: sometimes in this life a sinner mourns at last, and mourns for his wicked mirth, or that he has made himself so merry with religious persons and things, and oftentimes when it is too late; so the end of that mirth the fool in the Gospel promised himself was heaviness, when his soul was required of him; this was the case of the rich man who had his good things here, and his evil things hereafter.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
13 Even in the midst of laughter the heart experiences sadness;
And to it, joy, the end is sorrow.
Every human heart carries the feeling of disquiet and of separation from its true home, and of the nothingness, the transitoriness of all that is earthly; and in addition to this, there is many a secret sorrow in every one which grows out of his own corporeal and spiritual life, and from his relation to other men; and this sorrow, which is from infancy onward the lot of the human heart, and which more and more depends and diversifies itself in the course of life, makes itself perceptible even in the midst of laughter, in spite of the mirth and merriment, without being able to be suppressed or expelled from the soul, returning always the more intensely, the more violently we may have for a time kept it under and sunk it in unconsciousness. Euchel cites here the words of the poet, according to which 13a is literally true:
“No, man is not made for joy;
Why weep his eyes when in heart he laughs?”
(Note: “ Nein, der Mensch ist zur Freude nicht gemacht, Darum weint sein Aug’ wenn er herzlich lacht .”)
From the fact that sorrow is the fundamental condition of humanity, and forms the background of laughter, it follows, 13b, that in general it is not good for man to give himself up to joy, viz., sensual (worldly), for to it, joy, the end (the issue) is sorrow. That is true also of the final end, which according to that saying, , changes laughter into weeping, and weeping into laughter. The correction (Hitzig) presses upon the Mishle style an article in such cases rejected, and removes a form of expression of the Hebr. syntaxis ornata, which here, as at Isa 17:6, is easily obviated, but which is warranted by a multitude of other examples, vid., at Pro 13:4 (also Pro 5:22), and cf. Philippi’s Status Const. p. 14f., who regards the second word, as here , after the Arab., as accus. But in cases like , although not in cases such as Ezr 2:62, the accus. rendering is tenable, and the Arab. does not at all demand it.
(Note: Regarding the supplying ( ibdal ) of a foregoing genitive or accus. pronoun of the third person by a definite or indefinite following, in the same case as the substantive, Samachschar speaks in the Mufassal, p. 94ff., where, as examples, are found: raeituhu Zeidan , I have seen him, the Zeid; marartu bihi Zeidin , I have gone over with him, the Zeid; saraftu wuguhaha awwaliha , in the flight I smote the heads of the same, their front rank. Vid., regarding this anticipation of the definite idea by an indefinite, with explanations of it, Fleischer’s Makkar, Additions et Corrections, p. xl. col. 2, and Dieterici’s Mutanabbi, p. 341, l. 13.)
In the old Hebr. this solutio of the st. constr. belongs to the elegances of the language; it is the precursor of the vulgar post-bibl. . That the Hebr. may also retain a gen. where more or fewer parts of a sentence intervene between it and its governing word, is shown by such examples as Isa 48:9; Isa 49:7; Isa 61:7.
(Note: These examples moreover do not exceed that which is possible in the Arab., vid., regarding this omission of the mudaf , where this is supplied from the preceding before a genitive, Samachschar’s Mufassal, p. 34, l. 8-13. Perhaps , Oba 1:7, of thy bread = the (men) of thy bread, is an example of the same thing.)
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.
This shows the vanity of carnal mirth, and proves what Solomon said of laughter, that it is mad; for, 1. There is sadness under it. Sometimes when sinners are under convictions, or some great trouble, they dissemble their grief by a forced mirth, and put a good face on it, because they will not seem to yield: they cry not when he binds them. Nay, when men really are merry, yet at the same time there is some alloy or other to their mirth, something that casts a damp upon it, which all their gaiety cannot keep from their heart. Their consciences tell them they have no reason to be merry (Hos. ix. 1); they cannot but see the vanity of it. Spiritual joy is seated in the soul; the joy of the hypocrite is but from the teeth outward. See Joh 16:22; 2Co 6:10. 2. There is worse after it: The end of that mirth is heaviness. It is soon over, like the crackling of thorns under a pot; and, if the conscience be awake, all sinful and profane mirth will be reflected upon with bitterness; if not, the heaviness will be so much the greater when for all these things God shall bring the sinner into judgment. The sorrows of the saints will end in everlasting joys (Ps. cxxvi. 5), but the laughter of fools will end in endless weeping and wailing.
| The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted. | |
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Joy and Sorrow
Verse 13 suggests that in this life joys will not eliminate sorrows, Job 14:1; Ecc 2:1-2; 2Co 6:10. (For the child of God the day comes when all sorrow shall end, Rev 21:4.)
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 14:13. The heart is sorrowful, or will be (perchance).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 14:13
TRUE AND FALSE MIRTH
This proverb, as it stands in our English version, cannot be taken as universally true. The first clause is rendered by some translatorsEven in laughter the heart may be sorrowful (see Critical Notes), and experience and Bible teaching both necessitate our giving a limitation to the second clause also.
I. Whether mirth will end in heaviness depends upon its charactertherefore upon the character of the man who is mirthful. There is an innocent and right mirth, there is an ill-timed, guilty mirth. The end of lawful mirth is not heaviness. It is good for the body. A physician is glad to see his patient mirthful. He knows that it will act most beneficially, and assist his recovery to health. A mirthful man will not suffer so much physical injury from the wear and tear of life as one who is always sombre and melancholy. Lawful mirth is good for the mind. It is the unbending of the bow which breaks if it is kept always at its extreme tension. A man who is naturally mirthfulwho is ever disposed to see men and things in their brightest colours, must be a creature of hope, and hope has power to surround those who possess her with a paradise of their own creation, which is very independent of outward circumstances. Natural, wholesome mirth will make a man much stronger to do and to bear all the duties and trials of life. But natural, lawful mirth is only proper to godly men. Christians are the only people in the world who have reason to be glad. All those who are worthy of the name ought to be able, amidst all the saddening influences of life, to hold fast such a confidence in God as shall leave room for the play even of mirth. But the man who is in a state of alienation from God has no reason to be mirthful, his mirth must be either feigned or the result of a thoughtless disregard of his own relations to God and eternity. The end of such mirth must be heaviness.
II. Laughter is not always an index of feeling. There is doubtless much that passes for mirth among the ungodly that is merely a blind to conceal intentions or feelings deeply hidden in the soul. The seducer laughs at the fears and misgivings of his victim, but his laugh is not the laugh of the light-hearted, God-fearing man. Its very ring tells any unprejudiced hearer that there is a flaw somewhere, and it is only assumed to enable him to effect his purpose. In such laughter there may not be present actual sorrow, but there is an entire absence of gladness of heart. But laughter often veils the deepest and most heartfelt misery. The poor drunkard will laugh at the debauchery of the past night while he feels a bitter consciousness of his degradation. Many a man laughs with his gay companions, and all the while sees a dread future rising up before him which he trembles to meet. The character of him who laughs will afford the best clue by which to determine whether or not the laughter is the outcome of genuine mirth.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Already the wise king was beginning to experience what he more fully states in Ecc. 2:2; Ecc. 7:6. Mens very pleasures turn into their opposites.Fausset.
Not of its own nature, of course; for a proverb has already said that there is a joy which is not our foe. Not this is always the case; but there is such a case. Because the wicked get nothing really but their ways (Pro. 14:14).Miller.
The sun doth not ever shine: there is a time of setting. No day of jollity is without its evening of conclusion, if no cloud of disturbance prevent it with an overcasting. First God complains, men sing, dance, and are jovial and neglectful; at last man shall complain, and God shall laugh at their calamity. Why should God be conjured to receive that spirit dying which would not receive Gods Spirit living?T. Adams.
As soon might true joy be found in hell as in the carnal heart. As soon might the tempest-tossed ocean be at rest as the sinners conscience (Isa. 57:20-21). He may feast in his prison, or dance in his chains. But if he has found a diversion from present trouble, has he found a cover from everlasting misery? It is far easier to drown conviction than to escape damnation. But the end of that mirth implies another with a different end. Contrast the prodigals mirth in the far country with his return to his fathers house when they began to be merry.Bridges.
Every human heart carries the feeling of disquiet and of separation from its true home, and of the nothingness, transitoriness of all that is earthly; and in addition to this, there is many a secret sorrow in everyone which grows out of his own corporeal and spiritual life, and from his relation to other men; and this sorrow, which from infancy onward is the lot of the human heart, and which more and more deepens and diversifies itself in the course of life, makes itself perceptible even in the midst of laughter, in spite of the mirth and merriment, without being able to be suppressed or expelled from the soul, returning always the more intensely, the more violently we may for a time have kept it under, and sunk it in unconsciousness. From the fact that sorrow is the fundamental condition of humanity, and forms the back-ground of laughter, it follows that it is not good for man to give himself up to joy, viz., sensual (worldly), for to it the issue is sorrow.Delitzsch.
There are two sorts of joysthe joy natural and the joy spiritual; the joy of vanity and the joy of verity; a joy in the creature and a joy in the Creator; a joy in a mutable thing and a joy in a matter immutable. The spiritual joys are the joys of the palace. The natural joys are the joys of prisoners. These are to worldlings that are without God seeming joys, because they know no better. They cannot get Penelope, they will be suitors to her maidens. The godly are like the ant, they are first weary, then merry; but the ungodly are like the grasshopper, first they sing and then they sorrow.Bishop Abernethy, 1630.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
TEXT Pro. 14:13-24
13.
Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful;
And the end of mirth is heaviness.
14.
The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways;
And a good man shall be satisfied from himself.
15.
The simple believeth every word;
But the prudent man looketh well to his going.
16.
A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil;
But the fool beareth himself insolently, and is confident.
17.
He that is soon angry will deal foolishly;
And a man of wicked devices is hated.
18.
The simple inherit folly;
But the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
19.
The evil bow down before the good;
And the wicked, at the gates of the righteous.
20.
The poor is hated even of his own neighbor;
But the rich hath many friends.
21.
He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth;
But he that hath pity on the poor, happy is he.
22.
Do they not err that devise evil?
But mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.
23.
In all labor there is profit;
But the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.
24.
The crown of the wise is their riches;
But the folly of fools is only folly.
STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 14:13-24
1.
Are there people who try to act happy when they really arent, or is life an admixture of happiness and sorrow (Pro. 14:13)?
2.
In the Bible whose mirth ended in heaviness (Pro. 14:13)?
3.
A blackslider in heart is filled with his own ways instead of whose ways (Pro. 14:14)?
4.
At what stage of life is one of the most apt to believe every word (Pro. 14:15)?
5.
Cite other passages connecting fear with departing from sin (Pro. 14:16).
6.
What does insolent mean (Pro. 14:16)?
7.
Who hates a man of wicked devices (Pro. 14:17)?
8.
Does life become better for the simple (Pro. 14:18)?
9.
What are some Bible instances of Pro. 14:19?
10.
Why do people not want to be companions of the extremely poor (Pro. 14:20)?
11.
Do you see in Pro. 14:21 a man despising his neighbor because he is poor, or is the first clause to be so limited?
12.
What are illustrations of devising evil (Pro. 14:22)?
13.
What are illustrations of devising good (Pro. 14:22)?
14.
What does penury mean (Pro. 14:23)?
15.
What is meant by crown in Pro. 14:24?
PARAPHRASE OF 14:13-24
13.
Laughter cannot mask a heavy heart. When the laughter ends, the grief remains.
14.
The backslider gets bored with himself; the godly mans life is exciting.
15.
Only a simpleton believes what he is told! A prudent man checks to see where he is going.
16.
A wise man is cautious and avoids danger; a fool plunges ahead with great confidence.
17.
A short-tempered man is a fool. He hates the man who is patient.
18.
A simpleton is crowned with folly; the wise man is crowned with knowledge.
19.
Evil men bow before the godly.
20.
Even his own neighbors despise the poor man, while the rich have many friends.
21.
To despise the poor is to sin. Blessed are those who pity them.
22.
Those who plot evil shall wander away and be lost, but those who plan good shall be granted mercy and quietness.
23.
Work brings profit; talk brings poverty!
24.
Wise men are praised for their wisdom; fools are despised for their folly.
COMMENTS ON 14:13-24
Pro. 14:13. Fun and sorrow are found in both statements. Many who laugh may have inward sorrows they are either trying to suppress or cover up (first statement). Some who laugh easily cry just as easily. An old saying: Laugh before breakfast, and you will cry before night (probably superstition). Mirth sometimes precedes heaviness, like Belshazzars feast (Dan. 5:1-6) and loose living (Pro. 5:4).
Pro. 14:14. A backslidden life is no longer filled with Gods ways but with ones own. A backslider is one who has returned to selfish living. Clarke: Who is the backslider? 1. The man who once walked in the ways of religion but has withdrawn from them. 2. The man who once fought manfully against the world, the devil, and the flesh but has retreated from the battle or joined the enemy. 3. The man who once belonged to the congregation of the saints but is now removed from them and is set down in the synagogue of Satan. One backslides in heart before he does in his ways: people cease enjoying the assembly before they actually quit attending; they lose their touch with God in prayer before they drop the practice of prayer; etc. A good man (contrasted with the backslider) will be satisfied from himself because he is actually filled with Gods good and holy ways which bring blessings and satisfaction.
Pro. 14:15. Such are like children (Eph. 4:14). Older people often amuse themselves by taking advantage of an innocent childs gullibility by telling him all kinds of yarns and tales. And some people grow up and never doubt anything they hear. In contrast the prudent man considers whither the advice given will lead him; he always acts with deliberation (Pulpit Commentary).
Pro. 14:16. A wise man does not take dangerous chances, but a foolish man will (Pro. 22:3). Joseph was a wise man who feared God and departed from the evil in which Potiphars wife would have ensnared him (Gen. 39:9-12).
Pro. 14:17. The Bible is against quick-temperedness: Tit. 1:7; Jas. 1:19; Pro. 15:18; Pro. 16:32. An angry man will deal foolishly because anger momentarily blurs ones judgment (a good reason for not losing ones temper). Jokingly, keep your tempernobody wants it. A man of wicked devices is hated of God (Pro. 12:2), but two human groups who hate or abhor him are those who are hurt by his devices (like people who get robbed or cheated by some slick maneuver) and those who do not approve of them (Rev. 2:2).
Pro. 14:18. Those at the low end of wisdom (the simple) participate or know only folly (foolishness) (Pro. 18:2; Ecc. 7:5-6); those at the top end (the prudent) are blessed with knowledge (Pro. 9:9). A Stoic saying: The wise is the only king.
Pro. 14:19. Pulpit Commentary: The final victory of good over evil is here set forth. However triumphant for a time and apparently prosperous the wicked may be, their success is not lasting; they shall in the end succumb to the righteous even as the Canaanite kings crouched before Joshuas captains (Jos. 10:24) and, hurled from their high estate, they shall stand humbly at the good mans door begging for bread to support their life (1Sa. 2:36). The contrast here indicated is seen in our Lords report of the rich man and Lazarus when the beggar is comforted and the rich man is tormented, and when the latter urgently sues for the help of the once despised outcast to mitigate the agony which he is suffering (Luk. 16:24). When troubles hit the wicked and ungodly (those who never go to church;, they often turn to the righteous for sympathetic help and comfort (a preacher, the church, or some good Christian). Ultimately the wicked will bend (Dan. 3:24-26; Dan. 3:28-30; Dan. 5:13; Dan. 5:16; Rev. 3:9).
Pro. 14:20. There is a certain shame and disgrace to extreme poverty that causes even neighbors not to be associated with such in peoples minds. This is why people are often ashamed of their poor relatives (Pro. 10:7), their clothes, their car, their home, their ways, etc. But people are usually glad to claim relationship and friendship with the financially successful (a saying: Success makes false friends and true enemies). The rich have many friends, especially if they are generous with their gifts or have powers and offices to bestow.
Pro. 14:21. But we are not to despise our neighbor (even if he is poor, as in Pro. 14:20). Some have no sense of respect or honor, seemingly despising, belittling, and running down everyone continually. Let us not thus violate the second commandment (Mar. 12:31), but let us have pity upon the poor (Gal. 2:10; Mat. 25:35-36), for those who do will be blessed of God (Psa. 41:1; Act. 20:35; Pro. 19:17; Luk. 14:13-14).
Pro. 14:22. Such a question is an emphatic way to state truth. The man who invented the atomic bomb went out of his mind after it was used on the Japanese, and the widow of the man who invented television is extremely remorseful because of the evil it has become associated with and promotes. This verse speaks of two devisings (evil and good). Some are devising evil (the wicked), and some are devising good (the godly). What are you devising? Mercy and truth belong together (Pro. 3:3; Psa. 61:7; Joh. 1:17; 1Ti. 1:2).
Pro. 14:23. There is often a difference between being a talker and a worker. It is not those who talk about what they are going to do but those who go out and get it done that counts. Sometimes children come to look down upon their lazy, wind-bag, good-for-nothing dads who are always talking about the trip the family is going to take, the house they are going to build, etc. but who never get any of it done. This verse has two contrasts: talk vs. labor and penury vs. profit. Penury means to want or to suffer need.
Pro. 14:24. Notice folly all the way in this triple contrast: The crown vs. the folly; of the wise vs. of fools; and is their riches vs. is only folly. Pulpit Commentary: Decorate folly as you may, deck it out in gaud and ornament, it is still nothing but folly and is discerned as such, and that all the more for being made conspicuous.
TEST QUESTIONS OVER 14:13-24
1.
Comment upon Pro. 14:13.
2
Who is a backslider (Pro. 14:14)?
3.
Why is a good man satisfied from himself (Pro. 14:14)?
4.
What is Pro. 14:15s contrast between the simple and the prudent?
5.
What is Pro. 14:16s contrast between the wise and the foolish?
6.
What does the Bible say about being quick-tempered (Pro. 14:17)?
7.
What is Pro. 14:18s contrast between the simple and the prudent?
8.
Cite examples of the truth set forth in Pro. 14:19.
9.
Why do people disdain the poor (Pro. 14:20)?
10.
Why do many want to claim the rich for friends (Pro. 14:20)?
11.
What commandment is violated by despising your neighbor (Pro. 14:21)?
12.
Where else are we taught to have pity (help) the poor (Pro. 14:21)?
13.
Have people ever lived to regret evil they one time devised (Pro. 14:22)?
14.
What two contrasts are found in Pro. 14:23?
15.
What does penury mean (Pro. 14:23)?
16.
Cite the triple contrast in Pro. 14:24.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(13) Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful.By this God would teach us that nothing can satisfy the soul of man but Himself, and so would urge us to seek Him, who is the only true object of our desires. (Comp. Psa. 36:8.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. Sorrowful That is, may be so.
And the end of that mirth The expression is the same as in the preceding verse, where it is rendered, the end thereof. There is in the original an artistic arrangement of the words difficult to imitate, but very expressive; like, and the end of that gladness, sadness. The idea appears to be, that they are so close together that it is difficult to mention them apart, or to separate in expression the antecedent and consequent, “so swift trod sorrow on the heels of joy.” Pollok. Comp. Pro 14:10; Ecc 2:2; Ecc 7:6.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 13. Even In laughter the heart is sorrowful,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
DISCOURSE: 785
THE VANITY OF CARNAL MIRTH
Pro 14:13. Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.
WE are apt to imagine, that whatever is sanctioned by the approbation and practice of the world at large, must be right: but we cannot have a more erroneous standard than popular opinion. This is sufficiently evident from the estimation in which mirth and laughter are generally held: they are supposed to constitute the chief happiness of man; whereas they are far from producing any solid happiness at all. To this mistake Solomon refers, in the words preceding the text; and in the text itself he confirms the truth of his own position.
We shall,
I.
Demonstrate the vanity of carnal mirth
We mean not to condemn all kinds and degrees of mirth: there certainly is a measure of it that is conducive to good, rather than to evil; A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance, and doeth good like a medicine. But carnal mirth is distinct from cheerfulness of disposition; inasmuch as it argues a light frivolous state of mind, and indisposes us for serious and heavenly contemplations. Of this mirth we affirm, that it is,
1.
Empty
[Let us examine the mirth which we have at any time experienced; let us weigh it in a balance; let us compare it with that sobriety of mind which results from scenes of woe, and with that tenderness of spirit which is the offspring of sympathy and compassion; and we shall confess, with Solomon, that it is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting [Note: Ecc 7:1-3.]: yea, the more we examine it, the more shall we be constrained, like him, to say of laughter. It is mad; and of mirth, What doeth it [Note: Ecc 2:1-2.]? It may be justly called, a filling of our belly with the east wind [Note: Job 15:2.].]
2.
Fictitious
[The gaiety which is exhibited in worldly company is often assumed, for the purpose of concealing the real feelings of the heart. They who appear so delighted to see each other, have frequently no mutual affection: even the nearest relatives, who seem to participate each others joys, have so little real cordiality at home, that they can scarcely endure each others conversation; and would be heartily glad, if the knot which binds them together could be dissolved. Truly in their laughter their heart is sorrowful; their pride, their envy, their jealousy, their private piques, their domestic troubles, or their worldly cares, make them inwardly sigh, so that they can with difficulty prevent the discovery of the imposture which they are practising. The very emptiness of their pleasure fills them often with disgust; and they are constrained to acknowledge, that they are feeding on ashes, and that they have a lie in their right hand [Note: Isa 44:20.].]
3.
Transient
[Suppose it to have been for more substantial than it has, yet how speedily has it vanished away! What trace of it remains? It is like a dream when one awaketh: in our dream we thought of satisfaction; but when we awoke, we found ourselves as unsatisfied as ever [Note: Isa 29:8.]. If we thought by repeated participation to protract the pleasure, we weakened the zest with which we had partaken of it; and thus diminished, rather than increased, the sum of our enjoyment.]
4.
Delusive
[We hoped that the ultimate effect of all our mirth would be an easy comfortable frame: but has it always been so? Has not the very reverse been often experienced by us? Has not the end of our mirth been heaviness? An excessive elevation of spirit is naturally calculated to produce depression. Besides, we cannot always shake off reflection: and the thought of having so foolishly wasted our time, instead of improving it in preparation for eternity, will sometimes produce very uneasy sensations. Such warnings as Solomon [Note: Ecc 11:9.], and our Lord [Note: Luk 6:25.], have given us, will frequently obtrude themselves upon us, and make us almost weary of life, while at the same time we are afraid of death: so justly is this mirth compared to the crackling of thorns under a pot [Note: Ecc 7:6.]; the one, after an unprofitable blaze, terminating in smoke and darkness, the other, after a senseless noise, expiring in spleen and melancholy. In fact, there are no people more subject to lowness of spirits, than they who spend their time in vanity and dissipation.
What will be the end of their mirth when they come into the eternal world, is inexpressibly awful to consider. Fearful indeed will be the contrast between the festivities of their present, and the wailings of their eternal state [Note: Amo 6:1-6.]! Would to God that man would learn this from a parable [Note: Luk 16:19; Luk 16:24-25.]! but, if they will not, they must realize it in their own experience.]
That we may not appear as if we would deprive you of all happiness, we shall
II.
Shew how we may attain more solid mirth
There is evidently a contrast intended in the text: for when it is said that the end of that mirth is heaviness, it is implied, that there is another species of mirth that shall end in a very different manner.
The Gospel is a source of mirth to all who embrace it
[The Gospel is called glad tidings of great joy to all people. It proclaims salvation to a ruined world; nor can it fail of creating the liveliest emotions of joy wherever it is received [Note: Isa 51:3; Isa 51:11; Isa 65:18 and Jer 31:4. with Act 8:8; Act 8:39.] ]
And the mirth resulting from it, is the very reverse of carnal mirth
[It is solid.Behold the change wrought in the first converts! see them turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God! see them enjoying peace with God and in their own consciences! see them filled with love to each other, and with admiring and adoring thoughts of their beloved Saviour! Can we wonder that they ate their bread with gladness and singleness of heart, blessing and praising God? Yet precisely the same grounds of joy has every one that truly believes in Christ [Note: Jer 31:11-14.]. The Prodigal fancied that he was in the road to joy, when he was wasting his substance in riotous living: but he never tasted real happiness till he returned to his fathers house: then he began to eat, and drink, and be merry.
It is permanent.It will consist with trials and tribulations; yea, it will even arise out of them [Note: Rom 5:3. Jam 1:2.]: we may be sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing [Note: 2Co 6:10.]. And, as it is not interrupted by the occurrences of life, so neither will it be terminated by death: it will then be augmented a thousand-fold: and continue without interruption to all eternity ]
Address
1.
The young and gay
[Follow your career of pleasure as long as you will, you will be constrained to say at last, with Solomon, not only that it was all vanity, but also vexation of spirit. Yet think not, that in dissuading you from these lying vanities, we would deprive you of all happiness: we wish only that you should exchange that which is empty and delusive, for that which will afford you present and eternal satisfaction [Note: Isa 55:2.]. Even your past experience may suffice to shew you, that in the fulness of your sufficiency you have been in straits [Note: Job 20:22.]: try now what the service and enjoyment of God can do for you; and you shall find that religions ways are indeed ways of pleasantness and peace.]
2.
Those who profess godliness
[In avoiding carnal mirth, you must be careful not to give occasion to the world to represent religion as sour and morose. There is a cheerfulness which recommends religion, and which it is both your duty and privilege to maintain. Yet, on the other hand, beware of levity. Live nigh to God, and you will easily find the proper medium. God has certainly given you all things richly to enjoy [Note: 1Ti 6:17.]: yet it is in himself alone, and in the light of his countenance, that you must seek your happiness. There you are sure to find it [Note: Psa 4:6-7.]; and while you find it in him, you will shine as lights in a dark world, and recommend the Gospel to all around you.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 14:13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth [is] heaviness.
Ver. 13. Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful. ] Nulla est sincera voluptas. Labor est etiam ipsa voluptas. Of carnal pleasures a man may break his neck before his fast. “All this avails me nothing,” said Haman. Omnia fui, et nihil profuit, said that emperor. “Vanity of vanity, all is vanity,” said Solomon; and not vanity only, but “vexation of spirit.” Nothing in themselves, and yet full of power and activity to inflict vengeance and vexation upon the spirit of a man; so that even in laughter the heart is sorrowful. Some kind of frothy and flashy mirth wicked men may have; such as may wet the mouth, but not warm the heart; smooth the brow, but not fill the breast. It is but ‘a cold armful,’ a as Lycophron saith of an evil wife. As they repent in the face, Mat 6:16 so they rejoice in the face, not in the heart. 2Co 5:12 Rident et ringuntur. They laugh and snare. There is a snare or a cord in the sin of the wicked – that is, to strangle their joy with; but the righteous sing and are merry; Pro 29:6 others may revel, they only must rejoice. Hos 9:1
And the end of that mirth is heaviness.
a . – Lyc.
Proverbs
HOLLOW LAUGHTER, SOLID JOY
Pro 14:13 A poet, who used to be more fashionable than he is now, pronounces ‘happiness’ to be our being’s end and aim. That is not true, except under great limitations and with many explanations. It may be regarded as God’s end, but it is ruinous to make it man’s aim. It is by no means the highest conception of the Gospel to say that it makes men happy, however true it may be. The highest is that it makes them good. I put these two texts together, not only because they bring out the contrast between the laughter which is hollow and fleeting and the joy which is perfect and perpetual, but also because they suggest to us the difference in kind and object between earthly and heavenly joys; which difference underlies the other between the boisterous laughter in which is no mirth and no continuance and the joy which is deep and abiding.
In the comparison which I desire to make between these two texts we must begin with that which is deepest, and consider-
I. The respective objects of earthly and heavenly joy.
Nor must we forget that ‘My joy’ co-existed with a profound experience of sorrow to which no human sorrow was ever like. Let us not forget that, while His joy filled His soul to the brim, He was ‘acquainted with grief’; and let us not wonder if the strange surface contradiction is repeated in ourselves. It is more Christlike to have inexpressibly deep joy with surface sorrow, than to have a shallow laughter masking a hurtful sorrow.
We have to set the sources of earthly gladness side by side with those of Christ’s joy to be aware of a contrast. His sprang from within, the world’s is drawn from without. His came from union with the Father, the world’s largely depends on ignoring God. His needed no supplies from the gratifications ministered by sense, and so independent of the presence or absence of such; the world’s need the constant contributions of outward good, and when these are cut off they droop and die. He who depends on outward circumstances for his joy is the slave of externals and the sport of time and chance.
II. The Christian’s joy is full, the world’s partial.
But when Christ’s joy remains in us our joy will be full. Its flowing tide will rush into and placidly occupy all the else oozy shallows of our hearts, even into the narrowest crannies its penetrating waters will pass, and everywhere will bring a flashing surface that will reflect in our hearts the calm blue above. We need nothing else if we have Christ and His joy within us. If we have everything else, we need His joy within us, else ours will never be full.
III. The heavenly joys are perpetual, the earthly joys transient.
There is a realm where abide ‘fullness of joy and pleasures for ever more.’ Surely they order their lives most wisely who look for their joys to nothing that earth holds, and have taken for their own the ancient vow: ‘Though the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine. . .. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.’ If ‘My joy’ abides in us in its calm and changeless depth, our joy will be ‘full’ whatever our circumstances may be; and we shall hear at last the welcome: ‘Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.’
is: i.e. may be. Illustrations: Nabal (1Sa 25:36, 1Sa 25:37); Solomon (Ecc 2:2); Belshazzar (Dan 5:1-6, Dan 5:30); Israelites (Amo 6:3-7); Babylon (Rev 18:7, Rev 18:8).
Pro 14:13
Pro 14:13
“Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; And the end of mirth is heaviness.”
“Like many other Proverbs in our English version, this one cannot be taken as universally true. The first clause is often rendered, and perhaps should be, “Even in laughter the heart may sorrowful.” “There are two kinds of laughter and mirth. There is an innocent and proper mirth; and there is an guilty and sinful mirth. There is also sometimes a heavy and disconsolate heart that disguises its sorrow by a show of joy and laughter.
Pro 14:13. Fun and sorrow are found in both statements. Many who laugh may have inward sorrows they are either trying to suppress or cover up (first statement). Some who laugh easily cry just as easily. An old saying: Laugh before breakfast, and you will cry before night (probably superstition). Mirth sometimes precedes heaviness, like Belshazzars feast (Dan 5:1-6) and loose living (Pro 5:4).
Pro 5:4, Ecc 2:2, Ecc 2:10, Ecc 2:11, Ecc 7:5, Ecc 7:6, Ecc 11:9, Luk 16:25, Jam 4:9, Rev 18:7, Rev 18:8
Reciprocal: 1Ki 1:41 – as they Luk 6:25 – laugh
Pro 14:13. Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful Do not think that every one that laughs is happy, or that profuse and immoderate joy is true pleasure, for the outward signs of it are often mixed with, or end in, real sadness: nay, such is the vanity of this present life, that there is no joy without a mixture of sorrow, which often immediately follows upon it.
14:13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; {h} and the end of that mirth [is] heaviness.
(h) He shows the allurement to sin, that it seems sweet, but the end of it is destruction.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes