Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 14:28
In the multitude of people [is] the king’s honor: but in the want of people [is] the destruction of the prince.
A protest against the false ideal of national greatness to which Eastern kings, for the most part, have bowed down. Not conquest, or pomp, or gorgeous array, but a happy and numerous people form the true glory of a king. The word translated prince is of doubtful meaning; but the translation is supported by the Septuagint, Vulg, and most commentators.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 28. In the multitude of people] It is the interest of every state to promote marriage by every means that is just and prudent; and to discourage, disgrace, and debase celibacy; to render bachelors incapable, after a given age, of all public employments: and to banish nunneries and monasteries from all parts of their dominions;-they have ever, from their invention, contributed more to vice than virtue; and are positively point blank against the law of God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Is the kings honour, because it is an evidence of his wise and good government. Under honour he here comprehends also strength and safety, (as appears from the opposite clause,) which depend much upon a princes reputation. And honour may be here put for strength, as strength is put for honour or glory, Psa 8:2; 29:1; 96:7.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28. The teaching of a truepolitical economy.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
In the multitude of people [is] the king’s honour,…. For it is a sign of a good and wise government, of clemency and righteousness being exercised, of liberty and property being enjoyed, of peace, plenty, and prosperity; which encourage subjects to serve their king cheerfully, and to continue under his reign and government peaceably; and which invites others from different parts to come and settle there also; by which the strength and glory of a king are much increased. This is true of the King of kings, of Jesus Christ, who is King of saints; his honour and glory, as Mediator, lies in a large number of voluntary subjects, made “willing” to serve him “in the day of [his] power” upon them, as numerous as the drops of the morning “dew”,
Ps 110:3; such as he had in the first times of the Gospel, both among the Jews and among the Gentiles; and as he will have more especially in the latter day, when those prophecies shall be fulfilled in
Isa 60:4; and so this is interpreted of the King Messiah, in an ancient writing b of the Jews;
but in the want of people [is] the destruction of the prince; or, “the consternation” c of him; if his people are destroyed in wars his ambition or cruelty has led him to; or they are driven out from his kingdom by persecution or oppression; hence follows a decay of trade, and consequently of riches; lack of cultivation of land, and so want of provision: in course of time there is such a decrease, that, as there are but few to carry on trade and till the land, so to fight for their prince, and defend his country; wherefore, when attacked by a foreign power, he is thrown into the utmost consternation, and is brought to destruction. This will be the case of the prince of darkness, the man of sin, antichrist; who, though however populous he may be, or has been, ruling over tongues, people, and nations, yet before long he will be deserted by them; one nation after another will fall off from him; they and their kings will hate him, make him bare and desolate, and burn him with fire, Re 17:15. Some render it, “the consternation of leanness” d; such consternation as causes leanness in a king.
b Zohar in Exod. fol. 67. 3, 4. c “formidat princeps”, Tigurine version; “consternatio”, Cocceius, Michaelis, Schultens. d “Consternatio macici”, Gussetius, p. 785. “consternatio tabifica”, Schultens; “contritio maciei”, Gejerus; “terror tenuitatis”, Mercerus, Gersom.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
28 In the multitude of the people lies the king’s honour;
And when the population diminishes, it is the downfall of his glory.
The honour or the ornament ( vid., regarding , tumere , ampliari , the root-word of and at Isa 63:1) of a king consists in this, that he rules over a great people, and that they increase and prosper; on the other hand, it is the ruin of princely greatness when the people decline in number and in wealth. Regarding , vid., at Pro 10:14. signifies prepositionally “without” (properly, by non-existence), e.g., Pro 26:20, or adverbially “groundless” (properly, for nothing), Isa 52:4; here it is to be understood after its contrast : in the non-existence, but which is here equivalent to in the ruin (cf. , the form of which in conjunction is , Gen 47:15), lies the misfortune, decay, ruin of the princedom. The lxx . Certainly (from , Arab. razuna , to be powerful) is to be interpreted personally, whether it be after the form with a fixed, or after the form with a changeable Kametz; but it may also be an abstract like (= Arab. selam ), and this we prefer, because in the personal signification , Pro 8:15; Pro 31:4, is used. We have not here to think of (from ), consumption (the Venet. against Kimchi, ); the choice of the word also is not determined by an intended amphibology (Hitzig), for this would be meaningless.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
28 In the multitude of people is the king’s honour: but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.
Here are two maxims in politics, which carry their own evidence with them:– 1. That it is much for the honour of a king to have a populous kingdom; it is a sign that he rules well, since strangers are hereby invited to come and settle under his protection and his own subjects live comfortably; it is a sign that he and his kingdom are under the blessing of God, the effect of which is being fruitful and multiplying. It is his strength, and makes him considerable and formidable; happy is the king, the father of his country, who has his quiver full of arrows; he shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with his enemy in the gate,Psa 127:4; Psa 127:5. It is therefore the wisdom of princes, by a mild and gentle government, by encouraging trade and husbandry, and by making all easy under them, to promote the increase of their people. And let all that wish well to the kingdom of Christ, and to his honour, do what they can in their places that many may be added to his church. 2. That when the people are lessened the prince is weakened: In the want of people is the leanness of the prince (so some read it); trade lies dead, the ground lies untilled, the army wants to be recruited, the navy to be manned, and all because there are not hands sufficient. See how much the honour and safety of kings depend upon their people, which is a reason why they should rule by love, and not with rigour. Princes are corrected by those judgments which abate the number of the people, as we find, 2 Sam. xxiv. 13.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Worthy Leadership
Verse 28 declares that the worth of a leader is measured by the multitude of his followers; the leader without followers has a meaningless title. Solomon sought wisdom from God and influenced many, 1Ki 3:8-12; 1Ki 4:34. The New Testament admonition for worthwhile leadership is found in Mat 5:16; 1Pe 2:12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 14:28. Miller translates In a great people.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 14:28
A KINGS TRUE GLORY
I. Human rulers are dependent upon their people for honour.
1. The safety of the kings crown depends largely upon the number of his subjects. This was certainly the case in the days of Solomon, and is so now to a large extent. Small kingdoms are very likely even in these days to be engulfed by more powerful statesby those who can bring into the field an overpowering number of warriors. Numbers hold the diadems on the heads of the rulers of the great nations of Europe. That Palestine was to some extent an exception to this rule was due to the especial providence of Jehovahthat it was ever overpowered by numbers was because its inhabitants forsook their covenant God. But the general rule holds good.
2. The prosperity of their land depends upon its being well populated. Other things being equal, a populous kingdom will do more business with other nationswill plant colonies and mix more with the inhabitants of other lands; and all these things extend a nations influence and so make its rulers position a more honourable one.
II. It is therefore a matter of self-interest that a ruler should govern his people righteously. This is a lesson which the potentates of the earth have been slow to learn although the page of history abounds with so many examples of the peril of disregarding it. It would be the destruction of the head if it were to say to the other members of the body, by which it is sustained in life and health, I have no need of thee. The existence of the one depends upon that of the other. And it is not less so with the body politic. The safety and honour of the king is bound up in the well-being of his subjects. Where the one is dependent upon the many, self-interest, as well as duty, point to his so ruling that his people may enjoy peace and prosperity and so multiply.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
There is a natural tendency in the population of a country to increase. When, therefore, population diminishes, there must be some cause counter-working nature. The subjects of a country may be wasted in destructive and depopulating wars; they may be driven by oppression to quit their native land, and to seek a refuge in more distant regions; they may be starved and reduced by measures that are injurious and ruinous to trademeasures that keep up the price of bread and depress the wages of labour. The existence of a thriving vigorous population is a mark of freedom, of wise and impartial legislation; of paternal careand it is the palladium of all that is desirable in the results of human rule.Wardlaw.
A sentiment arrayed against feeble princes who nevertheless array themselves with disproportionate splendour; and this, as also Pro. 14:34, is designed to call attention to the principle, that it is not external and seeming advantages, but simply and solely the inward competence and moral excellence, whether of the head or of the members of a commonwealth, that are the conditions of its temporal welfare.Langes Commentary.
How great, then, is the honour of our heavenly King in the countless multitudes of His people! How overwhelmingly glorious will it appear when the completed number shall stand before His throne (Rev. 7:9-10); each the medium of reflecting His glory (2Th. 1:10); each with a crown to cast at His feet (Rev. 4:10-11), and a song of everlasting joy to time to His praise (Rev. 5:9).Bridges.
All grades depend upon their inferiors. The poor have us in their power. To be kind to them is a dictate of common selfishness. Carried into a spiritual light, the truth becomes much wider. Half of heaven will be what we did for the poor. Solomon was familiar with this as a king; but he marks the sentence as one for all humanity. If a man wishes to be comfortable on earth, let him make his inferiors great. And, if he wishes to be rich in heaven, let him cultivate with assiduous zest the graces of the perishing.Miller.
The occurrence of this political precept in the midst of the maxims of personal morality is striking. Still more so is its protest against the false ideal of national greatness to which Eastern kings, for the most part, have bowed down.Plumptre.
The people are the kings best treasury; in their scarcity he cannot be rich. Worthy was the speech of that Goth, a king of Italy, who, speaking of his subjects, saith, Our harvest is the rest of all.Jermin.
NOTE.The population of England and Wales in 1700 was about 5,475,000. At the beginning of the present century it was between eight and nine millions; it now exceeds twenty millions.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(28) In the multitude of people is the kings honour.Not in ambitious wars. In these words speaks the man of rest (1Ch. 22:9). (Comp. the description of Solomons kingdom in the days of his prosperity; 1Ki. 4:20.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. Multitude of people, etc. More vividly, with Stuart, “The glory of a king is in a multitude of people; but the lack of people is the destruction of a prince.” Compare 2Sa 24:14-17.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 28. In the multitude of people is the king’s honor,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 14:28. In the multitude, &c. The more subjects a prince hath, the more glorious he is; but so much the more so, as he loves with more tenderness, as he preserves with more care, and as he governs with more mildness, the people under him. The Scripture and the ancients give kings the name of shepherds, to put them in mind of the application they ought to give to the augmenting of their people, and of the compassionate kindness wherewith they ought to treat them. Calmet.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 14:28 In the multitude of people [is] the king’s honour: but in the want of people [is] the destruction of the prince.
Ver. 28. In the multitude of the people is the king’s honour.] For that is a sign of peace, plenty, prosperity, and just government, as in Solomon’s days, when “Israel and Judah were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating, and drinking, and making merry.” 1Ki 4:20 And as in Augustus’s days, when Christ, the Prince of Peace, was born into the world, cuncta atque continua totius generis humani aut pax fuit, aut pactio. a Ferdinand III, King of Spain, reigned full thirty-five years, in all which time, nec fames nec pestis fuit in regno suo, saith Lopez, there was neither famine nor pestilence throughout that kingdom. b What incredible waste of men hath war lately made in Germany, that stage of war; in Ireland; and here in this kingdom, besides what formerly! In the civil dissensions between the houses of York and Lancaster, were slain eighty princes of the blood royal, and twice as many natives of England as were lost in the two conquests of France. The dissensions between England and Scotland consumed more Christian blood, wrought more spoil and destruction to both kingdoms, and continued longer, than ever quarrel we read of did between any two people of the world. c “Be wise now therefore, O ye kings,” &c. Tu vero, Herodes sanguinolente, time, as Beza covertly warned Charles IX, author of the French massacre. d Many parts of Turkey lie unpeopled, most of the poor being enforced with victuals and other necessaries to follow their great armies in their long expeditions; of whom scarce one of ten ever return home again, there by the way perishing if not by the enemy’s sword, yet by want of victuals, intemperateness of the air, or immoderate painstaking. e Hence the proverb, Wherever the Great Turk sets his foot, there grass grows not any more.
a Flor. Hist., lib. iv.
b Gloss. in prolog., part i.
c Daniel’s Hist.
d Camden’s Elisab., 165.
e Turkish Hist.
Pro 14:28
Pro 14:28
“In the multitude of the people is the king’s glory; But in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.”
“A large population is a king’s glory, but without subjects a prince is ruined. The proverb is also true if interpreted to mean that, “The want of people (the hunger or destitution of people) is the destruction of the prince.” It is true both ways!
Pro 14:28. To be too small in number was to invite invasion, and the rule was that the lesser-in-number lost to the greater-in-number. This is why the men of Gideons army were so fearful (Jdg 6:33; Jdg 7:3). In somewhat a different thought Pulpit Commentary says, This maxim is not in accordance with the views of Oriental conquerors and despots, who in their selfish lust of aggrandizement cared not what suffering they inflicted or what blood they shed…The reign of Solomon, the peaceful, gave an intimation that was and conquest were not a monarchs highest glory; that a happy and numerous people, dwelling securely and increasing in numbers, was a better honor for a king and more to be desired (1Ki 4:24-25; 1Ki 4:20).
Exo 1:12, Exo 1:22, 1Ki 4:20, 1Ki 4:21, 1Ki 20:27, 2Ki 10:32, 2Ki 10:33, 2Ki 13:7
Reciprocal: Exo 1:9 – the people Exo 5:5 – General 2Sa 19:7 – there 2Sa 24:3 – General 1Ch 21:3 – The Lord Eze 31:4 – waters 1Co 12:22 – General
Pro 14:28. In the multitude of people is the kings honour The honour and splendour of a king depend upon the multitude, wealth, and strength of his subjects, whom, therefore, he ought to protect and cherish: for if they be wasted by unnecessary wars, or forced into other countries by oppression and unjust exactions, it proves the ruin of his kingdom. Bishop Patrick.
14:28 In the multitude of {l} people [is] the king’s honour: but in the lack of people [is] the destruction of the prince.
(l) That is, the strength of a king stands in many people.
It is a credit to a ruler when he rules over many people and they prosper and increase, but it is a discredit to him when his people decline in number and wealth. This is so because part of a governmental leader’s responsibility is to generate prosperity.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
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
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)