Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 15:7
The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish [doeth] not so.
7. doeth not so ] So R.V. text, with the alternative in the marg. is not stedfast, or right. Maurer, however, renders (repeating disperse from the first clause) that which is not right; and compares the use of the same Heb. word, in the phrases, “thou hast well spoken,” “speak right,” “speak well:” Exo 10:29; Num 27:7; Num 36:5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Not so – The word translated so is taken by some in its etymological force as strong, firm, and the passage is rendered the heart of the fool disperseth (supplied from the first clause) what is weak and unsteady, i. e., falsehood and unwisdom. The Septuagint takes it as an adjective, the heart of the fool is unstedfast. The phrase as it stands in the King James Version is, however, of frequent occurrence Gen 48:18; Exo 10:11; Num 12:7.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Disperse knowledge; freely communicate to others what they know, as they have opportunity.
Doeth not so; either because he hath no knowledge to disperse, or because he hath not a heart to perform his duty, or to do good to others. Or, as others render it, and as the last Hebrew word is rendered, Gen 42:34, and elsewhere, is not right; or the place may be rendered, the heart of the foolish (understand out of the former clause, as is very usual, disperseth by his lips) that which is not right; foolish and corrupt discourse, which is fitly opposed to knowledge.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. (Compare Pro 10:20;Pro 10:21).
heart . . . not sonotright, or vain.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The lips of the wise disperse knowledge,…. Scatter it about for the benefit of others; they are communicative and diffusive of it unto others, that fruit may abound to their account: so the first ministers of the Gospel diffused the savour of the knowledge of Christ and his Gospel in every place; their words went into all the earth, and their sound to the end of the world; and so every Gospel minister will speak according to the oracles of God, and according to the abilities and measure of the gift which he has received; and to the utmost of his power feeds souls with knowledge and understanding;
but the heart of the foolish [doth] not so; does not disperse knowledge, for he has no solid substantial knowledge in him: or, “the heart of the foolish [is] not right” x; it is full of folly and wickedness: or “the heart of the foolish [does] not [disperse that which is] right” y; true and right things, and the knowledge of them; but, on the contrary, as in Pr 15:2, “pours out foolishness”.
x “non erit rectum”, Pagninus, Baynus; “non est rectum”, Piscator, Mercerus. y “Spargit quod abest a recto”, Junius Tremellius, Amama “eventilant non rectum”, Schultens, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
A second series which begins with a proverb of the power of human speech, and closes with proverbs of the advantages and disadvantages of wealth.
Pro 15:7 7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge;
But the direction is wanting to the heart of fools.
It is impossible that can be a second object. accus. dependent on ( dispergunt , not , Pro 20:28; , as Symmachus translates): but the heart of fools is unrighteous (error or falsehood) (Hitzig after Isa 16:6); for then why were the lips of the wise and the heart of the fools mentioned? also does not mean (an old Greek anonymous translation, Jerome, Targ., Venet., Luther): the heart of the fool is quite different from the heart of the wise man, which spreads abroad knowledge (Zckler), for it is not heart and heart, but lip and heart, that are placed opposite to each other. Better the lxx , and yet better the Syr. lo kinn (not right, sure). We have seen, at Pro 11:19, that as a participial adj. means standing = being, continuing, or also standing erect = right, i.e., rightly directed, or having the right direction; means there conducting oneself rightly, and thus genuine rectitude. What, after 7a, is more appropriate than to say of the heart of the fool, that it wants the receptivity for knowledge which the lips of the wise scatter abroad? The heart of the fool is not right, it has not the right direction, is crooked and perverse, has no mind for wisdom; and that which proceeds from the wise, therefore, finds with him neither estimation nor acceptance.
Pro 15:8 8 The sacrifice of the godless is an abhorrence to Jahve;
But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
Although the same is true of the prayer of the godless that is here said of their sacrifice, and of the sacrifice of the righteous that is here said of their prayer ( vid., Pro 28:9, and cf. Psa 4:6 with Psa 27:6), yet it is not by accident that here (line first = Pro 21:27) the sacrifice is ascribed to the godless and the prayer to the upright. The sacrifice, as a material and legally-required performance, is much more related to dead works than prayer freely completing itself in the word, the most direct expression of the personality, which, although not commanded by the law, because natural to men, as such is yet the soul of all sacrifices; and the Chokma, like the Psalms and Prophets, in view of the ceremonial service which had become formal and dead in the opus operatum , is to such a degree penetrated by the knowledge of the incongruity of the offering up of animals and of plants, with the object in view, that a proverb like “the sacrifice of the righteous is pleasing to God” never anywhere occurs; and if it did occur without being expressly and unavoidably referred to the legal sacrifice, it would have to be understood rather after Psa 51:18. than Ps. 51:20f., rather after 1Sa 15:22 than after Psa 66:13-15. , which, when it is distinguished from , means (cf. Pro 7:14) the sacrifice only in part coming to the altar, for the most part applied to a sacrificial feast, is here the common name for the bloody, and, per synecdochen, generally the legally-appointed sacrifice, consisting in external offering. The , Lev 1:3, used in the Tra of sacrifices, is here, as at Ps. 19:15, transferred to prayer. The fundamental idea of the proverb is, that sacrifices well-pleasing to God, prayers acceptable to God (that are heard, Pro 15:29), depend on the relations in which the heart and life of the man stand to God.
Pro 15:9 Another proverb with the key-word
An abomination to Jahve is the way of the godless;
But He loveth him who searcheth after righteousness.
The manner and rule of life is called the way. is the heightening of , Pro 21:21, and can be used independently in bonam, as well as in malam partem (Pro 11:19, cf. Pro 13:21). Regarding the form , vid., Fleischer in Deutsch. Morgenl. Zeitsch. xv. 382.
Pro 15:10 10 Sharp correction is for him who forsaketh the way;
Whoever hateth instruction shall die.
The way, thus absolute, is the God-pleasing right way (Pro 2:13), the forsaking of which is visited with the punishment of death, because it is that which leadeth unto life (Pro 10:17). And that which comes upon them who leave it is called , castigatio dura , as much as to say that whoever does not welcome instruction, whoever rejects it, must at last receive it against his will in the form of peremptory punishment. The sharp correction (cf. Isa 28:28, Isa 28:19) is just the death under which he falls who accepts of no instruction (Pro 5:23), temporal death, but that as a token of wrath which it is not for the righteous (Pro 14:32).
Pro 15:11 11 The underworld [Sheol] and the abyss are before Jahve;
But how much more the hearts of the children of men!
A syllogism, a minori ad majus, with (lxx , Venet. ), like 12:32.
(Note: In Rabbin. this concluding form is called (light and heavy over against one another), and (judgment, viz., from premisses , thus conclusion), . Instead of the biblical , the latter form of the language has (all speaks for it that it is so), (so much the more), , or also (as minori ad majus = quanto magis ); vid., the Hebr. Rmerbrief, p. 14.)
has a meaning analogous to that of (cf. , 2Pe 2:4, to throw down into the ), which denotes the lowest region of Hades ( or ‘ ), and also in general, Hades. If and are connected, Job 37:22, and if is the parallel word to , Psa 88:12, or also to , as in the passage similar to this proverb, Job 26:6 (cf. Job 38:17): “Shel is naked before Him, and Abaddon has no covering;” since is the general name of the underworld, including the grave, i.e., the inner place of the earth which receives the body of the dead, as the kingdom of the dead, lying deeper, does the soul. But where, as here and at Pro 27:10, and stand together, they are related to each other, as and or , Rev 9:11: is the lowest hell, the place of deepest descent, of uttermost destruction. The conclusion which is drawn in the proverb proceeds from the supposition that in the region of creation there is nothing more separated, and by a wide distance, from God, than the depth, and especially the undermost depth, of the realm of the dead. If now God has this region in its whole compass wide open before Him, if it is visible and thoroughly cognisable by Him ( , acc. adv.: in conspectu, from , eminere, conspicuum esse ) – for He is also present in the underworld, Psa 139:8 – then much more will the hearts of the children of men be open, the inward thoughts of men living and acting on the earth being known already from their expressions. Man sees through man, and also himself, never perfectly; but the Lord can try the heart and prove the reins, Jer 17:10. What that means this proverb gives us to understand, for it places over against the hearts of men nothing less than the depths of the underworld in eternity.
Pro 15:12 12 The scorner liketh not that one reprove him,
To wise men he will not go.
The inf. absol., abruptly denoting the action, may take the place of the object, as here (cf. Job 9:18; Isa 42:24), as well as of the subject (Pro 25:27, Job 6:25). Thus is (Pro 9:7) construed with the dat. obj. Regarding the probable conclusion which presents itself from passages such as Pro 15:12 and Pro 13:20, as to the study of wisdom in Israel, vid., p. 39. Instead of , we read, Pro 13:20 (cf. Pro 22:24), ; for means to have intercourse with one, to go a journey with one (Mal 2:6, cf. Gen 5:24, but not 2Sa 15:22, where we are to translate with Keil), according to which the lxx has here . The mocker of religion and of virtue shuns the circle of the wise, for he loves not to have his treatment of that which is holy reproved, nor to be convicted of his sin against truth; he prefers the society where his frivolity finds approbation and a response.
Pro 15:13 13 A joyful heart maketh the countenance cheerful;
But in sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
The expression of the countenance, as well as the spiritual habitus of a man, is conditioned by the state of the heart. A joyful heart maketh the countenance , which means friendly, but here happy-looking = cheerful (for ro is the most general designation of that which makes an impression which is pleasant to the senses or to the mind); on the contrary, with sorrow of heart ( , constr. of , Pro 10:10, as = , from ) there is connected a stricken, broken, downcast heart; the spiritual functions of the man are paralyzed; self-confidence, without which energetic action is impossible, is shattered; he appears discouraged, whereby is thought of as the power of self-consciousness and of self-determination, but , as our “ Gemt ” [ animus ], as the oneness of thinking and willing, and thus as the seat of determination, which decides the intellectual-corporeal life-expression of the man, or without being able to be wholly restrained, communicates itself to them. The of is, as Pro 15:16., Pro 16:8; Pro 17:1, meant in the force of being together or along with, so that do not need to be taken separate from each other as subject and predicate: the sense of the noun-clause is in the , as e.g., also Pro 7:23 (it is about his life, i.e., it concerns his life). Elsewhere the crushed spirit, like the broken heart, is equivalent to the heart despairing in itself and prepared for grace. The heart with a more clouded mien may be well, for sorrow has in it a healing power (Ecc 7:3). But here the matter is the general psychological truth, that the corporeal and spiritual life of man has its regulator in the heart, and that the condition of the heart leaves its stamp on the appearance and on the activity of the man. The translation of the by “oppressed breath” (Umbreit, Hitzig) is impossible; the breath cannot be spoken of as broken.
Pro 15:14 14 The heart of the understanding seeketh after knowledge,
And the mouth of fools practiseth folly.
Luther interprets as metaphor. for to govern, but with such ethical conceptions it is metaphor. for to be urgently circumspect about anything ( vid., Pro 13:20), like Arab. ra’y and r’ayt , intentional, careful, concern about anything. No right translation can be made of the Chethib , which Schultens, Hitzig, Ewald, and Zckler prefer; the predicate can go before the , after the Semitic rule in the fem. of the sing., 2Sa 10:9, cf. Job 16:16, Chethib , but cannot follow in the masc. of the sing.; besides, the operations of his look and aspect are ascribed to his face, but not spiritual functions as here, much more to the mouth, i.e., to the spirit speaking through it. The heart is within a man, and the mouth without; and while the former gives and takes, the latter is always only giving out. In Pro 18:15, where a synonymous distich is formed from the antithetic distich, the ear, as hearing, is mentioned along with the heart as appropriating. is not an adj., but is gen., like , 28a (opp. ). , Pro 16:23. The of the understanding is placed over against the of the fools. The lxx translates (cf. Pro 14:10, ); it uses this word after the Hellenistic usus loq. for , of experimental knowledge.
Pro 15:15 15 All the days of the afflicted are evil;
But he who is of a joyful heart hath a perpetual feast.
Regarding (the afflicted), vid., 21b. They are so called on whom a misfortune, or several of them, press externally or internally. If such an one is surrounded by ever so many blessings, yet is his life day by day a sad one, because with each new day the feeling of his woe which oppresses him renews itself; whoever, on the contrary, is of joyful heart (gen. connection as Pro 11:13; Pro 12:8), such an one (his life) is always a feast, a banquet (not , as it may be also pointed, but and thus adv., for it is never adj.; the post-bib. usage is for ). Hitzig (and also Zckler) renders 15b: And (the days) of one who is of a joyful heart are…. Others supply (cf. Pro 27:7), but our rendering does not need that. We have here again an example of that attribution (Arab. isnad ) in which that which is attributed ( musnad ) is a condition ( hal ) of a logical subject (the musnad ilehi ), and thus he who speaks has this, not in itself, but in the sense of the condition; the inwardly cheerful is feasts evermore, i.e., the condition of such an one is like a continual festival. The true and real happiness of a man is thus defined, not by external things, but by the state of the heart, in which, in spite of the apparently prosperous condition, a secret sorrow may gnaw, and which, in spite of an externally sorrowful state, may be at peace, and be joyfully confident in God.
Pro 15:16 16 Better is little with the fear of Jahve,
Than great store and trouble therewith.
The in both cases the lxx rightly renders by . How (elsewhere of wild, confused disorder, extreme discord) is meant of store and treasure, Psa 39:7 shows: it is restless, covetous care and trouble, as the contrast of the quietness and contentment proceeding from the fear of God, the noisy, wild, stormy running and hunting about of the slave of mammon. Theodotion translates the word here, as Aquila and Symmachus elsewhere, by words which correspond ( = or ) with the Syr. , greed or insatiability.
Pro 15:17 17 Better a dish of cabbage, and love with it,
Than a fatted ox together with hatred.
With is here interchanged , which, used both of things and of persons, means to be there along with something. Both have the Dag. forte conj., cf. to the contrary, Deu 30:20; Mic 1:11; Deu 11:22; the punctuation varies, if the first of the two words is a n. actionis ending in . The dish (portion) is called , which the lxx and other Greek versions render by , entertainment, and thus understand it of that which is set before a guest, perhaps rightly so, for the Arab. arrakh (to date, to determine), to which it is compared by Gesenius and Dietrich, is equivalent to warrh , a denom. of the name of the moon. Love and hatred are, according to circumstances, the disposition of the host, or of the participant, the spirit of the family:
Cum dat oluscula mensa minuscula pace quiet ,
Ne pete grandia lautaque prandia lite repleta .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
7 The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.
This is to the same purport with v. 2, and shows what a blessing a wise man is and what a burden a fool is to those about him. Only here observe further, 1. That we then use knowledge aright when we disperse it, not confine it to a few of our intimates, and grudge it to others who would make as good use of it, but give a portion of this spiritual alms to seven and also to eight, not only be communicative, but diffusive, of this good, with humility and prudence. We must take pains to spread and propagate useful knowledge, must teach some that they may teach others, and so it is dispersed. 2. That it is not only a fault to pour out foolishness, but it is a shame not to disperse knowledge, at least not to drop some wise word or other: The heart of the foolish does not so; it has nothing to disperse that is good, or, if it had, has neither skill nor will to do good with it and therefore is little worth.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
The Use of Speech
Verse 7 declares that the wise use their power of speech to spread knowledge (the knowledge that leads to understanding and wisdom Pro 1:7; Pro 4:5-7; Pro 9:10); but the heart (mind) of the foolish do not. Because their heart is not right they use their mouth to spread foolishness, Vs 2; Pro 12:23; Pro 15:2; Pro 18:6-7; Ecc 10:12-13.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(7) But the heart of the foolish doeth not so.Or, disperseth that which is not right.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Disperse (or diffuse) knowledge Communicate to others for their good the knowledge which they possess.
The foolish doeth not so Has no useful knowledge to impart. This is not a contradiction of Pro 14:33. That is an implied censure of an ostentatious display of knowledge; this a commendation of the benevolent diffusion of it. It should be observed, however, that the verb , ( yezaru,) rendered “disperse,” also signifies to winnow, as in separating the chaff from the wheat; also, to search out, to investigate, so distinguishing between that which is valuable and that which is worthless. This meaning of the verb is preferred by some, and gives a very good sense. The lips of the wise winnow their knowledge, that is, their instructive utterances, carefully distinguishing what is useful for edification and imparting only what is valuable; but the heart of fools does not so; they do not distinguish, but give chaff and wheat together. Some render: “The heart of fools is not right.” Others: “Not stable.” Stuart: “What is not sound.” Noyes refers to the same expression in 2Ki 17:9; Isa 16:6; Jer 23:10, where it is supposed to have this meaning. The ancient versions are divided. The Chaldee and Vulgate agree with our Authorized Version. The Septuagint, however, has: “The lips of the wise are bound by discretion.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 7. The lips of the wise disperse knowledge,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 15:7. The lips of the wise disperse knowledge The lips of the wise keep knowledge; not so the heart of fools. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight. The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness. Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die. Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men? A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him: neither will he go unto the wise. A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
I should apprehend that the mirth here spoken of, means the true joy of the soul, arising from the consciousness of being at peace with God. There can be no mirth, no real comfort while the soul is at enmity with God by wicked works. Solomon hath expressed his sense of this passage, I apprehend, in another, where he saith, Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart, for God now accepteth thy works. Yes! a soul accepted in Jesus, may indeed both eat and drink the common bread and water, for the body’s sustenance, with joy, and the sacred bread and wine, in token of communion with Jesus, for the soul’s health, with delight, when brought nigh by the blood of the cross! Here is a solid foundation for the most heart-felt joy, and for making the countenance always cheerful. Ecc 9:7 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 15:7 The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish [doeth] not so.
Ver. 7. The lips of the wise disperse knowledge. ] They are the “lights of the world,” , Php 2:15 and they diffuse light wherever they come, shining as lamps or luminaries, and seeking to save themselves, and those that hear them. How did those learned scribes, our famous reformers, bring forth their rich treasure, and liberally disperse it? By preaching, writing, and every way trading their talents for the church’s good. Farellus, a with his talent, gained to the faith five cities of the Cantons, with their territories. Wycliffe, Huss, Luther, Calvin, &c., how active and fruitful were they in their generations to dispread and scatter light over the Christian world, to wise and win souls to Christ. Pro 11:30 These surely shine as stars in heaven, Dan 12:3 that, like stars by their light and influence, made such a scatter of riches upon earth. Every star, saith one, is like a purse of gold, out of which God throws down riches and plenty upon the sons of men. And as it is the nature of gold to be drawn forth marvellously, so that, as the learned affirm, an ounce of gold will go as far as eight pound of silver, so it is the nature of sound knowledge to be spreading and diffusive. b
But the heart of the foolish doth not so.
a ” Hic est ille Farellus qui Genevenses, Novocomenses, Monipelgardenses, &c., Christo lucrifacit. ” – Melch. Adam in vit.
b Zanc., de oper. Dei, part 2, lib. iii. c. 6.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
foolish. Hebrew. kesil. See note on Pro 1:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 15:7
Pro 15:7
“The lips of the wise disperse knowledge; But the heart of the foolish doth not so.”
This is very similar to Pro 15:2. Toy wrote that, “It contrasts the wise man’s devotion to knowledge with the intellectual dullness of the opposite class.” However, the concept of the `foolish’ in Proverbs (and the whole Bible) is not mere intellectual dullness, but wickedness. The rich `fool” of Luk 12:20 might very well have been a graduate of the state university; and the foolish virgins (Mat 25:2 ff) might have included the valedictorian of the local high school!
Pro 15:7. Another contrast between the wise and foolish. The wises lips disperse (disseminate, give out) knowledge (Pro 10:21), but the foolishs heart has no inclination to do so. These two groups live poles apart. They live in the same material world, yet they live in two different worlds while here.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
lips: Psa 37:30, Psa 45:2, Psa 51:13-15, Psa 71:15-18, Psa 78:2-6, Psa 119:13, Ecc 12:9, Ecc 12:10, Son 4:11, Mat 10:27, Mat 28:18-20, Mar 16:15, Act 18:9, Act 18:10, Rom 10:14-17, Rom 15:18-21, Eph 4:29, 2Ti 2:2
the heart: Pro 10:20, Pro 10:21, Mat 12:34, Jam 3:6
Reciprocal: Deu 6:7 – shalt talk Job 4:3 – Behold Job 33:3 – my lips Pro 5:2 – thy lips Pro 10:11 – mouth of a Pro 10:13 – the lips Pro 12:18 – but Pro 16:21 – the sweetness Pro 20:15 – but Pro 22:18 – fitted Mat 13:52 – which Col 4:6 – your
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 15:7. The lips of the wise disperse knowledge Freely communicate to others what they know, as they have opportunity; but the heart of the foolish doth not so Either because he hath no knowledge to disperse, or because he hath not a heart to perform his duty, or to do good to others. Or, as others render the word , and as it is rendered Gen 42:34, is not right; that is, the heart of the foolish is not right, or disperseth (by his lips) that which is not right, namely, foolish and corrupt discourse, which is fitly opposed to knowledge.