Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 18:12
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor [is] humility.
12. Comp. Pro 16:18; Pro 15:33.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Before – In the sense of priority of time.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 18:12
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.
Honour and humility
I. Explain the nature of genuine humility.
1. It does not consist in a mean and servile state of mind, in anything that is unworthy of the man or the Christian. Humility dignifies human nature; a spirit of servility degrades it. Some persons are naturally timid and faint-hearted. But this is mere human weakness.
2. It does not consist in indulging a low and dejected frame of mind, or in being pensive and sad on all occasions. Distance and reserve are so far from being the fruit of genuine humility, that they often proceed from pride and self-conceit.
3. There is what the Scriptures call a voluntary humility unrequired and unapproved. An apparently humble demeanour may consist with a haughty and aspiring spirit.
4. Genuine humility consists chiefly in the state of our hearts towards God. Here reason bows to faith, and interest to obligation.
5. Humility consists in thinking of ourselves as we ought to think, and conducting ourselves accordingly.
6. Our humility will appear in the sentiments we entertain of others, of the behaviour we manifest towards them.
II. The honour with which Christian humility is accompanied.
1. It is the forerunner of just and worthy commendation. God exalts the low tree, and brings down the high.
2. Humility is a preparative for honour. A meek and quiet spirit is itself an ornament. It prepares the way for further honours.
3. Eternal honours shall be the gracious reward of true and genuine humility. God shall save the humble person. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
Humility
The text contains a most certain truth; and yet it is in its proper and most extensive sense a truth we owe to revelation. The natural man is not fond of believing in the necessity of humility. He contends for the dignity of his nature, he asserts the sufficiency of his own powers. Unaided man has been able to discover a considerable number of important truths in the theory of morals. With the polished nations of antiquity morals formed a part of the science of government. They examined into morals, and erected systems of morals, not with a view to ascertain and lay down the duties of the man, but of the citizen. The Christian cannot expect much assistance from this quarter. As they do not rest on the right foundation, or aim at the right end, the ancient ethics are miserably defective, and often grievously false. In no part are they more delusive than in the estimate they teach men to make of themselves. H we turn our eyes upon the world around us, we shall readily find instances of the connection between pride and ruin. Pride leads men to make an offensive assumption of superiority. We know the infatuating nature of pride. It may be illustrated by the career of the first Napoleon. It is not less certain that before honour is humility. Nothing more frequently leads men to situations of respect and eminence than modesty and diffidence. Every man of merit is so conscious of his deficiencies, he judges himself so severely, he adopts such an elevated standard of excellence, that he ever thinks hardly of himself. Thinking people know this, and give their verdict accordingly. And it is the thinking part of society that allot to a man his reputation. And humility has an effect upon the man himself, in whom it prevails. The sense of the smallness of his attainments will drive him to make large attainments. And thus, as the cause is before the effect, so before honour is humility. Now apply the text to the spiritual life. Both in what regards faith, and in what regards practice, pride inevitably leads to ruin. No one is likely to attain truth on spiritual subjects who approaches them in a spirit of pride. The man who depends on his intelligence, who examines the objects of faith in a self-sufficient spirit, is quite sure to fall into infidelity or error. If the man whose heart is haughty does get to entertain orthodox opinions of religious truth, his opinions cannot profit him: the truth must enter his heart as a living principle before it can be of personal benefit to him. The very first effect which it has on the heart is to bring down the reign of pride. Whenever pride reigns in a heart, there the kingdom of God is not set up. When a sinner passes from a state of impenitence to a state of grace, the whole process will be attended by humility. And there is no growth in grace, there is no safety, without humility. The more we know of ourselves the more cause we shall find for humility. Humility is our security. When he distrusts himself, and thinks meanly of himself, the Christian is in the state most favourable for his advancement in faith and holiness. (J. G. Dowling, M. A.)
Pride and humility
When destruction walks through the land, it casts its shadow; it is in the shape of pride. When honour visits a mans house, it casts its shadow before it; it is in the fashion of humility.
I. The vice of pride.
1. Describe pride. It is a groundless thing; a brainless thing; the maddest thing; a protean thing, ever changing its shapes.
2. The seat of pride. The true throne of pride is the heart of man.
3. The consequence of pride–destruction.
II. The grace of humility. A good man may have honour in this life. But God forbids our making that honour a cloak for pride,
1. What is humility? To think rightly of ourselves. Humility is to make a right estimate of ourselves. It is no humility for a man to think less of himself than he ought.
2. What is the seat or throne of humility? It is the heart. I hate, of all things, the humility that lives in the face. Cringing men that bow before everybody are truly proud men; humble men think of themselves so little, they do not think it worth while to stoop to serve themselves.
3. What comes of humility? Before honour is humility. Humility is the herald which ushers in the great King. He who has humility will have honour afterwards. Apply this spiritually. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. Before destruction] See on Prov 11:2; Prov 16:18.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty; pride is a cause and presage of ruin, as is noted, Pro 16:18. Is; or, goeth. This clause we had Pro 15:33.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. (Compare Pro 15:33;Pro 16:18).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty,…. Lifted up with his riches. Rich men are apt to be highminded, and therefore are to be charged and cautioned against it; they are apt to look above their poor neighbours, and with contempt upon them; and very often this haughtiness of theirs is a presage of their ruin and destruction: and those haughty airs are put on from the pride of their hearts, when a “breach” is near, as the word u signifies, or when they are ready to break; however, their haughty spirits are, sooner or later, humbled by one distressing providence or another; see Pr 16:18;
and before honour [is] humility; [See comments on Pr 15:33].
u “ante confractionem”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schultens.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
We place together Pro 18:12-19, in which the figure of a secure fortress returns:
Pro 18:12 This proverb is connected with the preceding of the rich man who trusts in his mammon.
Before destruction the heat of man is haughty;
And humility goeth before honour.
Line first is a variation of Pro 16:18, and line second is similar to Pro 15:33.
Pro 18:13 13 If one giveth an answer before he heareth,
It is to him as folly and shame.
The part. stands here differently from what it does at Pro 13:18, where it is subj., and at Pro 17:14, where it is pred. of a simple sentence; it is also here, along with what appertains to it in accordance with the Semitic idiom, subj. to 13b (one who answers … is one to whom this…); but, in accordance with our idiom, it becomes a hypothetical antecedent. For “to answer” one also uses without addition; but the original full expression is , reddere verbum, referre dictum (cf. , Jer 44:20, absol. in the cogn., Pro 15:28); one may not understand of the word to which, but of the word with which, the reply is made. comprehends the meaning: it avails to him ( ducitur ei ), as well as it reaches to him ( est ei ). In Agricola’s Fnfhundert Sprchen this proverb is given thus: Wer antwortet ehe er hret, der zaiget an sein torhait und wirdt ze schanden [he who answers before he hears shows his folly, and it is to him a shame]. But that would require the word to be , pudefiet ; ( ) means that it becomes to him a ground of merited disgrace. “ , properly wounding, i.e., shame (like atteinte son honneur ), from (cogn. ), to strike, hit, wound” (Fl.). Sirach (11:8) warns against such rash talking, as well as against the rudeness of interrupting others.
Pro 18:14 14 The spirit of a man beareth his sickness;
But a broken spirit, who can bear it?
The breath of the Creator imparting life to man is spoken of as spiritus spirans , ( ), and as spiritus spiratus , ( ); the spirit ( animus ) is the primary, and the soul ( anima ) the secondary principle of life; the double gender of is accounted for thus: when it is thought of as the primary, and thus in a certain degree ( vid., Psychol. p. 103ff.) the manly principle, it is mas. (Gen 6:3; Psa 51:12, etc.). Here the change of gender is in the highest degree characteristic, and also is intentionally used (cf. 1Sa 26:15) instead of , 16a: the courageous spirit of a man which sustains or endures ( R. , comprehendere, prehendere ; Luther, “who knows how to contain himself in his sufferings;” cf. Psa 51:12, “may the free Spirit hold me”) the sickness [ Siechthum ] (we understand here “ siech ” in the old meaning = sick) with self-control, is generis masculini ; while, on the contrary, the (as Pro 15:13; Pro 17:22), brought down from its manliness and superiority to disheartened passivity, is genere feminino (cf. Psa 51:12 with Pro 18:19). Fleischer compares the Arab. proverb, thbat alnfs balghdha thbat alrwh balghna , the soul has firmness by nourishment, the spirit by music.
(Note: In the Arab. language, influenced by philosophy, rwh , the anima vitalis , and nfs , the anima rationalis , are inverted; vid., Baudissin’s Translationis antiquae Arab. libri Jobi quae supersunt (1870), p. 34.)
The question is like Mar 9:50: if the salt becomes tasteless, wherewith shall one season it? There is no seasoning for the spice that has become insipid. And for the spirit which is destined to bear the life and fortune of the person, if it is cast down by sufferings, there is no one to lift it up and sustain it. But is not God the Most High the lifter up and the bearer of the human spirit that has been crushed and broken? The answer is, that the manly spirit, 14a, is represented as strong in God; the discouraged, 14b, as not drawing from God the strength and support he ought to do. But passages such as Isa 66:2 do not bring it near that we think of the as alienated from God. The spirit is , the bearer of the personal and natural life with its functions, activities, and experiences. If the spirit is borne down to powerless and helpless passivity, then within the sphere of the human personality there is no other sustaining power that can supply its place.
Pro 18:15 15 The heart of a man of understanding gaineth knowledge,
And the ear of the wise seeketh after knowledge.
may be also interpreted as an adj., but we translate it here as at Pro 14:33, because thus it corresponds with the parallelism; cf. , Pro 15:28, and , Pro 16:23, where the adject. interpretation is excluded. The gaining of wisdom is, after Pro 17:16, referred to the heart: a heart vigorous in embracing and receiving it is above all necessary, and just such an one possesses the , which knows how to value the worth and usefulness of such knowledge. The wise, who are already in possession of such knowledge, are yet at the same time constantly striving to increase this knowledge: their ear seeks knowledge, eagerly asking where it is to be found, and attentively listening when the opportunity is given of , obtaining it.
Pro 18:16 16 The gift of a man maketh room for him,
And bringeth him before the great.
That may signify intellectual endowments, Hitzig supposes, but without any proof for such an opinion. Intellectual ability as the means of advancement is otherwise designated, Pro 22:29. But Hitzig is right in this, that one mistakes the meaning of the proverb if he interprets in the sense of ( vid., at Pro 17:8): mtn is an indifferent idea, and the proverb means that a man makes free space, a free path for himself, by a gift, i.e., by this, that he shows himself to be agreeable, pleasing where it avails, not niggardly but liberal. As a proverb expresses it:
Mit dem Hut in der Hand
Kommt man durchs ganze Land
[with hat in hand one goes through the whole land], so it is said here that such liberality brings before the great, i.e., not: furnishes with introductions to them; but helps to a place of honour near the great, i.e., those in a lofty position (cf. , Pro 22:29; , Psa 113:8). It is an important part of practical wisdom, that by right liberality, i.e., by liberal giving where duty demands it, and prudence commends it, one does not lose but gains, does not descend but rises; it helps a man over the difficulties of limited, narrow circumstances, gains for him affection, and helps him up from step to step. The a of is, in a singular way (cf. , ), treated as unchangeable.
Pro 18:17 17 He that is first in his controversy is right;
But there cometh another and searcheth him thoroughly –
an exhortation to be cautious in a lawsuit, and not to justify without more ado him who first brings forward his cause, and supports it by reasons, since, if the second party afterwards search into the reasons of the first, they show themselves untenable. are to be taken together; the words are equivalent to : qui prior cum causa sua venit , i.e., eam ad judicem defert (Fl.). may, however, also of itself alone be qui prior venit ; and will be taken with : justus qui prior venit in causa sua ( esse videtur ). The accentuation rightly leaves the relation undecided. Instead of ( ) the Ker has , as it elsewhere, at one time, changes the fut. into the perf. with ( e.g., Pro 20:4; Jer 6:21); and, at another time, the perf. with into the fut. ( e.g., Psa 10:10; Isa 5:29). But here, where the perf. consec. is not so admissible, as Pro 6:11; Pro 20:4, the fut. ought to remain unchanged. is the other part, synon. with , Sanhedrin 7b, where the (admonition for the court of justice) is derived from Deu 1:16, to hear the accused at the same time with the accuser, that nothing of the latter may be adopted beforehand. This proverb is just such an audiatur et altera pars . The status controversiae is only brought fairly into the light by the hearing of the altera pars : then comes the other and examines him (the first) to the very bottom. , elsewhere with the accus. of the thing, e.g., ,. , thoroughly to search into a strife, Job 29:16, is here, as at Job 28:11, connected with the accus. of the person: to examine or lay bare any one thoroughly; here, so that the misrepresentations of the state of the matter might come out to view along with the reasons assigned by the accuser.
Pro 18:18 18 The lot allayeth contentions,
And separateth between the mighty,
i.e., erects a partition wall between them – those contending ( , as at 2Ki 2:11, cf. Arab. frk byn ); are not opponents who maintain their cause with weighty arguments ( , Isa 41:21), qui argumentis pollent ( vid., Rashi), for then must the truth appear in the pro et contra ; but mighty opponents, who, if the lot did not afford a seasonable means of reconciliation, would make good their demands by blows and by the sword (Fl.). Here it is the lot which, as the judgment of God, brings about peace, instead of the ultima ratio of physical force. The proverb refers to the lot what the Epistle to the Heb; Heb 6:16, refers to the oath, vid., at Pro 16:33. Regarding and its altered forms, vid., p. 145.
Pro 18:19 19 A brother toward whom it has been acted perfidiously resists more than a strong tower;
And contentions are like the bar of a palace.
Luther rightly regarded the word , according to which the lxx, Vulg., and Syr. translated frater qui adjuvatur a fratre , as an incorrect reading; one would rather expect , “a brother who stands by,” as Luther earlier translated; and besides, does not properly mean adjuvari , but salvari . His translation –
Ein verletzt Bruder helt herter denn eine feste Stad ,
Und Zanck helt herter, denn rigel am Palast
[a brother wounded resisteth more than a strong city, and strife resisteth more than bolts in the palace], is one of his most happy renderings. in itself only means ( Venet.); the noun-adjective (cf. Isa 10:10) to be supplied is to be understood to : or (Kimchi). The Niph. occurs only here. If one reads , then it means one who is treated falsely = , like the frequently occurring , my rising up ones = , those that rise up against me; but Codd. (Also Baer’s Cod. jaman.) and old editions have , which, as we have above translated, gives an impersonal attributive clause; the former: frater perfidiose tractatus (Fl.: mala fide offensus ); the latter: perfide actum est , scil . in eum = in quem perfide actum . is, after Pro 17:17, a friend in the highest sense of the word; means to break off, to break free, with or of him on whom the action terminates. That the is to be thought of as of the is obvious; the translation, “brothers who break with one another” (Gesen.), is incorrect: is not collective, and still less is a reciprocum . The relation of is the same as that of , Pro 16:28. The Targum (improving the Peshito) translates , which does not mean: a brother who renounces (Hitzig), but who is treated wickedly on the part of, his brother. That is correct; on the contrary, Ewald’s “a brother resists more than…” proceeds from a meaning of which it has not; and Bertheau gives, with Schultens, an untenable
(Note: Among the whole Heb. synon. for sinning, there exists no reflexive Niph.; and also the Arab. fsk has no ethical signification. only, in the sense of fool, is found.)
reflexive meaning to the Niph. (which as denom. might mean “covered with crime,” Venet. ), and, moreover, one that is too weak, for he translates, “a brother is more obstinate then….” Hitzig corrects , to shut up sin = to hold it fettered; but that is not correct Heb. It ought to be , , or . In 19a the force of the substantival clause lies in the (more than, i.e., harder = more difficult to be gained), and in 19b in the ; cf. Mic 7:4, where they are interchanged. The parallelism is synonymous: strifes and lawsuits between those who had been friends form as insurmountable a hindrance to their reconciliation, are as difficult to be raised, as the great bars at the gate of a castle (Fl.). The point of comparison is not only the weight of the cross-beam (from , crosswise, across, to go across the field), but also the shutting up of the access. Strife forms a partition wall between such as once stood near each other, and so much thicker the closer they once stood.
With Pro 18:19, the series of proverbs which began with that of the flatterer closes. The catchword , which occurred at its commencement, 9b, is repeated at its close, and serves also as a landmark of the group following Pro 18:20-24. The proverb of the breach of friendship and of contentions is followed by one of the reaction of the use of the tongue on the man himself.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.
Note, 1. Pride is the presage of ruin, and ruin will at last be the punishment of pride; for before destruction men are commonly so infatuated by the just judgment of God that they are more haughty than ever, that their ruin may be the sorer and the more surprising. Of, if that do not always hold, yet after the heart has been lifted up with pride, a fall comes, ch. xvi. 18. 2. Humility is the presage of honour and prepares men for it, and honour shall at length be the reward of humility, as he had said before, ch. xv. 33. That has need to be often said which men are so loth to believe.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Humility and Honor Or Arrogance and Destruction
Verse 12-See comment on Pro 15:33; Pro 16:18-19.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
12. Compare Pro 15:33; Pro 16:18. They are the same in substance.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 12. Before destruction the heart of man is haughty,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 18:12. Before destruction, &c. Before destruction a man is haughty, as before honour he is modest, or humble. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 18:12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour [is] humility.
Ver. 12. Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty. ] Creature confidence and high mindedness are the Dives’s richman’s diseases, and go therefore yoked together, as here; so in 1Ti 6:17 – “Charge the rich that they be not high minded, nor trust to uncertain riches.” Magna cognatio ut rei sic nominis divitiis, et vitiis; Wealth and wickedness are of near alliance, and are not far from destruction, or ‘breaking to shivers,’ as the word signifies. So bladder like is the soul, that, filled with earthly vanities, though but wind, it grows great and swells in pride; but pricked with the least pin of divine justice, it shrinks and shrivels to nothing. Pro 16:18 ; Pro 15:33 ; Pro 12:2 See Trapp on “ Pro 16:18 “ See Trapp on “ Pro 15:33 “ See Trapp on “ Pro 12:2 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
is haughty. Illustration: Jezebel (2Ki 9:30-33).
humility. Compare Pro 15:33. Illustration: contrast Goliath (1Sa 17:8-10, 1Sa 17:43, 1Sa 17:44) with 1Sa 17:45, 1Sa 17:47.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 18:12
Pro 18:12
“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty; And before honor goeth humility.”
This proverb has the same thought as Pro 16:18 and Pro 15:33. Pride and haughtiness are frequently condemned in Proverbs; and humility is often cited as the necessary predecessor of honor.
Pro 18:12. While the righteous of Pro 18:10 find their tower (Jehovah) a place of safety, the rich man of Pro 18:11 finds that his false-trust (His wealth) did not save him from destruction. The first statement is similar to Pro 16:18; the last to Pro 15:33. The present verse actually brings these two contrasting statements found isolated in Proverbs and brings them together in one verse as a contrast, whose truths are witnessed numerous times in the Bible.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
destruction: Pro 11:2, Pro 16:18, Pro 29:23, Eze 16:49, Eze 16:50, Eze 28:2, Eze 28:9, Dan 5:23, Dan 5:24, Act 12:21-23
and: Pro 15:33, Job 42:6-17, Isa 6:5-13, Dan 9:20, Dan 9:23, Luk 14:11, 1Pe 5:5
Reciprocal: Exo 10:3 – humble Num 16:27 – and stood 1Sa 17:44 – Come to me 1Sa 18:18 – Who am I 1Sa 25:41 – thine 1Ki 1:5 – exalted 1Ki 20:18 – General Est 6:6 – To whom Pro 17:19 – he that Pro 21:24 – haughty Isa 10:14 – And my Jer 48:29 – his loftiness Jer 50:32 – the most proud Eze 29:9 – because Eze 31:10 – and his Hos 13:1 – Ephraim Oba 1:3 – pride Hab 2:9 – set Luk 9:48 – he that Luk 18:14 – every 1Ti 3:6 – lest Jam 4:6 – giveth grace