Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 19:1
Better [is] the poor that walketh in his integrity, than [he that is] perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
1. a fool ] We are left to read in the word rich, from the contrast implied by the parallelism: upright poverty is better than perverse folly, by whatever advantages of wealth, of birth, or of rank, it may be accompanied. The proverb recurs, with variations, Pro 28:6.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The perverse man is the rich fool, as contrasted with the poor man who is upright.
Pro 19:1-2 are missing in the Septuagint.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER XIX
The worth of a poor upright man. Riches preserve friends. False
witnesses. False friends. A king’s wrath. The foolish son. The
prudent wife. Slothfulness. Pity for the poor. The fear of the
Lord. The spendthrift son. Obedience to parents.
NOTES ON CHAP. XIX
Verse 1. Better is the poor] The upright poor man is always to be preferred to the rich or self-sufficient fool.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That walketh in his integrity; who is upright in his words and actions.
That is perverse in his lips; that useth to speak wickedly, which proceeds from a wicked heart, and is usually attended with an evil life.
Is a fool; is a hypocrite, or a wicked man, for this is opposed to the upright man in the former clause; yea, though he be rich, which is implied from the same clause.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. (Compare Pr28:6). “Rich” for fool here. Integrity is betterthan riches (Pro 15:16; Pro 15:17;Pro 16:8).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Better [is] the poor that walketh in his integrity,…. In the uprightness of his heart before God and men; who is sincere in the worship of God, and in the profession of his name, and walks in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless; and is upright, harmless, and inoffensive in his conversation with men; and studies to exercise a conscience void of offence to both, and continues herein. A man may be a poor man with respect to worldly things, and yet be rich towards God; may be a truly gracious good man, honest, sincere, and upright in heart and life: and such an one is better
than [he that] is perverse in his lips, and is a fool; that is, than a rich man, as the Syriac and Vulgate Latin versions supply it, and as the antithesis requires; “that is perverse in his lips”, or “whose ways are perverse”, as the Syriac version; that acts the deceitful part both by words and actions towards those that are about him, not being honest and plain hearted as the poor man is; and who uses those beneath him very roughly; and concerning oppression speaks loftily, and lets his tongue run both against God in heaven and man on earth, by which he shows he is a fool: for his riches do not give him wisdom; and his words and actions declare he wants it; men may be poor, and yet wise; and a matt may be rich, and yet a fool: or is confident d; that is, trusts in his riches, and is opposed to a poor man, so R. Saadiah Gaon. This verse and Pr 19:2 are not in the Septuagint and Arabic versions.
d “confidens divitiis”, Cocceii Lexic. col. 384.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The plur. , Pro 18:24, is emphatic and equivalent to . The group Pro 19:1-4 closes with a proverb which contains this catchword. The first proverb of the group comes by into contact with Pro 18:20, the first proverb of the preceding group.
1 Better a poor man walking in his innocence,
Than one with perverse lips, and so a fool.
The contrast, Pro 28:6, is much clearer. But to correct this proverb in conformity with that, as Hitzig does, is unwarrantable. The Syr., indeed, translates here as there; but the Chald. assimilates this translation to the Heb. text, which Theodotion, and after him the Syro-Hexapl., renders by . But does 1a form a contrast to 1b? Fleischer remarks: “From the contrast it appears that he who is designated in 1b must be thought of as ” [rich]; and Ewald, “Thus early the ideas of a rich man and of a fool, or a despiser of God, are connected together.” Saadia understands [a fool], after Job 31:24, of one who makes riches his [confidence]. Euchel accordingly translates: the false man, although he builds himself greatly up, viz., on his riches. But designates the intellectually slothful, in whom the flesh overweighs the mind. And the representation of the rich, which, for 1b certainly arises out of 1a, does not amalgamate with htiw , but with . Arama is on the right track, for he translates: the rich who distorts his mouth, for he gives to the poor suppliant a rude refusal. Better Zckler: a proud man of perverse lips and haughty demeanour. If one with haughty, scornful lips is opposed to the poor, then it is manifestly one not poor who thinks to raise himself above the poor, and haughtily looks down on him. And if it is said that, in spite of this proud demeanour, he is a fool, then this presents the figure of one proud of his wealth, who, in spite of his emptiness and nequitia , imagines that he possesses a greatness of knowledge, culture, and worth corresponding to the greatness of his riches. How much better is a poor man than such an one who walketh ( vid., on , vol. i, p. 79) in his innocence and simplicity, with his pure mind wholly devoted to God and to that which is good! – his poverty keeps him in humility which is capable of no malicious conduct; and this pious blameless life is of more worth than the pride of wisdom of the distinguished fool. There is in contrast to a simplicity, , of high moral worth; but, on the other side, there is also a simplicity which is worthless. This is the connecting thought which introduces the next verse.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
1 Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
Here see, 1. What will be the credit and comfort of a poor man, and make him more excellent than his neighbour, though his poverty may expose him to contempt and may dispirit him. Let him be honest and walk in integrity, let him keep a good conscience and make it appear that he does so, let him always speak and act with sincerity when he is under the greatest temptations to dissemble and break his word, and then let him value himself upon that, for all wise and good men will value him. He is better, has a better character, is in a better condition, is better beloved, and lives to better purpose, than many a one that looks great and makes a figure. 2. What will be the shame of a rich man, notwithstanding all his pomp. If he have a shallow head and an evil tongue, if he is perverse in his lips and is a fool, if he is a wicked man and gets what he has by fraud and oppression, he is a fool, and an honest poor man is to be preferred far before him.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
HONESTY THE BEST WAY
Proverbs 19
Honesty Best Way
Verse 1 declares that the poor man who is honest and upright is better-off than the man of perverse speech who is a fool, 14:2; 20:7; 28:6; Psa 26:8-11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 19:1. Delitzsch translates the last clause, Than one with perverse lips, and so a fool.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 19:1
I. A reference to an unexplained mystery of human life. It is here implied, though it is not directly expressed, that the fool who is perverse in his lipswho sets himself in speech and action against the moral law of the universeis not so poor a man as he who walks in integrity. (We have before had this latter character before us. See Homiletics on chap. Pro. 11:3, page 196.) It seems as strange that power and influence should be so often given to those who know least how to put them to a good use, as it would be to see a parent put a knife into the hand of a child who was incapable of using it, yet it is a sight which meets us on every hand, and a mystery which has presented itself to the minds of thinking men in all ages. Solomon had met with such instances in his dayhe had seen the godly and upright walking in the shade and treading the bye-paths of life, while the perverse and foolish man was basking in the sunlight of worldly prosperity in the highways of society.
II. An assertion, that, notwithstanding contrary appearances, the better portion is with the better man. It is not, after all, what a mans portion is, but how he uses it, that makes his life a blessing or a curse. A man who walks in integrity makes the righteous law of his God the rule of his life, and this keeping of the Divine commandments brings with it a reward (Psa. 19:11) of which the rebellious fool knows nothing. He knows how to use his more limited opportunities and influence to the best advantagehow to put out his small capital so as to obtain the best interest upon ithow to trade with his five talents so as to make them other five, and so he is daily laying up a treasure which is better than all the fame and wealth that belongs to this world, for it is the riches of a righteous character by which he is raised himself to a higher spiritual level, and by which he is able to make the world better than he found it.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Integrity is itself a life, and a whole enjoyment, and better, therefore, than worldly interests which are nothing of the kind. Walking is an eastern figure, and we have failed to substitute it by a western one. A way in the East means a mans total course. Walking, therefore, means his total life or being. Better is a poor man, etc., refers, therefore, to a man not living in his money, nor indeed, in his horses or in his hounds, not living in his integrity, but walking in it, i.e., spending his whole time in it, staying in that way; of course, taking his pleasure in it (see Pro. 19:22.) We have before seen that speech means whole conduct. The mouth, in those days, was the great implement of action. It is so still. The commonest labourer bargains out and orders out half his living by his mouth. Perverse or crooked in speech means speaking (i.e. acting) athwart of what we ourselves know in many particulars; first, athwart all moral truth; second, athwart deep personal conviction; third, athwart all personal interest (as our text implies.) A Christian talks straight, because he speaks (acts) coincidently with all of these. A sinner is crooked of lip, because he says what he does not think, and traverses for his lusts all the best principles of his moral nature.Miller.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER 19
TEXT Pro. 19:1-10
1.
Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity
Than he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool.
2.
Also, that the soul be without knowledge is not good;
And he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.
3.
The foolishness of man subverteth his way;
And his heart fretteth against Jehovah.
4.
Wealth addeth many friends;
But the poor is separated from his friend.
5.
A false witness shall not be unpunished;
And he that uttereth lies shall not escape.
6.
Many will entreat the favor of the liberal man;
And every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.
7.
All the brethren of the poor do hate him:
How much more do his friends go far from him!
8.
He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul:
He that keepeth understanding shall find good.
9.
A false witness shall not be unpunished;
And he that uttereth lies shall perish.
10.
Delicate living is not seemly for a fool;
Much less for a servant to have rule over princes.
STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 19:1-10
1.
What is a synonym for integrity in Pro. 19:1?
2.
Why is it not good to remain ignorant (Pro. 19:2)?
3.
Is all haste sinful or just some (Pro. 19:2)?
4.
When does the heart fret against Jehovah (Pro. 19:3)?
5.
When is a poor person separated from his friend (Pro. 19:3)?
6.
What class of persons likes to make friends of the wealthy (Pro. 19:4)?
7.
Will it be God or man who will do the punishing (Pro. 19:5)?
8.
If everybody is a friend to one who gives gifts, why dont all people love God because of His gifts (Pro. 19:6)?
9.
What kind of words does he use as he pursues them (Pro. 19:7)?
10.
In what sense is love used in Pro. 19:8?
11.
Why would Pro. 19:9 and Pro. 19:5 both be included in the same chapter?
12.
What is delicate living (Pro. 19:10)?
13.
What does not seemly mean (Pro. 19:10)?
PARAPHRASE OF 19:1-10
1.
Better be poor and honest and rich and dishonest.
2.
It is dangerous and sinful to rush into the unknown.
3.
A man may ruin his chances by his own foolishness and then blame it on the Lord.
4.
A wealthy man has man friends; the poor man has none left.
5.
Punish false witnesses. Track down liars.
6.
Many beg favors from a man who is generous; everyone is his friend!
7.
Punish false witnesses. Track down liars.
8.
Many beg favors from a man who is generous; everyone is his friend!
9.
A poor mans own brothers turn away from him in embarrassment; how much more his friends! He calls after them, but they are gone.
10.
He who loves wisdom loves his own best interest and will be a success.
11.
A flase witness shall be punished and a liar shall be caught.
12.
It doesnt seem right for a fool to succeed or for a slave to rule over princes!
COMMENTS ON 19:1-10
Pro. 19:1. This is very similar to Pro. 28:6. Pulpit Commentary: The poor man who lives a guileless, innocent life, content with his lot and using no wrong means to improve his fortunes, is happier and better than the rich man who is hypocritical in his words and deceives others and has won his wealth by such means. There is often a connection between being poorer and honest and being dishonest and getting rich. The fool in this verse is apparently a rich fool.
Pro. 19:2. A double contrast: Soul without knowledge vs. hasteth with his feet and not good vs. sinneth. It is not good for one to be without knowledge when God has given us minds in which to store and which can use knowledge and many means by which to acquire it. God was pleased that Solomon wanted wisdom (1Ki. 3:9-10). See also Pro. 19:8. One without knowledge often acts hastily (No sense of caution) and errs as a result.
Pro. 19:3. Clarke: They get into straits and difficulties through the perverseness of their ways; and…they fret against God; whereas…they are the causes of their own calamities. Rom. 1:19-32 gives a running account of the way mankind subverted its way: they began with a knowledge of God; there came a time when they did not glorify Him as they should; darkness set in upon their unspiritual hearts; in their conceit they began making idols, and the longer they went the worse representation of God they made; they came to be filled with all kinds of wickedness; God finally gave up on them until Gospel times.
Pro. 19:4. Compare Pro. 19:7. People like to identify with someone who will be a credit to them in the eyes of men, not with someone who will discredit them. The poorest of families dont have very many real friends: those who will claim them, invite them over, etc. (Pro. 14:20). Sometimes even relatives practically disown extreme poverty cases.
Pro. 19:5. Another case of Hebrew parallelism in which the latter statement is a restatement of the first. This verse is almost identical to Pro. 19:9. For the punishment of false witnesses, see Pro. 21:28; Deu. 19:16-19.
Pro. 19:6. They seek his favor for what he can do for them. A saying: Be an unusual success, and you will have many false friends and true enemies. This can raise the question: Do people love you or what you can do for them? Let a child show up on the school ground with a sack of candy, and everybody wants some; you know me, many will say.
Pro. 19:7. Compare with Pro. 19:4; Pro. 14:20. In Pro. 19:6 everybody wants to be a friend of the well-to-do, the one who gives gifts; but in this verse a mans friends and relatives even go away from him, not wanting to have anything to do with him. Even the poor mans words of appeal fall on deaf ears.
Pro. 19:8. He loves his soul because wisdom is good for the soul (Pro. 19:2). Proverbs pictures wisdom as something to get (Pro. 4:7). We are to buy the truth (Pro. 23:23). We are to give wisdom an exalted place in our lives (Pro. 4:8). But this verse also talks about keeping understanding. Get it, and then forget it not Pro. 4:5 would tell us.
Pro. 19:9. A false witness, in those instances of lying about others, would be breaking the 9th Commandment (Exo. 20:16). God says such must be punished (Pro. 19:5).
Pro. 19:10. Delicate living is luxurious living. Seemly means fitting for. Both statements of this verse show
somebody out of place: a fool living luxuriously and a servant ruling over princes. Neither one is in order. Appropriately does Pro. 30:21-23 say, For three things the earth doth tremble, And for four, which it cannot bear: For a servant when he is king; And fool when he is filled with food… History tells us of a man who wanted to guard against falling into the very things of which this verse speaks. He was Agathocles, ruler of Syracuse. He rose from the lowly occupation of a potter and to remind himself of his lowly origin, he ate off cheap earthenware.
TEST QUESTIONS OVER 19:1-10
1.
What kind of fool is evidently under consideration in Pro. 19:1?
2.
Why is the honest poor better off than such a person (v.
1)?
3.
Why does one lacking knowledge often act hastily (Pro. 19:2)?
4.
What Bible character did not want to live without knowledge (Pro. 19:2)?
5.
Tell of the account in Romans 1 of mankind subverting its way (Pro. 19:3).
6.
How does wealth make friends for a person (Pro. 19:4)?
7.
Sometimes what kind of friends (Pro. 19:4)?
8.
Why is the poverty-stricken family often ostracized and even disowned by their own relatives (Pro. 19:4)?
9.
What did God say about punishing false witnesses (Pro. 19:5 )?
10.
What is the problem of friends you make and keep through gifts (Pro. 19:6)?
11.
Contrast Pro. 19:6-7.
12.
The two verbs in Pro. 19:8 talk of doing what two things with knowledge?
13.
A false witness often violates which of the Ten Commandments (Pro. 19:9)?
14.
According to Pro. 19:10 what two things are out of order?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XIX.
(1) Perverse in his lips.One who distorts the truth; translated froward in Pro. 4:24. That a rich man is here intended appears likely from the parallel passage in Pro. 28:6.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. Perverse in his lips Crooked in speech; the opposite of straightforward, honest. Compare Proverbs 9:20; Pro 17:20. The fool here is generally supposed to be rich, but Zockler thinks otherwise. Compare Pro 28:6. The latter clause might be rendered: “For he is a fool,” or, “ As such a fool,” (Miller,) that is, the man of perverse lips, who is in the habit of uttering wicked and mischievous words that pervert men from the right.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Proverbs Of Solomon ( Pro 10:1 to Pro 22:16 ).
The proverbs in this section are now introduced by the brief subheading ‘The Proverbs Of Solomon’. Contrast ‘The sayings of Solomon, the Son of David, the King of Israel’ in Pro 1:1. The details given there do not need to be repeated because this is a subheadng, not a main heading. This is in line with comparable wisdom literature going back far beyond the time of Solomon
What follows in Pro 10:1 onwards is somewhat deceptive. Without careful study it can appear to contain simply a string of proverbs with no direct connection to each other. But closer examination soon reveals otherwise. Solomon has rather taken his vast knowledge of wisdom literature, and put together a series of sayings which gel together and give consecutive teaching.
Various attempts have been made to divide up this material, but none of them have been fully successful as the basis of construction and the dividing lines are not always clear. They tend to be somewhat subjective. But that some thought has gone into the presentation of the material is apparent by the way in which topics and ideas are grouped together. Consider for example Pro 10:2-5 which are based on the idea of riches and men’s cravings, whilst Pro 10:18-21 are all based on the lips or the tongue. On the whole, however, the basis of the presentation overall is tentative, for up until Pro 22:17 we do not have any clear introductory words which can help us to divide the text up.
What is certain is that we are not simply to see this as just a number of proverbs jumbled together with no connection whatsoever. And in our view Solomon made this clear by using the well known method (previously used by Moses in Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) of dividing up the text by means of chiasms as we have illustrated. Ancient Hebrew was written in one continuing steam of letters with no gaps to distinguish words, and no punctuation. This was not quite as confusing as it sounds for words and word endings followed definite patterns which were mainly distinguishable. But the only way of dividing it up into paragraphs was either by the way of material content, or by the use of chiasms (presenting the material in an A B C D D C B A pattern). In our view this latter method was used by Solomon in this section as we hope we have demonstrated..
The proverbs which follow are designed to give a wide coverage of wisdom and instruction, and as we study them we will receive guidance in different spheres. For this is the wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and instruction that Solomon has been speaking of in the Prologue. It is a revelation of ‘the fear of YHWH and the knowledge of God’ (Pro 2:5).
It will be noted at once that Solomon immediately expects us to be able to differentiate ‘the righteous’ from the ‘unrighteous’ (or ‘wicked’), and the wise from the ‘foolish’. This confirms that the righteous and the wise are in his eyes identifiable, and in Israel that would be because they walked in accordance with the covenant, the ‘Law of Moses’, as well as in the ways of wisdom. Thus wisdom does not exclude the Law, nor does it supersede it. It embraces it, although mainly from a non-ritualistic standpoint (consider, however, Pro 3:9-10; Pro 7:14; Pro 15:8; Pro 17:1; Pro 21:3; Pro 21:27). For it sees it from a less legalistic attitude, and encourages a broad view of life.
We must, however, recognise that ‘wicked’ does not mean ‘totally evil’ and that ‘foolish’ does not mean ‘stupid’. The wicked are those who come short of righteousness (the term regularly contrasts with the righteous). Basically they live disregarding God’s requirements in some aspect of their lives. They may appear solid citizens, but in parts of their lives they pay no heed to God. This might come out in false business practises, or in deceit, or in lack of love for others, or in selfishness, as being part of their way of life. That is why we often speak of ‘the unrighteous’ rather than of ‘the wicked’.
In the same way the ‘foolish’ are called foolish because they set aside God’s ways in the way in which they live their lives. They may be astute, clever and full of common sense, but they are ‘foolish’ because they disregard YHWH. (‘The fool has said in his heart, “there is no God” (Psa 14:1) even though he might give an outward impression of being religious).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
A Collection Of Solomon’s Proverbs ( Pro 10:1 to Pro 29:27 ).
Solomon’s presentation of The Book of Proverbs has followed the pattern of much Wisdom literature. This commenced with the initial heading detailing the details of the author and his purpose in writing (Pro 1:1-7), continued with a Prologue which laid the foundation for what was to follow (Pro 1:8 to Pro 9:18), and was then followed by the body of the work introduced by one or more subheadings. In Solomon’s case this main body comprises Pro 10:1 to Pro 29:27. It is usually divided up into four parts:
1) Proverbs of Solomon (Pro 10:1 to Pro 22:16), introduced by a subheading ‘The Proverbs Of Solomon’. This may possibly be divided into two sections, Pro 10:1 to Pro 15:21, and Pro 15:22 to Pro 22:16.
2) Words of the Wise (Pro 22:17 to Pro 24:22), introduced by an exhortation to hear the words of the wise. This is in a form comparable with exhortations in the Prologue, but there is no subheading in the text as we have it. It may rather therefore be seen as a third section of The Proverbs of Solomon, but with unusual characteristics.
3) Further Sayings of the Wise (Pro 24:23-34), introduced by the subheading, ‘these also are of the wise’.
4) Proverbs of Solomon copied out by the ‘Men of Hezekiah, King of Judah’ (Pro 25:1 to Pro 29:27), introduced by a specific heading.
The inclusion of the words of the wise within two sets of proverbs of Solomon, the first time without a subheading, suggests that we are to see the words of the wise and the sayings of the wise as also from Solomon, but based in each case more specifically on collections of Wisdom sayings known to him, which he himself, or his Scribes, had taken and altered up in order to conform them to his requirements thus making them finally his work. That does not necessarily mean that his proverbs in section 1 (Pro 10:1 to Pro 22:16) were not based on other material. He would have obtained his material from many sources. But once again we are to see them as presented after alteration by his hand.
We should note, for example, the continual references to YHWH that occur throughout the text. Whatever material Solomon may have appropriated, he refashioned it in order to make it the wisdom of the God of Israel, of YHWH their covenant God. This approach of taking what was written by others and refashioning it, while at the same time introducing further ideas of his own, may be seen as following the pattern of modern scholars, each of whom takes the works of others, and then reinterprets them in his own words, whilst adding to them on the basis of his own thinking. The final product is then seen as their own thinking, aided by others. The only difference is that Solomon would have been far more willing to copy down word for word what others had said and written without giving acknowledgement.
Having said that we must not assume that Solomon simply copied them down unthinkingly. As the Prologue has made clear, he did not see himself as presenting some general form of Wisdom teaching. He saw what he wrote down as given by YHWH, and as being in the words of YHWH (Pro 2:6). And he saw it as based on YHWH’s eternal wisdom, His wisdom which had also been involved in the creation of heaven and earth (Pro 3:19-20; Pro 8:22-31). Thus he wants us to recognise that what now follows is not a series of general wisdom statements, but is a miscellany revealing the wisdom of YHWH, the wisdom that leads men into the paths of life.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Proverbs Of Solomon Part 2 ( Pro 15:22 to Pro 22:16 ).
At this point there is a sudden switch from proverbs which contrast one thing with another, which have been predominant since Pro 10:1, to proverbs where the second clause adds something to the first. Whilst we still find some contrasting proverbs, especially at the beginning, they are not so common. This may suggest a deliberate intention by Solomon to separate his proverbs into two parts.
Furthermore such a change at this point would also be in line with seeing verse Pro 10:1 and Pro 15:20 as some kind of inclusio. The first opened the collection with ‘a wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a grief to his mother’ (Pro 10:1), whilst Pro 15:20 may be seen as closing it with the very similar ‘a wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother’. Pro 15:21 may then be seen as conjoined with Pro 15:20 and as a kind of postscript summing up the fool and the wise who have been in mind throughout the proverbs up to this point.
Pro 15:22, in fact, provides a particularly suitable introduction to a new section with its emphasis on the need for a ‘multitude of counsellors’, who can partly be found in the authors of the proverbs which follow (Solomon and the wise men).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Pro 19:5 A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.
Pro 19:5
Act 5:4, “Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”
Pro 19:7 Comments – Pro 19:7 is the only tristitch within this collection of distitch proverbs in Pro 10:1 to Pro 22:16. Some scholars suggest that this is a textual scribal error.
Pro 19:9 A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.
Pro 19:9
Act 5:4, “Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”
Pro 19:10 Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.
Pro 19:11 Pro 19:11
Strong says ( ) (H7922) comes from the primitive root ( ) (H7919), which means, “to be circumspect, and hence, intelligent.” The Enhanced Strong says it is used 63 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “understand 12, wise 12, prosper 8, wisely 6, understanding 5, consider 4, instruct 3, prudent 2, skill 2, teach 2, misc 7.”
Comments – The Hebrew noun ( ) (H7922) is a key word woven throughout in the book of Proverbs being used six times:
Pro 3:4, “So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.”
Pro 12:8, “A man shall be commended according to his wisdom : but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised.”
Pro 13:15, “Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.”
Pro 16:22, “ Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly.”
Pro 19:11, “ The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.”
Pro 23:9, “Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.”
This word refers to the ability of a man to think straight in contrast to the person who has a twisted mind.
Pro 19:12 The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favour is as dew upon the grass.
Pro 19:12
Pro 19:12 “but his favour is as dew upon the grass” – Comments – Dew represents the blessings and favor of God. See other passages with this description of dew.
Gen 27:28, “Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven , and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:”
Deu 33:28, “Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew .”
Psa 133:3, “ As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion : for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.”
Hos 14:5, “ I will be as the dew unto Israel : he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.”
Mic 5:7, “And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD , as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.”
This is the concept that Ezekiel is referring to in Eze 34:26:
Eze 34:26, “And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing .”
Pro 19:12 Comments – God’s wrath brings curses and judgment worse that the mind can comprehend but to be under God’s blessings is greater than the mind can be believe.
Illustration – Once at seminary one Sunday afternoon, I was lying on my bed, and such an over whelming depth of how great God’s blessings are filled my soul. I saw that to be under God’s blessings and favour has a depth of wonderfulness that we have never yet seen nor understand. I also felt the horrors of being under the curse and judgment of eternal damnation (Rom 11:33).
Rom 11:33, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”
Pro 19:13 A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
Pro 19:14 Pro 19:14
Pro 31:10, “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.”
Scripture References – Note a similar verse:
Pro 18:22, “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.”
Pro 19:18 Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.
Pro 19:18
Illustration My two brothers and I, who were close to the same age, received a lot of spakings from our mother when we were young. However, I distinctly remember the day I received a spanking and it did not hurt. I realized that I could endure the pain. This was a time when a mother has to change measures of discipline using godly wisdom.
Pro 19:19 A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.
Pro 19:20 Pro 19:21 Pro 19:21
“I direct every motion of thy life, as the ocean bears a ship. Your will and intelligence may be at the helm, but divine providence and sovereignty are stronger forces. Ye can trust Me, knowing that any pressure I bring to bear upon thy life is initiated by My love, and I will not do even this except as ye are willing and desire.” [117]
[117] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 18.
Illustration – In Mat 26:5 the Jewish leaders were determined to control the outcome of the death of the Son of God. The Jewish people had just honored Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem by crying “Hosanna to the Son of David” (Mat 21:8-9) The crowds were willing to accept Him as their new king. Although the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Jesus quietly without the notice of the people, they had not yet factored in the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, which Matthew adds to the plot in Pro 26:14-16. When Judas presented himself to the Jewish leaders, they were subject to the time of this betrayal, which took place during the festive days in Jerusalem. It was necessary that prophecy by fulfilled and that the Passover Lamb of God be sacrificed on the Day of Atonement. While the Jewish leaders believed they were organizing this most wicked scheme of all humanity, God was taking control of its outcome for redemptive reasons according to Pro 16:9, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps,” and Pro 19:21, “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.”
Scripture References – Note similar verses:
Psa 33:10-11, “The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.”
Pro 16:9, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.”
Pro 19:24 A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
Pro 19:24
ASV, “The sluggard burieth his hand in the dish , And will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.”
Comments – The slothful man is too lazy to bring his fork back up to his mouth. In other words, he is too lazy to take care of his basic needs, such as food, clothing and shelter. Also, this proverb means that a slothful man begins many tasks in life, but never finishes them.
Pro 19:25 Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.
Pro 19:25
Gal 2:11-14, “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?”
Pro 19:27 Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.
Pro 19:27
Rom 16:17, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”
1Ti 6:3-7, “If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Justification: Solomon’s First Collection (375 Sayings) [75] – The first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs serve as an introductory call from wisdom. In this introduction, we are exhorted to hear wisdom’s cry (chapter 1), and we are told how to find wisdom by putting it first in our lives (chapter 2). We are told of the blessings of finding wisdom (chapter 3) in contrast to the dangers of hearkening unto the call of the wicked and the harlot. We are shown how wisdom transforms our lives by learning the three paths of wisdom for the heart, mind and body of man (chapter 4). This is contrasted with three paths of destruction (chapters 5-6). We are shown the characteristics of the wicked man and the adulterous woman (chapters 6-7). Then, we are shown the excellence of wisdom and its characteristics (chapter 8). In conclusion, we have an invitation from wisdom to take food for the journey, with a choice to eat the stolen bread of the adulteress (chapter 9). The better we are able to understand the introduction of Proverbs, the better we will be able to understand its teachings in the rest of the book.
[75] Sailhamer says that there are 375 proverbs in Solomon’s First Collection (10:1 to 22:16), which equals the numerical value of Solomon’s Hebrew name. In addition, he says there are 611 laws listed in the Pentateuch, which equals the numerical value of the Hebrew word “Torah” ( ). He adds that the laws listed in the “Covenant Codes” (Exodus 21:1-23:12) are 42 (7 x 6), which was in intentional multiple of seven. His point is that such numerical coincidences reflect deliberate composition by the ancient Jewish scribes, and concludes that the laws, as well as the statutes, were not intended to be exhaustive. See John H. Sailhamer, Introduction to Old Testament Theology (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, c1995), 257.
Once we have chosen the path of wisdom, we are ready to continue on in the book of Proverbs. The next section of this book Isa 10:1 thru Pro 22:16. This is referred to as Solomon’s First Collection. This section is characterized by the fact that each verse contains individual truths that stand alone. They are practical truths that form a couplet. In chapter 10, we are given the choice to answer wisdom’s call to follow her by either obeying her words, or by disobeying her words and becoming the fool.
We now leave our preparation, which is compared to leaving our home and our parents. We now take a path on the journey of life. However, a quick observation of the following chapters shows us a list of randomly collected proverbs, which have no apparent relationship to one another, unlike the first nine chapters. However, if we look carefully, we will see signposts along this path of life. The introduction of chapters 1-9 began and ended with signposts. These signposts are found in Pro 1:7; Pro 9:10.
Pro 1:7, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Pro 9:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”
The fear of the Lord will be our signpost throughout the book of Proverbs. The first nine chapters are an introduction, or beginning, to this path of life. This is why these first two signposts use the phrase, “beginning of knowledge and wisdom.”
If there is a beginning, then there is a journey; and if a journey, then a destination. These signposts will take us to our destination, which is to become like our Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus, or we could say to walk in the fullness of Christ. We will liken this journey to John Bunyan’s book Pilgrim’s Progress, where the character named Christian made his way to the Eternal City. [76] Just as Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegorical story of a person’s journey to Heaven, so is the book of Proverbs a proverbial journey to Heaven.
[76] George Offor, ed., The Works of John Bunyan, 3 vols. (Edinburgh: Blackie and Son, 1855).
Now, let us look for other signposts as we launch out on this journey in life. Note that the phrase “the fear of the Lord” is used throughout the book of Proverbs:
Pro 10:27, “ The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.”
Pro 13:13, “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.”
Pro 14:2, “He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD : but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him.”
Pro 14:16, “ A wise man feareth , and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.”
Pro 14:26, “In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.”
Pro 14:27, “ The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.”
Pro 15:16, “Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.”
Pro 15:33, “ The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.”
Pro 16:6, “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.”
Pro 19:23, “ The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.”
Pro 22:4, “By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.”
Pro 23:17, “Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.”
Pro 24:21, “My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:”
Pro 28:14, “Happy is the man that feareth alway : but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.”
Pro 31:30, “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD , she shall be praised.”
Each of these signposts has been planted within a group of proverbs that emphasizes the subject related to that particular signpost. For example, Pro 10:27 tells us that the fear of the Lord gives us a long life. This proverb has been placed within a group of verses that largely deal with a long life (Pro 10:24 to Pro 11:22). Thus, we can ask ourselves if we are walking in these blessings of long life, or in a life of problems. If our life is blessed in this way, we are on the journey. However, if we find problems in our life that are not in God’s plan for us, then we have strayed off the path.
Pro 13:13 tells us of the rewards of fearing the Lord. This proverb is placed within a group of verses that refer to prosperity. Thus, we must check our life to see if the blessing of prosperity is operating in our life.
Pro 22:4 reminds us of the many blessings of wisdom, which are given in chapter 3. Thus, we can know while we are on the journey if we are still on the path of wisdom. We know this because the blessings of wisdom will be seen in our lives. If we find the curses in our lives, then we know that we have erred from the path of wisdom. This is how these signposts keep us on the right path.
These signposts symbolize the way in which the Lord guides our lives; for it is by the fear of the Lord that we make the decision to follow the path of wisdom. Without this fear, we may know the right decision, but as Solomon, we would err from the journey by failing to adhere to wisdom.
On a daily basis God will give us enough light for our daily needs. This can be called our “daily bread” (Mat 6:11).
Mat 6:11, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
This daily bread gives us enough light to guide our short steps. But there are certain times when the Lord will intervene in our life and show us enough light to see farther down the path. When we face major decisions or changes in our life, God will often speak to us or reveal Himself to us in a supernatural way and show us the right path. During these times, we are able to look back and look ahead and see a bigger picture of God’s plan for our lives. This is the way that God guided Jacob on special occasions, and this is the way that I have experienced the Lord’s guidance during major changes in my life. We can see this two-fold method of guidance in Psa 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” The book of Proverbs symbolizes these occasions by planting signposts along the journey.
There are also warning signs along this journey. These warning signs symbolize those times when God gives us correction and discipline in order to keep us from straying from the path of life. As on a public highway, we must learn to heed the warning signs that tell us of dangers ahead, as well as the information signs that tell us where we are located. These signposts are warnings that tell us not to seek the richest, not to pursue the honor, or to pamper the flesh. Instead, we are to pursue the virtues, and not the blessings that come from these virtues. Some examples of these warnings are:
Pro 11:28, “He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.”
Pro 13:11, “Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.”
Pro 18:12, “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.”
Pro 23:5, “Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.”
Pro 29:23, “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.”
Wisdom cries out in the busiest places in society. She cries out in the crowded streets. She lifts up her voice in the major places where people meet and in the gates of the city. This is because wisdom speaks through other people. It speaks through situations around you. Life itself becomes a classroom, and wisdom in the teacher. Thus, in the book of Proverbs, we are shown different types of people in order to learn divine wisdom. Listen, and you will hear.
Regarding the hundreds of individual proverbs that we encounter on this path, there appears to be no organized manner in which they are presented us. This is because in the journey of life, our encounters with the wise man and the fool appear to come in the same random order.
When we look at Pro 10:1 thru Pro 15:33, we see a similarity in all of these proverbs. They all give us a one-verse contrast between the wise man and the fool. This means that in every decision we make in life, we either make a wise decision, or a foolish one. There is no way to straddle the fence in making decisions. Then we see a signpost in Pro 15:33.
Pro 15:33, “ The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.”
This verse says that the fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom. In Pro 1:7; Pro 9:10, we are told that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This is because the first nine chapters are a preparation, or beginning, of the journey. But here in Pro 15:33, we are in a phase of the journey called “the instruction of wisdom”. We have been learning to identify the wise man and the fool under the instruction of these one-verse contrasts between these two people. Let me give a clear illustration. When my oldest daughter would sit on my lap, we would sometimes to Bible studies together. At the age of four, she began to ask me simple questions. “Daddy, is this person bad or good.” I would reply, “David was good, and Goliath was bad. The prophet Samuel was good, but King Saul was bad.” I would then explain, “Samuel was good because he obeyed God. Saul was bad because he tried to kill David.” This became my child’s first lesson about the wise man verses the fool. It is in this same pattern that God first teaches us how to identify the wise man and the fool as we journey through Pro 10:1 to Pro 15:33.
There are other signposts within this lengthy passage of Pro 10:1 thru Pro 15:33. One signpost is found in Pro 10:27.
Pro 10:27, “The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.”
This signpost is planted within a passage of Scriptures that deals with the longevity of the righteous verses the brevity of the wicked (Pro 10:24 thru Pro 11:22). Thus, this verse promises long life to those who fear the Lord.
A second signpost within Pro 10:1 thru Pro 15:33 is found in Pro 13:13.
Pro 13:13, “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.”
This signpost is placed within a group of verses (Pro 13:1-25) that deal largely with the issue of financial blessings from the Lord. Thus, it promises a reward to those who fear the Lord.
In Pro 14:26-27, we see a signpost that refers to an abundant life. These two verses are placed within a group of proverbs that deal with one’s understanding of circumstances around him.
JFB notes that the parallelisms of Pro 10:1 to Pro 15:33 are mostly antithetic, that is, sayings that contrast values in life. They contrast the wise man to the fool. However, the couplets in Pro 16:1 to Pro 22:16 are synthetic. That is, these synthetic sayings in Pro 16:1 to Pro 22:16 are different in that they are one-verse proverbs that explain one another. The second part of the couplet further explains and builds its thoughts upon the first part of the couplet.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. Justification: Antithetic Proverbs Pro 10:1 to Pro 15:33
2. Indoctrination: Synthetic Proverbs Pro 16:1 to Pro 22:16
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Justification: The Journey to a Place of Rest ( Pro 10:1 to Pro 29:27 ) In Proverbs 10-29 we find a new emphasis regarding our spiritual journey in life. We have heard the call of wisdom in the first nine chapters. Now we have to make the choice to follow the path of wisdom, or the path of the fool. It is our decision to pursue wisdom that will justify us before God. Thus, the underlying theme of Proverbs 10-29 is our justification before God the Father, while the final chapter brings us to a place of rest, which is the destination for man’s spiritual journey in life.
Throughout Proverbs 10-29 we encounter hundreds of individual proverbs that appear to have no organized arrangement in which they are presented us. This is because in the journey of life, our encounters with the wise man and the fool appear to come in the same random order. However, God has placed all things in His divine order. When we read individual proverbs, they appear to be randomly assembled, but if we will step back and look at them as a whole or in groups, we can see an order. These proverbs are clearly grouped together by themes, such as a pure heart, the tongue, a long life, and wealth. In the same way, the circumstances that we face in our daily lives appear to have no particular order. We see very little of God’s hand in our lives in a single day, but when we step back and look as our lives over the months or years, we very clearly see God’s sovereign hand at working in our lives. We recognize that He is divinely orchestrating His purpose and plan for our lives. This is the way that the verses in the book of Proverbs are arranged.
We have seen that Proverbs 1-9, about one third of the book, is man’s call to follow the path of wisdom. Thus, about one third of the book of Proverbs is an introduction, or a preparation, for the rest of this book. Why is that so? We know that Solomon was chosen to be the successor to the throne at his birth. Therefore, he received many years of training under King David for this great task. Even today, we spent the first twenty years of our lives going to school and training for a profession, which is about one third of our lives. We spend the next two thirds of our lives building upon these twenty years of preparation. In our lives, we spend the first twenty years in preparation, the next twenty years sowing, and the last twenty years reaping what we have sown. This is why these years seem to be turning points in many people’s lives. This was the pattern in King Solomon’s life of preparation and growing in wisdom, and this is the pattern found in the book of Proverbs. It is important to note that a season of preparation is something that God has designed and instituted in the human life. He created every human being with the capacity to be shaped and molded through a training process. We often use the term “brainwashing” in a negative sense to refer to a person who has been programmed to think in a negative way; but proper training also reprograms the mind and prepares an individual for the tasks of life. Our human make-up of the spirit, soul, and body were designed to receive training before practical application and abundant living can be achieved.
Although we will study these proverbs, we will find ourselves falling short of fulfilling them in our everyday lives. None of us has walked flawlessly in obedience to any single proverb. Therefore, each individual proverb reveals God’s standard of righteousness, pointing us to Jesus, who alone fulfilled this divine standard in our behalf. In this sense, this collection of proverbs is a collection of redemptive proverbs, revealing our need for a Redeemer, who alone fulfilled every proverb.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. Justification: Solomon’s First Collection Pro 10:1 to Pro 22:16
2. Divine Service: Sayings of the Wise Pro 22:17 to Pro 24:34
3. Perseverance: Solomon’s Second Collection by Hezekiah Pro 25:1 to Pro 29:27
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Indoctrination: Solomon’s First Collection of Proverbs (Synthetic) – On our journey in chapters 10-15, we have learned to make wise choices and to avoid foolish decisions. In chapter 16, we begin to see that God’s purpose and plan in our lives is bigger than just daily decision-making. This section of Proverbs (Pro 16:1 to Pro 22:16) reveals the divine intervention of God on this journey in life. We must now learn that God has an all-inclusive divine plan for all of his creation, for all of mankind, and a plan for you and me in particular. We must learn not only to make a wise decision, but we must evaluate this decision in light of God’s divine plan for our lives. It is only by God’s divine intervention in our daily lives that we will be able to stay on the path that leads to eternal rest. God will intervene in order to keep our life balanced so that we will not stray in any one direction to far. Therefore, the journey becomes narrower and choices must be made more carefully.
Proverbs 10-15 have given us one-verse sayings that are clearly antithetical. That is, the first part of the verse contrasts with the second part. However, beginning in Pro 16:1 to Pro 22:16, we see a different type of proverb. In this next section of the book of Proverbs the one-verse says have two parts that complement one another. That is, the second phrase amplifies, or further explains, the first phrase, rather than contrast its counterpart. This means that the training is getting a little more intensive. This new section requires more contemplation that the previous section. Rather than contrasting the difference between the wise man and the fool, we begin to learn the consequences of our decisions, whether wise or foolish. We now move from identifying the wise and the fool (Pro 10:1 thru Pro 15:33) into learning the lasting effects that wisdom and foolishness have in our lives (Pro 16:1 thru Pro 22:16). We must learn that we will always reap the consequences of our behavior. This is the process of indoctrination that is a vital part of our spiritual journey.
As we look for signposts within this passage that confirm this theme, we find them in Pro 16:6 and Pro 19:23, which tell us that the fear of the Lord brings forgiveness of our sins and it delivers us from the visitation of evil that judges the wicked.
Pro 16:6, “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.”
Pro 19:23, “ The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.”
It is interesting to note that the opening chapter of this lengthy passage begins with the theme of the sovereignty of God. This passage is place at this place on our journey in order that we might learn that God’s ways always prevail over man’s ways and that we must always reap what we sow.
Therefore, the truths in Pro 16:1 to Pro 22:16 are a little deeper in meaning that the previous section of Pro 10:1 to Pro 15:33. On our journey in Proverbs 10-15, we have seen how a man can make choices that will identify his character. Now, beginning in chapter 16, we take a deeper lesson in life in order to see a bigger picture. Although the outcome in life rests upon our daily choices, we must learn that God intervenes in our lives in order to include us into His divine plan for all of His creation, and for all of mankind. This means that God has a plan for you and me in particular.
Then, we see a signpost at Pro 22:4 as an indication that this phase of learning is ending. Note:
Pro 22:4, “By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.”
Therefore, Pro 22:4 does not describe the beginning of wisdom (Pro 1:1 thru Pro 9:18), nor the instruction of wisdom (Pro 10:1 thru Pro 15:33), but rather the effects of applying wisdom to our lives. That is, wisdom brings to us the full rewards of riches, honour and life.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
v. 1. Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Pro 19:1
Better is the poor that walkth in his integrity. The word for “poor” is, here and in Pro 19:7, Pro 19:22, rash, which signifies “poor” in opposition to “rich.” In the present reading of the second clause, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool, there seems to be a failure in antithesis, unless we can understand the fool as a rich fool. This, the repetition of the maxim in Pro 28:6 (“Than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich”), would lead one to admit. The Vulgate accordingly has, Quam dives torquem labia sua, et insipiens, “Than a rich man who is of perverse lips and a fool.” With this the Syriac partly agrees. So that, if we take this reading, the moralist says that the poor man who lives a guileless, innocent life, content with his lot, and using no wrong means to improve his fortunes, is happier and better than the rich man who is hypocritical in his words and deceives others, and has won his wealth by such means, thus proving himself to be a fool, a morally bad man. But if we content ourselves with the Hebrew text, we must find the antithesis in the simple, pious, poor man, contrasted with the arrogant rich man, who sneers at his poor neighbour as an inferior creature. The writer would seem to insinuate that there is a natural connection between poverty and integrity of life on the one hand, and wealth and folly on the other. He would assent to the sweeping assertion, Omnis dives ant iniquus aut iniqui heres, “Every rich man is either a rascal or a rascal’s heir.”
Pro 19:2
Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good. “Also” (gam), Wordsworth would render “even,” “even the soul, i.e. life itself, without knowledge is not a blessing;” it is . At first sight it looks as if some verse, to which this one was appended, had fallen out; but there is no trace in the versions of any such loss. We have had a verse beginning in the same manner (Pro 17:26), and here it seems to emphasize what followsfolly is bad, so is ignorance, when the soul lacks knowledge, i.e. when a man does not know what to do, how to act in the circumstances of his life, has in fact no practical wisdom. Other things “not good” are named in Pro 18:5; Pro 20:23; Pro 24:23. And he that hasteth with his feet sinneth; misseth his way. Delitzsch confines the meaning of this hemistich to the undisciplined pursuit of knowledge: “He who hasteneth with the legs after it goeth astray,” because he is neither intellectually nor morally clear as to his path or object. But the gnome is better taken in a more general sense. The ignorant man, who acts hastily without due deliberation, is sure to make grave mistakes, and to come to misfortune. Haste is opposed to knowledge, because the latter involves prudence and circumspection, while the former blunders on hurriedly, not seeing whither actions lead. We all have occasion to note the proverbs, Festina lente; “More haste, less speed.” The history of Fabius, who, as Ennius said,
“Unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem,”
shows the value of deliberation and caution. The Greeks recognized this
.
“Rash haste is cause of evil unto many.”
Erasmus, in his ‘Adagia,’ has a long article commenting on Festinatio praepropera. The Arabs say,” Patience is the key of joy, but haste is the key of sorrow.” God is patient because he is eternal.
Pro 19:3
The foolishness of man perverteth his way; rather, overturns, turns from the right direction and causes a man to fall (Pro 13:6). It is his own folly that leads him to his ruin; but he will not see this, and blames the providence of God. And his heart fretteth against the Lord. Septuagint, “He accuseth God in his heart” (comp. Eze 18:25, Eze 18:29; Eze 33:17, Eze 33:20). Ec Pro 15:11, etc; “Say not thou, It is through the Lord that I foil away; for thou oughtest not to do the things that he hateth. Say not thou, He has caused me to err; for he hath no need of the sinful man,” etc. The latter part of this important passage St. Augustine quotes thus: “Item apud Salomonem: Deus ab initio constituit hominem et reliquit eum in manu consilii sui: adjecit ei mandata et praecepta; si voles praecepta servare, servabunt te, et in posterum fidem placitam facere. Apposuit tibi aquam et ignem, ad quod vis porrige manum tuam. Ante hominem bonum et malum, vita et mors, paupertas et honestas a Domino Deo sunt“. And again, “Manifestum est, quod si ad ignem manum mittit, et malum ac mors ei placet, id votuntas hominis operatur; si autem bonum et vitam diligit, non solum voluntas id agit, sed divinitus adjuvatur“. Homer, ‘Od.,’ 1.32, etc.
“Perverse mankind! whose wills, created free,
Charge all their woes on absolute decree;
All to the dooming gods their guilt translate,
And follies are miscalled the crimes of fate.”
(Pope.)
Pro 19:4
Wealth maketh many friends (Pro 19:6, Pro 19:7; Pro 14:20). A Greek gnome expresses the same truth
.
The poor is separated from his neighbour. But it is better to make the act of separation emanate from the friend (as the Hebrew allows), and to render, with the Revised Version, The friend of the poor separateth himself from him. The word for “poor” is here dal, which means “feeble,” “languid;” so Pro 19:17; and the came word (rea), “friend” or “neighbor,” is used in both clauses. The idea of man’s selfishness is carried on in Pro 19:6 and Pro 19:7. The Law of Moses had tried to counteract it (Deu 15:7, etc.), but it was Christianity that introduced the practical realization of the law of love, and the honouring of the poor as members of Christ. Septuagint, “But the poor is deserted even by his whilom friend.”
Pro 19:5
This verse is repeated below (Pro 19:9). It comes in awkwardly here, interrupting the connection which subsists between Pro 19:4 and Pro 19:6. Its right place is doubtless where it occurs below. The Law not only strictly forbade false witness (Exo 20:16; Exo 23:1), but it enacted severe penalties against offenders in this particular (Deu 19:16, etc.); the lex talionis was to be enforced against them, they were to receive no pity: “Life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” He that speaketh lies shall not escape. The Septuagint confines the notion of this clause to false accusers, , “He who maketh an unjust charge shall not escape,” which renders the two clauses almost synonymous. We make a distinction between the members by seeing in the former a denunciation against a false witness in a suit, and in the second a more sweeping menace against any one, whether accuser, slanderer, sycophant, who by lying injures a neighbour. The History of Susanna is brought forward in confirmation of the well deserved fate of false accusers.
.
“A slander is an outrage on man’s life.”
Pro 19:6
Many will intreat the favour of the prince; Literally, will stroke the face of the prince, of the liberal and powerful man, in expectation of receiving some benefit from him (Pro 29:26; Job 11:19). Every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts (see on Pro 17:8). The LXX; reading for , renders, “Every bad man is a reproach to a man,” which may mean that a sordid, evil man brings only disgrace on himself; or that, while many truckle to and try to win the interest of a prince, bad courtiers bring on him not glory, but infamy and shame.
Pro 19:7
This is one of the few tristichs in the book, and probably contains the mutilated remains of two distichs. The third line, corrected by the Septuagint, which has an addition here, runs into two clauses (Cheyne). All the brethren of the poor do hate him. Even his own brothers, children of the same parents, hate and shun a poor man (Pro 14:20). Much more do his friends go far from him. There should be no interrogation. We have the expression (aph-ki) in Pro 11:31; Pro 15:11, etc. Euripides, ‘Medea,’ 561
.
“Each single friend far from the poor man flies.”
Septuagint. “Every one who hateth a poor brother will be also far from friendship.” Then follows an addition not found m the Hebrew, “Good thought draweth nigh to those who know it, and a prudent man will find it. He who doeth much evil brings malice to perfection ( ); and he who rouses words to anger shall not be safe.” He pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him; or, they are gone. He makes a pathetic appeal to his quondam friends, but they hearken not to him. But the sense is rather, “He pursueth after, craves for, words of kindness or promises of help, and there is naught, or he gets words only and no material aid.”
Wordsworth quotes Catullus, ‘Carm.,’ 38.5
“Quem tu, quod minimum facillimumque est,
Qua solatus es adlocutione?
Irascor tibi. Sic meos amores?“
Vulgate, Qui tantum verba sectatur, nihil habebit, “He who pursues words only shall have naught.” The Hebrew is literally, “Seeking words, they are not” This is according to the Khetib; the Keri, instead of the negation , reads , which makes the clause signify, “He who pursues words, they are to him;” i.e. he gets words and nothing else. Delitzsch and others, supplying the lost member from the Septuagint, read the third line thus: “He that hath many friends, or the friend of every one, is requited with evil; and he that seeketh (fair) speeches shall not be delivered.” Cheyne also makes a distich of this line, taking the Septuagint as representing the original reading, “He that does much evil perfects mischief: He that provokes with words shall not escape.” That something has fallen out of the Hebrew text is evident; it seems that there are no examples of tristichs in this part of our book, though they are not unknown in the first and third divisions. The Vulgate surmounts the difficulty by connecting this third line with the following verse, which thus is made to form the antithesis, Qui tantum verba sectatur, nihil habebit; Qui autem possessor est mentis, diligit animam suam, et custos prudentiae inveniet bona.“
Pro 19:8
He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul. “Wisdom” is, in the Hebrew, leb. “heart;” it is a matter, not of intellect only. but of will and affections (see on Pro 15:32). Septuagint, , “loveth himself.” The contrary, “hateth his own soul,” occurs in Pro 29:24. By striving to obtain wisdom a man shows that he has regard for the welfare of his soul and body. Hence St. Thomas Aquinas (‘Sum. Theol.,’ 1.2, qu. 25, art. 7, quoted by Corn. a Lapide) takes occasion to demonstrate that only good men are really lovers of themselves, while evil men are practically self-haters, proving his position by a reference to Arislotle’s numeration of the characteristics of friendship, which the former exhibit, and none of which the latter can possess (‘Eth. Nic.,’ 9.4). He that keepeth understanding shall find good (Pro 16:20). A man must not only strive hard and use all available means to get wisdom and prudence, he must guard them like a precious treasure, not lose them for want of care or let them lie useless; and then he will find that they bring with themselves innumerable benefits.
Pro 19:9
A repetition of Pro 19:5, except that shall perish is substituted for “shall not escape.” Septuagint, “And whosoever shall kindle mischief shall perish by it.” The Greek translators have rendered the special reference in the original to slanderers and liars by a general term, and introduced the notion of Divine retribution, which is not definitely expressed in the Hebrew.
Pro 19:10
Delight is not seemly for a fool (comp. Pro 17:7; Pro 26:1). Taanug, rendered “delight,” implies other delicate living, luxury; , Septuagint. Such a life is ruin to a fool. who knows not how to use it properly; it confirms him in his foolish, sinful ways. A man needs religion and reason to enable him to bear prosperity advantageously, and these the fool lacks. “Secundae res,” remarks Sallust (‘Catil.,’ 11), “sapientium animos fatigant,” “Even wise men are wearied and harassed by prosperity,” much more must such good fortune try those who have no practical wisdom to guide and control their enjoyment. Vatablus explains the clause to mean that it is impossible for a fool, a sinner, to enjoy peace of conscience, which alone is true delight. But looking to the next clause, we see that the moralist is thinking primarily of the elevation of a slave to a high position, and his arrogance in consequence thereof. Much less for a servant to have rule over princes. By the unwise favouritism of a potentate, a slave of lowly birth might be raised to eminence and set above the nobles and princes of the land. The writer of Ecclesiastes gives his experience in this matter: “I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth” (Ecc 10:7). The same anomaly is mentioned with censure (Pro 30:22 and Ecc 11:5). What is the behaviour of unworthy persons thus suddenly raised to high position has formed the subject of many a satire. It is the old story of the “beggar on horseback.” A German proverb declares, “Kein Scheermesser scharfer schiest, als wenn der Bauer zu Herrn wird.” Claud; ‘In Eutrop.,’ 181, etc.
“Asperius nihil est humili, quum surgit in altum;
Cuncta ferit, dum cuncta timet; desaevit in omnes,
Ut se posse putent; nec bellua tetrior ulla
Quam servi rabies in libera colla furentis.”
As an example of a different disposition, Cornelius a Lapide refers to the history of Agathocles. Tyrant of Syracuse, who rose from the humble occupation of a potter to a position of vast power, and, to remind himself of his lowly origin, used to dine off mean earthenware. Ausonius thus alludes to this humility (‘Epigr.,’ 8.)
“Fama est fictilibus coenasse Agathoclea regem,
Atque abacum Samio saepe onerasse luto;
Fercula gemmatis cum poneret horrida vasis,
Et misceret opes pauperiemque simul.
Quaerenti causam, respondit: Rex ego qui sum
Sicaniae, figulo sum genitore satus
Fortunam reverenter habe, quicunque repente
Dives ab exili progrediere loco.”
Pro 19:11
The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; maketh him slow to anger. “A merciful man is long suffering,” Septuagint; “The teaching of a man is known by patience,” Vulgate. (See Pro 14:17, Pro 14:29.) The Greek moralist gives the advice
“Thine anger quell by reason’s timely aid.”
The contrary disposition betokens folly (Pro 14:17). It is his glory to pus over a transgression. It is a real triumph and glory for man to forgive and to take no notice of injuries offered him. Thus in his poor way he imitates Almighty God. Here it is discretion or prudence that makes a man patient and forgiving; elsewhere the same effect is attributed to love (Pro 10:12; Pro 17:9). The Septuagint Version is hard to understand: , “And his glorying cometh on the transgressors;” but, taken in connection with the former hemistich, it seems to mean that the patient man’s endurance of the contradictions of sinners is no reproach or disgrace to him, but redounds to his credit and virtue. “Vincit qui patitur,” “He conquers who endures.”
Pro 19:12
The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion, which inspires terror, as preluding danger and death. The same idea occurs in Pro 20:2 (comp. Amo 3:4, Amo 3:8). The Assyrian monuments have made us familiar with the lion as a type of royalty; and the famous throne of Solomon was ornamented with figures of lions on each of its six steps (1Ki 10:19, etc.). Thus St. Paul. alluding to the Roman emperor, says (2Ti 4:17), “I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.” “The lion is dead,” announced Marsyas to Agrippa, on the decease of Tiberius (Josephus, ‘Ant.,’ 18.6, 10). The mondist here gives a monition to kings to repress their wrath and not to let it rage uncontrolled, and a warning to subjects not to offend their ruler, lest he tear them to pieces like a savage beast, which an Eastern despot had full power to do. But his favour is as dew upon the grass. In Pro 16:15 the king’s favour was compared to a cloud of the latter rain; here it is likened to the dew (comp. Psa 72:6). We hardly understand in England the real bearing of this comparison. “The secret of the luxuriant fertility of many parts of Palestine,” says Dr. Geikie (‘Holy Land and Bible,’ 1.72, etc.), “lies in the rich supply of moisture afforded by the seawinds which blow inland each night, and water the face of the whole land. There is no dew, properly so called in Palestine, for there is no moisture in the hot summer air to be chilled into dewdrops by the coolness of the night, as in a climate like ours. From May till October rain is unknown, the sun shining with unclouded brightness day after day. The heat becomes intense, the ground hard; and vegetation would perish but for the moist west winds that come each night from the sea. The bright skies cause the heat of the day to radiate very quickly into space, so that the nights are as cold as the day is the reverse .To this coldness of the night air the indispensable watering of all plant life is due. The winds, loaded with moisture, are robbed of it as they pass over the land, the cold air condensing it into drops of water, which fall in a gracious rain of mist on every thirsty blade. In the morning the fog thus created rests like a sea over the plains, and far up the sides of the hills, which raise their heads above it like so many islands The amount of moisture thus poured on the thirsty vegetation during the night is very great. Dew seemed to the Israelites a mysterious gift of Heaven, as indeed it is. That the skies should be stayed from yielding it was a special sign of Divine wrath, and there could be no more gracious conception of a loving farewell address to his people than where Moses tells them that his speech should distil as the dew. The favour of an Oriental monarch could not be more boneficially conceived than by saying that, while his wrath is like the roaring of a lion, his favour is as the dew upon the grass.” (ration), “favour,” is translated by the Septuagint, , and by the Vulgate, hilaritas, “cheerfulness” (as in Pro 18:22), which gives the notion of a smiling, serene, benevolent countenance as contrasted with the angry, lowering look of displeased monarch.
Pro 19:13
With the first clause we may compare Pro 10:1; Pro 15:20; Pro 17:21, Pro 17:25. Calamity in the Hebrew is in the plural number (contritiones, Pagn.), as if to mark the many and continued sorrows which a bad son brings upon his father, how he causes evil after evil to harass and distress him. The contentions of a wife are a continual dropping (comp. Pro 27:15). The flat roofs of Eastern houses, formed of planks loosely joined and covered with a coating of clay or plaster, were always subject to leakage in heavy rains. The irritating altercations and bickering of a cross-grained wife are compared to the continuous drip of water through an imperfectly constructed roof. Tecta jugiter perstillantia, as the Vulgate has it. The Scotch say, “A leaky house and a scolding wife are two bad companions.” The two clauses of the verse are coordinate, expressing two facts that render home life miserable and unendurable, viz. the misbehaviour of a son and the ill temper of a wife. The Septuagint, following a different reading, has, “Nor are offerings from a harlot’s hire pure,” which is an allusion to Deu 23:18.
Pro 19:14
House and riches are an inheritance of (from) fathers. Any man, worthy or not, may inherit property from progenitors; any man may bargain for a wife, or give a dowry to his son to further his matrimonial prospects. But a prudent wife is from the Lord. She is a special gift of God, a proof of his gracious care for his servants (see on Pro 18:22). Septuagint, , “It is by the Lord that a man is matched with a woman.” There is a special providence that watches over wedlock; as we say, “Marriages are made in heaven.” But marriages of convenience, marriages made in consideration of worldly means, are a mere earthly arrangement, and claim no particular grace.
Pro 19:15
Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; “causes deep sleep to fall upon a man” (comp. Pro 6:9; Pro 13:4). The word for “sleep” (, tardemah) is that used for the supernatural sleep of Adam when Eve was formed (Gen 2:21), and implies pro. found insensibility. Aquila and Symmachus render it, , “trance.” Slothfulness enervates a man, renders him as useless for labour as if he were actually asleep in his bed; it also enfeebles the mind, corrupts the higher faculties, converts a rational being into a witless animal. Otium est vivi hominis sepultura, “Idleness is a living man’s tomb.” An idle soul shall suffer hunger. We have many gnomes to this effect (see Pro 10:4; Pro 12:24; Pro 20:13; Pro 23:21). The LXX. has introduced something of this verse at Pro 18:8, and here render, , “Cowardice holdeth fast the effeminate, and the soul of the idle shall hunger.” “Sloth,” as the proverb says, “is the mother of poverty.”
Pro 19:16
Keepeth his own soul. Obedience to God’s commandments preserves a man’s natural and spiritual life (comp. Pro 13:13; Pro 16:17). So we read in Ecc 8:5, “Whoso keepeth the commandment (mitsvah, as here) shall feel no evil thing.” He that despiseth his ways shall die. He that cares nothing what he does, whether his life pleases God or not, shall perish. , Septuagint; mortificabitur, Vulgate. The result is understood differently. The Khetib reads, (iumath), “shall be punished with death” according to the penalties enacted in the Mosaic Law. The Keri reads, (iamuth), “shall die,” as in Pro 15:10; and this seems more in agreement with what we find elsewhere in the book, as in Pro 10:21; Pro 23:13. This insensate carelessness leads to ruin, whether its punishment be undertaken by outraged law. or whether it be left to the Divine retribution.
Pro 19:17
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord. English Church people are familiar with this distich, as being one of the sentences of Scripture read at the Offertory. The word for “poor” is here dal, “feeble” (see on Pro 19:1 and Pro 19:4). It is a beautiful thought that by showing mercy and pity we are, as it were, making God our debtor; and the truth is wonderfully advanced by Christ, who pronounces (Mat 25:40), “Inasmuch as ye have done it mite one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (see on Pro 11:24; Pro 28:27). St. Chrysostom (‘Horn.,’ 15, on 1Co 5:1-13), “To the more imperfect this is what we may say, Give of what you have unto the needy. Increase your substance. For, saith he, ‘He that giveth unto the poor lendeth unto God.’ But if you are in a hurry, and wait not for the time of retribution, think of those who lend money to men; for not even these desire to get their interest immediately; but they are anxious that the principal should remain a good long while in the hands of the borrower, provided only the repayment be secure, and they have no mistrust of the borrower. Let this be done, then, in the present case also. Leave them with God, that he may pay thee thy wages manifold. Seek not to have the whole here; for if you recover it all here, how will you receive it back there? And it is on this account that God stores them up there, inasmuch as this present life is full of decay. But he gives even here also; for, ‘Seek ye,’ saith he, ‘the kingdom of heaven, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ Well, then, let us look towards that kingdom, and not be in a hurry for the repayment of the whole, lest we diminish our recompense. But let us wait for the fit season. For the interest in these cases is not of that kind, but is such as is meet to be given by God. This, then, having collected together in great abundance, so let us depart hence, that we may obtain beth the present and the future blessings” (Oxford transl.). That which he hath given will he pay him again; Vicissitudinem suam reddet ei, Vulgate, “According to his gift will he recompense him.” (gemul), “good deed” (Pro 12:14, where it is rendered “recompense”). Ecclesiasticus 32:10 (35), etc; “Give unto the Most High according as he hath enriched thee; and as thou hast gotten give with a cheerful eye. For the Lord recompenseth, and will give thee seven times as much.” There are proverbs rife in other lands to the same effect. The Turk says, “What you give in charity in this world you take with you after death. Do good, and throw it into the sea if the fish does not know it, God does.” And the Russian, “Throw bread and salt behind you, you get them before you” (Lane).
Pro 19:18
Chasten thy son while there is hope; or. seeing that there is hope. Being still young and impressionable, and not confirmed in bad habits, he may be reformed by judicious chastisement. The same expression occurs in Job 11:18; Jer 31:16. “For so he shall be well hoped of” (), Septuagint (comp. Pro 23:13). And let not thy soul spare for his crying. “It is better,” says a German apothegm, “that the child weep than the father.” But the rendering of the Authorized Version is not well established, and this second clause is intended to inculcate moderation in punishment. Vulgate, Ad interfectionem autem ejus ne ponas animam tuam; Revised Version. Set not thine heart on his destruction. Chastise him duty and sufficiently, but not so heavily as to occasion his death, which a father had no right to do. The Law enjoined the parents who had an incorrigibly bad son to bring him before the judge or the eiders, who alone had the power of life and death, and might in certain cases order the offender to be stoned (Deu 21:18, etc.). Christianity recommended moderation in punishment (see Eph 6:4; Col 3:21). Septuagint, “Be not excited in the mind to despiteful treatment ( );” i.e. be not led away by passion to unseemly acts or words, but reprove with gentleness, while you are firm and uncompromising in denouncing evil. This is much the same advice as that given by the apostle in the passages just cited.
Pro 19:19
Some connect this verse with the preceding, as though it signified, “If you are too severe in chastising your son, you will suffer for it.” But there is no connecting particle in the Hebrew, and the statement seems to be of a general nature. A man of great wrath; literally, rough in anger; Vulgate, impatiens; Septuagint, . Such a one shall suffer punishment; shall bear the penalty which his want of self-control brings upon him. For if thou deliver him, yet must thou do it again. You cannot save him from the consequences of his intemperance; you may do so once and again, but while his disposition is unchanged, all your efforts will be useless, and the help which you have given him will only make him think that he may continue to indulge his anger with impunity, or, it may be, he will vent his impatience on his deliverer.
“Anger,” says an adage, “is like a ruin, which breaks itself upon what it falls.” Septuagint, “If he destroy ( ), he shall add even his life;” if by his anger he inflict loss or damage on his neighbour, he shall pay for it in his own person; Vulgate, Et cum rapuerit, aliud apponet. Another interpretation of the passage, but not so suitable, is this: “If thou seek to save the sufferer (e.g. by soothing the angry man), thou wilt only the more excite him (the wrathful): therefore do not intermeddle in quarrels of other persons.”
Pro 19:20
(Comp. Pro 8:10; Pro 12:15.) The Septuagint directs the maxim to children, “Hear, O son, the instruction of thy father.” That thou mayest be wise in thy latter end. Wisdom gathered and digested in youth is seen in the prudence and intelligence of manhood and old age. Job 8:7, “Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.” Ecclesiasticus 25:6, “O how comely is the wisdom of old men, and understanding and counsel to men of honour! Much experience is the crown of old men, and the fear of God is their glory.” “Wer nicht horen will,” say the Germans, “muss fuhlen,” “He that will not hear must feel.” Among Pythagoras’s golden words we read
.
“Before thou doest aught, deliberate,
Lest folly thee befall.”
Pro 19:21
The immutability of the counsel of God is contrasted with the shifting, fluctuating purposes of man (comp. Pro 16:1, Pro 16:9; Num 23:19; Mal 3:6). Aben Ezra connects this verse with the preceding, as though it gave the reason for the advice contained therein. But it is most natural to take the maxim in a general sense, as above Wis. 9:14, “The thoughts of mortal men are miserable, and our devices are but uncertain.” The counsel of the Lord, that shall stand; permanebit, Vulgate; , “shall abide forever,” Septuagint (Psa 33:11).
Pro 19:22
The desire of a man is his kind. nose. The Revised Version rather paraphrases the clause, The desire of a man is the measure of his kindness; i.e. the wish and intention to do good is that which gives its real value to an act. The word for “kindness” is chesed, “mercy;” and, looking to the context, we see the meaning of the maxim to be that a poor man’s desire of aiding a distressed neighbour, even if he is unable to carry out his intention, is taken for the act of mercy. “The desire of a man” may signify a man’s desirableness, that which makes him to be desired or loved; this is found in his liberality. But the former explanation is most suitable. Septuagint, “Mercifulness is a gain unto a man,” which is like Pro 19:17; Vulgate, Homo indigens misericors est, taking a man’s desire as evidenceing his need and poverty, and introducing the idea that the experience of misery conduces to pity, as says Dido (Virgil, ‘AEn.,’ 1.630)
“Non ignara mali miseris succurrere disco.”
A poor man is better than a liar. A poor man who gives to one in distress his sympathy and good wishes, even if he can afford no substantial aid, is better than a rich man who promises much and does nothing, or who falsely professes that he is unable to help (comp. Pro 3:27, Pro 3:28). Septuagint, “A poor righteous man is better than a rich liar.” A Buddhist maxim says, “Like a beautiful flower, full of colours, but without scent, are the fine but fruitless words of him who does not act accordingly” (Max Muller).
Pro 19:23
The fear of the Lord tendeth to life (Pro 14:27). True religion, obedience to God’s commandments, was, under a temporal dispensation, rewarded by a long and happy life in this world, an adumbration of the blessedness that awaits the righteous in the world to come. And he that hath it shall abide satisfied. The subject passes from “the fear” to its possessor. Perhaps better, and satisfied he shall pass the night, which is the usual sense of (lun), the verb here translated “abide” (so Pro 15:31). God will satisfy the good man’s hunger, so that he lays him down in peace and takes his rest (comp. Pro 10:3). Vulgate, In plenitudine commorabitur, “He shall dwell in abundance.” He shall not be visited with evil, according to the, promises (Le Pro 26:6 : Deu 11:15, etc.). Under our present dispensation Christians expect not immunity from care and trouble, but have hope of protection and grace sufficient for the occasion, and conducive to edification and advance in holiness. The LXX. translates thus: “The fear of the Lord is unto life for a man; but he that is without fear ( ) shall sojourn in places where knowledge is not seen;” i.e. shall go from bad to worse, till he ends in society where Divine knowledge is wholly absent, and lives without God in the world. The Greek interpreters read (dea), “knowledge,” instead of (ra), “evil.”
Pro 19:24
A slothful man hideth him hand in his bosom; Revised Version, the sluggard burieth his hand in the disk. The word tsallachath, translated “bosom” here and in the parallel passage, Pro 26:15 (where see note), is rightly rendered “dish” (2Ki 21:13). At an Oriental meal the guests sit round a table, on which is placed a dish containing the food, from which every one helps himself with his fingers, knives, spoons, and forks being never used (comp. Rth 2:14; Mat 26:23). Sometimes the holt himself helps a guest whom ha wishes to honour (comp. Joh 13:26). And will not so much as bring it to him mouth again He finds it too great an exertion to feed himself, an hyperbolical way of denoting the gross laziness which recoils from the slightest labour, and will not take the least trouble to win its livelihood. An Arabic proverb says, “He dies of hunger under the date tree.” Septuagint, “He who unjustly hideth his hands in his bosom will not even apply them to his mouth;” i.e. he who will not work will never feed himself.
Pro 19:25
Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware; will learn prudence, Revised Verson (comp. Pro 21:11; and see note on Pro 1:22). The scorner is hardened to all reproof, and is beyond all hope of being reformed by punishment; in his case it is retribution for outraged virtue that is sought in the penalty which he is made to pay. , not retributive, not corrective punishment. Seeing this, the simple, who is not yet confirmed in evil, and is still open to better influences, may be led to take warning and amend his life. So St. Paul enjoins Timothy, “Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear” (1Ti 5:20). There is the trite adage
“Felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum.”
“Happy they
Who from their neighbours’ perils caution learn.”
Septuagint, “When a pestilent fellow is chastised, a fool will be cleverer () So Vulgate, Pestilente flagellato stultus sapientior erit. Reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand, knowledge. The scorner does not profit by severe punishment, but the intelligent man is improved by censure, and admonition (comp. Pro 13:1; Pro 15:12). Says the adage, “Sapientem nutu, stultum fuste (corripe),” “A nod for the wise, a stick for the fool.”
Verses 19:26-22:16
Fourth section of this collection.
Pro 19:26
He that wasteth his father. The verb shadad, used here and in Pro 24:15, may be taken in the sense of “to spoil,” “to deprive of property;” but it is better to adopt a more general application, and to assign to it the meaning of “to maltreat,” whether in person or property. Chaseth away his mother; by his shameless and evil life makes it impossible for her to continue under the same roof with him; or, it may be, so dissipates his parents’ means that they are driven from their home. A son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach (comp. Pro 10:5; Pro 13:5; Pro 17:2).
Pro 19:27
Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge. This version fairly represents the terse original, if musar, “instruction,” be taken in a bad sense, like the “profane and vain babblings and oppositions of the knowledge which is falsely so called,” censured by St. Paul (1Ti 6:20). But as musar is used in a good sense throughout this book, it is better to regard the injunction as warning against listening to wise teaching with no intention of profiting by it: “Cease to hear instruction in order to err,” etc.; i.e. if you are only going to continue your evil doings. You will only increase your guilt by knowing tile way of righteousness perfectly, while you refuse to walk therein. The Vulgate inserts a negation, “Cease not to hear doctrine, and be not ignorant of the war, is of knowledge;” Septuagint, “A son who fails to keep the instruction of his father will meditate evil sayings.” Solomon’s son Rehoboam greatly needed the admonition contained in this verse.
Pro 19:28
An ungodly (worthless) witness scorneth judgment; derides the Law which denounces perjury and compels a witness to speak truth (Exo 20:16; Le Exo 5:1), and, as is implied he bears false testimony, thus proving himself “a witness of Belial,” according to the Hebrew term. Septuagint, “He who becometh security for a foolish child outrages judgment.” The mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity; swallows it eagerly as a toothsome morsel (Pro 18:8). So we have in Job 15:16,”A man that drinketh iniquity like water” (see on Pro 26:6). Such a man will lie and slander with the utmost pleasure, living and battening on wickedness. Septuagint, “The mouth of the impious drinketh judgments (),” i.e. boldly transgresses the Law.
Pro 19:29
Judgments are prepared for scorners (see on Pro 19:25). The judgments here are those inflicted by the providence of God, as in Pro 3:34. Scorners may deride and affect to scorn the judgments of God and man, but they are warned that retribution awaits them. And stripes for the back of fools; Vulgate, Et mallei percutientes stultorum corporibus (comp. Pro 10:13 : Pro 26:3). We had the word here rendered “stripes” (, mahalumoth) in Pro 18:6. The certainty of punishment in the case of transgressors is a truth often insisted on even by heathens. Examples will occur to all readers, from the old Greek oracle, , to Horace’s “Raro antecedentem scelestum,” etc. (See on Pro 20:30, where, however, the punishment is of human infliction.)
HOMILETICS
Pro 19:1
Poverty and integrity
I. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR POVERTY TO BE FOUND WITH INTEGRITY. We do not always see integrity leading to wealth. Circumstances may not open up an opportunity for attaining worldly prosperity. Illicit “short cuts” to riches may be within the reach of a person who refuses to use them on grounds of principle. A man may be honest and yet incapable, or he may refuse to pursue his own advantage, preferring to devote his energies to some higher end. No one has a right to suppose that God will interfere to heap up riches for him on account of his integrity. He may be upright, and yet it may phase God that he shall also be poor.
II. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR INTEGRITY TO BE FOUND WITH POVERTY. We now approach the subject from the opposite side. Here we first see the poverty, and we then find. that there is no reason why the character should be low because the outside circumstances are reduced. There is no more vulgar or false snobbishness than that which treats poverty as a vice, and assumes that a shady character must be expected with shabby clothes. We sometimes hear the expression, “Poor but honest,” as though there were any natural antithesis between the two adjectives! It would be quite as just to think of an antithesis between wealth and uprightness. But experience shows that no one section of society holds a monopoly of virtue.
III. WHEN INTEGRITY AND POVERTY ARE FOUND TOGETHER, THE ONE IS A CONSOLATION FOR THE OTHER. It may be said that a hungry man cannot feed upon his honesty. But when pressing wants are supplied, it is possible to endure a considerable amount; of hardship if a person is conscious of being upright and true. The sturdy independence of the honest man wilt lift him out of the shame of penury. If he feels that he is walking in the path of duty, he will have a source of strength and inward peace that no wealth can bestow. The gold of goodness is better than the guineas of hoarded wealth.
IV. INTEGRITY WITH ANY EXTERNAL DISADVANTAGES IS BETTER THAN CORRUPTION OF CHARACTER WITH ALL POSSIBLE WORLDLY PROFIT. Here is the point of the subject. It is not affirmed that poverty is good in itselfthe natural instincts of man lead him, endeavour to escape from it as an evil It is not even asserted that it is right for upright men to be poor, for surely cue would desire that the power of wealth should be in the hands of those people who would use it most justly. But when we have to compare integrity joined to the disadvantages of poverty with an unworthy character in no matter what circumstances, the infinite superiority of metal to material worth should lead us to prefer the former. In higher regions, the Christian character is itself a source of blessedness, whatever be the condition of the outer life. Character and conduct are the essentials of life; all other things are but the accidents.
Pro 19:3
Fretting against the Lord
This is a condition of inward rebellion, or at best of grieving over the will of God instead of submitting to it in silence if it is not yet within our power to embrace it with affection. Consider this condition in its various relations.
I. IT IS POSSIBLE. It might be supposed that, however one fretted against his circumstances, he would not carry his complainings hack to God. But Moses told the Israelites that when they murmured against him they were really murmuring against God (Exo 16:8). If we resist God’s ordinances we resist God himself. He who fires on the meanest sentry is really making war on that sentry’s sovereign. We may not intend to act the proud part of Milton’s Satan, and wage war against Heaven. Overt blasphemy and rank rebellion may be far from our thoughts. Yet complaints of our lot and resistance to Providence have the same essential character. We may even try to confine our rebellious thoughts to our own breasts, and simply fret inwardly. But to God, who reads hearts and dwells within, this is real opposition.
II. IT SPRINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES.
1. Trouble. It is easy for Dives to talk of submission to Providence; the difficulty is with Lazarus. Job in prosperity offers glad sacrifices without constraint: will Job in adversity “curse God and die”?
2. self-will. We naturally desire to follow the way of our own choice, and when that is crossed by God’s will we are tempted to fret, as the stream frets itself against an obstruction, though it may have been flowing silently and placidly so long as it had a free course. It is just this crossing, of wills that is the test of obedience, which is easy so long as we are required only to follow the path of our own inclinations. But that cannot be always allowed.
3. Sin. Direct sinfulness resists God’s will of set purpose, just because it is his will. The evil heart will fret against God in all things.
III. IT IS FOOLISH. “The foolishness of man” is at the root of this mistake.
1. We do not know what is best. It is but foolish for the fractious shim to fret against his father’s commands, for be is not yet able to judge as his father judges. All rebellion against God implies that the soul is in a position to determine questions that lie in the dark, and which only he who is resisted can answer.
2. We cannot succeed in rebellion. The poor heart that frets itself against God can but wear itself out, like the wave that breaks on the rock it can never shake. How foolish to raise our will in opposition to the Almighty!
IV. IT IS CULPABLE. We must never forget that “foolishness” in the Bible stands for a defect that is more moral than intellectual. It is next door to perversity. This fretting of the heart against the Lord is foolish in the biblical sense; it is sinful.
1. He is our Master. It is our duty to obey him, whether we like it or not. When we resist ordinances of man we may be fighting for rights of liberty. But we have no liberty to claim against the Lord of all.
2. He is our Father. This murmuring against him is a sign of domestic ingratitude. Impatience under the rod is even sinful, for we know that it can only smite in love.
V. IT IS DANGEROUS.
1. It means present unrest. There is peace of soul in submission; to rebel is to be plunged into turmoil and distress.
2. It leads to future ruin. The foolishness of man not only “perverteth his way,” but, as the phrase may be better rendered, “hurls his way headlong, to destruction.” It is like the avalanche that sweeps the mountain path, and carries all on it to an awful death.
Pro 19:11
Deferred anger
I. DEFERRED ANGER IS SAVED FROM FATAL ERROR. “Anger,” says the familiar Latin proverb, “is a short madness.” While it lasts a man loses full control of himself. Then he utters strong, hot words without weighing the meaning of them or considering how they may strike their object. He is tempted to hit out wildly, and to do far more mischief than he would ever approve of in calmer moments. The words and deeds of anger are but momentary; yet their fatal effects are irrevocable. These effects endure and work harm long after the fierce flame of passion out of which they sprang has died down into grey ashes of remorse. Inasmuch as it is not possible to reason calmly when under a fit of anger, the only safe expedient is to hold back and wait for a more suitable occasion of speaking and acting.
II. DEFERRED ANGER WILL MOST PROBABLY BURN ITSELF OUT. Anger is like
“A full-hot horse, who, being allow’d his way,
Self-mettle tires him.”
(Shakespeare.)
It is of the nature of anger to be more fierce than the occasion demands. Therefore it is to be expected that time for reflection will moderate it. Now, if it is modified by lime, its earlier excess is demonstrated, and it is made evident that delay saved us from disaster. For it is not simply the case that we tire of anger, that we have not energy enough to be perpetually angry, that well earned wrath expires of its own feebleness. The fact is we are all tempted to show needless auger against those who in any way injure us. Time may reveal unexpected excuses for their conduct, or lead us to see the better way of forgiveness. We do but need an opportunity to go into our chamber, and shut to the door, and pray to our Father in secret, to discover how wrong and foolish and dangerous our hasty wrath was, and to learn the wisdom of meekness and patience.
III. DEFERRED ANGER MAY YET BE EXERCISED. There are circumstances under which we should do well to be angry; for, as Thomas Fuller says, “Anger is one of the sinews of the soul.” Christ was “moved with indignation” when his disciples forbad the mothers of Israel to bring their children to him (Mar 10:14), and he showed great anger against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. It is not right that we should witness cruel injustice and oppression with equanimity. It may reveal a culpable weakness, cowardice, or selfishness in us for sights of wrong doing not to move us to anger. But such anger as is earned and needed by justice can bear to be reflected on. Even with this justifiable wrath haste may lead to disaster. Thus the violent explosion of popular indignation that follows the discovery of some foul crime or some grievous wrong is in great danger of falling into fatal blunders; sometimes it makes a victim of an innocent person, simply for want of consideration. There is no excuse for “lynch law.” “The courts are open,” and calm investigation and orderly methods will not lessen the equity of the punishment they deliberately bring on an offender. Justice is not to behave like a ravenous beast raging for its prey. There is room for calmness and reflection in connection with those great waves of popular indignation that periodically sweep over the surface of society. When the anger has been wisely deferred, and yet has been ultimately justified, its outburst is the more terrible; it is the flowing out of wrath “treasured up against the day of wrath.” Dryden says
“Beware the fury of a patient man.”
Pro 19:16
Soul keeping
The “Power that makes for righteousness,“ though not impersonal, as Mr. Matthew Arnold assumed, is nevertheless active as by a constant law. It is so ordered in nature and providence that goodness preserves life, and badness tends to ruin and death. Let us endeavour to see how the process is worked out.
I. THE GREAT RESULT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS SOUL KEEPING.
1. It may not be wealth. We cannot assume that goodness tends to riches. Keeping the commandments does not always result in a man’s making his fortune. Christ was a poor man.
2. It may not be earthly happiness. Other things being , a clear conscience should bring peace and inward joy. But there are troubles that fall upon us independently of our conduct. There are distresses that come directly from doing right. Christ was a “Man of sorrows.”
3. It may not be long life on earth. No doubt this was expected in Old Testament times, for then but dim notions of any existence beyond the grave ever entered the minds of men. On the whole, no doubt, goodness tends to health of body and mind. Still, very good people may die young. Christ died at thirty-three years of age.
4. It will be the real preservation of the soul. The true life will be safe. The self will abide. Now, all our being really resides in our personal self. If this continues in safety, we have the highest personal security. But if not, all other gain is but a mockery; for “what is a man profited if he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soulhis life, himself?” (Mat 16:26).
II. RIGHTEOUSNESS LEADS TO SOUL KEEPING BY NATURAL LAWS. It is a matter of Divine ordering that obedience should be followed by life, disobedience by death. This was seen in the trial of Adam (Gen 3:3). It lies at the root of the great sanctions of the Mosaic Law (Eze 3:18). He who gave the commandments also gives life. Our life is in the hand of oar Lawgiver. It is in his power to withhold the life if we break the law. But we may look more closely into this princess. God’s commandments are not arbitrary. They follow the natural lines of spiritual health. His prohibitions are really the warnings against the course that leads naturally and inevitably to death. Goodness is itself vitality, and badness has a deadening effect on the soul. The faculties are quickened by use in the service of what is right, and they are dwarfed, perverted, paralyzed, and finally killed by reckless, lawless conduct. The profligate is a suicide.
III. CHRISTIANITY HELPS US TO TRUE SOUL KEEPING BY LEADING US TO RIGHTEOUSNESS. We find ourselves in the unhappy condition of those who have not kept the commandments. Therefore we are in danger of death. We have “despised our ways.” The law and the promise are not addressed to us as to new beings; but they meet us in our sin and on our road to ruin. Therefore, if there were no gospel, there would be no hope. Hence the need of a Saviour. But when we enter the realm of Christian truth we cannot turn our backs on the principles of the older economy. We cannot regard them as the laws of another planet, out of the reach of which we have escaped. They are eternal truths, and we are still within their range. Christ helps us, not by teaching us to despise moral considerations as though they were irrelevant to those who had entered into the covenant of grace, but by giving us his own righteousness to be in us as well as on us. He puts us in the way of obedience, while he cancels the consequences of the old disobedience. Thus he saves our souls by helping us to preserve them in a new fidelity to the ancient, eternal right.
Pro 19:17
Lending into the Lord
I. IN WHAT LENDING TO THE LORD CONSISTS. It is having pity upon the poor. This is more than almsgiving. Doles of charity may be given to the needy from very mixed motives, Inasmuch as “the Lord looketh at the heart,” the thoughts and feelings that prompt our charity are of primary importance with him. In the same way, also, sympathy is prized by our suffering brethren on its own account, and the gifts that are flung from an unfeeling hand bring little comfort to the miserable. Therefore, both for God’s sake and for the sake of our suffering brethren, the first requirement is to cultivate a spirit of sympathy with the helpless. When this spirit is attainted, the application of practical remedies will require thought. It is easy to toss a sixpence to a beggar, but the inconsiderate act may work more harm than good. True sympathy will lead us to inquire into the unfortunate man’s circumstances, and to see whether there may not be some wiser way of helping him. This is one of the most pressing problems of our complicated condition of society. It is not so easy to be wisely helpful to the poor as it was in the simpler circumstances of ancient times. A true Christian sympathy must lead us to study the deep, dark problem of poverty. How can the lowest classes be permanently raised? How can they be really saved? How can we help people to help themselves?
II. HOW THIS COMES TO BE LENDING TO THE LORD. In the olden times people thought to offer to God in material, visible sacrifices by slaying animals on the altar. Now money and service given to a Christian Church and to directly missionary agencies for spreading the kingdom of heaven, and so glorifying God, are regarded as devoted to God. Thus we are to see that we can serve him by ministering directly to the well being of our fellow men.
1. Men are God‘s children. He who helps the child pleases the father.
2. God has pity on the suffering. Therefore for us to have pity is to be like God, and so to please him; it is to do his will, to do the thing he would have us do, and so to render him service.
3. This is within our reach. The difficulty is to see how we can do anything to help the Almighty, or give anything to enrich the Owner of all things. The cattle upon a thousand hills are his. But the poor we have always with us. Inasmuch as we do a kindness to one of the least of these, Christ’s brethren, we do it unto him (Mat 25:40). All real love to man is also love to God. The noblest liturgy is the ministry of human charity. “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (Jas 1:27).
III. WHY THIS IS ONLY LENDING TO THE LORD. It is returned to the giver. Such a thought seems to lower the tone of the subject. To give, hoping for no return, is Christ’s method, and this lifts us to a higher level. Love asks for no payment. The pity that calculates its recompense is a false and selfish sentiment. Assuredly we must learn to love for love’s sake, and to pity because we are moved with compassion, irrespective of returns.
1. Yet the fact that there is a return remains. It may be well for selfish men who refrain from showing sympathy for the needy to reflect on this. Their selfishness is short-sighted.
2. The return is spiritual. We are not to look for our money back again. That would involve no real giving. The return is different in kind. It is of a higher character, and comes in peace of soul, in enlargement of affection, in the satisfaction of seeing good results flowing from our sympathy.
Pro 19:18
Timely chastisement
I. CHASTISEMENT SHOULD BE TIMELY. “Prevention is better than cure.” It we wait till the weeds run to seed it is in vain for us to pull them upthey will have sown another and larger crop. The lion’s cub may be caught and caged; the full-grown beast is dangerous to approach, and out of our power. Consider some practical applications of these truths.
1. They show us the importance of early home training. The first seeds are sown at home. If an evil disposition reveals itself there, it should be checked before it develops into a fatal habit. Foolishly fond parents laugh at exhibitions of bad temper and other faults in very young children, amused at the quaintness and pitying the helplessness of these miniature sins. But surely a wiser course would be to nip the evil in the bud.
2. They enhance the value of Sunday school work. Five million children were under Sunday school teaching in England during the year 1888. The great mass of the population passes through this instruction. Surely more should be made of the golden opportunity thus afforded of giving a right course to the lives of the people. Most working men will not go to church. But they will permit their children to attend Sunday school. We have the working classes with us in their childhood.
3. They point to an enlargement of the agency of industrial schools. Already juvenile crime has been reduced by one-halfthis is one of the most cheering signs of the times. But still there are multitudes of children who breathe an atmosphere of crime from their cradles. There is no more Christian work than the effort to save these victims of the vices of their parents. The juvenile offender should be an object of peculiar solicitude to one who has the well being of society at heart.
II. CHASTISEMENT SHOULD BE HOPEFUL. There is hope for all in their youth. We may not be able to recover the degraded, besotted wrecks of humanity in their more advanced years. But the children are amenable to saving influences, and the treatment of them should be inspired with a belief that they may be trained. Directly any parent or teacher despairs of a child he proves himself no longer competent to have the charge of him. Reading the second clause of the verse in the language of the Revisers, we are warned against vindictive chastisement: “And set not thy heart on his destruction.” The old notion of punishment was purely retributive; the newer notion of it is more disciplinary. We want fewer prisons and more reformatories. But for encouragement in such efforts we must have grounds of hope. Observe some of these.
1. The elasticity of youth. The young are capable of great changes and of large development.
2. The Divine direction. The providence of God overruling our attempts at correction is needed to bring them to a successful issue. But we have a right to look for this end, for God desires the salvation and recovery of his children.
3. The power of love. We can never correct to good purpose unless we do so from motives of love. When these motives are felt they cannot but make themselves effective in the end. Thou, though the chastisement may have been resented at first, the good purpose that instigated it will be ultimately recognized, and may rouse the better nature of the wrong doer,
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
Pro 19:1-7
The lowly and gentle life
He who is truly humble before his God will be sweet, kind, and peaceable in his relations to men.
I. THE ATTRIBUTES OF THIS LIFE. (Pro 19:1-3.)
1. It is the life of innocence, in the seeking to have a conscience “void of offence toward God and toward men.” This makes poverty rich and privation blessed, for the kingdom of heaven is for such. The consciousness of being dear to God is the true wealth of the soul; the sense of being alienated from him darkens and distresses even amidst wealth and luxury. In addition to this, let us recollect the paradox of the apostle, “Poor, yet making many rich.” It is such lives that have indeed enriched the world.
2. It is the life of thoughtfulness.
3. It is the life of content.
II. ITS TRIALS AND CONSOLATIONS.
1. It often incurs the coldness of the world (Pro 19:4). A man who goes down in the scale of wealth finds, in the same degree, the circle of ordinary acquaintances shrink.
2. But there is consolationa sweetness even in the heart of this bitter experience, for the soul is thrown the more entirely upon God. When friends, when even father and mother forsake, the Lord takes up. Deus meus et omnia! We are naturally prone to rely more upon man than upon God; and have to rewrite upon our memories the old biblical maxim, “Put not your trust in man.” Poverty may separate us from so called friends, but “who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”
III. THE REPULSIVE CONTRAST TO THIS LIFE. A victim of vice and moral poverty amidst outward wealth.
1. Folly and untruth. (Pro 19:1.) The words and the thoughts are interchangeable. The godless, selfish rich man’s life is a living lie. The outward parts of Dives and Lazarus are in the sight of Heaven reversed.
2. Thoughtless rashness. (Pro 19:2.) The “making haste to be rich,” so strong a passion of our day, may be chiefly thought of. But any excessive eagerness of ambitious desire, or sensual pleasure which blinds the soul to thought, and indisposes for serious reflection, comes under this head. But the unreflective life is neither safe nor happy. It is to such thoughtless ones the solemn warning comes, “Thou fool! thy soul shall be required of thee.”
3. Murmuring discontent. (Pro 19:3.) The source of the vicious kind of discontent is a conscience at war with itself, and perversely mistaking the true nature of the satisfaction it needs. The “Divine discontent” which springs from the sense of our inward poverty carries in it the seed of its own satisfaction. It is the blessed hunger and thirst which shall be fed.
4. False social relations. (Pro 19:4.) Of the friends made by riches it is true that “riches harm them, not the man” (Bishop Hall). And the great man lives amidst illusions; and, in moments of insight, doubts whether among the obsequious crowd there be a heart he can claim as his own. In such an atmosphere, false witness and lies, in all their forms of scandal, slander, destruction, spring up (Pro 19:5). It is a hollow life, and the fires of judgment murmur beneath it. Yet the fulsome flattery which rises like a cloud of incense before the rich man, and the throng of easily bought “friends,” still hide from him the true state of the case. Well may Divine Wisdom warn of the difficulty which attends the rich man’s entrance into the kingdom. Here there are great lessons on compensation. God hath set the one thing over against the other, to the end that we should seek nothing after him (Ecc 7:14). The gentle and humble poor may convert their poverty into the fine gold of the spirit; while the rich man too dearly buys “position” at the expense of the soul.J.
Pro 19:8-17
Maxims of intelligence
I. THE WORTH OF INTELLIGENCE.
1. It is self-conservative (Pro 19:8). We all love our own soul or life in any healthy state of body and mind. We all want to live as long as possible. It is natural to desire to live again beyond the grave. Then let us understand that there is no way to these ends except that of intelligence, in the highest and in every sense.
2. It is the source of happiness. (Pro 19:8.) The truth is very general and abstract, like the truth of the whole of these proverbs. It does not amount to thisthat good sense will in every case procure happiness, but that there is no true happiness without it.
II. SOME MAXIMS OF INTELLIGENCE.
1. The sorrow that falsehood brings. (Pro 19:9.) It is certain. Many a lie is not immediately found out in the ordinary sense of these words; but it is always found in the man’s mind. It vitiates the intelligence, undermines the moral strength. The rest must follow in its timesomewhere, somehow.
2. Vanity stands in its own light. (Pro 19:10.) Those who have given way to over weening self-esteem and arrogance of temperlike Rehoboam, or like Alexander the Great, or Napoleonbecome only the more conceited and presumptuous in success. The opposite of vanity is not grovelling self-disparagement, but the sense which teaches us to know our place.
3. The prudence of toleration and of conciliation. (Pro 19:11, Pro 19:12.) Socrates was a noble example of these virtues in the heathen world. We who have “learned Christ” should not at least fall behind him. To bear our wrongs with patience is the lower degree of this virtue. Positively to “overcome evil with good” stands higher. Highest of all is the Divine art to turn persecutors into friends (1Pe 2:19; Mat 5:44, sqq.).
4. The arcana of domestic life. (Pro 19:13, Pro 19:14.)
(1) The foolish son. “Many are the miseries of a man’s life, but none like that which cometh from him who should be the stay of his life.” “Write this man childless” would have been a boon in comparison.
(2) The tiresome spouse. Wearing the heart that is firm as stone by her continual contentions.
(3) The kind and good wife. No gift so clearly shows the tender providence of God.
5. The inevitable fate of idleness. (Pro 19:15.)
(1) It produces a lethargy in the soul. (Pro 6:9, Pro 6:10.) The faculties that are not used become benumbed and effete.
(2) Thus it leads to want. Although these are general maxims of a highly abstract character, still how true on the wholeif not without exceptionthey are to life! “He that will not work, neither let him eat.”
6. The wisdom of attention to God‘s commands. (Pro 19:16.)
(1) To every man his soul is dear; i.e. his life is sweet.
(2) The great secret, in the lower sense of self-preservation, in the higher of salvation, is obedience to law.
(3) Inattention is the chief source of calamity. In the lower relation it is so. The careless crossing of the road, the unsteady foot on the mountain-side seems to be punished instantly and terribly. And this is the type of the truth in higher aspects.
7. The reward of pity and benevolence. (Pro 19:17.) Sir Thomas More used to say there was more rhetoric in this sentence than in a whole library. God looks upon the poor as his own, and satisfies the debts they cannot pay. In spending upon the poor the good man serves God in his designs with reference to men.J.
Pro 19:18-21
The true prudence
I. IN THE PARENTAL RELATION. (Pro 19:18.)
1. The necessity of discipline. The exuberance of youth needs the hand of the pruner; the wildness of the colt must be early tamed, or never. Weak indulgence is the worst unkindness to children.
2. The unwisdom of excessive severity. Cruelty is not discipline; too great sharpness is as bed as the other extreme. Children are thus made base, induced to take up with bad company, and to surfeit and run to excess when they become their own masters.
II. IS THE RELATION OF SELF–GOVERNMENT.
1. The folly and injuriousness of passion. (Pro 19:19.) Not only in the harmful deeds and words it may produce towards others, but in the havoc it produces in one’s own bosom. How fine the saying of Plato to his slave, “I would beat thee, but that I am angry”! “Learn of him who is meek and lowly of heart.”
2. The wisdom of a teachable spirit. (Pro 19:20.) Never to be above listening to proffered advice from others, and to find in every humiliation and every failure an admonition from the Father of spirits,this is life wisdom. And thus a store is being laid up against the time to come, that we may lay hold on eternal life.
III. PRUDENCE BUT A FINITE WISDOM. (Pro 19:21.) God is our best Counsellor; without him our prudence avails not, and along with all prudence there must be the recognition of his overruling, all-controlling wisdom. To begin with God is the true secret of success in every enterprise. May he prevent, or go before, us in all our doings!J.
Pro 19:22-29
Mixed maxims of life-wisdom
I. HUMAN KINDNESS. (Pro 19:22.) There is no purer delight than in the feelings of love and the practical exercise of universal kindness. If the mere pleasure of the selfish and the benevolent life be the criterion, without question the latter has the advantage.
II. TRUTHFULNESS. (Pro 19:22, Pro 19:28.) So the honest poor outweighs the rich or successful liar in intrinsic happiness as well as in repute. The worthless witness is pest to society, an abomination to God.
III. PIETY. (Pro 19:23.) It is a living principle in every sense of the wordhath the promise of life in both worlds. It provides for the soul satisfaction, rest, the consciousness of present and eternal security.
IV. IDLENESS. (Pro 19:24.) Exposed by a vivid picture of the idle man’s attitude. It reminds one of the saying concerning a certain distinguished writer’s idleness, that were he walking through an orchard where the fruit brushed against his mouth, he would be too idle to open it to bite a morsel. No moral good can be ours without seeking.
V. SCOFFING FOLLY CONTRASTED WITH SIMPLICITY AND SENSE. (Pro 19:25, Pro 19:29.) He that places himself above instruction ends by bringing himself beneath contempt. Scorn for good has, like every sin, its own determined punishment. And “God strikes some that he may warn all.”
VI. FILIAL IMPIETY. (Pro 19:26, Pro 19:27.) The shame and sorrow that it brings to parents is constantly insisted on as a lesson and a warning to the latter. If these bitter experiences are to be avoided, let children be timely trained to obedience, respect, and reverence for God. God’s Word is the true rule and guide of life, and he who departs from it is a corrupt and seductive teacher.J.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Pro 19:2
The evil of ignorance
Manifold are the evils of ignorance. All evil of all kinds has been resolved into error; but, if we do not go so far as this, we may truly say
I. THAT IGNORANCE OF GOD IS FATAL. “This is life eternal, to know God;” and if the knowledge of God is life, what must the ignorance of him be? History and observation only too fully assure us what it is: it is spiritual and moral death; the departure of the soul from all that enlightens and elevates, and its sinking down into grovelling and debasing superstitions. To be without the knowledge of God is simply fatal to the soul of man.
II. THAT IGNORANCE OF OUR HUMAN NATURE IS PERILOUS.
1. Not to know its nobler possibilities is to be without the needful incentive to lofty aspiration and strenuous endeavour.
2. Not to know its weaknesses and its possibilities of evil is to go forward into the midst of bristling dangers, unarmed and undefended.
III. THAT IGNORANCE OF THE WORLD (OF MEN AND THINGS) IS HIGHLY UNDESIRABLE.
1. To study, and thus to be acquainted with nature as God has fashioned it, to be familiar with the ways and with the arts and sciences of man,is to be braced and strengthened in mind, is to be far better able to understand and to apply the truth of God as revealed in his Word.
2. To be ignorant of all this is to be correspondingly weak and incapable. Knowledge is power, and ignorance is weakness, in every direction. To go on our way through the world, failing to acquire the grasp of fact and truth which intelligent observation and patient study would secure,this is to leave untouched one large part of the heritage which our heavenly Father is offering to us. There is one particular consequence of ignorance which the wise man specifies; for he reminds us
IV. THAT PRECIPITANCY IN WORD AND DEED IS POSITIVELY GUILTY. “He that hasteth with his feet sinneth.” An unwise and hurtful precipitancy is the natural accompaniment of ignorance. The man who knows only a very little, does not know when he has heard only one-half of all that can be learnt; hence he decides and speaks and acts off hand, without waiting for additional, complementary, or qualifying particulars. And hence he judges falsely and unjustly; hence he act, s unrighteously and foolishly, and often cruelly; he takes steps which he has laboriously and ignominiously to retrace; he does harm to the very cause which he is most anxious to help. It is the man of wide knowledge and expanded view, it is the large-minded and well informed soul, that bears the best testimony, that does the worthiest and most enduring work, that lives the largest and most enviable life.C.
Pro 19:3
Disquietude and complaint
We have
I. GOD‘S RIGHTEOUS WAY. The way in which God intended man to walk was that way of wisdom, all of whose paths are peace. This divinely appointed way is that of holy service. Man, like every other being above him, and every other creature below him in the universe, was created to serve. We were created to serve our God and out kind; and in this double service we should find our rest and our heritage. This, which is God’s way, should have been our way also.
II. MAN‘S PERVERTED WAY. Man, in his sin and his folly, has “perverted his way;” he has attempted another path, a short cut to happiness and success. He has turned out of the high road of holy service into the by-path of selfishness; he has sought his satisfaction and his portion in following his own will, in giving himself up to worldly ambitions, in indulging in unholy pleasure, in living for mere enjoyment, in making himself the master, and his own good the end and aim of his life.
III. HIS CONSEQUENT DISQUIETUDE. When anything is in its wrong place, there is certain to be unrest. If in the mechanism of the human body, or in the machinery of an engine, or in the working of some organization, anything (or anyone) is misplaced, disorder and disquietude invariably ensue. And when man puts his will above or against that of his Divine Creator, that of his heavenly Father, there is a displacement and reversal such as may well bring about disturbance. And it does. It is hardly saying too much to say that all the violence, disease, strife, misery, poverty, death, we see around us arise from this disastrous perversionfrom man trying to turn God’s way of blessedness into his own way. Man’s method has been utterly wrong and mistaken, and the penalty of his folly is heartache, wretchedness, ruin.
IV. HIS VAIN AND GUILTY COMPLAINT. He “fretteth against the Lord.” Instead of smiting himself, he complains of God. He falls to see that the source of his unrest is in his own heart; he ascribes it to his circumstances, and he imputes these to his Creator. So, either secretly or openly, he complains of God; he thinks, and perhaps says, that God has dealt hardly with him, has denied to him what he has given to others; in the dark depths of his soul is a guilty rebelliousness.
V. THE ONE WAY OF REST. This is to return unto the Lord in free and full submission.
1. To recognize God’s righteous claim upon us, as our Creator, Preserver, Redeemer.
2. To acknowledge to ourselves and to confess to him that we have guiltily withheld ourselves from him, and sinfully complained of his holy will.
3. To ask his mercy in Jesus Christ our Saviour, and offer our hearts to himself and our lives to his service. This is the one way of rest and joy; it is “the path of life.”C.
Pro 19:8, Pro 19:16
Making the most of ourself and our life
How shall we most truly “love our own soul” but by making all we can make of the nature and the life God has entrusted to our care! And how shall we do this? Surely by “getting wisdom” and “keeping understanding.” To look at the subject negatively and, beginning at the bottom, to take an upward path, we remark
I. THAT CONTEMPTUOUS CARELESSNESS MEANS CERTAIN RUIN. “He that despiseth his ways shall die.” The man who never pauses to consider what he can accomplish, how he shall spend his days and his powers, but who goes aimlessly onward, letting youth and manhood pass without any serious thought at all, and content to snatch the enjoyment of the passing hour,is a man of folly, and he can expect nothing, as he certainly will find nothing, hut the most meagre portion and a very speedy end of everything. He sows to the flesh, and of the flesh he reaps corruption. To “despise our way” in this fashion is to forfeit our inheritance and come to utter destitution. Moving higher up, but still failing to reach the right standard, we remark
II. THAT ANY COUNSEL WHICH IS NOT OF GOD WILL PROVE DISAPPOINTING. There is much cleverness and keenness that is not wisdom; there is much concern about ourself and our future which is not a true “love for our own soul.” There are many counsellors who will advise us to seek certain pleasures, or to aim at certain honours, or to climb to a certain position, or to seek entrance into some particular society, or to secure a certain treasure,and it will be well with us. But any counsel which fall, short of telling us the will of God, which leaves untold the wisdom which is from above, will certainly prove to be unsound. A point will come in our experience where it will break down. It will not meet the deeper necessities of our nature nor the darker passages of our life. We must take higher groundthat on which we see
III. THAT DIVINE WISDOM WILL LEAD US TO TRUE AND LASTING BLESSEDNESS. “The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28; see Pro 1:7; Pro 9:10). And surely:
1. To know God is, in itself, a real and a great blessing (Jer 9:24). To know God as he is revealed in Jesus Christ is to be enriched in the most precious and valuable knowledge; it is “to be wiser than the ancients;” it is to have that in our mind which is of more intrinsic worth than all that men can put into their pockets.
2. To know God in Jesus Christ is to have rest of heart (Mat 11:28, Mat 11:29). Those who love themselves will surely care for spiritual restfor a peace which no favouring circumstances can confer.
3. To learn of Christ and keep his commandments is to be preserved in moral and spiritual integrity; he that “keepeth the commandments” by consulting the will of Christ will certainly “keep his own soul” from all that stains and slays a human spirit and a human lifefrom impurity, insobriety, untruthfulness, dishonesty, profanity, selfishness; he will “keep his soul” in the love of God, in the light of his countenance, under his guardian care. To remain loyal to the wisdom of God (to “keep understanding”) is to find every good that is open to us. It is to move along that path which is evermore ascending; which conducts to the loftier heights of moral excellency, of exalted spiritual joy, of holy and noble service; which leads to the very gates of heaven and the near presence of God.C.
Pro 19:17
(see also Pro 10:14, Pro 10:31; Pro 17:5)
Valuable kindness
We gather
I. THAT HAUGHTY UNKINDNESS IS A HEINOUS SIN. To mock the poor or to oppress the poor is to reproach our Maker. For he that made us made them; and, in many instances, made them to be as they are. The Son of man himself was poor, having nowhere to lay his head; and although it is true that poverty is very often the consequence and penalty of sin, yet, on the other hand, it is often
(1) the accompaniment of virtue and piety; and
(2) frequently it has been the penalty of faithfulness to conviction, and therefore the sign of peculiar worth.
To treat with disdain a condition which God himself has associated with piety and even with nobility of character is to mock our Maker. And to oppress such is to he guilty of a flagrant sin; it is to take advantage of weakness in order to do a neighbour wrong; this is to add meanness to cruelty and injustice. It is, moreover, to do that which our Lord has told us he will consider to be directed against himself (Mat 25:42, Mat 25:43).
II. THAT PRACTICAL PITIFULNESS IS A MUCH REWARDED VIRTUE,
1. It is accepted by our Divine Lord as a service rendered to himself (text; Mat 25:35, Mat 25:36). How gladly would we minister to Jesus Christ were we to recognize in some weary and troubled neighbour none other than the Redeemer himself clothed in human form again! But we need not long for such an opportunity; nor need we wait for it. It is ours. We have but to show practical kindness to “one of the least” of his brethren, and we show it unto him, the Lord himself (Mat 25:40). And what we do shall be rendered unto us again; i.e. we shall receive in return from our Father that which will fully compensate us. Our reward will include not only this gracious acceptance, but:
2. We shall earn the gratitude of thankful hearts; and if (as is likely enough) we go sometimes unblessed of man, yet at other times we shall not want the cordial, loving, prayerful gratitude of a human heart; and what better treasure could we hold than that?
3. God will bless us in our own hearts forevery kindness we render. He has so made our spirits that they are affected for good or evil by everything we do. Each thought, each deed, leaves us other than we were; stronger, wiser, worthier, or else weaker, less wise, less excellent, than before. Our character is the final result of everything that we have ever done, both in mind and in the flesh. So that each gracious word we speak, each kindly service we render to any one in need, is one more stroke of the chisel which is carving a beautiful character, fair in the sight of God himself.
4. We gain the present favour of our Divine Lord, and may look for his strong succour in our own time of need.
5. We shall receive his word of honour in the day “when every man shall have praise of God” (1Co 4:5).C.
Pro 19:18
(See homily on Pro 13:24.)C.
Pro 19:20
Ready at the end
The wise man always shows his wisdom by looking well before him. It is the sure mark of a fool to content himself with the immediate present. We do not wonder that proverbs should deal much with the future. “Passion and Patience” is the picture which is always being exhibited before the eyes of men.
I. THE NEED OF READINESS AT THE END. “How shall we enjoy the present time?” asks one; “How shall we make ready for the end?” asks another and a wiser soul. The question presents itself to the youth, as he looks forward to the end of the term and the coming of the examination or the writing of the report; to the young manthe apprentice, the articled clerk, the studentas he considers how he shall go through his trial hour and be prepared for his business or profession; to the man in middle life, as he foresees the time coming when he can no longer do as he is doing now, and must have something to fall back upon in his declining days; to the man in later life, as he is compelled to feel that his powers are fast failing, and that the hour is not distant when he will stand on the very verge of life and confront the long and solemn future. It should also be present in the mind of those who are soon to go forth into the sterner conflict of life, to meet alone, away from home influences, the serious and strong temptations of an evil world. Whatever the stage through which we are now passing, it moves towards its closean end which is sure to open out into something beyond, and, most likely, something more important, weighted with graver responsibilities and leading to larger issues. Are we so living, the wise will ask, that we shall be ready for that end when it comes?
II. THE CONSEQUENT NEED TO LEARN OF GOD. “Hear counsel,” etc.
1. There is much need to learn of menfrom our parents, from our teachers, from every form of instructive literature, from all that the experiences of men, as we watch their life, are saying to us. Whoso would be wise at the end of his career should have an open mind that everyone and everything may teach him. Lessons are to be learnt from every event, however simple and humble it may be. The wide world is the school which the wise will never “leave.”
2. There is much more need to learn of God, to learn of Christ. For:
(1) He can speak authoritatively, as man cannot.
(2) He gives us wisdom unmingled with error, as man does not.
(3) He can tell us how to find his Divine favour and how to reach his nearer presence, as no man can.
Let us learn of Christ and be wise.C.
Pro 19:21
The mind of man and the mind of God
Here is a contrast which we do well to consider. Between our human spiritual nature and that of the Divine Spirit it is possible to find resemblances and contrasts. Both are interesting and instructive.
I. THE THOUGHTS OF MAN‘S MIND. We know how fugitive these are; how they come and go like the flash of the lightning; and even those which linger are but short-lived, they soon give place to others. Even those thoughts which become “fixed,” which settle down into plans and purposes, have but a brief tenure in our brain; they, too, pass away and make room for others in their turn. Our thoughts are:
1. Fluctuating and therefore many. We care for one pleasure, we pursue one object now; but in a few weeks, or even days, we may weary of the one, we may be compelled to turn our attention from the other.
2. Feeble and therefore many. We propose and adopt one method, but it fails; and then we try another, and that fails; then we resort to a third, which also fails. We pass from thought to thought, from plan to plan; our very feebleness accounting for the manifoldness of our devices.
3. False and therefore many. We hold certain theories today; tomorrow they will be exploded, and we shall entertain another; before long that will yield to a third.
4. Sinful and therefore many. Nothing that is wrong can last; it must be dethroned, because it is evil, immoral, guilty.
5. Selfish and therefore many. We are concerning ourselves supremely about our own affairs or those of our family; but these are passing interests, changing with the flitting hours.
II. THE THOUGHTS WHICH ARE IN THE MIND OF GOD. His counsel stands (text). “The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations” (Psa 33:11). God’s purpose holds from age to age. For:
1. He rules in righteousness. He is governing the world by Divine and unchanging principles. “With him is no variableness,” because he ever loves what is righteous and hates what is unholy and impure and unkind. He cannot change his course, because he cannot change his character.
2. He is working out one great beneficent conclusion. He is redeeming a lost world, reconciling it unto himself, uprooting the multiform sources of wrong and wretchedness, establishing the blessed kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of heaven on the earth.
3. He has ample time and power at his command; he has no need to change his plan, to resort to “devices.”
“His eternal thought moves on
His undisturbed affairs;”
and is working out a glorious consummation which nothing shall avail to avert.
4. His perfect wisdom makes quite unnecessary the adoption of any other course than that which he is employing.
(1) Steadfastness is one sign of wisdom. If we see a man or a Church perpetually changing its methods, we may be sure that it is weak.
(2) Let us make God’s great and holy purpose ours;
(a) for it is that with which our eternal interest is bound up;
(b) it is certain to be victorious.
3. Let us work on for our Lord and with him, in the calmness that becomes those who are confident of ultimate success.C.
Pro 19:23
The praise of piety
What could he said more than is said here in praise of piety? What more or better could anything do for us than
I. ENSURE OUR SAFETY. So that we shall not be visited with evil. But is not the good man visited with evil? Do not his crops fail, his vessels sink, his shares fall, his difficulties gather, his children die? Does not his health decline, his hope depart, his life lessen? Yes; but:
1. From the worst evils his piety secures him. The “fear of the Lord,” that Holy One before whom he stands and with whom he walks, keeps him from folly, from fraud, from vice, from moral contamination, from that “death in life” which is the thing to be dreaded and avoided.
2. And the troubles and sorrows which do assail him lose all their bitterness as they wear the aspect of a heavenly Father’s discipline, who, in all that he sends or suffers, is seeking the truest and the lasting well being of his children. The man who is living in the fear of God, and in the love of Jesus Christ, may go on his homeward way with no anxiety in his heart, for he has the promise of his Saviour that all things shall work together for goodthose things that are the least pleasant as well as those that are the most inviting.
II. SATISFY OUR SOUL. “Shall abide satisfied.” Certainly it is only the man of real piety of whom this word can be used. Discontent is the mark which “the world and the things which are in the world” leave on the countenance and write on the heart of man. Nothing that is less than the Divine gives rest to the human spirit. Mirth, enjoyment, temporary happiness, may be commanded, but not abiding satisfaction. That, however, is found in the devoted service of a Divine Redeemer. Let a man yield himself, his whole powers and all his life, to the Saviour who 1oved him unto death, and in following and serving him he will “find rest unto his soul.” Not half-hearted but whole-hearted service brings the joy which no accident can remove and which time does not efface or even lessen. The secret of lifelong blessedness is found, not in the assertion of an impossible freedom from obligation, but in an open, practicable, elevating service of the living God, our Divine Saviour.
III. CONSTITUTE OUR LIFE AND CONDUCT TO A STILL HIGHER FORM OF IT. “The fear of the Lord tendeth to life.” It is not merely that a regard for God’s will conduces to health and leads to long life (Psa 91:16); it is not only that it tends to secure to its possessor an honourable and estimable life among men. It is much more than this; it is that it constitutes human life. “This is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God.” For man to live in ignorance or in forgetfulness of his Divine Father is to miss or to lose his life while he has it (or seems to have it). On the other hand, to live a life of reverence, of trustfulness in God, of love to him, of filial obedience and submission, of cheerful and devoted cooperation with him in the great redemptive work he is outworking, to be attaining more and more to his own spiritual likeness,this is life itself, life in its excellency, its fulness, its beauty. Moreover, it itself, with all its worth, is but the prelude of that which is to come. It is the “fair beginning” of that which shall realize a glorious consummation a little further on. With all that hinders and hampers taken away, and with all that facilitates and enlarges bestowed upon us, we enter upon the nobler life beyond, which we have no language to describe because we have no faculty that can conceive its blessedness or its glory.
1. Let the perils of human life point to a Divine Refuge.
2. Let the weariness of earthly good lend to the Divine Source of rest and joy.
3. In the midst of the deathfulness of sin, lay hold on eternal life.C.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Pro 19:1. Better is the poor, &c. Better is a poor man who is upright in his way, than a rich man who is perverse in his path. Houbigant. Thus preserving the antithesis, and following the Syriac.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
) Admonition to humility, mildness, and gentleness
Chap. 19
1Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity
than he that is perverse in speech and is a fool.
2Where the soul hath no knowledge there likewise is no good,
and he that is of a hasty foot goeth astray.
3The foolishness of man ruineth his way,
yet against Jehovah is his heart angry.
4Wealth maketh many friends,
but the poor is parted from his friend.
5A false witness shall not go unpunished,
and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.
6Many court the favor of the noble,
and every one is friend to him that giveth.
7All the brethren of the poor hate him,
how much more doth his acquaintance withdraw;
he seeketh words (of friendship) and there are none.
8He that getteth understanding loveth his soul,
he that keepeth wisdom shall find good.
9A false witness shall not go unpunished,
he that speaketh lies shall perish.
10Luxury becometh not the fool,
much less that a servant rule over princes.
11The discretion of a man delayeth his anger,
and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.
12The kings wrath is as the roaring of a lion,
but as dew upon the grass is his favor.
13A foolish son is trouble upon trouble to his father,
and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
14House and riches are an inheritance from fathers,
but from Jehovah cometh a prudent wife.
15Slothfulness sinketh into inaction,
and an idle soul shall hunger.
16He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his soul,
he that despiseth his ways shall die.
17He lendeth to the Lord, that hath pity on the poor,
and his bounty will He requite for him.
18Correct thy son while there is still hope,
but to slay him thou shalt not seek.
19A man of great wrath suffereth punishment,
for if thou wardest it off thou must do it again.
20Hearken to counsel and receive instruction,
that thou mayest be wise afterward.
21There are many devices in a mans heart,
but Jehovahs counsel, that shall stand.
22A mans delight (glory) is his beneficence,
and better is a poor man than a liar.
23The fear of Jehovah tendeth to life;
one abideth satisfied, and cannot be visited of evil.
24The slothful thrusteth his hand in the dish,
and will not even raise it to his mouth again.
25Smite the scorner and the simple will be wise,
reprove the prudent and he will understand wisdom.
26He that doeth violence to his father, and chaseth away his mother,
is a son that bringeth shame and causeth disgrace.
27Cease, my son, to hear instruction
to depart from the words of wisdom.
28A worthless witness scoffeth at judgment,
and the mouth of the wicked devoureth mischief.
29Judgments are prepared for scorners,
and stripes for the back of fools.
GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL
Pro 19:15. Altogether unnecessarily Hitzig proposes to read instead of and instead of , and translates slothfulness gives tasteless herbs to eat. [K. calls this a remarkable alteration of the text; and Rueetschi pronounces it nothing but a shrewd fancy of Hitzigs].
Pro 19:16. Instead of the Kthibh , shall be put to death, (the familiar expression of the Mosaic law for the infliction of the death penalty), the Kri reads more mildly , which is probably original in Pro 15:10, but not here.Instead of Hitzig reads in accordance with Jer 3:13 : He that scattoreth his ways, but by this process reaches a meaning undoubtedly much too artificial, which furthermore is not sufficiently justified by an appeal to Pro 11:24; Job 31:7. [While Gesen. makes the primary meaning of to tread under foot, Fuerst makes it to scatter, divide, waste, and interprets the dividing ones ways as a want of conformity to the one established worship. This is in his view the antithesis to keeping the commandment. The only other passage in which he finds this literal meaning of the verb is Psa 73:20, where De Wette (see Comm. in loco) admits that this would be a simpler completion of the verse, but thinks himself obliged to take the verb, as has usually been done, in the sense of despise. Fuersts rendering and antithesis seem preferable.A.].
Pro 19:19. Instead of the Kthibh (which would probably require to be explained by hard or frequent, as Schultens and Ewald explain it from the Arabic), we must give the preference to the Kri, which also has the support of the early translators. [Fuerst takes the same view]. Hitzigs emendation, instead of (he that dealeth in anger) is therefore superfluous.
Pro 19:23. Calamity, evil is attached to the passive verb as an accusative of more exact limitation.Hitzig reads instead of , so that the resulting meaning is: one stretches himself (?) rests, fears no sorrow (?).
Pro 19:25. in clause b is either to be regarded as an unusual Imperative form (= ), [so B., M., S.], or, which is probably preferable, as a finito verb with an indefinite pronoun to be supplied as its subject (, quisquam, Einer, one); so Mercer, Hitzig. [Fuerst calls it an Inf. constr., and Btt. would without hesitation read ( 1051, d).A.].
Pro 19:27. Hitzig alters to which according to Arabic analogies is to be interpreted to be rebellious, to reject.
EXEGETICAL
1. Pro 19:1-7. Admonitions to meekness and tenderness as they are to be manifested especially toward the poor.Better is a poor man that walketh in his integrity than he that is perverse in speech and is a fool. The crooked in lips (comp. the crooked or perverse in heart, Pro 11:20; Pro 17:20) is here doubtless the proud man who haughtily and scornfully misuses his lips; for to refer the expression to strange and false utterances is less natural on account of the antithesis to the poor in clause a. The ideas contrasted are on the one hand that of the poor and therefore humble, and perverse of lips, and on the other hand the predicates to these conceptions, walking in innocence, and the fool (i.e., foolish and ungodly at the same time, the direct opposite of humble innocence). There is therefore no need of substituting some such word as (rich, mighty) for (the fool), as the Syr., Vulg. and Hitzig do, nor yet of conceiving of the fool as the rich fool, as most of the later interpreters judge. Pro 28:6, where, with a perfect identity in the first clauses, the rich is afterward mentioned instead of the fool, cannot decide the meaning of this latter expression, because the second member differs in other respects also from that of the proverb before us, his ways being mentioned instead of his lips.
Pro 19:2. Where the soul hath no knowledge there likewise is no good. , also, stands separated by Hyperbaton from the word to which it immediately relates, as in Pro 20:11 (see remarks above on Pro 13:10); the not-knowing of the soul, is by the parallel of hasty foot, in clause b, more exactly defined as a want of reflection and consideration; the soul finally, is here essentially the desiring soul, or if one chooses, the desire, the very longing after enjoyment and possession (comp. Pro 13:2; Pro 16:26). So likewise he that hasteth with his feet is undoubtedly to be conceived of as one striving fiercely and passionately for wealth; comp. the hasting to be rich, Pro 27:20, and also 1Ti 6:9-10.
Pro 19:3. The foolishness of man ruineth his way. The verb is not to make rugged or uneven (Umbreit, Elster) but prcipitare, to hurl headlong, throw prostrate, bring suddenly down, which is its ordinary meaning; comp. Pro 13:6; Pro 21:12. The verb in clause b is to rage, to murmur, i.e., here to accuse Jehovah as the author of the calamity; comp. Exo 16:8; Lam 3:39; Sir 15:11 sq.
Pro 19:4. Comp. Pro 14:20; also, below, Pro 19:6 sq.But the poor is parted from his friend, that is, because the latter wishes to have no further acquaintance with him, separates his way wholly from him; comp. Pro 19:7, b.
Pro 19:5. A false witness shall not go unpunished; comp. Pro 17:5, and for the expression uttereth or breatheth out lies in clause b, comp. Pro 6:19; Pro 14:5. The entire proverb occurs again in Pro 19:9, literally repeated as far as the shall not escape at the conclusion, for which in the second instance there appears shall perish. Hitzig it is true proposes also the exchange for the phrase he that speaketh lies in 9, b, he that breatheth out evil; but the LXX can hardly be regarded as sufficiently reliable witnesses for the originality of this divergent reading.
Pro 19:6. Many court the favor of the noble, lit. stroke the face, i.e., flatter him (Job 11:19) who is noble and at the same time liberal, him who is of noble rank (not precisely a prince in the specific sense, Elster) and at the same time of noble disposition, comp. Pro 17:7; Pro 17:26. If accordingly the noble expresses something morally valuable and excellent, the gift in clause b cannot express anything morally reprehensible, but must rather be employed in the same good sense as in Pro 18:16. The man of a gift will therefore be the generous, he who gives cheerfully, and the aggregate or mass of friends () whom he secures by his gifts, will be lawfully gained friends and not bribed or hired creatures. The right conception is expressed as early as the translation of the Vulg., while the LXX, Chald. and Syr., embodying the common assumption which finds in the verse a censure of unlawful gifts for bribery, go so far as to read every wicked man ( , etc.).
Pro 19:7. Comp. Pro 19:4, b.How much more do his acquaintance withdraw from him. (comp. remarks on Pro 12:26) we shall be obliged to take here as an abstract with a collective sense (his friendship= his friends), for only in this way is the plural of the verb to be explained (for which Hitzig arbitrarily proposes to write ).He seeketh words (of friendship)and there are none. In some such way as this we must explain the third clause, with which this verse seems remarkably enriched (comp. Umbreit and Elster on the passage); the Kthibh is to be adhered to, [so Btt. II., p. 60, n. 4) which evidently gives a better meaning than the Kri, in interpreting which so as to conform to the context expositors have vainly labored in many ways (e.g. Ewald: he that seeketh words, to him they belong; in like manner Bertheau).The LXX instead of this third clause, which does indeed stand in an exceptional form, like the fragmentary remnant of a longer proverb, have two whole verses; the second of these: , , [he that does much harm perfects mischief; and he that uses provoking words shall not escape: Brentons Transl. of the LXX], seems at least to come tolerably near to the original sense of the passage. Hitzig through several emendations obtains from this the sense
He that is after gossip hatcheth mischief,
hunting after words which are nothing.
Others, as Bertheau, e.g., infer from the of the LXX, that the original text instead of (they are not) exhibited (shall not escape), but they supply no definite proof that this is original. At any rate we must conclude that our present text is defective, inasmuch as verses of three members in the main division of the Book of Proverbs which is now before us occur nowhere else. (This is otherwise, it is true, in Division I.; see remarks above on Pro 7:22-23, and also in the supplement of Hezekiahs men: Comp. Introd., 14).
2. Pro 19:8-17. Further admonitions to mildness, patience, pity, and other prominent manifestations of true wisdom.He that getteth understanding (comp. Pro 15:32) loveth his soul; comp. the opposite, Pro 8:36; Pro 29:24. For the construction of the predicate in clause b compare notes on Pro 18:24; for the expression of Pro 16:20, etc.
Pro 19:9. Comp. notes on Pro 19:5.
Pro 19:10. Luxury becometh not the fool. Comp. Pro 17:7; Pro 26:1; and for clause b, Pro 30:22; Ecc 10:7; Sir 11:5.Inasmuch as luxury naturally and originally belongs only to princes and the like exalted personages, clause b stands as the climax of a. That servants rule over princes will, it is true, not readily occur among common slaves in their relation to their masters; it may however the more easily happen at the courts of oriental despots, who frequently enough exalt their favorites of humble rank above all the nobles of the realm.
Pro 19:11. The discretion of a man delayeth his anger, makes him patient, lit. lengthens, prolongs his anger, [in the sense of defers rather than extends it; his patience is what is lengthened out and not his passion]; comp. Isa 48:9, as well as Pro 14:17, above, in regard to impatience as the token of a fool.And his glory is to pass over transgression, lit., to go away over transgression, comp. Mic 7:18.
Pro 19:12. Roaring like that of a lion is the wrath of a king; comp. Pro 26:2; also Pro 16:14; Pro 28:15. With the figure of the sweetly refreshing dew in clause b compare Pro 16:15; Psa 72:6.
Pro 19:13. A foolish son is stroke upon stroke to his father. The plural troubles, calamities, expresses the repetition, the succession of many calamities; Umbreit and Hitzig therefore will translate ruin upon ruin; comp. also Ziegler a sea of evils.And the brawling of a wife is a continual dropping; for this latter phrase see also Pro 27:15; a pertinent figure, reminding of the distilling of the dew in 12, b, although contrasted with it in its impression. The scolding words of the bad wife are as it were the single drops of the steady rain, as her perpetual temper pours itself out.
Pro 19:14. Comp. Pro 18:22, and the German and English proverb according to which marriages are made in heaven [a proverb which, says Archbishop Trench, it would have been quite impossible for all antiquity to have produced, or even remotely to have approached].
Pro 19:15. Slothfulness sinketh into torpor; lit., causeth deep sleep to fall (comp. Gen 2:21), brings upon man stupor and lethargy; comp. Pro 6:9-10.With clause b compare Pro 10:4; Pro 12:23.
Pro 19:16. With clause a comp. Pro 16:17; Ecc 8:5.He that taketh no heed to his ways shall die.See critical notes.
Pro 19:17With clause a compare Pro 14:31; with b, Pro 12:14; with the general sentiment (which appears also in the Arabic collection of Meidani), Ecc 11:1; Mat 25:40; Luk 6:30-35.
3. Pro 19:18-21. Admonition to gentleness in parents and children, with respect to the work of education.Correct thy son while there is still hope,that is, that he may reform and come to the true life. This last phrase while there is hope appears also in Job 11:18; Jer 31:16 sq.With b compare Pro 23:13. [Rueetschi calls attention to the deep import of this second clause, ordinarily misunderstood. It is not a caution against excess of severity, but against the cruel kindness that kills by withholding seasonable correction. He suggests as further parallels Pro 13:24; Pro 3:12; Pro 22:15; Sir 30:1.A.]
Pro 19:19. A man of great wrath suffereth punishment.One great of wrath is one who has great wrath (Dan 11:44; 2Ki 22:13); comp. Jer 32:19 : One great in counsel.For if thou wardest it off thou must do it again.For this use of , lit., deliver,with reference to the ruinous action of angry and contentious men specifically to avert or ward off (Hitzig), comp. 2Sa 14:6. [But this very passage favors more the common rendering; for the object is personal, which requires the meaning take away, i.e., deliver, while the rendering preferred by Z. and Hitzig demands for the object the , punishment, of clause a. De W., B., N., S., M., W. agree with this view, while K. supports the general idea of Z.A.] The last phrase can express only the idea that such an interposition must be frequently repeated, and therefore that in spite of all efforts to the contrary the wrathful man must still at last fall into calamity and punishment. The entire verse accordingly gives a reason for the dissuasion in Pro 19:18 against too violent passion in the correction of disobedient children [but see the supplementary note in regard to the true meaning of clause b]; yet this is not done in any such way that the thou must do it again would refer to frequent corrections, and so to the sure prospect of real reformation, as many of the older expositors maintain.
Pro 19:20. Comp. Pro 12:15. Afterwardlit., in thy future, comp. Job 3:7; Job 42:12.
Pro 19:21 gives the constant direction toward God which the wise conduct of the well trained son must take during his later life. Comp. Pro 16:1; Pro 16:9.
4. Pro 19:22-29. Miscellaneous admonitions, relating especially to humanity, truthfulness, the fear of God, etc.A mans delight is his beneficence. (comp. note on Pro 3:3) is here to be taken in the sense of the active manifestation of love, or charitableness, for it is not the loving disposition, but only its exhibition in liberal benefactions and offerings prompted by love to others, that can be the object of mans longing, desire or delight: [Fuerst renders Zier, ornament, honor.] Comp. Act 20:35 : It is more blessed to give than to receive. With this conception of clause a the preference expressed in b best corresponds,that of the poor and lowly to the man of lies, i.e., the rich man who promises aid, and might give it, but as a selfish, hard-hearted man, still fails to render it.The LXX and Vulg. deviate somewhat in the first clause from the literal rendering of the original. From their readings, which moreover differ somewhat the one from the other, Hitzig has by combination reached what he represents as the original meaning: From the revenue (?) of a man comes his kind gift.
Pro 19:23. With a compare Pro 14:27.One abideth satisfied and cannot be visited of evil,because Jehovah does not suffer such as fear Him to hunger (Pro 10:3), but in every way protects, promotes and blesses them (Pro 10:29; Pro 14:26; Pro 18:10, etc.). The subject of the verbs in clause b is strictly the possessor of the fear of God, the devout man.
Pro 19:24. The slothful thrusteth his hand in the dish, etc.An allusion to the well-known method of eating among Oriental nations, which needs no knife and fork. A similar figure to characterize the slothful is found in Pro 12:27. Compare also the proverb in Pro 26:15, which in the first half corresponds literally with the one before us.
Pro 19:25. Smite the scorner and the simple will be wise.Since the scorner, according to Pro 13:1 (see notes on this passage), heareth not rebuke, but is absolutely irreclaimable, the simple who becometh wise in view of the punishment with which the other is visited, will be such a one as is not yet quite a scorner, but is in danger of becoming so, and therefore must be deterred by fear of the penalty. In contrast with this simple one who walks in the right way only by constraint (comp. remarks on Pro 1:4), the man of understanding, he who is really prudent, learns at once on mere and simple reproof, because he has in general finer powers to discriminate between good and evil (Heb 5:14), and has moreover a reliable tendency to good.
Pro 19:26. He that doeth violence to his father.The verb signifies to assail violently, roughly, to misuse, as in Pro 14:15; Psa 17:9. is then to cause to flee, thrust or chase away.With b compare Pro 13:5; with in particular Pro 10:5.
Pro 19:27. Cease, my son, to hear instruction to depart from the words of wisdom.Two conceptions are possible: 1) The instruction is that of wisdom itself, and therefore a good, wholesome discipline that leads to life; then the meaning of the verse can be only ironical, presenting under the appearance of a dissuasion from discipline in wisdom a very urgent counsel to hear and receive it (so Ewald, Bertheau, Elster). [To call this ironical seems to us a misnomer. Cease to hear instruction only to despise it. What can be more direct or literally pertinent? Cease to hear for the departing, i.e., to the end, with the sole result of departure.A.] 2) The instruction is evil and perverted, described in clause b as one that causes departure from the words of wisdom. Then the admonition is one seriously intended (thus most of the old expositors, and Umbreit [W., H., N., S., etc.]). We must choose for ourselves between the two interpretations, although the connection in which the proverb stands with the preceding verse seems to speak decidedly for the former of the two.
Pro 19:28. A worthless witness scoffeth at judgmenti.e., by the lies which he utters.And the mouth of the wicked devoureth mischief,i.e., mischief is the object of his passionate desire; it is a real enjoyment to him to produce calamity; he swallows it eagerly as if it were a sweet fruit (Job 20:12; Isa 28:4): he drinketh it in like water (Job 15:16). Thus apprehended the expression to devour mischief or wrong has nothing at all offensive in it, and we do not need either with the Chaldee (comp. Geier, etc.) to get rid of it by exchanging the idea of devouring for that of uttering, or in any other way; nor with Hitzig (following the LXX) to read instead of mischief () justice (), and to translate accordingly and the mouth of the wicked devoureth justice.
Pro 19:29. Judgments are prepared for scorners and stripes for the back of fools.The scorners are quite the same as the fools, as the first clause of Pro 19:25 shows; and the stripes (the term the same as in Pro 18:6) are a special form of judicial penalties or judgments. The verse as a whole, with which Pro 14:3; Pro 26:3 should be compared, stands in the relation of an explanation to the preceding, especially to the idea that the wicked eagerly devours calamity. [Their eagerness is not forgotten by a just God, and fitting judgments await them.A.]
DOCTRINAL, ETHICAL, HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL
In the considerably rich and varied contents of the chapter, that which stands forth most conspicuously as the leading conception and central idea is the idea of the gentleness and mildness to be manifested in intercourse with ones neighbors. Gentleness and an humble devotion, ready even for suffering, man ought to exhibit first of all toward God, against whom it is not proper to complain even in calamity (Pro 19:3), who is in all things to be trusted (Pro 19:14; Pro 19:17), according to whose wise counsels it is needful always to shape the life (Pro 19:21), and in whose fear one should ever walk (Pro 19:23). Not less is a gentle demeanor a duty for the married in their mutual intercourse (Pro 19:13-14); for parents in the training of their children (Pro 19:18-19; Pro 19:25); for children toward their parents (Pro 19:20; Pro 19:26): for the rich in dispensing benefactions among the poor (Pro 19:1; Pro 19:4; Pro 19:7; Pro 19:22); for rulers and kings toward their subjects (Pro 19:12; comp. Pro 19:6; Pro 19:10); for men in general in their intercourse with their neighbors (Pro 19:11; comp. Pro 19:19; Pro 19:27-28). By far the larger number of the proverbs in the chapter are therefore arranged with reference to this leading and underlying conception of gentleness; the whole presents itself as a thorough unfolding of the praises and commendations of meekness in the New Testament, which are well known; e.g., Mat 5:5; Jam 1:20-21.Only some single proverbs are less aptly classified in this connection, such as the warning against hasty, inconsiderate, rash action (Pro 19:2); that against untruthfulness (Pro 19:9; Pro 19:28); against slothfulness (Pro 19:15; Pro 19:24); against folly and a mocking contempt of the holy (Pro 19:8; Pro 19:16; Pro 19:29). And yet these interspersed sentences of a somewhat incongruous stamp do not by any means essentially disturb the connection of the whole which is maintained and ruled by the fundamental idea of gentleness.
Therefore we may very suitably, in the homiletical treatment of the chapter as a whole, take this as the general subject: The praise of meekness, as it is to be exhibited, 1) in respect to God, by the quiet reception of His word (Jam 1:21), and bringing forth fruit with patience (Luk 8:15): 2) in relation to ones neighbors, by humility, obedience, love, compassion, etc.Comp. Stcker: Against contempt of poor neighbors: 1) Dissuasion from this peculiarly evil fruit of wrath and uncharitableness (Pro 19:1-15); 2) enumeration of some of the chief means to be used against wrath in general (remedia, s. relinacula ir, Pro 19:16-29).Wohlfarth: On contempt of the poor, and the moderation of anger.
Pro 19:1-7. Geier (on Pro 19:1): To the pious poor it may impart a strong consolation, that notwithstanding their poverty they are better esteemed in the sight of God than a thousand ungodly and foolish rich men.Berleburg Bible (on Pro 19:1): He who has nothing that is his own, who accounts himself the poorest of all men, who sees nothing good in himself, and yet with all this stands in the uprightness of his heart and in all simplicity, is far more pleasing to God than the souls that are rich in endowments and in learning, and yet despise and deride the simple.Starke (on Pro 19:4): Art thou forsaken by thy friends, by father and mother, by all men, be of good comfort! if it be only on account of goodness, God will never forsake thee.(On Pro 19:6-7): We often trust in men more than in God, but find very often that this hope in men is abortive, and is brought to shame.[Robert Hall (on Pro 19:2): Sermon on the advantages of knowledge to the lower classes.T. Adams (on Pro 19:4): Solomon says not the rich man, but riches; it is the money, not the man, they hunt.]
Pro 19:8-17. [Muffet (on Pro 19:8): Every one hath a heart, but every one possesseth not his heart. He possesseth his heart that, furnishing it with knowledge of the truth, holdeth his heart firm and fast therein, not suffering his courage to fail, nor losing that good possession which he hath gotten.Chalmers (on Pro 19:10): With all the preference here expressed for virtuous povertythe seemliness of rank and the violence done by the upstart rule of the lower over the higher, are not overlooked.]Melanchthon (on Pro 19:10): The ungoverned and uneducated are in prosperous conditions only the more insolent and base, as, e.g., Rehoboam, when he became king, Alexander the Great after his great victories, etc.Tbingen Bible (on Pro 19:11): It is great wisdom to bear injustice with patience, and to overcome and even to gain over ones persecutors with benefits, 1Pe 2:19; Mat 5:44 sq.(On Pro 19:13-14): Gods wise providence manifests itself very specially in the bestowal of good and pious partners in marriage.Von Gerlach (on Pro 19:17): The poor the Lord regards as specially His own, and therefore adjusts those debts of theirs which they cannot pay.Berleb. Bible: With that which the righteous man dispenses in benefactions to the poor, he is serving God in his counsels with respect to men.[Lord Bacon (on Pro 19:11): As for the first wrong, it does but offend the law; but the revenge of that wrong putteth the law out of office. Certainly, in taking revenge a man is but even with his enemy, but in passing it over he is superior.Trapp (on Pro 19:11): The manlier any man is, the milder and readier to pass by an offence. When any provoke us we say, We will be even with him. There is a way whereby we may be not even with him, but above him, and that is, forgive him.Arnot: The only legitimate anger is a holy emotion directed against an unholy thing. Sin, and not our neighbor, must be its object; zeal for righteousness, and not our own pride, must be its distinguishing character.Muffet (on Pro 19:17): The Lord will not only pay for the poor man, but requite him that gave alms with usury, returning great gifts for small. Give, then, thy house, and receive heaven; give transitory goods, and receive a durable substance; give a cup of cold water and receive Gods Kingdom.W. Bates: As there are numerous examples of Gods blasting the covetous, so it is as visible He prospers the merciful, sometimes by a secret blessing dispensed by an invisible hand, and sometimes in succeeding their diligent endeavors in their callings.]
Pro 19:18-21. Tbingen Bible: Cruelty to children is no discipline. Wisdom is needful, that one in the matter of strictness may do neither too much nor too little to them.Zeltner: Too sharp makes a notched edge, and too great strictness harms more than it helps, not only in the discipline of children, but in all stations and relations.Starke (on Pro 19:21): God is the best counsellor. Who ever enters upon His cause with Him must prosper in it.[J. Foster: The great collective whole of the devices of all hearts constitutes the grand complex scheme of the human race for their happiness. Respecting the object of every device God has His design. There is in the world a want of coalescence between the designs of man and God; an estranged spirit of design on the part of man. Gods design is fixed and paramount, and shall stand.]
Pro 19:22-29. Melanchthon (on Pro 19:25): Not all, it is true, are improved by the warning example of the correction which comes upon the wicked, but some, that is, those who are rational and not insane, those who hearken to admonition and follow it.Starke (on Pro 19:25): The final aim of all penalty should be the improvement as well of him who is punished as of others who may there see themselves mirrored(On Pro 19:26): He who would not experience shame and sorrow of heart from his children, let him accustom them seasonably to obedience, to the fear of God and reverenceJ. Lange: Gods word is the right rule and measure of our life. Whosoever departs from this, his instruction is deceitful and ruinous.Hasius (on Pro 19:29): Every sin, whether great or small, has by Gods ordinance its definite penalty. Happy he who recognizes this, and knows how to shun these punishments.
[Bp. Hall (on Pro 19:22): That which should be the chief desire of a man is his beneficence and kindness to others; and if a rich man promise much and perform nothing, a poor man that is unable either to undertake or perform is better than he.Arnot: A poor man is better than a liar; a standard has been set up in the market place to measure the pretences of men withal, and those who will not employ it must take the consequences.Chalmers (on Pro 19:23): Religion may begin with fear, but will end in the sweets and satisfactions of a spontaneous and living principle of righteousness.Bp. Sherlock (on Pro 19:27); Since the fears and apprehensions of guilt are such strong motives to infidelity, the innocence of the heart is absolutely necessary to the freedom of the mind. We must answer for the vanity of our reasonings as well as the vanity of our actions, and if we take pains to invent vain reasoning to oppose to the plain evidence that God has afforded us of His being and power, and to undermine the proofs and authority on which religion stands, we may be sure we shall not go unpunished.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool. Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth. The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD. Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape. Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts. All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him. He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.
I pause over this last verse particularly, to remark to the Reader that there must be somewhat more than of ordinary importance in it, it being the repetition of the same sentiment as was just before delivered, only with stronger marks of the awful sin of which it treats. Both the Writer and the Reader may well pause over these solemn expressions, and consider the very solemn meaning. A false witness is the very reverse of Christ, the faithful and true witness. Rev 1:5 . And therefore it may serve to shew what an awful state those men are in, who are found witnessing to lies, to anything, and everything, in a way of religion, short of Christ and his salvation. The Holy Ghost witnesseth wholly of Jesus. He shall testify of me, saith Christ. Joh 15:26 . And how doth he do this? He shews to the sinner the evil of his way, he testifieth that Christ only can deliver the soul from going down to the pit; he points to the blood and righteousness of Jesus as the only possible means of salvation, and he sets to his seal in the heart of the regenerate, that there is salvation in no other; neither is there any other name under heaven, given among men, whereby they must be saved. Act 4:12 . And what then must those be but false witnesses, that would direct a sinner to any other Saviour; or would tempt the heart to believe that partly in ourselves and partly in Christ we are to seek acceptance? Lord! in compassion to perishing sinners, send forth faithful men to be witnesses for God and his Christ. Jer 3:15 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Man’s Chief Business, Etc.
Pro 19
It might be supposed that by the term “wisdom” some form of intellectual life and energy was signified; then the passage would read, He that is of capacious and brilliant mind, equal to the handling of any difficult mental question, is one who loveth his own soul. That, however, is not the meaning of the word “wisdom.” In this connection we are to understand by “wisdom” the heart or the moral nature, and then the passage will read, He that keepeth his heart in all soundness and goodness, he that looks after his moral nature, cultivating, guarding, and succouring it at every point and according to every opportunity, is a man who loves his own soul; he is in very deed a man who is making the culture of his soul his principal business. A man may cultivate his mind to the highest pitch of refinement, and yet may utterly neglect his soul. By the term “soul” understand the innermost and noblest self; the divine and immortal manhood; that which was made originally in the image and likeness of God. No cultivation bestowed upon the brain can touch the moral faculty; indeed, where the intellectual powers are cultivated and the moral faculties are neglected man grows but in the power of doing mischief. Pitiful is the sight of any man who spends his life in loving other people’s souls in the form of going after public reformations and taking an interest in general progress, and utterly neglecting his own spiritual nature. The proverb does not point in the direction of selfishness, but in the direction of faithfulness. If a man cannot keep his own soul how can he keep the souls of others? We have noticed in life how some men are nobly unselfish in all public matters. They are prepared to sustain national reforms, to contribute to great public funds, to labour almost constantly upon the public platform, and to associate their names with all manner of heroic and beneficent resolutions which are to be adopted by public assemblies. Under such circumstances men are often called unselfish, generous, public-spirited, and large-minded. Let us, however, do justice to all the interests that are involved, and declare plainly that a man may be utterly selfish even in the act of promoting public reformations. There are men who would rather teach in a Sunday-school than teach their own families at home. They must be abroad, they must be in the public gaze, they can only live in the atmosphere of recognition and applause. Now these men are utterly selfish, though their conduct bears to public observation the aspect of great generosity and philanthropy. A man may never go outside his own family for the purpose of teaching, and yet he may be leading a truly unselfish life. Another man can only live in public meetings, so that his life at home is to him a burden and to others a discomfort. The text in speaking about a man’s own soul does not call that man to narrow self-introspection and self-enjoyment, but calls him to the culture of his soul with a view to his going forth to minister to the deepest and most sacred wants of other men.
“The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression” ( Pro 19:11 ).
Probably no finer imitation of the divine character can be conceived than that which is given in this statement. Man here represents some of the most attractive attributes of the divine character. The man is great, and therefore he can afford to wait; he is noble, and therefore he can defer his anger, saying even to his hottest passion, Stand back, for thou shalt not find expression to-day. This is an instance of self-control of the highest kind. Anger will speak, will splutter, will flash, will insist upon having vent; here discretion says that anger shall not disclose its fires, but shall wait to know what is the will of the well-regulated mind, the will of justice, and the will of magnanimity. Pleasant it is, no doubt, to take instant vengeance upon those who anger us, but the whole spirit of the Bible binds its believers to discretion, forbearance, long-suffering. Sometimes we speak of it being high-spirited to resent an injury, to bring the whip down sharply upon the back of a transgressor, and to lock up in penal exile those who have offended our vanity or even trampled upon our rights: the Bible teaches us that our glory is shown in making as little as possible of the transgressions which are committed against us; herein is the spirit of Christ, who when he was reviled reviled not again, and when he suffered he threatened not Worldly minds make great mistakes about the dignity and independence of men who have subjected themselves to prolonged and earnest spiritual culture. Worldly minds do not understand that it is greater not to strike than to deliver a blow; they do not comprehend the philosophy which teaches that it is nobler to wait than to hasten the infliction of vengeance; they do not follow the reasoning which binds them to the conclusion that the highest glory of a man is to resemble most perfectly the meekness, patience, and forbearance of Almighty God. It does not follow that we are not to recognise the transgression, nor does it follow that we are not to be angry, but we are to remember that anger is all the nobler for being deferred and for being matured by the reasoning of conscience, and we are to remember that a transgression looks all the fouler when it is pointed out by an unstained finger. The more holy we are ourselves the blacker will the transgressions of other people appear appear, not to us only, but to the transgressors themselves. There is a silent judgment in holiness. Without speaking one word, righteousness condemns every sinner and maintains the cause of pureness; whilst if it raged in the stormiest eloquence it might only get credit for being an ardent rhetorician. What we have to see to is that our character is so solid, so pure, so unselfish, and so radiant that it constitutes itself into an argument higher than any reasoning that can be expressed in words.
“Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying” ( Pro 19:18 ).
This is what Almighty God does in his parental relation to the human race. The very fact that we are being chastened shows that there is still hope that we may be recovered and established in goodness. The very fact that the rod is being laid upon us shows that our soul is yet within lines that are consistent with the hope that the soul may be saved. This text has a peculiar meaning which is not obvious on the surface. We might read it thus: Set not thy soul on his destruction, that is to say, dp not go too far in thy chastening or correction. Anger, pure and simple, can only be satisfied by utter destruction. Interpreted in a Christian sense, anger is controlled by righteousness, it is limited by conscience, it is under the restraint and inspiration of reason, and, therefore, men are to see to it that those whom they strike are not over-punished, but that the hand is withheld in order to give time for the expression of penitence. Wrong-headed people cannot be cured by beating. Sometimes the rod is employed when reasoning alone ought to be called into exercise. If the reason has lost its faculty, or lost interest in all processes of moral inquiry, it is in vain that the back should be beaten with many stripes. Where the sin is one of the flesh, or ill-temper, or obstinacy, then the rod must be applied strongly and hopefully. The text teaches the necessity of discrimination in the administration of punishment. Do not punish a man too much. Do not go beyond the limits of reason; give the man himself to feel that his punishment is calculated and regulated, and therefore is all the more potent.
“The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar” ( Pro 19:22 ).
This text is obscure. The second part of it is plain enough as to its letters; but what possible reason can there be in putting a poor man and a liar in comparison? The text should be so rendered as to express the idea that kindness makes a man desired or beloved. We draw near to kindness as if by a species of right. As a cold man approaches the fire, so does a desolate heart approach any one whose spirit is marked by kindness. By “kindness” we are to understand sympathy, philanthropy, geniality, approachableness. There are men whose very appearance seems to invite confidence. We say of some men, though we do not know them intimately, that we could tell them our troubles and seek their advice in our perplexities, because of the sweetness of their manner, the gentle dignity of their whole demeanour. Who ever draws near to mere dignity, pomp, circumstance, haughtiness? Who would go up to an iceberg when he is shivering with cold? Who would go to a nest of stone in the wilderness when his head is aching from weariness? There are houses on whose fronts are marked the word Hospitality and the word Welcome; there are faces which indicate readiness to sympathise with and help those who are in trouble, darkness, or fear; there are voices full of the music of sympathy; to hear them is like hearing a gospel. This, then, is the meaning of the text what makes a man desired or beloved is kindness. Little children run to him, poor women feel that they are in the presence of a defender, and helpless souls recognise in kindness a desire to protect, assist, and strengthen. When the text says “a poor man is better than a liar,” the sentence must be regarded as incomplete. Put in its proper sense it would run thus, A poor man who cannot help is better than a man who says he would help if he could, when all the time he knows he is telling a lie. The “poor man” of the text is an honest man. According to the limit of his ability he is willing to assist The liar in the text is a man who may have much but is unprepared to part with anything, and who makes up for want of charity by profuseness of asseveration and false and heartless promises. Poor men, when they are honest, are amongst the best helpers of their fellow-men. They do not stand on ceremony or on dignity, or on any exchange of rights. The poor woman with many children of her own is more likely to assist the child of some poor neighbour than is a rich woman who has no sympathy with littleness, feebleness, cold, and want, and yet who speaks the word of charity and utters the sentiment and cant of heartless regard for the general wants of society. We are called upon to be honest, true, and simple, and to do according to the best of our ability, and to shame those who tell lies, saying how much they would do if they could, whilst all the time they will part with nothing of their strength and nothing of their luxury. There is a spirit of judgment in society, and at last the liar is unmasked and proved to be what he is in reality, unsympathetic, untrue, unlike Jesus Christ, a living and mischievous lie.
“Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge” ( Pro 19:27 ).
The instruction of bad men can only tend to badness. It may have all the form and colour of philosophical teaching, but its moral inspiration is bad, and therefore it must come to darkness and confusion in the end. The passage might be rendered, “Cease to hear instruction if you are going to err afterwards.” This gives another view of the exhortation. Do not attend church if you mean to turn your religious service into an excuse for immorality: do not go to college if you are gathering information merely for the sake of increasing your power to do mischief: do not read books if you are simply seeking for a key that will enable you to open gates that are forbidden: better not appear to care for instruction than to accept it as an instrument which is perverted to mischievous purposes: be honest, be sincere in your love of ignorance, in your profession of unbelief, in your disregard for all things sacred, on no account pretend to love the right and yet do the wrong, because you add to the wrong the aggravation of hypocrisy. Get instruction for the purpose of being stronger. Pursue knowledge that you may have both hands filled with instruments which will enable you to do a great and useful work in society. Thus the Bible doctrine always seeks to establish harmony as between purpose and conduct, motive and policy; the Bible will have no discrepancy or contradiction in any man’s constitution; it will insist upon the man moving in his integrity or completeness in whatever direction he has chosen to pursue. How honest a book is the Bible; how it insists upon bad men showing themselves in their true colours; how it further insists that the good man shall not be good merely in parts and sections of his character, but good through and through! The best exposition of this text is to repeat the rendering “Cease to hear instruction if you are going to err afterwards.”
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XXII
MISCELLANEOUS PROVERBS
Pro 10:1-22:16
Solomon is the author of Pro 10:1-22:16 , and the character of this section is noticeable in the change from the direct and continuous appeal of the opening chapters of the book to the short and, for the most part, disconnected maxims, each of them contained, as a rule, in a couplet, or district, formed strictly on the model of Hebrew parallelism.
The one exception to the rule of the couplet is found in Pro 19:7 were there is a tristich, or stanza of three lines) which is explained by assuming that the last clause of this verse properly belongs to another proverb, of which one member has fallen out of our present text. This conclusion is in some measure confirmed by the appearance in the Septuagint of two complete distichs, though it does not help toward the restoration of the original Hebrew text.
Maurer calls this section, “Golden saying not unworthy of Solomon, fitted to form and fashion the whole life.” There are 376 proverbs in this collection and the parallelism is generally antithetic. A profitable study it would be to take this great section and classify each proverb in it as to the Hebrew parallelism found in it, and then paraphrase it so as to show its application to modern life, but such a plan would require more space than can be given to this discussion. An example of such paraphrase is found in W. J. Bryan’s paraphrase of Pro 22:3 , thus: A wise man sees the danger and gets out of the way, But the fool rushes on and gets it in the neck.
I give here several proverbs selected from those made by members of the author’s class in the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, as illustrations of the various kinds of parallelism found in the book of proverbs. Many of them are antithetic, like most of the proverbs found in the great section discussed so briefly in this chapter. The kind of parallelism found in each proverb is indicated by the word following it.
A wise man is as springtime to his neighbor, But the foolish are as the death of winter. Antithetic
A son that honors his father shall be honored in old age, But he that dishonors his parents shall suffer at the last. Antithetic
A wise man chooses his path, But they who Jack wisdom stumble on through life. Antithetic
In the house of the wicked strife prevails, But in the chambers of the righteous peace dwells. Antithetic
Christ is the foundation of religion, And religion is the foundation of the world. Synthetic
Heaven is a place of happiness But hell is a place of torment. Antithetic
What you were will not avail, It’s what you are that counts. Synthetic
Every proverb has encased a jewel, And wisdom is the key to unlock it. Climactic
Teachers impart knowledge, But pupils straightway forget it. Antithetic
Any fool can find fault, But the wise in heart will bridle the tongue. Antithetic
If people would be loved, They must first love others. Progressive
Love getteth to itself friends; While hatred maketh enemies. Antithetic
Duty calls ever and anon, Happy the man who heeds her call. Climactic
If you pay as you go, Your going will be good. Progressive
The bold eat the sweet morsel of victory, But the fearful are put to shame. Antithetic
The rebuke of a friend Is better than the compliment of an enemy. Progressive
As the rudder is to the ship, So is character to the life. Parabolic
A little schooling is a fooling with the looks, But true learning is a discerning of the books. Antithetic
The wicked rejoiceth in health, But calleth on the Lord in distress. Antithetic
The man who has an axe to grind Meets you with a smiling face. Progressive
Tis only noble thoughts Can make a noble man. Progressive
The wheels of time move slowly But they move surely. Climactic
The wicked purpose evil and are brought low, But the righteous purpose good and are exalted. Antithetic
The man who seeks to know the right shall find light. But he who seeks the lusts of the flesh shall find darkness. Antithetic
The going of the wicked is exceedingly crooked, But the path of the righteous is in the straight and narrow way. Antithetic
As a roaring lion in chains by the way, So is the adversary to the heavenly pilgrim. Parabolic
They who take part in others’ troubles Are apt to get into trouble, too. Progressive
QUESTIONS
1. Who is the author of Pro 10:1-22:16 and what is the character of this section?
2. What is exception to the rule that these Proverbs are expressed in couplets and how may this exception be explained?
3. What says Maurer of this section?
4. How many proverbs are in this section and what kind of parallelism is most common?
5. What is the suggestion by the author for a profitable study of this section?
6. Select ten of the most striking proverbs in this section and paraphrase them so as to show the application of them.
7. Now try your hand at making proverbs of every kind of Hebrew parallelism and indicate the kind of parallelism in each.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Pro 19:1 Better [is] the poor that walketh in his integrity, than [he that is] perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
Ver. 1. Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity. ] That poor but honest man, that speaks supplications, Pro 18:23 but abuseth not his lips to lewd and loose language, is better than that rich fool that answers him roughly and robustiously – as Nabal did David’s messengers – and otherwise speaks ill, thinks worse. We usually call a poor man a “poor soul”; a poor soul may be a rich Christian, and a rich man may have a poor soul.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Proverbs Chapter 19
Chapter 19: 1-7. In a general way these maxims of divine wisdom are meant to comfort the upright and considerate poor, apt to be despised by others of less moral worth. They are instructive to all who have the fear of God, and to the Christian especially, who is told to honour all men as such (1Pe 2:17 ). There is nothing akin to the assertion of man’s rights and the exclusion of God’s, seeking one’s own will, advantage’ honour, and power.
“Better [is] the poor that walketh in his integrity than one perverse in his lips (and) who is a fool.
“Also a soul (person) without knowledge [is] not good; and he that hasteth with [his] feet maketh false steps.
“The folly of a man perverteth his way; and his heart fretteth against Jehovah.
“Wealth bringeth many friends; but the poor is separated from his friend.
“A false witness shall not be unpunished, and an utterer of lies shall not escape.
“Many court the favour of a prince; and every one [is] a friend to him that giveth
“All the brothers of the poor hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth [with] words: they are not (or, these hath he not).” vv. 1-7.
To walk in integrity is the fruit of divine grace. Faith alone can thus enable anyone in a world of vain show and with a nature corrupt or false, and vain or proud, either way given to self-complacency and open to self-conceit. If ever so poor, how much better is the upright walker than the man however rich that talks crookedly and is a fool (v. 1).
There is no excuse for anyone who hears the Scriptures to be without knowledge, and knowledge of the deepest value, perfectly reliable and accessible. What is to be compared with the written Word of God, even when it was but partially given? To be without that knowledge was not good but evil in an Israelite; how much more in a professing Christian! Without knowledge, one is apt to act precipitately and fall into sin – how often through haste! Man needs to weigh his words and ways (v. 2).
The foolishness of a man exposes him to evil ways; and all the more, because the more foolish, the less is there self-judgment. If one but felt his folly before God, and therefore looked up for wisdom, how surely He would give it without upbraiding, if he trust himself, he perverts his way more and more. What is worse still, his heart frets or rages against Jehovah. His folly grows impious at length even to casting the blame on Him who only is absolutely wise and has never done him harm but good. It is a common case (v. 3).
The covetousness of man betrays itself in the eagerness of men in general to be friends of the wealthy; nor less in the coolness that separates the poor man from his neighbour’s interest and care (v. 4). How little is God in their thoughts! Yet withal they may flatter themselves with loving God and man. Let them think of the good Samaritan.
False witness is a heinous sin in Jehovah’s eyes, who pledges Himself that it shall not go without punishment, and that the untruthful man shall not escape. A Jew was no doubt more guilty than a heathen if he thus boldly ignored Him who hears every word; and much more inexcusable is the Christian, now that Christ has come, the true and faithful Witness. Israel was called to be the arena of Jehovah’s government; but it utterly failed through their forgetting the ground of promise to faith, and resting all on their own obedience of the law. No sinful man, nor indeed any, can stand on such a tenure. For as many as are of law-works are under curse, as it had been so strikingly anticipated in Deu 27 where the Spirit records the curses on Ebal, and does not notice the blessings on Gerizim, though no doubt proclamation was made historically on the latter as much as on the former. But all men who take this ground of their obedience reap not blessing, but curse. Blessing for a sinful man can come only by faith. And we find men after the law even more heedless of truth than they were before the law, yea, even saints. But in Christianity we have not only the truth, but truthfulness consequently, as never before.
The selfishness of human nature is shown out in verses 6 and 7. “Many court (or, entreat) the favour of a prince; and every man is a friend to him that giveth” (v. 6). It is not all that can get the ear of a prince to curry favour. But a liberal man is as the rule easy to reach and ready to listen. No doubt it is a temptation even to a Christian in distress. But why forget that He whose is the earth and its fullness has His heart ever open to his cry? How comely then it is to be anxious for nothing; to let our gentleness be known to all men, self-assertion to none; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving to make our requests known to God!
What a graphic picture verse 7 presents in following up hateful self-seeking! “All the brothers of the poor hate him; how much: more do his friends go far from him! he pursueth with words: they are not.” Even the nearest ties of relationship break before the needy one. Still less are friends faithful to him who sinks into poverty. The very sight of such a one is a bore, and a signal to be off. In vain the debtor pursues with his words of appeal. The old friends disappear, and all fails. Such the prodigal found the world, when his profusion left him nothing more to spend; no man gave to him. God is the gracious giver, and the only One changeless and effectual, when every resource is gone, and the sinner bows to Him, though he have nothing but sins. But for him, however ruined, that believes, God has Jesus and with Him freely gives all things, as the day will manifest. It is of importance to realize this by faith now, that we may honour Him in thanksgiving and praise, and in willing service, as it becomes every Christian to do.
The value of right feeling (“heart” literally, or sense) is enforced and contrasted with the folly and evil of deceit, both for the life that is, and for that to come; the uncomeliness of self-indulgence, and the admirableness of forbearance; the comfort of royal favour, as against the fear of its displeasure; the grief where family relationship is in disorder, and the manifest blessing where she who shares the guidance walks and judges wisely.
“He that getteth sense loveth his own soul; he that keepeth understanding shall find good.
“A false witness shall not be held innocent, and one uttering lies shall perish.
“Luxury is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.
“The discretion of a man maketh him slow to anger; and [it is] his glory to pass over a transgression.
“The king’s wrath [is] as a lion’s roaring; but his favour [is] as dew upon the grass.
“A foolish son [is] the calamity of his father; and the contentions of a wife [are] a continual dropping.
“House and riches [are] an inheritance from fathers; but a prudent wife [is] from Jehovah.” vv. 8-14.
It is not only lax and dissolute ways that lead to ruin. How many perish by the indifference which gives a loose rein to folly! There is no fear of God in either; and where this fear is lacking, all must be wrong. Before, we were told that the fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom, as it also tends to life. This may be even now before peace with God is enjoyed; for such peace comes only through the faith which rests on Christ and His work. But it remains true, that he that heareth reproof getteth sense; and he that getteth sense loveth his own soul. The other word that accompanies this is of great value – “he that keepeth understanding shall find good,” and good better than silver or gold. It is well to get, and better still to keep, what is so excellent.
Those who hear and say much have to lay to heart the next solemn warning: “a false witness shall not be held innocent, and one uttering lies shall (not merely be punished, but) perish.” It is most hateful to God and most injurious to man. No one can say where the evil may spread, or how it may end here, but we do know how the Lord judges it forever.
Luxury is good for none; but it is above all unseemly for the fool who makes it his enjoyment and his god. The wise man was given to add that worse still is it for a servant to have rule over princes: who so vain and tyrannical?
To indulge in anger hastily is ever a danger, as it is true discretion to be slow in yielding to it. Better still is it to pass over an offence however real. It is his glory. He that is higher than the highest sets the pattern of grace.
On kings it is peculiarly incumbent how they dispense their censure or their favour. If they mistake either way (and there is no small danger of it), the effect is pernicious beyond measure. How happy for the believer to have to do readily and directly with the Highest who never errs, though we are so prone to make mistakes.
The next words take up the afflictions of family life, and give us salutary judgment. It is not merely a fool here, but “a foolish son,” and he surely is “the calamity of his father.” There is another who brings the calamity nearer still and more constantly, a contentious wife. Her cross and fractious spirit is a continual dropping. Not a spot in the house is safe from her turmoil.
Hence the importance of so looking to the Lord for a gracious and faithful counterpart. If house and wealth are an inheritance of fathers, as it generally was in Israel. a prudent wife was from Jehovah. What were the rest, however choice or abundant, where the meekness of wisdom failed in her who shared it all? If all else materially lacked, what comfort and happiness in having one from Jehovah who had His light within and around her!
Dangers and helps are plainly pointed out; for the fallen earth is full of the one, and Jehovah fails not for the other. There is a great need of vigilance, and man is shortsighted, to say the least.
“Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and the idle soul shall suffer hunger.
“He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his soul; he that despiseth his ways shall die.
“He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to Jehovah; and his bestowal will he pay him again.
“Chasten thy son, seeing there is hope; and let not thy heart cause him to die.
“A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment; for if thou deliver [him], thou must do it yet again.
“Hear counsel and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.
“Many thoughts [are] in a man’s heart, but the counsel of Jehovah, that shall stand.
“The charm of a man [is] his kindness, and a poor man [is] better than a liar.” vv. 15-22.
Even when man was unfallen, he had responsibility. He was called to till and keep the garden, planted exceptionally by Jehovah Elohim with every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. When fallen, as the ground was cursed on his account, he had to eat of it all the days of his life with toil. Thorns and thistles it yielded unbidden, so that man had to eat bread in the sweat of his face all his diminishing life. Slothfulness therefore ill became his position, and all the more when he faced adversity through his own fault. The sun arises, and the wild beasts get away to their dens, but man goeth forth to his work till the evening; and, as he is, it is well ordered for him. But slothfulness traverses all, and casts into a deep sleep while it is day, and pays the penalty. If any will not work, neither let him eat. The idle soul shall suffer hanger.
Man was made in God’s image, after His likeness. He had dominion given him over fish and fowl, cattle and reptile, and over all the earth too. Yet was he put under commandment. And “he that keepeth the commandment keepeth his soul; as he that despiseth,” or is reckless of, “his ways shall die.” So Adam proved, and no less Adam’s race. Even when no open sin was, man must bow to God. To seek independency of God is his ruin. To look up in gratitude and obey Him is not only the first of human duties, but vital to man whose breath is in his nostrils, and his life but a vapour. When sin entered and death through sin, how very evident and urgent it was that he should be dependent on that God who forthwith held out a Deliverer from the power of evil before banishing him from the paradise he had lost by his disobedience!
In such a world of disorder, of violence and corruption, we have always with us the poor, whom no man that has eyes or ears can fail to meet. This tests the heart practically; for to say, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled, and to give them not the things needful for the body, is to cheat ourselves quite as much as them. Man was to represent God who loves a cheerful giver in a wilderness world, and here encourages the man to pity those that have not. “He that pitieth,” or is gracious to, “the poor lendeth to Jehovah,” as He deigns to count it; “and what he bestoweth He will pay him again.” What security can match this? Think too of the honour of being creditor to Him!
But there is also another duty in which a parent ought to resemble Him, care for his offspring. “Chasten thy son, seeing there is hope.” The young twig is pliant, and may be bent aright or pruned to bear fruit. Love is not indifferent but takes pains, and chastening is a greater sorrow to a father than to the son that needs it. To allow evil, whatever the plea, is to set one’s soul on causing “him to die.” We, Christians on earth, endure for chastening, which, though painful for the moment, afterward yields peaceful fruits of righteousness to those exercised thereby.
Look next at one not accustomed to bear the yoke in his youth. He is “a man of great wrath,” overcome by any word or work which does not please his rash mind; what is the result? He “shall suffer punishment”; and the sad thing is that neither he nor anyone else can say what may come next. Love him as you may, his hasty temper is constant danger. “For if thou deliver, thou must do it yet again.” Christ is the sole adequate Deliverer, and this not only by His redemption but by the virtue of abiding in Him. “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall come to pass for you.”
Very fitting accordingly is the next word: “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.” What counsel can compare with that which God gives; what instruction equals the Scriptures? Speculative men talk of the Bible as fragmentary and occasional; but under such an appearance there is the completest provision, and suited to every need that ever did or can arise. Men of faith find it out to their everlasting comfort, and are responsible to show its treasures to those who fail to see; but they reap the blessing in wisdom from the first to their latter end, as every believer proves.
Outside the field of divine teaching is the perplexity of man’s thoughts, let him be ever so abundant in ideas or devices. “Many thoughts are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of Jehovah, that shall stand.” This is what makes wise; and firm as well as happy is he who learns and cleaves to His counsel. It is the great lie to deny the truth; and Christ the Personal Word, Scripture the written Word, is the truth, which the Holy Spirit makes a living thing to the believer.
Nor is this all the comfort he enjoys. “The charm of a man (or that which maketh a man to be desired) is his kindness.” There too he is privileged to follow in the wake of God, who is good and doeth good. For this reason its claim too often is substituted for the reality; and good words usurp the place of good deeds. Nor do any fail more than those whose large purse accompanies a narrow heart and a polite tongue. Hence we have the pithy adage that “a poor man is better than a liar.” It is God’s Word which strips men of their robes and lays bare their true character. May we have grace to be truthful and loving, without pretension.
As it has been already laid down that the fear of Jehovah is the beginning and the discipline of wisdom, so does it prolong days, whereas the years of the wicked shall be shortened. Here (vv. 23-29) we have more said of its virtue.
“The fear of Jehovah [tendeth] to life; and he shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.
“A sluggard burieth his hand in the dish, and will not even bring it to his mouth again.
“Smite a scorner, and the simple will become prudent; and reprove the intelligent, he will understand knowledge.
“He that ruineth a father [and] chaseth away a mother is a son that causeth shame and bringeth reproach.
“Cease, my son, to hear instruction [causing] to err from the words of knowledge.
“A witness of Belial scorneth judgment, and the mouth of the wicked swalloweth iniquity.
“Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of the foolish.” vv. 23-29.
Now that we know the manifestation of life eternal in Christ and its gifts to the believer, how greatly is the maxim enhanced! What satisfaction can there be outside Him? “He that hath the Son hath life”; and Christ is the food of that life, both as the true bread out of heaven, giving life to the world, and not to Israel only, by faith, and in raising up at the last day. But there is the further privilege since His death, even to eat His flesh and drink His blood, and thus to dwell with Him, as He dwells in the Christian. He is the Deliverer; what shall man or Satan do to hurt? How shall not God also with Him freely give us all things?
The faith that fears Jehovah is earnest. The sluggard on the contrary is so besotted to self as to bury his hand in the dish, and will not so much as raise it to his mouth again. So he lives, dies, and perishes.
To smite a scorner may and will be lost on him; but the simple take heed, gather profit, and become prudent. The man of intelligence lays admonition to heart, and apprehends a knowledge before unknown. Thus simple and wise are gainers.
As a scorner is worse than a sluggard, more guilty still is the son that plunders a father and chaseth away a mother and her loving appeals. What shame and dishonour he brings!
In such a world of sin the enemy finds no lack of mischievous men and women, who not only stray away from the words of knowledge, but take pleasure to misguide the unwary. Cease, my son, to hear such fetal instruction.
Still more daring a witness of Belial is he that mocks at judgment; and the mouth of the wicked drinks down iniquity. But soon or late God is not mocked, if man is deceived; for whatsoever a man shall sow, that also shall he reap.
Therefore it is true that “judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of the foolish.” It is not that God desires any man to be reprobate; but what if He, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much long-suffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction? They gave themselves up to their own will, which is nothing but sin, and had a ready helper in the arch enemy who makes them his slaves. But that God might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, He in His grace prepared them before for glory. All the sin is in and of the creature; all the good is of God. This is the truth as to both God and man, whose only resource is by grace in Christ.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
Better. See note on Pro 8:11.
the poor = a needy one. Hebrew. rush. See note on Pro 6:11. Same as in verses: Pro 19:7, Pro 19:22; not the same as in verses: Pro 19:4, Pro 19:17.
he that is. Figure of speech Ellipsis (App-6), better supplied thus: “Than [the rich that is] perverse”, &c.
lips. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), for what is spoken by them.
fool. Hebrew. kesil. See note on Pro 1:7. Same word as in verses: Pro 19:10, Pro 19:13, Pro 19:29; not the same as in Pro 19:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 19
Better is the poor that walks in his integrity [or in honesty], than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool. Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth. The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD. Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is even separated from his neighbor ( Pro 19:1-4 ).
If you’re rich, you have a lot of people coming around. But you really don’t know. It would be hard to be rich and have all of the people hanging around, because you don’t know if they’re really your friends or not. What will happen in adversity? So you have all of this crazy problem of accepting people because I don’t know, “What you really want? You know. Because I’m rich you’re coming around. Do you really love me?” And so they have a hard time.
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaks lies shall not escape. Many will entreat the favor of the prince: and every man is a friend to him who gives gifts. All of the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursues them with words, and yet they are wanting to him ( Pro 19:5-7 ).
The poor man.
He that gets wisdom loves his own soul: he that keeps understanding shall find good. A false witness shall not be unpunished ( Pro 19:8-9 ),
We had that one just a little bit ago in verse Pro 19:5 . But then the latter part is just a little different.
he that speaketh lies shall perish ( Pro 19:9 ).
Verse Pro 19:5 says, “Shall not escape.” Very similar, though, proverbs.
Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes ( Pro 19:10 ).
Oh man, the worst thing in the world is to give a little power to some people. They don’t know how to handle it.
The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression ( Pro 19:11 ).
Much better just to say, “Oh, let it go.” Just to pass over the transgressions.
The king’s wrath is as a roaring of a lion; but his favor is as the dew on the grass. A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping ( Pro 19:12-13 ).
That’s like the Chinese torture trick, you know. Or you ever have a leaky faucet and you’re trying to sleep at night and hear the ploop, ploop, ploop.
House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD ( Pro 19:14 ).
Oh, isn’t that neat? “He that finds a wife finds a good thing.” A prudent wife is from the Lord. God is good to us.
Slothfulness [the laziness again] casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. He that keeps the commandment keeps his own soul; but he that despises his ways shall die. Then he that has pity upon the poor is lending to the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again ( Pro 19:15-17 ).
Now here’s an interesting thing. As I told you, God takes up the cause of the poor. And if you have pity on the poor and give to them, then God will repay you. In other words, it’s like loaning to God to give to the poor. That’s how much takes up the cause. And God says, “I’ll repay you.” So it’s a neat thing to give to the poor. You’re lending to the Lord. I like to lend to the Lord. I think it’s grand to be able to lend to God. How can I do that? By giving to the poor. You’re lending to the Lord and the Lord will repay you. The Lord will pay you back. Try it.
Chasten your son while there is hope, and let not your soul spare for his crying ( Pro 19:18 ).
Now, kids learn very quickly to start wailing the minute you look at them, you know, so that you won’t hit them so hard or you won’t spank them so long, or whatever. And so they really, they catch on quick, you know. Really wail and scream. Even when you miss them, you know, because they’re already conditioned for that. So go ahead and spank your son really while there is hope. Don’t spare for his crying.
Now, of course, let me say there is reason, and surely the Bible does not advocate child abuse. And there, in these days in which we live, is so much child abuse. It’s terrible. To abuse a child has to be one of the worst things that a person could do. A little child that is so helpless, can’t defend himself. I think that we need to be extremely careful in our punishment of a child. And I think that when we get to these kind of scriptures, surely we do not understand them to mean beating a child. Spanking a child, yes. But not beating a child. There’s no value in that, ever.
A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if you deliver him, you’re just going to have to do it again ( Pro 19:19 ).
A guy with a hot temper, you know, you may get in and help him out, but man, you’re just going to have to do it again.
Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that you may be wise in the latter end. There are many devices in man’s heart; nevertheless the counsels of the LORD, they shall stand ( Pro 19:20-21 ).
In other words, you can’t really fight against God or against God’s Word. Now you may have all kinds of devices. You may be figuring out all kinds of schemes, but ultimately, you know, God’s Word is going to stand. There is an old Greek saying, “The dice of the gods are loaded.” That means you just can’t go against God’s Word and win. God has said certain things and you may scheme and device all you want. But the Word of the Lord is going to stand. And any time you try to go against the Word of God you’re going to lose.
The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar. The fear of the LORD tends to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he will not be visited with evil ( Pro 19:22-23 ).
So the fear of the Lord, how important it is. Reverencing God. It just tends towards life. You’ll be satisfied. Not be visited with evil.
The slothful man [again, the lazy man] he hides his hand in his bosom ( Pro 19:24 ),
And this is really lazy.
he won’t even so much as bring it to his mouth ( Pro 19:24 ).
That’s really lazy. When you get so lazy you’re not going to feed yourself, you’ve had it.
Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge. He that wasteth his father, and chases away his mother, is a [rat, he’s a] son that causes shame, and brings reproach. Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causes to err from the words of knowledge. An ungodly witness scorns judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity. Judgments are prepared for the scorners, and stripes for the backs of fools ( Pro 19:25-29 ). “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Pro 19:1
Pro 19:1
“Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity Than he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool.”
“Better a poor man who lives virtuously than a dissembler who is rich.
Pro 19:1. This is very similar to Pro 28:6. Pulpit Commentary: The poor man who lives a guileless, innocent life, content with his lot and using no wrong means to improve his fortunes, is happier and better than the rich man who is hypocritical in his words and deceives others and has won his wealth by such means. There is often a connection between being poorer and honest and being dishonest and getting rich. The fool in this verse is apparently a rich fool.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Verse Pro 19:7. This is the only case in this first collection of proverbs in which we find three clauses. It is certainly most likely that the third clause is incomplete. Something has been lost. If this be not so, then the proverb which sets forth the extremely pitiable condition of the poor ends by declaring that to him the promises of friends are not fulfilled.
Verse Pro 19:16. Here “he that is careless of his ways” simply means, of course, “he that keepeth not the commandment.”
Verse Pro 19:21. This is a perfectly self evident assertion, but, as such, important as to warrant a pause in reading it. The one thing in the heart that may be depended upon is the counsel or guidance of Jehovah.
Verse Pro 19:24. Is it possible to find anywhere a more graphic or sarcastic description of absolute laziness?
Verse Pro 19:27. The meaning here is that it is better not to learn than to learn to refuse to obey.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Proverbs 19
Ignorance is not to be admired. The worldly axiom, Where ignorance is bliss, tis folly to be wise, is false and foolish. To lack knowledge is undesirable.
19:1-3
The first three proverbs of this chapter are intimately connected, and we therefore consider them together. They contrast the path of truth and the way of self-will and ignorance. It is far better to be poor and unknown, walking before God in uprightness and integrity of heart, than to be obtrusive in speech but given to folly and perverseness.
Mere zeal will not suffice to keep one right. One may be earnest, but earnestly wrong, as was Saul of Tarsus before his conversion (Act 26:9). He who runs on without learning the will of God adds sin to sin. His foolishness leads him astray, and his deceitful heart is irritated against the Lord. He is bent on his own way and can tolerate no correction. See the behavior of Jonah when he was acting in self-will (Jon 1:3; 4:8-9).
19:4
The well-to-do will always have many who claim his friendship, while the indigent will often find that he is separated from his neighbors because of his poverty. For though the easily-satisfied optimist may think this world is glamorous, it really is a cold, and feelingless place after all.
But there is a legitimate sense in which friends may be made by means of wealth. Our Lord commanded His disciples, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations (Luk 16:9). Riches, if used for the alleviation of misery and to the glory of God, may be the means of much blessing. When at last the one who has so used them passes away, the objects of his Christlike benefactions on earth will be waiting to welcome him into the everlasting home of the redeemed.
Notice verses 6-7 and 17 of this chapter of Proverbs for more comment on the inequities engendered by worldly wealth. The just man will not regard the rich more than the poor. See Job 34:19 and Jam 2:1-9.
19:5
The judgment of God is according to truth. He will see that every transgression and disobedience receive its just reward. A lie may seem to triumph for the time being, but the truth eventually will prevail. See the witnesses against Naboth (1Ki 21:8-13). Note Pro 19:9.
19:6-7
These verses continue the theme began in verse 4. There are always multitudes to serve a nobleman and play the part of friends to one who can be their benefactor. How different was the spirit of Jesus in this world. He received sinners and ate with them; He sought not the smiles of the great, nor feared their frowns! Through the Holy Spirit He commanded those who would follow in His steps to mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate (Rom 12:16).
The world prefers the rich and great over the destitute and outwardly lowly. But let the Christian remember that his Lord appeared on earth as one of the poor whom His brethren despised. His friends went far from Him, though He pursued them with tender entreaties. Surely those who are now linked by grace with Him must always cherish a loving concern for the needy.
19:8
The Hebrew word translated wisdom conveys the idea of sound judgment or common sense. See 15:21.
To pursue moral uprightness and to cleave to understanding bring true peace and lasting happiness. See Timothy (2Ti 3:14-15).
19:9
In 19:5 we are reminded that the liar will not escape judgment. Here we are told what his doom will be-he will perish. He will be destroyed. That is, his hopes will be cut off, and he will go out into the darkness; broken beneath the judgment of God, he will endure unspeakable sorrows forever (Rev 21:8).
19:10
A servant ruling over princes and a fool living in the lap of luxury are both out of place. They indicate conditions that are inconsistent with logical order. Circumstances may arise in which a prince is helpless and obliged to rely on the judgment of someone in a lower position. But the wise servant will use his powers with discretion and remember his true position, though all is under his hand. See Joseph (Gen 47:14-20).
19:11
See note on Pro 14:29. An uncontrolled temper, displayed in hasty, unjudged anger, indicates a man who has never learned the great lesson of self-control. A pompous, conceited person cannot overlook an injury done to him, but must vent his wrath on the offender whenever possible. A man of sound judgment and discretion has learned to pass lightly over offenses and seeming insults that would goad one who lacks wisdom on to intense indignation. Even Esau, whatever his failings otherwise, proved himself when he greeted his brother Jacob (who had greatly offended him) with grace and magnanimity (Gen 33:4-9).
19:12
Because there is great power in the word of a king his wrath is to be dreaded and his gracious favor eagerly sought. How much more fully may the words of this proverb be applied to the coming King, the Lion of the tribe of Judah! When the great day of His wrath has come, how miserable will be the condition of all who do not know His grace. To the repentant soul, this grace is indeed like dew on the grass! Both aspects are illustrated in Pharaohs dealing with his chief butler and his chief baker (Genesis 40).
19:13
The first line of this proverb correlates with Pro 17:25. How unhappy the home where both a foolish son and a contentious wife are found! They are very likely to be found together; for where the wife disputes her husbands authority, siding with the children in opposition to his proper discipline, the effect on the home will be anything but good.
It is a very common thing to see parents disputing and wrangling before their household. The deadly result is that the sons and daughters learn to despise the fathers authority and to defy the mothers correction when she does attempt it. These children grow up with a lawless, disobedient spirit, bent on having their own way and persisting in their refusal to submit to proper discipline. Christian parents may well ponder the instructions given to each in Ephesians 5, Colossians 3, and 1 Peter 3. The contentious wife is illustrated in Michal, the daughter of Saul (2Sa 6:16-23 and 1Ch 15:29).
19:14
See Pro 18:22. One may inherit house and wealth, but none can give a prudent wife but the Lord. It is God who joins man and woman together and therefore forbids man to separate that union. He who said at the beginning, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him, (Gen 2:18) is still concerned about His peoples happiness. Therefore the man of faith can safely trust God to give him the appropriate life-partner. It is when one chooses for himself, relying alone on his poor human judgment instead of waiting on God, that bitter mistakes are made which are often irremediable. To marry in Christ is not necessarily to marry in the Lord. Any marriage between Christians would be in Christ. Only when the will is obedient to the mind of God will marriage be in the Lord. See Rebekahs case, and note how markedly Jehovah ordered all (Genesis 24).
19:15
See notes on Pro 12:24 and 13:4. Many of us fail to realize that idleness is sin. Time wasted must be accounted for at the judgment seat of Christ. Needed rest is, of course, very right and proper. Jesus Himself said to His disciples, Come ye yourselves apart and rest a while (Mar 6:31). But idleness is quite different; laziness is trifling away opportunities that will never return. It is failing to appreciate the value of time. In a physical sense, the sluggard often experiences the pain of hunger; and spiritually, the same is also true. He who lacks godly energy and does not seek nourishment for his soul will come to poverty and experience the pangs of spiritual famine. See Pauls words to both the Ephesian and Colossian saints (Eph 5:16; Col 4:5).
19:16
The truth of this verse is frequently presented in Scripture. It is, so to speak, a kindness to oneself to obey the commandment of the Lord. His Word is a word of life. To forsake it is to die. Therefore he who despises the ways of God and chooses to follow his own course is short-sighted indeed. He is sealing his own destruction and bringing down well-merited wrath on his own head. See Shimei (1Ki 2:36-46).
19:17
It is truly precious to contemplate Jehovah as the patron of the poor. He has left the poor in the world to test the hearts of those who have better provision. He accepts what is done with compassion to relieve the needy, as done for Himself. Money and goods given with loving pity to those in distress are not gone forever. He takes note of every penny and makes Himself responsible to see that all will be repaid; and we may be sure the interest will be greater far than could be realized in any other way. Genuine philanthropy is the result of true love to God. Those who have experienced the love of God in their lives will have a corresponding concern for all men. To do good is well-pleasing to the Lord. Generosity will not lose its reward, even if it is only giving a cup of cold water in His name. The widow of Zarephath was none the poorer for ministering to Elijah in his distress. She found instead an unfailing cruse of oil and an unending supply of meal (1Ki 17:10-16).
19:18
Discipline, firm but gracious, should characterize the home. Brutal punishments, even to endangering the life of the one chastised, are very wrong and opposed to the Spirit of God. Unloving chastisement can only harden, not recover, a wayward child. Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, (Eph 6:4) is a needed admonition in many families. Unreasonable demands and punishments out of proportion to the offense committed should be diligently avoided. Many a child who might have been saved by careful, godly training in his earliest years, has been left to grow up in untrammeled freedom until the father thought he was old enough for chastisement. Then he became the subject of severe treatment that filled his heart with anger and alienated him for life from his well-meaning but exceedingly unwise parent.
The iron hand in the velvet glove has long been the symbol of strict discipline administered in grace. To leave a child to himself is to display a cruel indifference to the fate of one committed to our care. To be heartless and unnecessarily severe in correcting him is the opposite extreme. The Word of God teaches the happy medium that produces the desired results. The child should come to realize that it is his good which is sought. Many irate fathers who merely vented their frustrations have lost the respect of their children. See Sauls unwise treatment of Jonathan, which alienated his heart in place of winning his confidence (1Sa 20:30).
19:19
It is useless to rescue a man given to uncontrolled anger. By the intercessions of his friends he may be delivered from the unhappy consequences that would naturally have followed his outbursts of temper; but he is likely at any time to repeat his bad behavior. He will draw down righteous retribution on his own head and bring trouble and perhaps ruin on his defenders. See 22:24. Such a man is evidently unbroken and lacking in the grace of self-judgment. He should be left to himself until he learns by punishment what he would not receive otherwise. Samuel found it hard to submit to this lesson; he only gave Saul up at last when the Lord distinctly commanded separation from him (1Sa 16:1).
19:20-21
To despise counsel is to play the part of the fool. He who is wise values instruction, especially when it comes from a person in authority. He knows that whatever man may plan and however wisely he may scheme, the counsel of the Lord is certain and will be duly carried out. God has said, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure (Isa 46:10). How vain the man who would dare to set himself in opposition to Gods wisdom and authority. Happy is he who, waiting on God for instruction, obeys implicitly His counsel, and therefore works for and with Him. See Joshuas commission (Jos 1:1-9).
19:22
A kindly, benevolent spirit appeals to all men because it is unselfish and thoughtful of others. But to make great promises while unable to fulfill them is reprehensible. It is far better to be poor and frankly admit ones inability to do what the heart might desire, than to promise largely and be proven untrustworthy. To be what you are, and not to pretend to be what you are not, is a sound principle. An honest person, even if poor, gains the respect of anyone whose good opinion is worth having. See Peter and the lame man (Act 3:6).
19:23
This verse is a synoptic statement of the precious truth unfolded in Psalm 91-the portion of the man who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, abiding under the shadow of the Almighty. He who fears the Lord has no anxious concerns as he rests in the enjoyment of Gods omnipotent power and unchanging love. He can rest satisfied, knowing that he cannot be visited with evil; all things must work together for the good of one who is trusting God. What seems to be evil will become a means of blessing by causing the heart to cling more closely to the God of all grace. See Pauls song of triumph in Rom 8:28-39.
19:24
Having the very means of sustenance before him, the sluggard is too lethargic to avail himself of it. The figure used may seem almost absurdly exaggerated, but it is meant to picture a most extreme case. Though seated at the table with nourishing food in his hand, the eater is overcome by drowsiness; he prefers to abandon himself to ease and sleep rather than rouse himself to take his meal. The Word of God is a feast for the soul. Unfortunately, many sluggards, with abundant opportunity to feed on its precious wisdom, are too indifferent to search and find its treasures for themselves. Eglon, king of Moab, appears to have been this type of man (Jdg 3:17-25).
19:25
To allow a mocker to go unrebuked could put a snare before the feet of the simple, who might conclude that the mockers expression of contempt was irresistible because it was not refuted. It is therefore right and proper to punish him who opposes the truth by exposing before all the fallacies of his position. If he is wise, it will be no hardship to be reproved because, in his wisdom, he values truth more than his own dignity. See Pauls word to Timothy regarding those who are perverted (1Ti 5:20).
19:26
See verse 13 of this chapter. Bitter indeed are the sorrows a rebellious son brings on his parents. Such a child is the incarnation of selfishness. He will ruin his father, spending all his substance for self-gratification. In his stubbornness, he will even drive his mother from him, refusing all correction. Shame and disgrace are thereby brought upon their name; but he is supremely indifferent to all this. Determined to be free from all restraint, he recklessly plunges on to his doom. This is a sad, sad picture, often duplicated in this unhappy world. It is especially characteristic of the last days in which we now live (2Ti 3:2).
19:27
This is a far-reaching command of vast importance. It is an evidence of youthful pride for one to suppose he can listen to all kinds of theories, good and evil, but be defiled by none. Spiritual eclecticism may seem to be characterized by open-mindedness and liberality; but it generally ends by destroying faith. You can only recognize and avoid error when the truth of God is known and delighted in. Therefore it is vital to earnestly and diligently study the Scriptures. When someone proclaims what is contrary to Gods revealed word, it is time to refute him and his teaching. You cannot afford to trifle with unholy doctrine.
Remember that what is opposed to the teaching of the unerring Word of God is directly from Satan. To dabble with it is to expose yourself to its powerful influence. Therefore refuse to hear it.
One simple question is all that needs to be asked of anyone taking the position of a spiritual instructor, in order to detect the bias of his doctrine. It is this: What think ye of Christ? (Mat 22:42) He who is unsound on the nature of Christ is wrong throughout. If the true deity, or divinity, of the Lord Jesus be denied; if the atoning efficacy of His blood be explained away; if the sinlessness of His spotless humanity be in any way clouded, the system is wrong at the foundation, and it will prove to be unsound in all else.
What think ye of Christ? is the test
To try both your state and your scheme.
You cannot be right in the rest,
Unless you think rightly of Him.
J. Newton
For a Christian to continue to hear or support a man who blasphemes his Lord is treason of the darkest hue. If one does not teach the doctrine of Christ, he is to be refused and no fellowship shown him, because he abides in the darkness; and what fellowship hath light with darkness? (2Co 6:14) See the spiritualists of Isaiahs day (Isa 8:19-20), and the Judaizers and Gnostics of the apostolic period (Tit 1:10-11; Col 2:8; 2Jn 1:9-10). All these groups are to be found in our times, multiplied a thousandfold. From such turn away (2Ti 3:5).
19:28-29
These verses present the solemn accounting that awaits an ungodly witness. In this world he mocks justice and correction. His mouth devours iniquity. Although he may be independent now, he will eventually have to learn that God has prepared judgments for him and stripes for his back. Deceit and transgression may seem to go unchecked for a time; but the blow will soon fall that will cause the worthless witness to realize that God cannot be trifled with forever. See Ananias and Sapphira (Act 5:1-11).
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Pro 19:2
The evils of ignorance compared with the evils of blindness.
I. To be blind is, first, to be destitute of the pleasure of the enjoyment of light, and to be afflicted with the pain of darkness. What sunlight and the want of it are to the body, such are knowledge and the want of it to the mind.
II. Just as the blind man is insensible to the beauties of colour and form, and has no share in the pleasures which others derive from the sight of the rainbow, for instance, or the starry firmament, or the flowery meadow, or the smiling infant; so is the ignorant man insensible to the beauties of knowledge, and has no share in that refined pleasure which the man of science and cultivated taste enjoys.
III. A blind man can be but partially employed in business; he is liable to be imposed on; he lives in a state of almost continual apprehension, imagining danger at every sound; and when his alarm is just, he knows not how to escape; though he be put in the right way, he stumbles on the stones, or falls into the ditch, or over the precipice, and is destroyed. An ignorant man is in danger of all this and much more.
IV. Blindness disqualifies a man for giving counsel and direction to others. “If the blind lead the blind, they will both fall into the ditch.” So correctly graphic are these words, when applied metaphorically, that it was in relation to the evils of ignorance they were originally used by our Lord. Especially let the pious man reflect how ignorance disqualifies him for pleading the cause of God; let the patriot reflect how it disqualifies him for benefiting his country; let the philanthropist reflect how it disqualifies him for advancing the interests of humanity.
V. The counsel of all wisdom is that we first acquire for ourselves, and that, professing to be benevolent men, we communicate to others that knowledge which is necessary for our own and their well-being for eternity; which will enable us and them to lay up treasure for the heavenly kingdom; that knowledge of God, His Son, that science of salvation, without which all other scholarship and all other science are the emptiest vanity.
W. Anderson, Discourses, p. 280.
References: Pro 19:2.-J. Budgen, Parochial Sermons, vol. i., p. 1. Pro 19:3.-W. Jay, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 85. Pro 19:4-15.-R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. ii., p. 228. Pro 19:11-19.-W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 142.
Pro 19:21
The text plainly implies a great disconformity-a want of coalescence between the designs of man and God; an estranged spirit of design on the part of man. And the case actually is so in the world. Many of the designs in men’s hearts are formed independently of God; many in contrariety to Him.
I. Independently of Him. In what proportion of men’s internal devisings may we conjecture that there is any real acknowledgment of God? One in ten? One in twenty? In beginning to entertain the design, there is no question made, Will this be approved by Him? The whole devising and prosecution are in a spirit just as if there were no such thing as providence to aid or defeat.
II. But even this is not the worst: man’s heart entertains many devices in contrariety to God. It can cherish “devices” which must sometimes involve a rebellious emotion of displeasure, almost resentment, that there is a Sovereign Lord, whose counsel shall stand.
III. In adverting to these devices we may observe that the counsel of the Lord is sometimes not to prevent the design taking effect in the first instance. He shows that He can let men bring their iniquitous purposes into effect, and then seize that very effect,-reverse its principle of agency and make it produce immense unintended good.
IV. How important is it, that all the designs of the heart should, in principle, be conformed to the spirit of God’s unalterable counsel; that in all our projects we should be conscientiously and solicitously aiming at a general conformity to His will.
J. Foster, Lectures, 2nd series, p. 300.
References: Pro 19:21-29.-R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. ii., p. 254. Pro 19:22.-W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 147. Pro 20:1.-Ibid., p. 152; R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. ii., p. 268. Pro 20:4.-W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 164; T. Champness, Little Foxes, p. 60; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. 1., p. 224. Pro 20:5, Pro 20:6.-W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 170.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 19:1-19 Further Proverbs on Personal Instruction
One may be poor, but walking in integrity, he is far ahead of him who is perverse in his lips and is a fool. Then we find proverbs about fretting against the Lord; warning against false witness and speaking lies and other matters. We call special attention to Pro 19:12.
The Kings wrath is as the roaring of a lion.
But his favour is as dew upon the grass.
It may be applied to Him who is The Lamb of God and also the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Some day He will roar in His displeasure and manifest the wrath, so well deserved by the world. But even then His grace will be revealed, for in wrath He will remember mercy, the mercy promised to Israel. I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth its roots as Lebanon Hos 14:5).
We then read of a foolish son, a contentious wife, concerning houses and riches, a prudent wife. There is a warning against slothfulness, and exhortation to keep the commandments and to pity the poor, for giving to the poor means lending to the Lord. The son is to be chastened as long as there is hope and a warning against sinful wrath. This verse marks the end of this section of proverbs.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Better: Pro 19:22, Pro 12:26, Pro 15:16, Pro 16:8, Pro 28:6, Psa 37:26, Mat 16:26, Jam 2:5, Jam 2:6
perverse: 1Sa 25:17, 1Sa 25:25, Isa 59:3, Mat 12:31-34
Reciprocal: Psa 7:8 – to mine Psa 119:141 – small Pro 20:7 – just Pro 28:11 – the poor Ecc 4:13 – is a poor Ecc 6:8 – the poor Luk 6:20 – Blessed Act 20:30 – speaking Jam 1:9 – the brother Jam 1:26 – bridleth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 19:1-2. Better is the poor Hebrew, , a poor man; that walketh in his integrity Who is upright in his words and actions; he has a better character, is in a better condition, is more beloved, lives to better purpose, and is greater and more excellent in the eyes of God, and of all wise and good men; than he that is perverse in his lips Who is in the habit of uttering sinful and mischievous expressions, however high he may be in rank, wealth, or dignity. Also, that the soul be without knowledge Without wisdom or prudence to discern the right way of speaking and acting, and how a person ought to conduct himself in all affairs, and on all occasions; is not good Is of evil and pernicious consequence; and he that hasteth with his feet That rashly and hastily rushes into actions without serious consideration; sinneth Contracts guilt, and involves himself, and perhaps also many others, into difficulties and troubles. Solomon, in this verse, says Bishop Patrick, observes two great springs of all our miscarriages; want of understanding and want of deliberation. To make too much haste in a business is the way not to speed; and to run blindly upon any thing is no less prejudicial to our undertakings. Both he that affects things without knowledge, and he that pursues what he understands without deliberation, runs into many mistakes, and commits many sins. For which Solomon shows in the next verse that he must blame none but himself, and never, in the least, reflect upon God as if he were negligent of us, or hard to us; which men are prone to think, when they have foolishly undone themselves.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 19:1. Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, in simplicity and honesty of heart, than a fool whose tongue is perverse, and whose body is swoln with corpulency. The contrast of mens conditions, and their diversity of moral character, suggest a world of ideas respecting the conduct and issues of life.
Pro 19:2. That the soul be without knowledge, it is not good. The human mind, godlike in its powers, is worthy of culture. In the year 1780, the county of Dorset was infected with a gang of thieves; at length the gentlemen rose upon them, and hanged ten. The Ordinary procured for them ten prayer-books, and read prayers to them daily. He observed, as he states in a pamphlet, that they did not use the books! He found on enquiry that not one of them could read. This was the case with the poor Irish, drawn into rebellion in the year 1797. This was the case with the untutored French, who on the breaking out of the revolution in 1789, filled their country with bloody atrocities, and degraded its cosmography by burning two hundred and seventy three gentlemens seats. Now the French have established, after the example of England, forty thousand schools in the different communes. We now agree with Solomon, that the feet of the untutored poor haste to sin.
Pro 19:5; Pro 19:9; Pro 19:28. A false witness shall not be unpunished. Our old law was that he shall lose his ears. See on Pro 14:5.
Pro 19:6. Many will entreat the favour of the prince. A fine satire on courtiers, who fatigue the ears of princes for preferment.
Pro 19:11. The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression. sop says, when the ass brayed against the lion, Leo at first was very angry; but afterwards considering within himself that it was only an ass, he walked on.
Pro 19:12. The kings wrath is as the roaring of a lion; against political crimes, cowardice in war, or private villanies. David swore in anger that the rich man who had seized the poor mans ewe lamb should surely die.
Pro 19:17. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord. The earth is the Lords, the bread is for the people; to withhold bread from the aged, the sick, and the blind, is to rob the poor, and incur the anger of heaven. If they cry at all to me, saith the Lord, I will avenge them. They ask to die, as they have lived, in humble cottages. To send them in their last moments to die in a sort of state-prison, with vagrants and the sweepings of the streets, is to break their hearts.
Pro 19:18. Chasten thy son while there is hope. If he steal a toy, make him carry it back; and kindly train him to duty and obedience. Such is the sentiment of St. Paul. Eph 6:4.
Pro 19:26. He that wasteth his father, by prodigality, and chaseth away his mother, refusing her a home and bread, covers his family with shame, and brings on himself destruction. And this case is the more alarming, because it is common.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Proverbs 19. A shrewd turn of sarcasm in Pro 19:3 suggests the attitude of practical wisdom towards that questioning of the moral government of the world which we find in Job.
Pro 19:1. fool: read rich, as in Pro 28:6.
Pro 19:2 a. Both RV and RVm are unsound grammatically. The lit. rendering shows that the clause is defective, Also without knowledge of the soul . . . is not good. Some verb expressing action is required.
Pro 19:2 b. sinneth: read mg. The idea is more haste less speed.
Pro 19:7 c is defective and untranslateable. RVm approaches the lit. rendering, which is he who pursues words, they are not. It is clearly part of a lost couplet.
Pro 19:8. wisdom: lit. heart (mg.), cf. Psa 90:12.
Pro 19:12. The reference to the royal anger (cf. Pro 20:2) suits such conspicuous wrath as is depicted in Esther in the Persian period better than the earlier period of the Jewish monarchy.
Pro 19:13 b. cf. Pro 27:15.
Pro 19:15. deep sleep: the word is generally used for the sleep of a trance (Gen 2:21*), or supernatural sleep. The faculties are benumbed through disuse.
Pro 19:16 b. RVm gives the lit. sense; RV is a paraphrase. Read the word for his ways (cf. Pro 13:13).
Pro 19:19. Many explanations and emendations have been proposed, but none are satisfactory. Frankenbergs may be nearest to the original sense, A man who is fined is very angry, but if he shew contempt (of court) he has to pay more.
Pro 19:22. The want of connexion between the clauses and the words the RV has had to supply, show the hopeless state of the text. The only possible way of establishing a connexion is by the interpretation that a poor man who desires to show kindness but cannot, is better than a rich man who pretends that he is unable to do so. But this forces too much into the text. The LXX has Almsgiving is fruit to a man, and a righteous poor man is better than a rich liar. The connexion lies in the later identification of righteousness with almsgiving.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
4. Further advice for pleasing God 19:1-22:16
As was true in the chapter 10-15 section, this one (Pro 16:1 to Pro 22:16) also becomes more difficult to outline as it ends, because there are fewer groupings of proverbs.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
CHAPTER 20
HUMAN FREEDOM
“The foolishness of man subverteth his way; And his heart fretteth against the Lord.”- Pro 19:3
THERE is such a valuable expansion and commentary on this proverb in the book of Ecclesiasticus that it seems worthwhile to quote it in full:
“Say not, it is through the Lord that I fell away, for the things He hates thou shalt not do. Say not, it is He that caused me to err, for He has no use for a sinful man. Every abomination the Lord hates, neither is it lovely to those that fear Him. He Himself at the outset made Man, and left him in the power of his own control, that, if thou wilt, thou shouldst keep His commandments, and to do faithfully what is pleasing to Him. He set fire and water before thee, that thou shouldst stretch out thy hand to which thou wilt. In front of men is life and death, and whichever a man pleases shall be given to him. Because wide is the wisdom of the Lord; He is mighty in power, beholding all things; and His eyes are upon them that fear Him, and He Himself will take note of every work of man. He never enjoined any one to do wickedly, and He never gave to any one license to sin.” {Sir 15:11-20}
It is our constant tendency to claim whatever good we do as our own doing, and to charge whatever evil we do on causes which are beyond our control, -on heredity, on circumstances of our birth and upbringing, or even on God. The Scriptures, on the other hand, regard all our good deeds as the work which God works within us, when our will is given to Him, while all our evil is ascribed to our own foolish and corrupt will, for which we are, and shall be, held responsible. This is certainly a very remarkable contrast, and we shall do well to take account of it. It is not necessary to run into any extreme statement, to deny the effects either of taints in the blood which we receive from our parents, or of early surroundings and education, or even the enormous influence which other people exercise over us in later life; but when all allowance is made for these recognized facts, the contention of the text is that what really subverts our lives is our own folly, -and not uncontrollable circumstances, -and our folly is due, not to our misfortune, but to our fault.
Now we will not attempt to deal with all the modifications and reservations and refinements which ingenuity might offer to this doctrine; however charity may require us to make allowance for others on the ground of disadvantages, it is questionable whether we help them, and it is certain that we weaken ourselves, by turning attention constantly from the central fact to the surrounding circumstances; we will therefore try to steadily look at this truth of Individual Responsibility, and lay it to heart. When we have acquitted ourselves of blame, and have obtained a discharge in the forum of our own conscience, it will be time to seek other causes of our guilt, and to “fret against the Lord.”
But before we turn inwards and appeal to our own consciousness, may we not observe how absurd it is that the Lord should be charged with responsibility for our sins? What do we know of the Lord except that He hates and abominates sin? It is as the Hater of sin that He is revealed to us in ever-clearer for us from the first page of revelation to the last. But more, the most powerful proof that we possess of His existence is to be found in the voice of conscience within us; we instinctively identify Him with that stern monitor that denounces so vigorously and unsparingly all our offences against holiness. The God of revelation is from the first declared to be “He who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.” The God of conscience is by the very nature of the case identified with the uncompromising sentence against evil; is it not then obviously inconsistent to lay our sins to the charge of God? We are more assured of His Holiness than of His omnipotence; we cannot therefore bring His omnipotence to impeach His Holiness. We see Him as the Avenger of sin before we see Him in any other capacity; we cannot therefore bring any subsequent vision of Him to discredit the first. It is surely the dictate of plain common sense, as St. James says, that “God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempteth no man: but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death.” {Jam 1:13-15}
Now our actual responsibility for our own sins, and the troubles which result from them, will perhaps come out in the clear light of conscience, if we regard our conduct in the following way. We must make an appeal to consciousness. There are actions which, consciousness tells us, rest entirely on our own choice, and concerning which no sophistry, however ingenious, can furnish an adequate exculpation. There was in these cases, as we well remember, the plain offer of an alternative “Fire or Water, Life or Death.” We knew at the time that we were equally able to take either of them; we felt no compulsion; there was, it is true, a great tumult of conflicting motives, but when the motives were balanced and the resulting verdict was declared, we were perfectly conscious that we could, if we chose, reverse the verdict and give our judgment against it. Our first deviations from truth, from purity, from charity, come up before us as we reflect; the struggle which went on survives vividly in memory; and when we yielded to the evil power we were conscious at the time, as we remember still, that our will was to blame. As the lie glided from the lips, as the unhallowed thought was allowed to pass into act, as the rein was thrown on the neck of the evil passion, we knew that we were doing wrong, we felt that by an adequate exercise of the will we could do right. Cast your eye back on the steps by which your character was formed, on the gradual destruction of your finer feelings, on the steady decline of your spiritual instincts, on the slow deadening and searing of your moral sense. Do you not remember how deliberately you submitted to the fascinations of that dangerous friend, whom your conscience entirely disapproved? How willfully you opened and perused the pages of that foul book, which swept over your soul like a mud-torrent and left its slimy sediment there ever after? How you consciously avoided the influence of good people, made every excuse to escape the prayer, the reading, the sermon, which was to you a conscience-stirring influence, an appeal of God to the soul?
AS you retrace those fatal steps, you will be surprised to discover how entirely your own master you were at the time, although the evil deeds done then have forged a chain which limits your freedom now. If at any of those critical moments someone had said to you, Are you free to do just which of the two things you please? You would have replied at once, Why, of course I am. Indeed, if there had been any compulsion to evil, you would have rebelled against it and resisted it. It was really the complete liberty, the sense of power, the delight in following your own desire, that determined your choice. The evil companion persuaded, your conscience dissuaded, neither compelled; when the balance hung even you threw the weight of your will into the scale. The book lay open; curiosity, prurience, impurity, bade you read; your best conviction shamed you and called you away: when the-two forces pulled even, you deliberately gave your support to the evil force. The solemn voice of prayer and worship called you, moving you with mystical power, waking strange desires and hopes and aspirations; the half-mocking voice of the earth was also in your ear, tempting, luring, exciting, and when the sounds were about balanced, you raised up your own voice for the one and gave it the predominance.
Or if now in the bondage of evil you can no longer realize that you were once free, you can look at others who are now where you were then; notice even when you try to tempt your younger companions into evil, how the blush of shame, the furtive glance, the sudden collapse of resistance, plainly proves that the action is one consciously determined by an evil choice; notice how your first blasphemies, your first devil-born doubts, suggestions, and innuendoes, bring the pained expression to the face, and raise a conflict which the will has to decide. In this appeal to consciousness or to observation we must be scrupulously honest with ourselves; we must take infinite pains not to garble the evidence to suit a foregone conclusion or to excuse an accomplished fall. I think we may say that when men are honest with themselves, and in proportion as they are pure and innocent, and not yet bound hand and foot by the bondage of their own sins, they know that they have been free, that in the face of all circumstances they still stood uncommitted; that if they yielded to temptation it was their own “foolishness that subverted their way.”
But now we may pass from these inward moral decisions which have determined our character and made us what we are, to the ordinary actions which form the greater part of our everyday conduct. Here again we are generally inclined to take credit for every course which has a happy issue, and for every unfortunate decision to cast the blame on others. We are reminded, however, that our misfortunes are generally the result of our own folly; we are too impatient, too hasty, too impetuous, too self-willed. “Desire without knowledge is not good, and he that hasteth with his feet misseth the way.” {Pro 19:2} If we look back upon our mistakes in life, it is surprising to see how many were due to our own headstrong determination to follow our own way, and our complete disregard of the prudent counsels which our wiser friends ventured to offer us. “The way of the foolish is right in his own eyes: but he that is wise harkeneth unto counsel.” {Pro 12:15} “Where there is no counsel, purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counselors they are established.” {Pro 15:22} Hear counsel,” is the command of this chapter, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.” {Pro 19:20} “Every purpose is established by counsel,”-affairs of state, whether civil {Pro 11:14} or military, {Pro 20:18} -and so by counsel a man is made strong and is able to carry out the warfare of his own personal life. {Pro 24:5-6} It is well for us therefore not only to accept counsel which is proffered to us, but to be at pains to get it, for it often lies, like the waters of a well, deep down in a mans mind, and requires some patience and skill in order to elicit it. {Pro 20:5}
Our false steps are due to a rash precipitancy which prevents us from looking at the question on all its sides, and learning the views of those who have had experience and know. The calamities which befell us were foreseen by many onlookers, and were even foretold by our friends, but we could accept no advice, no warning. And while therefore it is perfectly true that our own judgment was not sufficient to ward off the evil or prevent the faux pas, we are none the less to blame, our own foolishness has none the less subverted our way, for it was our own fault that we refused to be advised, it was our own incredible folly that made us form so wrong an idea of our wisdom.
Suppose then that in our retrospect of life and in the estimation of our errors, we mark off all those sins for which our conscience duly charges us with direct responsibility, and all those blunders which might have been avoided if we had wisely submitted to more prudent judgments than our own, what is there that remains? Can we point out any group of actions or any kind of errors which are yet unaccounted for, and may possibly be charged on some other person or thing than ourselves? Is there yet some opening by which we may escape responsibility? Are there any effectual and valid excuses that we can successfully urge?
Now it appears that all these possible excuses are netted and completely removed-and every avenue of escape is finally blocked-by this broad consideration; God is at hand as the wisest of Counselors, and we might by simple appeal to Him, and by reverently obeying His commandments, avoid all the evils and the dangers to which we are exposed. So far from being able to excuse ourselves and to lay the blame on God, it is our chief and all-inclusive fault, it is the clearest mark of our foolishness, that we do not resort to Him for help, but constantly follow our own devices; that we do not rely upon His goodness, but idly fret against Him and all His ordinances. “There are many devices in a mans heart,” but over against these feeble, fluctuating, and inconsistent ideas of ours is “the counsel of the Lord, which shall stand.” {Pro 19:21} “The fear of the Lord tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.” {Pro 19:23} There is a way of life, there is a plain commandment, a law of Gods appointing: “He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his soul: but he that is careless of his ways shall.” Pro 19:16 It is simply our own carelessness that is our ruin; if we would pay the slightest heed, if there were one grain of seriousness in us, we should be wise, we should get understanding, and so find good in the salvation of the soul; {Pro 19:8} we should not, as we so often do, “hear instruction, only to err from the words of knowledge.” {Pro 19:27}
We may wonder at the strong conviction with which this truth was urged even under the Jewish law; it may seem to us that the requirements then were so great, and the details so numerous, and the revelation so uncertain, that a man could scarcely be held responsible if he missed the way of life through inadvertence or defective knowledge. Yet even then the path was plain, and if a man missed it he had but himself and his own folly to blame. But how much more plain and sure is everything made for us! Our Lord has not only declared the way, but He is the Way; He has not only given us a commandment to keep, but He has Himself kept it, and offers to the believing soul the powers of an inward life, by which the yoke of obedience becomes easy, and the burden of service is made light. He has become “the end of the law to everyone that believeth.” He has made His offer of Himself not only general, but universal, so that no human being can say that he is excluded, or murmur that he is not able to “keep his soul.” His word has gone out into all the world, and while they have not heard it, being without a law are yet a law unto themselves, and are responsible by virtue of that self-witness which God has given everywhere in Nature, in Society, and in the conscience of man, how can we sufficiently emphasize our own responsibility, to whom God has spoken in the latter days by His own Son! Surely “whoso despiseth the word bringeth destruction on himself.” {Pro 13:13}
If even in that old and darker dispensation the light was so clear that it was chargeable to a mans own folly when he disobeyed, -and “judgments were prepared for scorners, and stripes for the backs of fools,” {Pro 19:29}-what must come upon us who have the clearer light if we willfully and foolishly disobey? The counsel of the Lord stands sure: “There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord.” {Pro 21:30} No authority of wise men, no sneer of wits, no devices of the clever, can in the least avail to set aside His mighty ordinance or to excuse us from disregarding it. “The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but victory is of the Lord.” {Pro 21:31} There can be no evasion, no escape. He Himself, by His own invincible power, will bring home to the hearts of the rebellious the evil of their rebellion, and will send the cruel messenger against them. {Pro 17:11}
Does it not behoove us to remember and consider? To remember our offenses, to consider our guilt and the Lords power? Here is a way of life marked out before you, and there is the way of death; here is the water held out to you, and there is the fire; and you may choose. The way of life is in the Gospel of Gods dear Son; you know that its precepts are perfect, converting the soul, and that Christ Himself is holy, such a one as the earth never bore before or since, you know too that this Holy One came to give His life a ransom for many, that He invited all to come unto Him, and promised to all who came everlasting life. You know that He did give His life a ransom, -as the Good Shepherd He gave Himself for the sheep, and then took again the life which He laid down. You know that He ever liveth to make intercession for us, and that His saving power was not exercised for the last time years and years ago, but this very day, probably just at the moment that I am now speaking to you. The way is plain, and the choice is free; the truth shines, and you can open your eyes to it; the life is offered, and you can accept it. What pretext can you give for not choosing Christ, for not coming to the truth, for not accepting the life?
Is it not clear to you that if you refuse Him that speaketh, and your way is thus subverted, -as indeed it must be, -it is your own folly that is to blame? You fret against the Lord now, and you charge Him foolishly, but some day you will see clearly that this is all a blind and a subterfuge; you will admit that the choice was open to you, and you chose amiss; that life and death were offered to you, and you preferred death.
If any question might be entertained about those who have only the light of conscience to guide them, and have not heard of the direct relation of succor and support which God is ready to give to those who depend upon Him, there can be no doubt of the complete freedom of every human being, who hears the message of the Gospel, to accept it. You may put it aside, you may decline to accept it on the ground of disinclination, or because you consider the historical evidence insufficient, but you will be the first to admit that in doing so you exercise your discretion and consciously choose the course which you take.
Nay, leaving all metaphysical discussion about the freedom of the will, I put it to you simply, Can you not, if you choose, come to Christ now?
Oh, hear counsel and receive instruction: is not the Spirit pleading with you, counseling, teaching, warning you? Do not harden your heart, do not turn away. Attend to Christ now, admit Him now, that you may be wise in your latter end. {Pro 19:20}