Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 20:22
Say not thou, I will recompense evil; [but] wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
22. Comp. Rom 12:17; Rom 12:19.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gods awarding to everyone according to his works, is the true check to the spirit of vindictiveness (compare Rom 12:17, Rom 12:19). Note that man is not told to wait on the Lord in expectation of seeing vengeance on his enemies, but He shall save thee. The difference of the two hopes, in their effect upon the mans character, is incalculable.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 22. I will recompense evil] Wait on the Lord; judgment is his, and his judgments are sure. In the mean time pray for the conversion of your enemy.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Say not thou in thy heart; give not way to any such evil thoughts or purposes.
Wait on the Lord, to whom it belongs to execute vengeance, and to deliver his people from all their enemies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22. (Compare Psa 27:14;Rom 12:17-19).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Say not thou, I will recompense evil,…. With evil; do an injury to one that has done one to you; private revenge is not to be taken, but should be left to God, to whom vengeance belongs,
De 32:35;
[but] wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee; commit thyself and cause to God; leave it with him to avenge thy wrongs; wait upon him in the way of thy duty, and wait his own time to do thee justice; he will at the proper season, and in his own way, save thee from thine enemy, and make a righteous retribution to him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
22 Say not: I will avenge the evil;
Hope in Jahve, so will He help thee.
Men ought always to act toward their neighbours according to the law of love, and not according to the jus talionis , Pro 24:29; they ought not only, by requiting good with evil (Pro 16:13; Psa 7:5, Psa 35:12), not to transgress this law of requital, but they ought to surpass it, by also recompensing not evil with evil ( vid., regarding , and synon. to Pro 17:13); and that is what the proverb means, for 22b supposes injustice suffered, which might stir up a spirit of revenge. It does not, however, say that men ought to commit the taking of vengeance to God; but, in the sense of Rom 12:17-19; 1Pe 3:9, that, renouncing all dependence on self, they ought to commit their deliverance out of the distress into which they have fallen, and their vindication, into the hands of God; for the promise is not that He will avenge them, but that He will help them. The jussive (write , according to Metheg-setzung, 42, with Gaja as , with the to secure distinct utterance to the final guttural) states as a consequence, like, e.g., 2Ki 5:10, what will then happen (Jerome, Luther, Hitzig) if one lets God rule (Gesen. 128, 2c); equally possible, syntactically, is the rendering: that He may help thee (lxx, Ewald); but, regarded as a promise, the words are more in accordance with the spirit of the proverb, and they round it off more expressively.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
22 Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
Those that live in this world must expect to have injuries done them, affronts given them, and trouble wrongfully created them, for we dwell among briers. Now here we are told what to do when we have wrong done us. 1. We must not avenge ourselves, no, nor so much as think of revenge, or design it: “Say not thou, no, not in thy heart, I will recompense evil for evil. Do not please thyself with the thought that some time or other thou shalt have an opportunity of being quits with him. Do not wish revenge, or hope for it, much less resolve upon it, no, not when the injury is fresh and the resentment of it most deep. Never say that thou wilt do a think which thou canst not in faith pray to God to assist thee in, and that thou canst not do in mediating revenge.” 2. We must refer ourselves to God, and leave it to him to plead our cause, to maintain our right, and reckon with those that do us wrong in such a way and manner as he thinks fit and in his own due time: “Wait on the Lord, and attend his pleasure, acquiesce in his will, and he does not say that he will punish him that has injured thee (instead of desiring that thou must forgive him and pray for him), but he will save thee, and that is enough. He will protect thee, so that thy passing by one injury shall not (as is commonly feared) expose thee to another; nay, he will recompense good to thee, to balance thy trouble and encourage thy patience,” as David hoped, when Shimei cursed him, 2 Sam. xvi. 12.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Repay Evil With Good
Verse 22 presents the LORD’s counsel for dealing with evil. Do not return evil for evil, but wait for the LORD to repay the offender and save you from the intended ill. In the meantime, render any aid needed by the offender, Pro 24:29; Pro 25:21; Deu 32:35; Psa 27:14; Rom 12:17; Rom 12:19-20.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 20:22
THE RECOMPENSER OF EVIL
I. The man who has been wronged is disqualified to punish the offender. A sense of pain and suffering is not helpful to a mans judgment. He sees neither things nor persons in the light in which he would see them under happier conditions, and would not be likely to deal impartially with the offender. Hence, both the Bible and wise human governmentswhile freely allowing that he who injures another ought not to go unpunishedforbids men from undertaking the punishment themselves. Every human creature labours under another disqualification also. He is himself a law-breaker in a greater or less degree, and is not himself guiltless in thought and word, and perhaps in deed, of wrong towards his neighbour. The best of men cannot claim to be guiltless in this matter, and the majority are great offenders in one form or another. Therefore on this account also it is not meet for men to avenge their personal wrongs.
II. The most effectual way to rid ones self of the desire for revenge. We do not understand this proverb to forbid the bringing of men who have wronged us to the bar of human justice, for this may be a duty which we owe to society. It would be criminal in most cases not to apprehend one who had robbed us if it lay in our power to do so, for by letting him go free we should be exposing other innocent men to danger. But there are many cases in which men are greatly wronged in ways which do not come within the cognisance of human law, and when no benefit to anyone would arise from their punishment by any human instrumentality. In such cases, the sure remedy for any vindictive feelings in our own breasts is to lay the matter before Him whose judgment must be impartial, and who will render to every man according to his works. Waiting upon the Lord, too, will remind us so forcibly of our own shortcomings and wrongdoings that we shall be more ready to forget those of our brother.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
It is to be observed that it is not said, Wait on the Lord and He will avenge thee, but, He will save thee. By this kind of speech, the Holy Ghost would warn every one that is injured, not to think of the revenge or hurt of his adversary, but of his own defence and salvation.Muffet.
The question is clearly this: Is your safety and protection best lodged in Gods hand or your own? By indulging your revengeful spirit, you do yourself a greater hurt than your greatest enemy can do you, for you gratify his ill-nature, when you suffer it to make a deep impression on your spirit, without which it could do you little or no hurt; but by committing your cause to God, you turn his ill will to your great advantage, making it an occasion for the exercise of the noblest graces, which are attended with the sweetest fruits, and with the rich blessing of God.Lawson.
While Moses is dumb, God speaks; deaf, God sees and stirs. Make God your chancellor, in case no law will relieve, and you shall do yourself no disservice. If compelled to go a mile, rather than revenge, go two, yea, as far as the gospel of peace will carry you, and God will bring you back with everlasting joy (Isa. 35:10). This is the way to be even with him that wrongs you, nay, to be above him.Trapp.
So far should the desire of revenge be from mans heart, so far the execution of revenge from mans hand, that his tongue should not say it. Shall any say, I will revenge, when God says, revenge is mine. Neither let any say, I will revenge because I have been wronged. For, as Tertullian says, what difference is there between being the provoker and the provoked; but that he is first found in wickedness, and the other afterward? Do not therefore provoke God to anger, by seeking revenge in thy anger. Let God have his right.Jermin.
For Homiletics on Pro. 20:23, see on chap. Pro. 11:1, page 190.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(22) Wait on the Lord and he shall save thee.Do not look for vengeance on enemies (for they are to be forgiven), but for deliverance from their attacks; forget their malice, remember only Gods love for thee, and trust in Him. (Comp. 1Pe. 3:13, Rom. 8:28.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
22. Recompense evil Take vengeance, inflict punishment, render evil for evil.
He shall save thee Or help thee; or, let him help thee: not only do right by thee, but save thee from further injuries. So generally understood. But Miller connects this verse with the preceding, and renders: “Say not, I will make the evil good” that is, I will do good with the gains unjustly gotten, and thus atone for the wrong. Whether or not this exposition is precisely the meaning of the proverb, it yields a good sense. Men sometimes snatch at gains which their conscience disallows, thinking to afterward repair the evil. Compare Pro 24:29; Deu 32:35; Rom 3:8; Rom 12:17; 1Pe 3:9; 1Th 5:15.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 22. Say not thou, I will recompense evil,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 20:22 Say not thou, I will recompense evil; [but] wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
Ver. 22. Say not thou, I will recompense evil. ] Much less, swear it, as some miscreants do; to whom, Est vindicta bonum, et vita dulcius ipsa. In reason, tallying of injuries is but justice. It is the first office of justice, saith Cicero, to hurt nobody, unless first provoked by injury. Whereupon Lactantius; O quam simplicem veramque sententiam, saith he, duorum verboram adiectione corrupit! Oh what a dainty sentence marred the orator by adding those two last words! How much better Seneca! Immane verbum est ultio. Revenge is a base word, but a worse deed; it being no less an offence to requite an injury than to offer it, as Lactantius a hath it. The mild and milken man, as his name speaks him, was such an enemy to revenge, that he dislikes the waging either of law or of war with any that have wronged us. Wherein, though I cannot be of his mind, yet I am clearly of the opinion that not revenge , but right should be sought in both. Neither can I hold it valour, but rashness, in our Richard I, who, being told, as he sat at supper, that the French king had besieged his town of Vernoil in Normandy, protested that he would not turn his back until he had confronted the French; and thereupon he caused the wall of his palace that was before him to be broken down toward the south, and posted to the sea coast immediately into Normandy.
But wait on the Lord.
a Non minus mali est injuriam referre quam inferre. – Lact. lnstit., lib. vi. c. 20.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
on = for.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 20:22
Pro 20:22
“Say not thou, I will recompense evil: Wait for Jehovah, and he will save thee.”
One who presumes to take vengeance upon another is usurping a prerogative that belongs to God alone. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament thunder the warning: “Thus saith the Lord, Vengeance is mine, and recompense” (Deu 32:35); “Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord” (Rom 12:19).
Pro 20:22. Pro 24:29 also forbids one saying he will take vengeance. 1Th 5:15 and 1Pe 3:9 also forbid our vengeance-taking and teaches us to render good for their evil. Deu 32:35-36 promises that God will take care of executing vengeance on the wrongdoer, saving us the trouble, keeping us from making some mistakes, and being sure the wrongdoer will get just what he should receive. Paul reminds us of this in Rom 12:19-20, promising that by our doing good to them, some of them will be turned from enmity to friendship (Pro 20:21). Abigail believed this and persuaded David (1Sa 25:9-34), and thereafter David appeared to be completely convinced of the rightness of this procedure (1Sa 26:7-10; 2Sa 16:5-12).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I: Pro 17:13, Pro 24:29, Deu 32:35, Rom 12:17-19, 1Th 5:15, 1Pe 3:9
wait: 2Sa 16:12, Psa 27:14, Psa 37:34, Isa 40:31, Lam 3:25, Lam 3:26, 1Pe 2:23, 1Pe 4:19
Reciprocal: Lev 19:18 – not avenge 1Sa 13:9 – he offered Psa 37:7 – wait Zep 3:8 – wait Mat 5:39 – That 1Co 6:7 – Why
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 20:22. Say not thou, I will recompense evil While we live in the world, we must expect to have injuries done us, affronts given, and much trouble wrongfully created to us. But we must not revenge ourselves; no, not so much as design or think of any such thing. We must not say, no, not in our hearts, I will return evil for evil; but must wait on the Lord, to whom it belongs to execute vengeance, and to deliver his people from all their enemies. We must refer ourselves to him, and leave it to him to plead our cause, or reckon with those that do us wrong, in such a way and manner as he shall think fit, and in his own due time.