Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 21:11
When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.
11. See Pro 19:25, note.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 11. When the scorner is punished] When those who mock at religion, blaspheme against its Author, and endeavour to poison society, and disturb the peace of the community by their false doctrine, meet with that degree of punishment which their crimes, as far as they affect the public peace, deserve; then the simple, who were either led away, or in danger of being led away, by their pernicious doctrines, are made wise. And when those thus made wise are instructed in the important truths which have been decried by those unprincipled men, then they receive knowledge; and one such public example is made a blessing to thousands. But only blasphemy against God and the Bible should be thus punished. Private opinion the state should not meddle with.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The simple; the honest or plain-hearted man, as Pro 19:25, where this whole verse for the substance of it is contained and explained.
Instructed; or, prospers, as this word is used, Pro 17:8, and elsewhere. So the sense of the verse is, The simple learn wisdom, both from the punishment of wicked men, and from the prosperity of good men.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. (Compare Pr19:25). That which the simple learn by the terrors of punishment,the wise learn by teaching.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
When the scorner is punished,…. Either by the immediate hand of God, or by the civil magistrate; he who scoffs at Deity, blasphemes the most High, mocks at all religion, despises dominion, and speaks evil of dignities:
the simple is made wise; who is weak and foolish, easily persuaded and drawn into sin, yet not hardened in it, but open to reproof and conviction; he takes notice of the punishment of scorners, and takes warning from it, and behaves more wisely and cautiously for the future; see Pr 19:25;
and when the wise is instructed; by others, superior to him in wisdom; by the ministers of the Gospel, by reading and hearing the word of God, and the writings of good men; or by corrections and chastisements:
he receiveth knowledge; the wise man receives it, he attends to the instruction given him, and improves in knowledge: or rather the simple man gains knowledge by the instructions given to wise men; he learns by them, as well as by what he is taught himself. It is by some rendered, “when the wise prospers, he receiveth knowledge” x the simple man learns much both from the adversity and prosperity of others; and to this sense is the note of Gersom,
“when he sees how the ways of a wise man prosper, then he studies to get knowledge.”
x So Munster, and some in Mercer.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
11 When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise;
And when insight is imparted to a wise man, he receives knowledge.
The thought is the same as at Pro 19:25. The mocker at religion and virtue is incorrigible, punishment avails him nothing, but yet it is not lost; for as a warning example it teaches the simple, who might otherwise be easily drawn into the same frivolity. On the other hand, the wise man needs no punishment, but only strengthening and furtherance: if “instruction” is imparted to him, he embraces it, makes it his own ; for, being accessible to better insight, he gains more and more knowledge. De Dieu, Bertheau, and Zckler make “the simple” the subject also in 11b: and if a wise man prospers, he (the simple) gains knowledge. But , used thus impersonally, is unheard of; wherefore Hitzig erases the before erofeb eh : if a wise man has prosperity. But does not properly mean to have prosperity, but only mediately: to act with insight, and on that account with success. The thought that the simple, on the one side, by the merited punishment of the mocker; on the other, by the intelligent prosperous conduct of the wise, comes to reflection, to reason, may indeed be entertained, but the traditional form of the proverb does not need any correction. may be used not only transitively: to gain insight, Gen 3:6; Psa 2:10, and elsewhere, but also causatively: to make intelligent, with the accus. following, Pro 16:23; Psa 32:8, or: to offer, present insight, as here with the dat.-obj. following (cf. Pro 17:26). Instead of , the Kametz of which is false, Codd. and good Edd. have, rightly, . Hitzig, making “the wise” the subject to (and accordingly “the scorner” would be the subject in 11a), as a correct consequence reads = . For us, with that first correction, this second one also fails. “Both infinitivi constr.,” Fleischer remarks, “are to be taken passively; for the Semitic infin., even of transitive form, as it has no designation of gender, time, and person, is an indeterminate modus, even in regard to the generis verbi (Act. and Pass.).”
(Note: The Arab. National Grammarians, it is true, view the matter otherwise. When katlu zydn , the putting to death of Zeid, is used in the sense of Zeid’s becoming dead, according to their view the fa’l (the gen. subjecti) is omitted; the full expression would be katlu ‘amrn zaydna . Since now ‘amrn is omitted, zaydn has in the gen. form taken the place of the fa’l , but this gen. is the representative of the acc. objecti. Without thus going round about, we say: it is the gen. objecti.)
To this proverb with u – behaskil there is connected the one that follows, beginning with maskil.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
11 When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.
This we had before (ch. xix. 25), and it shows that there are two ways by which the simple may be made wise:– 1. By the punishments that are inflicted on those that are incorrigibly wicked. Let the law be executed upon a scorner, and even he that is simple will be awakened and alarmed by it, and will discern, more than he did, the evil of sin, and will take warning by it and take heed. 2. By the instructions that are given to those that are wise and willing to be taught: When the wise is instructed by the preaching of the word he (not only the wise himself, but the simple that stands by) receives knowledge. It is no injustice at all to take a good lesson to ourselves which was designed for another.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
The Value of Punishment
Verse 11- See comment on Pro 19:25.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 21:11. Instructed, Zckler translates this prospereth, and understands the simple to be the subject of both clauses of the verse.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 21:11
INSTRUCTION FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT
I. An inevitable event in the history of the scorner. It is here taken for granted that he will be punishedthat he who sets at nought the counsel, and will have none of the reproof of wisdom, will have his day of reckoning. The day of his calamity and fear will come (chap. Pro. 1:27). Throughout this book, as throughout all the inspired writings, sin and punishment are linked as cause and effect. There is punishment in the constantly increasing dominion of evil in the soul, and there is punishment in the stings of conscience; but there is also punishment by the direct interposition of God, and it is to this that the proverb evidently points.
II. One of the fruits of wisdom. He who is wise will be instructed. Having used what he has, he will in accordance with the Divine law receive more. To him that hath shall be given (Mar. 4:25). He who by a wise use of five talents has gained other five, shall have his store increased still more. This is likewise a foundation principle of this book, that the wise are those who are willing to be instructed, and that to those who desire instruction it will not be wanting. The special point of the verse is in the fact
III. That the punishment of the evil man, and the soul-advancement of the good, have a work to do outside the men themselves. When the scorner receives punishment others receive instruction. This is one of its objects. A good ruler, as we have before seen (chap. Pro. 20:26), is bound to distinguish between the righteous and the wicked for many reasons, and for this reason among others, that the punishment of one offender may prevent others from committing a like offence. Men often learn by example what they would not learn by preceptthe inexperienced are often more deeply impressed by one instance of retributive justice than they would be by many admonitions in word. This is, as we know from Gods Word, one end of His visitations. For this cause, said God to Pharaoh, have I raised thee up, for to show in thee My power, and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth (Exo. 9:16). There are vessels belonging to our navy which are past repair, and are therefore unfit for sea. Yet they are retained as light-ships along the coast, and are useful in preventing better ships from going to pieces on the rocks. Pharaoh had long scorned the commands and the judgments of Jehovah, and his own doom was fast hastening on. But he would still serve as a beacon-light to save othersby his punishment the simple would be made wise. But there is the other and brighter side of the picture. The inexperienced are allured to goodness by the advancement of the good, as well as deterred from evil by the downfall of the wicked. When the simple sees the wise man in the attitude of a learnerwhen he finds that the wiser he is the more he desires instruction; and when he marks the effect of his humility and earnestness in his growth in all that is calculated to win him respect and to afford him real satisfaction, he receives knowledge by the instruction of the wise as well as by the punishment of the scorner.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
A respectful sinner; how is he a scorner? The Holy Ghost plainly intends just the shock that such words occasion. If a man hears that he should repent, and knows the reasons, and among the reasons are facts like hell, and calls like Christs, and scenes like death, with all the realities of an eternal judgment, is there any spoken scorn that can be thought of as more scornful than the acted scorn of not repenting? The simple becomes wise, i.e., the subject or the witness of the punishment, just as it may happen Punishment never wastes. The wicked may be thrust lower by his evil (chap. Pro. 14:32), but some saint receives the lesson. This principle reaches through the system. The philosophy of hell is its good-doing through all the universe.Miller.
It is a stroke easily taken which another feels, the receiver only fears, and it is a blow haply given which, striking one, reacheth two; the scorner to his reward, the simple to his amendment Let it therefore be a sharp punishment which is inflicted; smite a scorner, for such it is that the scorner deserveth, and it will work upon the simple, though not by the touch of the punishment yet by the virtue of it. And when wisdom hath once subdued him by fear, then will it lead him on to hear the wise, and by attention to receive knowledge.Jermin.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
TEXT Pro. 21:11-20
11.
When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise;
And when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.
12.
The righteous man considereth the house of the wicked,
How the wicked are overthrown to their ruin.
13.
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor,
He also shall cry, but shall not be heard.
14.
A gift in secret pacifieth anger;
And a present in the bosom, strong wrath.
15.
It is joy to the righteous to do justice;
But it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.
16.
The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding
Shall rest in the assembly of the dead.
17.
He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man:
He that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.
18.
The wicked is a ransom for the righteous;
And the treacherous cometh in the stead of the upright.
19.
It is better to dwell in a desert land,
Than with a contentious and fretful woman.
20.
There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise;
But a foolish man swalloweth it up.
STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 21:11-20
1.
What three classes of persons are mentioned in Pro. 21:11?
2.
From what you know of yourself, in which class are you (Pro. 21:11)?
3.
Does the truth of Pro. 21:12 help keep a righteous man in the way of the righteousness?
4.
How is Pro. 21:13 a fulfillment of Gal. 6:7?
5.
Does Pro. 21:14 present parallels at each point in the two clauses?
6.
What is the antecedent word or thought of the it in the second clause (Pro. 21:15)?
7.
What picture do you get from the word wandereth in Pro. 21:16?
8.
Why would pleasure make a man poor in Bible days (Pro. 21:17)?
9.
How would oil enter into the picture in Pro. 21:17?
10.
When is the wicked a ransom for the righteous (Pro. 21:18)?
11.
What is meant by the last clause in Pro. 21:18?
12.
Where else besides a desert is it better to dwell than with a contentious woman (Pro. 21:19)?
13.
What does swallow up mean in Pro. 21:20?
PARAPHRASE OF 21:11-20
11.
The wise man learns by listening; the simpleton can learn only by seeing scorners punished.
12.
The godly learn by watching ruin overtake the wicked.
13.
He who shuts his ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in his own time of need.
14, 15.
An angry man may be silenced by a bribe, while the good man loves truth and justice. But the evil man fears these beyond all else, for they spell his doom.
16.
The man who strays away from common sense will end up dead!
17.
A man who lives pleasure becomes poor; wine and luxury are not the way to riches.
18.
The wicked will finally lose; the righteous will finally win.
19.
Better to live in the desert than with a quarrelsome, complaining women.
20.
The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish men spends whatever he gets.
COMMENTS ON 21:11-20
Pro. 21:11. Pro. 19:25 sets forth similar truths. Even if punishment doesnt help the scoffer himself (and sometimes it doesnt), it will help the onlooking-simple who might have gotten into the same thing. God even commanded to smite certain sinners with death that others might be helped: Deu. 13:6-11; Deu. 17:8-13; Deu. 19:16-20; Deu. 21:18-21. When God smote Ananias and Sapphira, great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all that heard these things (Act. 5:11), and you can be sure that nobody else was even tempted to do what they had done! When Paul wrote that stern, corrective letter (I Cor.) to the Corinthian church, which resulted in its withdrawing from the incestuous man (1 Corinthians 5; 2Co. 2:4-7), it also did much for the congregation itself (2Co. 7:8-11). The latter part of our verse shows that a wise man is easy to instruct and gains much from it (Pro. 14:6). Such is a teachers joy. But it is hard to instruct those who do not want to listen (Heb. 5:11).
Pro. 21:12. In keeping with Pro. 21:11 this verse shows that the righteous person is also a wise person who learns not only from instruction (Pro. 21:11) but also from observation, not having to go through bitter experiences to learn (like Jonah). He notices what happens to the wicked, and he learns from it because he considers it or thinks upon it, Seeing what happens to the wicked is good reason not to choose their way!
Pro. 21:13. Pulpit Commentary: A two-fold retribution is threatened on the unmerciful man: he himself shall fall into distress, and shall appeal to his neighbors for help in vain. Oh, how quickly the tables of life can be turned! Those who refuse to help others today may stand in need of help tomorrow, but no help will be forthcoming. People who know how such a one has acted will not be touched to help him, and God will not move others to help him either. And oh, how bitter the cries when they are ours and when no one will listen!
Pro. 21:14. A triple parallel: gift and present, in secret and in the bosom, and anger and strong wrath. Pulpit Commentary: A gift offered secretly to one incensed, whether personal enemy, judge, or prince, averts the consequences of the offence. Concerning in the bosom Pulpit Commentary remarks, A present kept handy in the bosom of the petitioners garment, ready to be transferred at a fitting moment. Though this is the way it often works, it is not right (1Sa. 12:3-5) Pro. 8:3; Amo. 5:12).
Pro. 21:15. Pro. 10:29 sets forth similar truth. The righteous rejoice over justice (as does God), but not the workers of iniquity, for justice is their destruction. Jesus loved righteousness and hated iniquity (Heb. 1:9), and the Bible commands us to abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good (Rom. 12:9). When we do this, we are for truth (facts) and honesty in dealing with cases brought before the court.
Pro. 21:16. Wandereth out of the way of understanding characterizes one who leaves, departs, goes astray from the established path. Shall rest in the assembly of the dead is used ironically: such probably thought or boasted that he would find the good way, but it didnt end as he had invisioned, for the rest to which such departures lead is the rest of death. King Ahab knew better when he allowed Jezebel to acquire Naboths vineyard for him as she did (1Ki. 21:1-16), but it did him no good, leading to his death (1Ki. 21:17-22). We should know the right way (Eph. 5:17), walk the right way (Jer. 6:16), and not forsake it (2Pe. 2:20-21). This verse reminds one of Judes statement of wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved for ever (Jud. 1:13). Men, like meteors that break off and go flying through space, soon come to their everlasting end!
Pro. 21:17. Another parallelism: loveth pleasure and loveth wine and oil mean the same as do shall be a poor man and shall not be rich. To have a good time the worlds way has always involved a constant expenditure of money (one cause of becoming poor), and such life also diverts one from his work and business interests (another cause). Oh, the multitude of pleasures for people today to get involved in and sidetracked by!
Pro. 21:18. Ransom in the first clause and in the stead of in the second show that something happens to the wicked that might have happened to the righteous or that results in a better state for the righteous. Clarke: God often in his judgments cuts off the wicked in order to prevent them from destroying the righteous. And in general we find that the wicked fall into the traps and pits they have digged for the righteous. Pro. 11:8 says, The righteous is delivered out of trouble; And the wicked cometh in his stead. As wicked Babylon fell, Gods people were blessed with liberation. By punishing the scorner, others are spared from falling into the same sin and suffering the same fate (Pro. 21:11-12).
Pro. 21:19. This is very similar to Pro. 21:9 and Pro. 25:24. There are some kinds of women who will ruin a mans life: a contentious woman (this verse); a fretful woman (this verse); and an odious woman (Pro. 30:23). Since it is better to dwell in a desert than with such a woman, is not this proverb saying that it is better not to be married than to be married to such a person? Since there is a noticeable percentage of people so married, should it not be some comfort to the unmarried that at least they are in the class that Proverbs says is better than that?
Pro. 21:20. Wisdom knows the earthly value of precious treasure and oil (olive oil, which was so useful in Bible days). Men of God like Job, Abraham, David, and others were blessed with an abundance of these, yet they were apparently not selfish with them (did Abraham appear selfish in offering nephew Lot the choice of the land in Gen. 13:2-12?) but were willing to give to others from their store (Job. 31:16-23). The contrast within our verse shows that the foolish devours everything he gets his hands on. Is this not the way with many today? They draw big money per hour, blow it all in, and the slightest emergency proves to be a major calamity financially. The Bible says that we are (1) to labor (2) at honest occupations (3) so that we will have something left over above our own needs to give to those who are in need (Eph. 4:28).
TEST QUESTIONS OVER 21:11-20
1.
Who always profits when a scoffer is punished (Pro. 21:11)?
2.
What is the wise persons response to instruction (Pro. 21:12)?
3.
According to Pro. 21:12 a wise person not only learns from instruction but also from ……………….
4.
Why do the righteous learn from the calamities that come upon the wicked (Pro. 21:12)?
5.
What double calamity does Pro. 21:13 say will come upon the man who is unmerciful to the needy?
6.
Comment upon in the bosom (Pro. 21:14).
7.
Is Pro. 21:14 justifying bribes or observing why men often resort to them?
8.
How do the righteous feel about justice (Pro. 21:15)?
9.
Why do the workers of iniquity not rejoice over justice (Pro. 21:15)?
10.
Cite Bible examples of men who wandered out of the way that they knew to be right and suffered the end mentioned in Pro. 21:16.
11.
Cite the parallels in Pro. 21:17.
12.
In what two ways can pleasure-lovers be made poor (Pro. 21:17)?
13.
What did you understand from Pro. 21:18?
14.
What is the single life of an unmarried person better than (Pro. 21:19)?
15.
What is the difference between the wise and the foolish with reference to material things (Pro. 21:20)?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(11) When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise.See above on Pro. 19:25.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Scorner punished A “scorner” a hopeless offender is to be punished, etc., solely for the benefit of others; a man of less guilt, and recoverable, in a milder way, as discipline for himself. Stuart says: “A simpleton needs the fear of punishment; the wise, only admonition.” Miller is pungent: “Punishment is never wasted. The wicked may be thrust lower by the evil, (Pro 14:32😉 but some saint receives the lesson.”
Instructed May be rendered prospered. Some, as Zockler, understand the teaching to be, that the “simple” uninstructed ones learn both from the punishment of the wicked and the prosperity of the wise.
Wise receiveth knowledge Comp, Pro 19:25. Some understand this statement of the simple, untutored one of the first clause; others, of the wise man of the latter clause. The Speaker’s Commentary renders the proverb as treating, like Pro 19:25, of the final causes of punishment.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 11. When the scorner is punished,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 21:11. When the scorner is punished When the scorner is punished, the humble is made more wise; when the wise man prospers, the same person will acquire knowledge. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 21:11 When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.
Ver. 11. When the scorner is punished, &c. ] See Trapp on “ Pro 19:25 “
And when the wise is instructed.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
scorner = scoffer.
instructed = corrected.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 21:11
Pro 21:11
“When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise; And when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.”
This is parallel with Pro 21:19-25. See the comment there.
Pro 21:11. Pro 19:25 sets forth similar truths. Even if punishment doesnt help the scoffer himself (and sometimes it doesnt), it will help the onlooking-simple who might have gotten into the same thing. God even commanded to smite certain sinners with death that others might be helped: Deu 13:6-11; Deu 17:8-13; Deu 19:16-20; Deu 21:18-21. When God smote Ananias and Sapphira, great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all that heard these things (Act 5:11), and you can be sure that nobody else was even tempted to do what they had done! When Paul wrote that stern, corrective letter (I Cor.) to the Corinthian church, which resulted in its withdrawing from the incestuous man (1 Corinthians 5; 2Co 2:4-7), it also did much for the congregation itself (2Co 7:8-11). The latter part of our verse shows that a wise man is easy to instruct and gains much from it (Pro 14:6). Such is a teachers joy. But it is hard to instruct those who do not want to listen (Heb 5:11).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the scorner: Pro 19:25, Num 16:34, Deu 13:11, Deu 21:21, Psa 64:7-9, Act 5:5, Act 5:11-14, 1Co 10:6-11, Heb 2:1-3, Heb 10:28, Heb 10:29, Rev 11:13
when the wise: Pro 1:5, Pro 9:9, Pro 15:14, Pro 18:1, Pro 18:15
Reciprocal: Deu 17:12 – thou shalt Deu 19:20 – General Pro 1:22 – the scorners
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 21:11-12. When the scorner, &c. Houbigant renders this verse, When the scorner is punished, the humble is made more wise; and when the wise man prospers, the same person will acquire knowledge. The sense evidently is, The simple learn wisdom both from the punishment of wicked men, and from the prosperity of good men. The righteous man wisely considereth, &c. He looketh through the present power and glory of the house, or family, of the wicked, which dazzles the eye of others, unto that ruin to which it is hastening; but God, or rather: now, or that, God overthroweth, or will overthrow, the wicked for his wickedness Namely, in due time, though for a season he bear with them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
21:11 {e} When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.
(e) Read Pro 19:25.