Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 22:4
By humility [and] the fear of the LORD [are] riches, and honor, and life.
4. By humility &c.] Rather, The reward of humility and (or, even) of the fear of the Lord. The copula and is dispensed with in the Heb. because of the similarity, amounting almost to identity, of humility and the fear of Jehovah. Comp. Mat 5:3; Mat 5:5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Better, (compare the margin) The reward of humility (is) the fear of the Lord, riches, and honor, and life.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 22:4
By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life.
Humility recommended
Every being pursues its own perfection, and would fain be satisfied in all the capacities it understands, and in all the importunate appetites it feels. God draws us insensibly to virtue and obedience, by annexing those good things which we all perceive, admire, and prosecute to the practice of those moral duties which are equally our happiness, but not so easily discerned. The text encourages humility, from the consideration of the great advantages we may reasonably expect from the practice of it, even all that is good and desirable in this present world–both riches, and honour, and life.
I. A duty recommended. Humility, with the fear of the Lord. The definition, nature, and principles of humility in general. Humility is a habit or temper of mind, proceeding from a principle of religion, which subdues all lofty, false opinions of ones self, and disposes a man to cheerful acquiescence in all estates and conditions of life that God shall place him in. It is a habit of mind, a frame or temper of soul; for a virtue cannot be defined by single actions. It is such a habit of soul as must be framed and wrought by a principle of religion or the fear of God. Nothing can be a virtue in us that we have not chosen. Mere depression of mind is not humility. Christian humility consists in a modest, just opinion of ourselves, and a cheerful submission to the will of God.
II. The several parts and exercises of the duty so defined. The principal exercises of humility are–
1. In our desires and aims.
2. In our looks and gestures.
3. In our garb and habit. But principally–
4. In our conversation with our acquaintance, friends, and equals; with our superiors; with our inferiors.
III. The rewards proposed to persuade and encourage the practice of it.
1. Riches, and honour, and life are real blessings, and the proper matter of reward.
2. Humility, with the fear of the Lord, will certainly procure them. They that seek God may expect to attain these rewards, by a natural power and efficacy in the virtue itself. By an efficacy moral, there is something in the practice of humility that disposes kindly to all those several ends. By an efficacy Divine and spiritual, the blessing of God will assist and forward the designs of the humble, and so dispose and order second causes that they shall live in plenty, peace, and honour, to a good old age. Set the example of our blessed Saviour before your eyes, who humbled Himself to death upon the Cross for us. (J. Lambe.)
Humility, with fear
These two are naturally associated. They are indeed inseparable. Lowliness of spirit is an indispensable characteristic of a religious life. It is in the valley of humiliation that the sinner first meets with God, and comes into a state of reconciliation with Him. The spirit of pride cannot dwell in the same heart with the fear of the Lord. (R. Wardlaw, D.D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
By humility; or, because of humility; or, as many others render it, the reward of humility; that reward which God hath graciously promised and will give to humility; which is a grace of great price in Gods eyes. See Isa 57:15; Jam 4:6.
The fear of the Lord; by which he distinguisheth true and Christian humility from counterfeit and moral humility, because that ariseth from a deep sense of Gods greatness, and purity, and perfection, compared with our meanness, and filthiness and manifold imperfections, whereas this is quite of another nature, and from other grounds.
Life; the comforts of this life, and the happiness of the next, both which are promised to godliness, 1Th 4:8.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. humility and the fear of theLordare in apposition; one produces the other. On the results,compare Pro 3:16; Pro 8:18.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
By humility [and] the fear of the Lord,…. Some render it, “the reward of humility, which [is] the fear of the Lord” r; so the Targum; an humble man is blessed with it. Jarchi’s note is,
“because of humility, the fear of the Lord comes;”
humility leads on to the fear of the Lord; he that behaves humbly towards man comes at length to fear the Lord, and be truly religious: though these are rather to be considered as the graces of the Spirit of God, which go together where there is one, there is the other; he that is humbled under a sense of sin, and his own unworthiness, fears the Lord; and he that fears the Lord, and his goodness, will walk humbly before him; they both flow from the grace of God, are very ornamental, and attended with the following happy consequences;
[are] riches, and honour, and life; spiritual riches, the riches of grace and glory; honour with God and men now, and everlasting life in the world to come.
r “praemium mansuetudinis, quae est reverentia Jehovae”, Schultens; “merces humilitatis timor Domini”, Baynus; “praemium humilitatis est timor Domini”: Tigurine version; so Vatablus, Mercerus, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
4 The reward of humility is the fear of Jahve,
Is riches, and honour, and life.
As , Psa 45:5, is understood of the two virtues, meekness and righteousness, so here the three Gttingen divines (Ewald, Bertheau, and Elster), as also Dunasch, see in ‘ an asyndeton; the poet would then have omitted vav, because instead of the copulative connection he preferred the appositional (Schultens: praemium mansuetudinis quae est reverentia Jehovae ) or the permutative (the reward of humility; more accurately expressed: the fear of God). It is in favour of this interpretation that the verse following (Pro 22:5) also shows an asyndeton. Luther otherwise: where one abides in the fear of the Lord; and Oetinger: the reward of humility, endurance, calmness in the fear of the Lord, is…; Fleischer also interprets ‘ as Pro 21:4, ( lucerna impiroum vitiosa ), as the accus. of the nearer definition. But then is the nearest-lying construction: the reward of humility is the fear of God, as all old interpreters understand 4a ( e.g., Symmachus, ), a thought so incomprehensible, that one must adopt one or other of these expedients? On the one side, we may indeed say that the fear of God brings humility with it; but, on the other hand, it is just as conformable to experience that the fear of God is a consequence of humility; for actually to subordinate oneself to God, and to give honour to Him alone, one must have broken his self-will, and come to the knowledge of himself in his dependence, nothingness, and sin; and one consequence by which humility is rewarded, may be called the fear of God, because it is the root of all wisdom, or as is here said (cf. Pro 3:16; Pro 8:18), because riches, and honour, and life are in its train. Thus 4a is a concluded sentence, which in 4b is so continued, that from 4a the predicate is to be continued: the reward of humility is the fear of God; it is at the same time riches… Hitzig conjectures ‘ , the beholding Jahve; but the visio Dei ( beatifica ) is not a dogmatic idea thus expressed in the O.T. denotes what follows a thing, from , to tread on the heels (Fleischer); for (Arab. ‘akib ) is the heels, as the incurvation of the foot; and , the consequence (cf. Arab. ‘akb , ‘ukb , posteritas ), is mediated through the v. denom. , to tread on the heels, to follow on the heels (cf. denominatives, such as Arab. batn , zahr , ‘an , , to strike the body, the back, the eye).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
4 By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.
See here, 1. Wherein religion does very much consist–in humility and the fear of the Lord; that is, walking humbly with God. We must so reverence God’s majesty and authority as to submit with all humility to the commands of his word and the disposals of his providence. We must have such low thoughts of ourselves as to behave humbly towards God and man. Where the fear of God is there will be humility. 2. What is to be gotten by it–riches, and honour, and comfort, and long life, in this world, as far as God sees good, at least spiritual riches and honour in the favour of God, and the promises and privileges of the covenant of grace, and eternal life at last.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Riches, Honor and Life
Verse 4 declares that riches, honor, and life are rewards of humility and fear of the LORD. The blessings in view are tremendous, extending beyond this life to the hereafter (see Psa 112:1-3), and subject to the wisdom of the LORD and various conditions embraced by true humility and fear (submissive reverence ,for) the LORD. It is not a blanket promise that all shall be made materially rich in this life. See comments on Pro 10:4-5; Pro 10:15; Pro 10:22; Pro 3:13-16; Pro 11:28; Pro 13:7; Pro 14:24; Pro 22:1; Pro 22:16; Pro 24:3-4; Pro 27:24; Pro 28:6; Pro 28:22; Pro 30:7-9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(4) By humility and the fear of the Lord.Rather, by (or, the reward of) humility is the fear of the Lord. He guides the humble and teaches them His fear. (Comp. Psa. 25:9.)
Honour, and life.Comp. Pro. 21:21.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. By humility On account of; or, as the reward of, “humility.”
The fear of the Lord There is no conjunction between these two phrases, and some think that the latter stands in apposition to the former, and is explanatory of it religious humility, or humble piety those lowly views of one’s self which reverence for Jehovah inspires. The usual promises of the old dispensation are extended to this humble piety. Under the new we have “better promises,” or the old ones exalted to a nobler meaning. Compare Mat 5:3; Mat 18:4; Mat 20:20; Mat 23:12; Luk 14:11; Psa 51:17; Pro 15:33; Pro 16:19; Pro 29:23; Isa 57:15; Isa 66:2; Job 22:29; 1Pe 5:5; Jas 4:6.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 4. By humility and the fear of the Lord,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 22:4. By humility and the fear of the Lord The reward of meekness, which is the fear of the Lord, is wealth, &c. Schultens. Houbigant renders it, The rewards of modesty and the fear of the Lord, are, &c. Or it may be rendered, The fruit of humility. &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 22:4 By humility [and] the fear of the LORD [are] riches, and honour, and life.
Ver. 4. By humility and the fear of the Lord. ] Heb., The heel of humility, &c. The humble heart that lies low, and “hearkens what God the Lord will say unto it,” that follows him trembling, as the people followed Saul, 1Sa 13:7 shall have hard at the heels of it riches – a sufficiency, if not a superfluity – and honour, which is to be chosen before riches, Pro 22:1 See Trapp on “ Pro 22:1 “ and life, above the danger of those thorns and snares mentioned in the next verse; not life present only, but “length of days for ever and ever.” Psa 21:4 Oh the , the heaped up happiness of a man that humbles and trembles before the Lord! He that doth the former, cannot but do the latter. Hence that close connection of these two graces in this text, “By humility, the fear of the Lord”; so the original runs without the grammatical copulative and, to show that they go always together – yea, the one is as it were predicated upon the other. Neither want they their reward – “riches,” “hohour,” “life.” What things be these? Who would not turn spiritual purchaser?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
By humility, &c. = The reward of humility [that is] the fear of the Jehovah, will be, &c.
the fear of the LORD. See note on Pro 1:7.
life: i.e. resurrection and eternal life. See note on Lev 18:5; not necessarily long life on earth.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 22:4
Pro 22:4
“The reward of humility and the fear of Jehovah Is riches, and honor, and life.”
This verse, which stresses humility and the fear of the Lord, “Sums up several of the principal lessons of Proverbs. As a matter of fact, it gives a brief summary of the chief obligations of human life on earth.
Pro 22:4. humility and the fear of Jehovah are here equated, for those who truly fear Jehovah are humble, submissive, and obedient to Him. The reward of such is threefold: riches, honor and long life. Here is the way that one can have both possessions and good reputation with life thrown in as a bonus. Abraham is a good example of all three. God rewards those who thus fear Him and do His will from humble hearts.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
fear
(See Scofield “Psa 19:9”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
By: etc. Heb. The reward of humility, etc. Pro 3:16, Pro 21:21, Psa 34:9, Psa 34:10, Psa 112:1-3, Isa 33:6, Isa 57:15, Mat 6:33, 1Ti 4:8, Jam 4:6, Jam 4:10
Reciprocal: Gen 24:35 – the Lord Deu 6:24 – he might Deu 22:7 – thou mayest Job 42:10 – the Lord Psa 91:16 – With long life Pro 4:8 – General Dan 4:36 – added
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 22:4. By humility Hebrew, , because of humility; or, as some render the expression, the reward of humility, that reward which God has graciously promised, and will confer on humility, which is a grace of great price in his eyes, Isa 57:15; Jas 4:6; and the fear of the Lord By which he distinguishes true and Christian humility from counterfeit and merely moral humility: for the former arises from a deep sense of Gods greatness, purity, and perfection, compared with our meanness, impurity, and manifold imperfections, whereas this latter is quite of another nature, and proceeds from other sources; are riches, and honour, and life The comforts of this life, and the happiness of the next, both which are promised to godliness: see on Pro 15:33.