Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 24:11
If thou forbear to deliver [them that are] drawn unto death, and [those that are] ready to be slain;
11. drawn unto death ready to be slain ] whether by unjust judgement, or by violence. In the first case you may deliver a soul by giving true witness (Pro 14:25), in the second, by not passing by like the priest and the Levite on the other side, but by rendering help with the good Samaritan.
It is better to take this verse as complete in itself, with LXX. ( , , ); Vulg., Erue eos qui ducuntur ad mortem; et qui trahuntur ad interitum liberare necesses; and with R.V.
Deliver them that are carried away unto death,
And those that are ready to be slain see that thou hold back.
ready to be slain ] Lit. tottering to the slaughter.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Literally:
Deliver those that are drawn unto death,
And those who totter to the slaughter – if
Thou withdraw …
i. e., O withdraw them, save them from their doom; in contrast to Pro 24:10. The structure and meaning are both somewhat obscure; but the sentence is complete in itself, and is not a mere hypothesis concluded in the following verses.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 24:11-12
If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death.
The claim of our brothers need
1. It is supposed that there is an allusion here to what is understood to have been a custom among the Jews. When a man was being led to execution a sort of crier or herald went with the procession, publicly proclaiming that if any man hath anything to offer even yet to show the innocence of the accused, or any circumstances of extenuation to present, or testimony to give to his character, let him now declare it; the judges are sitting; the procession to the place of execution shall be arrested; anything new in the form of evidence or testimony shall be heard, and thus execution shall be stayed. It is supposed here that a man is in danger of death. It is supposed that he is innocent. It is supposed that there is a man who can help him, even now, to prove his innocence. If that man withholds his testimony, he is guilty of murder, and comes into the judgment of God.
2. Illustrations of the principle embodied in the text. Individuals may be exposed to great suffering by no fault of their own. Many have to suffer in consequence of the operation of general laws over which they have no control. Where there is suffering, peril, or destitution on one side, there is somewhere on the other the power to help; somebody has the ability to interpose. Those that have the power may neglect it, and endeavour to find miserable apologies and excuses for their neglect. There may be perfectly honest and sufficient reasons in any case why an individual may not help or take part in affording relief, but in every case a man must be perfectly honest with himself, and not make his personal indulgence take shape as pecuniary inability to help others. (T. Binney.)
Help for the heathen world
As descriptive, the words of the text draw our attention to the heathen, and give us a very affecting representation of their state. As imperative, they turn our attention to ourselves, and point out the work which God has given us to do–to use every possible effort to rescue our perishing neighbours from the state of peril and danger in which they are placed.
I. The state of the heathen world. As described in the text, drawn unto death, and ready to be slain.
1. As respects this world. In Hindustan there are four modes whereby men and women are drawn unto death–women by being burnt alive on the funeral pile of their husbands, and by being buried alive in the same grave; men by being crushed beneath the wheels of the ponderous car of Juggernaut, and by being drowned in the river Ganges.
2. As respects the next world. Look at their never-dying souls; think of the everlasting importance of the world to come. They are drawn to the pains of eternal death by their numerous and enormous iniquities; by the god of this world; and by the almighty arm of a holy and righteous God.
II. The imperative fixture of the text. We must look at ourselves.
1. Our duty is clearly pointed out. We are to preach the everlasting gospel. Who will go? To whom can we look with so much propriety as to those who are already ordained to preach the gospel? But some may plead, I am already useful and acceptable at home; or If I go to preach abroad, I shall inflict an injury on my own country; or I am not competent; I do not possess the requisite qualifications: and if. I were to make the attempt I should fail; or We cannot see it to be our duty to embark in this work at once, and for life; or I am already comfortable at home, and I do not like to give up my delights.
2. We are to present fervent supplication to the throne of grace. We must pray as well as preach.
3. Another means to be employed is, liberal contributions to defray the expenses of so great an undertaking. God will not hold him guiltless who neglects this duty. (Henry Townley.)
Drawn unto death, and ready to be slain
I. A statement of a certain condition. The natural world is in this state. It is so with reference to its original and to its actual guilt. A man, as a sin agent, is evermore superadding sin to sin.
II. The moral causes which contribute to it.
1. Education conducted on false estimates and erroneous principles.
2. Example. Actions affix a deeper stamp and stronger impressions than words.
3. Habit, which is said to be a second nature. It exercises a sort of moral omnipotency over us.
4. Self-complacency of a nominal religion.
5. Pride, when it makes a man virtually deny the value of a revelation by Christ.
6. Sloth which lulls a man into a pleasing dream, from which he would not be awakened.
7. The fear of the world, which has its branding-irons.
8. Love of sin. Its indulgence makes up the pleasure of their life.
III. The solemn duty to be performed. The deliverance is not in the power of man. A sinner must see himself as he really is, in the blackness of his guilt before God. For this he must seek the animation of the Holy Spirit. He must repent; and by faith look up to the Lord Jesus. These things must be told men plainly, and pressed upon them earnestly. (T. J. Judkin, M.A.)
Vain excuses
It is the universal characteristic of fallen man that he endeavours to extenuate what may be wrong in his conduct, and invent excuses. Are the pleas by which you might think to justify yourselves in regard to your known duties such as would bear being submitted to God? Men will often admit an excuse without close examination; not so God. We may examine into an excuse, and nevertheless not detect its worthlessness; not so God. Men, even when satisfied that blame attaches to the individual who offers the excuse, are often forced to let him pass without punishment; not so God. Groundless excuses can be of no avail as made to God, because, in the first place, He is a being who considers everything. In the second place, He knows everything. And in the third, He rewards everything. (H. Melvill, D.D.)
To magistrates
This text impresses this upon us–it is the duty of every one of us to use our best strength to deliver the oppressed, but our sin is we faint and forbear to do so.
1. Reasons for this duty in respect of God. We have His command and His example.
2. In respect of ourselves. What power we have and what need we may have. Our natural powers and faculties all have their several uses and opportunities. We have power to relieve the necessities of the poor. The world is full of changes and chances, and those who now have power presently come to have need. The rule of equity is, Do as thou wouldst be done to.
3. Reasons on consideration of the poor and oppressed. Consider the greatness of their distress, the scarcity of their friends, and the righteousness of their cause. That which you are to do for the poor is this, seek first to be well assured that their cause is just. Then you must not forsake or despise him because he is poor.
4. Reasons from the effects of the duty itself. It will gain us honour and estimation, purchase for us the blessings of the poor, and bring down on us the blessings of God. We want charity, but abound with self-love. Our defect in that appeareth by our backwardness to perform our duties to our brethren; and our excess in this, by our readiness to frame excuses for ourselves. Consider these excuses, such as–
(1) We never heard of their matters.
(2) We had no clear evidence that their cause was right and good.
(3) We did not see how we could relieve them. Gods response to such excuses is assured.
Doth not He consider? Doth not He know? Will not He render? (Bp. Sanderson.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. If thou forbear to deliver] If thou seest the innocent taken by the hand of lawless power or superstitious zeal, and they are about to be put to death, thou shouldst rise up in their behalf, boldly plead for them, testify to their innocence when thou knowest it; and thus thou wilt not be guilty of blood; which thou wouldst be, if, through any pretense, thou shouldst neglect to save the life of a man unjustly condemned.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To deliver them, when it is in thy power to do it lawfully.
Drawn unto death, to wit, unjustly, or by the violence of lawless men.
That are ready to be slain; that are in present danger of death or destruction.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11, 12. Neglect of known duty issin (Jas 4:17).
readyliterally,”bowing down”
to be slainthat is,unjustly. God’s retributive justice cannot be avoided by professedignorance.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
If thou forbear to deliver [them that are] drawn unto death,…. Or “taken for or unto death” h, in a violent way; who are taken by thieves and robbers, and used in a barbarous manner, as the man in the parable, whom the priest and Levite took no notice of, and was helped by the good Samaritan; or who are unjustly sentenced and appointed to death by the civil magistrate; if any know their innocency, it becomes them to do all they can to save their lives, by bearing a testimony for them; for “a true witness delivereth souls”,
Pr 14:25; or by interceding for them, and giving counsel and advice concerning them, or by any lawful way they can; as Reuben delivered Joseph, Jonathan interceded for David, and Ahikam and Ebedmelech for Jeremiah. Life is valuable, and all means should be taken to save it, and to prevent the shedding of innocent blood; and a man should not forbear or spare any cost, or pains, or time, to such service: likewise such as are drawn into snares and temptations, into immorality or heresy, which tend to the ruin of the souls of men, and bring them to eternal death; all proper, methods should be taken to restore such persons, to recover them out of the snare of the devil, which is saving souls from death, and covering a multitude of sins; see 2Ti 2:25 Jas 5:19;
and [those that are] ready to be slain; or i “bending to slaughter”; are within a little of being executed, or put to death, upon a false accusation; for about others that suffer righteously there need not be that concern here pressed, or whose works and ways incline to destruction and lead to it, of which they seem not very far off.
h “captos ad mortem”, Montanus. Piscator, Schultens. i “inclinantes ad necem”, Mercerus; “nutantes ad occasionem”, Montanus, Coeccius; “nutantes ad lanienam”, Schultens.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Now, again, we meet with proverbs of several lines. The first here is a hexastich:
11 Deliver them that are taken to death,
And them that are tottering to destruction, oh stop them!
12 If thou sayest, “We knew not of it indeed,” –
It is not so: The Weigher of hearts, who sees through it,
And He that observeth thy soul, He knoweth it,
And requiteth man according to his work.
If is interpreted as a particle of adjuration, then is equivalent to: I adjure thee, forbear not (cf. Neh 13:25 with Isa 58:1), viz., that which thou hast to do, venture all on it (lxx, Syr., Jerome). But the parallelism requires us to take together (such as with tottering steps are led forth to destruction) as object along with , as well as (such as from their condition are carried away to death, cf. Exo 14:11) as object to , in which all the old interpreters have recognised the imper., but none the infin. ( eripere … ne cesses , which is contrary to Heb. idiom, both in the position of the words and in the construction). also is not to be interpreted as an interrogative; for, thus expressed, an retinetis ought rather to have for the converse the meaning: thou shalt indeed not do it! (cf. e.g., Isa 29:16). And cannot be conditional: si prohibere poteris (Michaelis and others), for the fut. after has never the sense of a potential. Thus is, like , understood in the sense of utinam , as it is used not merely according to later custom (Hitzig), but from ancient times (cf. e.g., Exo 32:32 with Gen 23:13). (reminding
(Note: Vid., my hebrischen Rmerbrief, p. 14f.)
us of the same formula of the Rabbinical writings) introduces an objection, excuse, evasion, which is met by ; introducing “so say I on the contrary,” it is of itself a reply, vid., Deu 7:17. we will not have to interpret personally (lxx ); for, since Pro 24:11 speaks of several of them, the neut. rendering (Syr., Targ., Venet., Luther) in itself lies nearer, and , hoc , after , is also in conformity with the usus loq.; vid., at Psa 56:10. But the neut. does not refer to the moral obligation expressed in Pro 24:11; to save human life when it is possible to do so, can be unknown to no one, wherefore Jerome (as if the words of the text were ): vires non suppetunt . refers to the fact that men are led to the tribunal; only thus is explained the change of , which was to be expected, into : the objection is, that one certainly did not know, viz., that matters had come to an extremity with them, and that a short process will be made with them. To this excuse, with pretended ignorance, the reply of the omniscient God stands opposed, and suggests to him who makes the excuse to consider: It is not so: the Searcher of hearts ( vid., at Pro 16:2), He sees through it, viz., what goes on in thy heart, and He has thy soul under His inspection ( , as Job 7:20: lxx ; , which Hitzig prefers, for he thinks that must be interpreted in the sense of to guard, preserve; Luther rightly); He knows, viz., how it is with thy mind, He looks through it, He knows (cf. for both, Psa 139:1-4), and renders to man according to his conduct, which, without being deceived, He judges according to the state of the heart, out of which the conduct springs. It is to be observed that Pro 24:11 speaks of one condemned to death generally, and not expressly of one innocently condemned, and makes no distinction between one condemned in war and in peace. One sees from this that the Chokma generally has no pleasure in this, that men are put to death by men, not even when it is done legally as punishment for a crime. For, on the one side, it is true that the punishment of the murderer by death is a law proceeding from the nature of the divine holiness and the inviolability of the divine ordinance, and the worth of man as formed in the image of God, and that the magistrate who disowns this law as a law, disowns the divine foundation of his office; but, on the other side, it is just as true that thousands and thousands of innocent persons, or at least persons not worthy of death, have fallen a sacrifice to the abuse or the false application of this law; and that along with the principle of recompensative righteousness, there is a principle of grace which rules in the kingdom of God, and is represented in the O.T. by prophecy and the Chokma. It is, moreover, a noticeable fact, that God did not visit with the punishment of death the first murderer, the murderer of the innocent Abel, his brother, but let the principle of grace so far prevail instead of that of law, that He even protected his life against any avenger of blood. But after that the moral ruin of the human race had reached that height which brought the Deluge over the earth, there was promulgated to the post-diluvians the word of the law, Gen 9:6, sanctioning this inviolable right of putting to death by the hand of justice. The conduct of God regulates itself thus according to the aspect of the times. In the Mosaic law the greatness of guilt was estimated not externally (cf. Num 35:31), but internally, a very flexible limitation in its practical bearings. And that under certain circumstances grace might have the precedence of justice, the parable having in view the pardon of Absalom (2 Sam 14) shows. But a word from God, like Eze 18:23, raises grace to a principle, and the word with which Jesus (Joh 8:11) dismisses the adulteress is altogether an expression of this purpose of grace passing beyond the purpose of justice. In the later Jewish commonwealth, criminal justice was subordinated to the principle of predominating compassion; practical effect was given to the consideration of the value of human life during the trial, and even after the sentence was pronounced, and during a long time no sentence of death was passed by the Sanhedrim. But Jesus, who was Himself the innocent victim of a fanatical legal murder, adjudged, it is true, the supremacy to the sword; but He preached and practised love, which publishes grace for justice. He was Himself incarnate Love, offering Himself for sinners, the Mercy which Jahve proclaims by Eze 18:23. The so-called Christian state [“ Citivas Dei ”] is indeed in manifest opposition to this. But Augustine declares himself, on the supposition that the principle of grace must penetrate the new ear, in all its conditions, that began with Christianity, for the suspension of punishment by death, especially because the heathen magistrates had abused the instrument of death, which, according to divine right, they had control over, to the destruction of Christians; and Ambrosius went so far as to impress it as a duty on a Christian judge who had pronounced the sentence of death, to exclude himself from the Holy Supper. The magisterial control over life and death had at that time gone to the extreme height of bloody violence, and thus in a certain degree it destroyed itself. Therefore Jansen changes the proverb (Pro 24:11) with the words of Ambrosius into the admonition: Quando indulgentia non nocet publico, eripe intercessione, eripe gratia tu sacerdos, aut tu imperator eripe subscriptionie indulgentiae . When Samuel Romilly’s Bill to abolish the punishment of death for a theft amounting to the sum of five shillings passed the English House of Commons, it was thrown out by a majority in the House of Lords. Among those who voted against the Bill were one archbishop and five bishops. Our poet here in the Proverbs is of a different mind. Even the law of Sinai appoints the punishment of death only for man-stealing. The Mosaic code is incomparably milder than even yet the Carolina. In expressions, however, like the above, a true Christian spirit rules the spirit which condemns all blood-thirstiness of justice, and calls forth to a crusade not only against the inquisition, but also against such unmerciful, cruel executions even as they prevailed in Prussia in the name of law in the reign of Friedrich Wilhelm I, the Inexorable.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
11 If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; 12 If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?
Here is, 1. A great duty required of us, and that is to appear for the relief of oppressed innocency. If we see the lives or livelihoods of any in danger of being taken away unjustly, we ought to bestir ourselves all we can to save them, by disproving the false accusations on which they are condemned and seeking out proofs of their innocency. Though the persons be not such as we are under any particular obligation to, we must help them, out of a general zeal for justice. If any be set upon by force and violence, and it be in our power to rescue them, we ought to do it. Nay, if we see any through ignorance exposing themselves to danger, or fallen in distress, as travellers upon the road, ships at sea, or any the like, it is our duty, though it be with peril to ourselves, to hasten with help to them and not forbear to deliver them, not to be slack, or remiss, or indifferent, in such a case. 2. An answer to the excuse that is commonly make for the omission of this duty. Thou wilt say, “Behold, we knew it not; we were not aware of the imminency of the danger the person was in; we could not be sure that he was innocent, nor did we know how to prove his innocence, nor which way to do any thing in favour of him, else we would have helped him.” Now, (1.) It is easy to make such an excuse as this, sufficient to avoid the censures of men, for perhaps they cannot disprove us when we say, We knew it not, or, We forgot; and the temptation to tell a lie for the excusing of a fault is very strong when we know that it is impossible to be disproved, the truth lying wholly in our own breast, as when we say, We thought so and so, and really designed it, which no one is conscious of but ourselves. (2.) It is not so easy with such excuses to evade the judgment of God; and to the discovery of that we lie open and by the determination of that we must abide. Now, [1.] God ponders the heart and keeps the soul; he keeps an eye upon it, observes all the motions of it; its most secret thoughts and intents are all naked and open before him. It is his prerogative to do so, and that in which he glories. Jer. xvii. 10, I the Lord search the heart. He keeps the soul, holds it in life. This is a good reason why we should be tender of the lives of others, and do all we can to preserve them, because our lives have been precious in the sight of God and he has graciously kept them. [2.] He knows and considers whether the excuse we make be true or no, whether it was because we did not know it or whether the true reason was not because we did not love our neighbour as we ought, but were selfish, and regardless both of God and man. Let this serve to silence all our frivolous pleas, by which we think to stop the mouth of conscience when it charges us with the omission of plain duty: Does not he that ponders the heart consider it? [3.] He will judge us accordingly. As his knowledge cannot be imposed upon, so his justice cannot be biassed, but he will render to every man according to his works, not only the commission of evil works, but the omission of good works.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 11-12 reveal three consequences of fainting in times of adversity: 1) failure to deliver those who are ready to perish; 2) the likelihood that if some die, a false claim of not knowing of their need will be made; 3) the certainty that the LORD knows the truth and will deal accordingly with offenders, Job 34:11; Psa 62:12; Ecc 12:14; Jer 32:19; Rom 2:6; Heb 12:9-13.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 24:11. Literally, Deliver them who are dragged forth unto death, and them that totter to the slaughter, oh, rescue them.
Pro. 24:12. He that pondereth, literally, the Weigher of hearts. He that keepeth, rather watcheth.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 24:11-12
POSITIVE PUNISHMENT FOR A NEGATIVE CRIME
I. The negative crime. The question Am I my brothers keeper? is here answered with an emphatic affirmative, for whatever may be the special reference of the words it is plain that they condemn as criminal the non-interposition of the strong on behalf of the weak and distressed. This crime may be committed from various causes. Those who are guilty of it may be entirely indifferent to the sufferings of others. There are many men and women who, if they are at ease themselves, never concern themselves about the sufferings of othersit matters not to them who is hungry so as they are well fed, and what privations others may be enduring while their needs are supplied. But the crime is oftener chargeable to moral cowardice and unwillingness to practice self-denial. A man may be sufficiently concerned for the danger of a drowning brother to throw him a rope, but he may shrink from throwing himself into the water and risking a watery grave on his behalf. So he may pity the ignorant and the erring and feel sad when he thinks of their sorrows and their sins, and yet be unwilling to sacrifice his money or his leisure or his social position in endeavours to save them. But the proverb seems to deal especially with what seems at first sight to be a less blameworthy class of persons than either of thesewith those who have never considered the claims which others have upon themwho are really ignorant how many hearts are breaking around them and how many are perishing for the want of a helping hand. But this ignorance is here regarded as criminal. Evil is wrought for want of thought, as well as want of heart, but it is as much evil in the one case as in the other, and the want of thought is a sin in itself. And so is the want of knowledge here. God will not admit the plea I knew it not, but holds him who utters it guilty for his ignorance as well as for his neglect.
II. The positive punishment. No truth is taught more plainly in the Bible, than that men will not escape retribution of some kind because they have simply abstained from doing ill. The possessor of the one talent did not put it to a bad use, or throw it away. He kept it carefully wrapped in a napkin. But the sentence passed upon him was not merely that he should be deprived of his privilege, or that reward should be withheld, but:Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. (Mat. 25:30). The tree that was only barren was burned, says an old writer. The justice of this will be seen the more we consider how much actual wrong-doing on the part of some is chargeable to the not-doing of others. How much sin might be prevented if those who have it in their power sought to deliver others from bodily, or social, or moral death.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it. This favour of God may be here mentioned partly as a strong obligation upon Him to preserve him who was made after Gods image, and whom God hath commanded him to love and preserve; partly to an encouragement to the performance of his duty herein from the consideration of Gods special care and watchfulness over those who do their duty; and partly to intimate to them the danger of neglect of this duty whereby they will forfeit Gods protection over themselves.Poole.
The condition of sinners may be regarded as here very aptly set forth. They are drawn unto deathseized, or apprehended for death, and ready to be slain:and the death to which they are doomed,O how unutterably fearful! But you may naturally meet me with an objection here. In their condition there is no injustice; no unrighteous and cruel oppression. The sentence of death under which they lie is a divine sentencein perfect accordance with all the principles of equity:the sword with which they are ready to be slain is the sword of divine justice itself. They deserve to die the death. To attempt to prevent it would be to arrest the hand of God. Ought not divine, and therefore unimpeachable, justice to have its course? The objectionotherwise irresistibleGod has Himself removed. Justice, infinite justice, had all its claims acknowledged and fulfilled on Calvary. On the ground of the sacrifice there offered, the atonement there made, the God of justice and mercy has called on sinners to accept pardon, in the name and for the sake of His Son. His call comes with authority. It is a command. It is in virtue of the satisfaction of justice in the atonement of Christ, that we ourselves enjoy our own deliverance from the death and destruction to which, in common with all, we were devoted. And the very same authority that commanded us to believe and be saved, enjoins on us to be agents in attempting the rescue of others. O! what should we not be ready to do, to sacrifice, to suffer, for such an end!to effect such a rescue!Wardlaw.
When Samuel Romillys Bill to abolish the punishment of death for a theft amounting to the sum of five shillings passed the English House of Commons, it was thrown out by a majority in the House of Lords. Among those who voted against the Bill were one archbishop and five bishops. Our poet here in the Proverbs is of a different mind. Even the law of Sinai appoints the punishment of death only for man-stealing. In expressions like the above a true Christian spirit rules the spirit which condemns all bloodthirstiness of justice, and calls forth to a crusade, not only against the inquisition, but against all unmerciful and cruel executions.Delitzsch.
The Hebrew midwives, and Esther in after ages, thus delivered their own people drawn unto death. Reuben delivered Joseph from the pit. Job was the deliverer of the poor in the extremity. Jonathan saved his friend at imminent risk to himself. Obadiah hid the Lords prophets. Ahikam and Ebed-melech saved Jeremiah. Johanan attempted to deliver the unsuspecting Gedaliah. Daniel preserved the wise men of Babylon. The Samaritan rescued his neighbour from death. Pauls nephew delivered the great Apostle by informing him of the murderous plot. The rule includes all oppression, which has more or less of the character of murder.Bridges.
Who is lord over us? is the watchword of the life-long battle between an evil conscience and a righteous Judge. Here the commandment is exceeding broad. Like Divine omniscience, it compasses the transgressor before and behind. It checks his advance, and cuts off his retreat. Although a man should actually maintain in relation to every brother the neutrality he professes, it would avail him nothing. What ails our brother, that he needs the compassion of a tender heart and the help of a strong hand? He is drawn unto death, and ready to be slain. This is the very crisis which at once needs help and admits it. If the danger were more distant, he might not be sensible of his need; if it were nearer, he might be beyond the hope of recovery. He is so low that help is necessary; yet not so low as would render help vain. He is drawn unto death, and therefore is an object of pity; but his life is yet in him, and therefore he is a subject of hope.Arnot.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(11) If thou forbear . . .Rather, Deliver those that are taken to death, and those that are tottering to the slaughter, stop them!
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11, 12. If thou forbear to deliver his works Muenscher’s translation and note are: “Dost thou forbear to deliver [those who are] led away to death, and those who are tottering to the slaughter? Dost thou say, Behold, we know not these [men?] Will not He that weigheth the hearts observe [it]? Yea, he that keepeth thy soul knoweth [it]; and he will render to every man according to his work.” When a criminal was led to execution, a crier went before, who proclaimed the crime of which he had been convicted, and called on all who could say any thing in his behalf to come forward; in case any did he was led back to the tribunal and the cause was reheard. The proverb contains an implied exhortation to assist the unfortunate, to succour the distressed, and vindicate the innocent, for God knows and will judge. See Lowth on Isaiah 53. Compare Psa 49:16; Psa 62:12; Isaiah 53:37, 38; Job 34:11; Jer 32:19; Rom 2:6; Rev 22:12.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 11. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 24:11. If thou forbear, &c. Do not delay to deliver those who are led unto death, and who are now about to be slain. Houbigant. Or, Deliver them who are drawn unto death, and those who are ready to be slain, if thou canst prevent it. The wise man, in this and the following verse, inforces the necessity of giving our assistance towards the rescue of innocent persons when their lives are in danger, either by counselling them, or petitioning others in their behalf, or by doing any thing in our power for their deliverance. See Bishop Patrick.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 807
THE FOLLY OF VAIN EXCUSES
Pro 24:11-12. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his works?
OFFICIAL influence is a valuable talent: but to use it aright is often very difficult, and painful to the feelings. Hence those who are possessed of it, are apt to shrink back, when the exercise of it is likely to involve them in much trouble; and they will connive at abuses, which they cannot easily prevent. For such connivance they have excuses ever ready at hand; They were not aware of the circumstances; or, They thought their interposition would be to no purpose. But power and responsibility are inseparable: and the magistrate who neglects his duty, must give an account of such neglect to God, and have his excuses weighed in the balance of the sanctuary. To succour the needy, and to relieve the oppressed, is a sacred duty, which no man can neglect, but at the peril of his soul: and to deceive ourselves with vain excuses is folly in the extreme.
We shall not however limit our views of this subject to magistrates, but shall extend them generally to all those excuses which men make for their neglect of acknowledged duties; and shall consider,
I.
The excuses by which men deceive their own souls
None are so hardy as to deny their obligation to serve God: yet the great mass of mankind will plead excuses for their neglect,
1.
Of religious duties
[They have not time to attend to their spiritual concerns. Not time? For what then is their time given them? and what other business have they in comparison of this? But, if they would speak the truth, is not their disregard of religion to be traced rather to their want of inclination to spiritual things their want of faith in the divine records their want of all fear of God and all concern about their souls? How vain then their plea of want of time, when their neglect arises from a total alienation of their hearts from God!]
2.
Of moral duties
[The duties of sympathy, of compassion, of activity in succouring the distressed, are mentioned in our text. Now for the neglect of these duties, such as the visiting of the sick, the instructing of the ignorant, the relieving of the needy, and the comforting of the afflicted, men will plead ignorance, inadvertence, forgetfulness, inability. But is there not a great degree of criminality attaching to us, if we do not search out the poor and afflicted, on purpose to alleviate their distresses? and is not the true cause of our supineness, that we have no love to our fellow-creatures, no zeal for God, no gratitude for redeeming love? It is in vain to think that our neglects are venial under any circumstances, and more especially when they originate in cowardice, and sloth, and selfishness.]
Seeing then that such excuses are vain. let us mark,
II.
The folly of resting in them
Were there no God to call us into judgment, our delusions would be of less consequence: but there is a God by whom all our excuses will be weighed; and he,
1.
Will judge with truth
[He looketh not at the outward appearance: He searcheth the heart and tries the reins, and is privy to the most secret workings of our minds. We may easily deceive ourselves; but him we cannot deceive. See how forcible is the appeal made to us in our text. Can we have any doubt whether he sees our conduct, or forms a correct estimate of it? Let us remember, that he will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart: and that, whatever our judgment be, his will be according to truth.]
2.
Will award with equity
[Here again the appeal is strong, and carries conviction with it. We are sure that God will judge the world in righteousness, and give to every man according to his works. Whatsoever we have sowed, that shall we also reap: if we have sowed to the flesh, we shall of the flesh reap corruption; but if we have sowed to the Spirit, we shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.]
Let this subject teach us,
1.
To be jealous over ourselves with a godly jealousy
[We are apt to think that conscience is a safe guide, and that we may rest satisfied with its testimony. But conscience is corrupted by the Fall, as well as all the other faculties of the soul. It is blinded, bribed, partial, and in many instances seared as with an hot iron. Hence it is that every mans way is right in his own eyes. Paul thought he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus; and was applauded by his own conscience, whilst he was sinning against God with all his might. Be not therefore satisfied merely because you feel no condemnation in your own minds; but beg of God to enlighten your conscience, that it may guide you aright, and keep you from those delusions which would involve you in everlasting ruin.]
2.
To live in daily expectation of the future judgment
[Ask yourselves, not merely, What do I think of this or that conduct? but, What would God say to it, if I were instantly summoned to his tribunal? Such a question as this would often lead you to a very different estimate of yourselves from that which you have formed; and the consideration of his recording every thing in order to a future judgment would tend to keep you vigilant in all your conduct. Walk then as in his sight, and be satisfied with nothing which you are not well assured will satisfy him.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works? My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.
I need not tell the Reader that the honey and the honey-comb of scripture, means somewhat infinitely higher than the mere food of the body. The land of Canaan, which was a type of the gospel church, was promised to flow with milk and honey: and hence the gospel call was to buy wine and milk without money and without price. Eze 20:6 ; Isa 55:1 . Christ is himself the honey and the honey-comb, for his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed. His word is sweet unto my taste (said one of old) yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Psa 119:103 , so that when Solomon recommends the honey and the honey-comb, the Holy Ghost shews from other scriptures this is meant concerning Christ and his salvation.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Opportunity and Obligation, Etc.
Pro 24:11-20
Thus a great fire is set to the excuses which men make in regard to their negligence of opportunity. We are not merely called upon to do the work that we see, we are also called upon to go out and see if there be not more work to be done. A man may enclose himself within walls of luxury and beauty, and declare that he sees no poverty, no weakness, no need of exertion on his own part; but he has put himself in a false relation to society, and that false relation will not save him from divine inquest and judgment. We do not destroy the poverty of the world by declining to look upon it. We are not released from moral obligation by moral indifference. Job says, “The cause which I knew not I searched out”; I made inquiry about it; I cross-examined men who could give information, and in conducting this course of inquest I was not gratifying curiosity, but creating a basis for beneficent action. Were we in proper mood of heart towards God and towards man, we should call upon poverty in its retreats, we should cause all human necessity to breathe its prayer into the ear that we might according to our means relieve its distress. Whoever pleads that he would do more good if he could see more occasion for doing it is guilty before God of falsehood. Poverty is at the door; if it is not on the broad thoroughfare, we have but to turn down a little to the right or to the left, and there we find every form of human want. God will not allow us to say we do not know; Jesus Christ himself protested against this foolish plea, when the men on his left hand said, “When saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or naked, or sick, or in prison?” He was not moved by the suggestion to release them from their obligations. The things we do not know we ought to know. Thus we are called upon to work with both hands diligently; we are called upon both to find the opportunity and to use it for God. If we sit until everything is made ready to our hands probably we should complain of having little to do; but if we go out in the early morning, and spend the whole day in anxious inquiry, we shall soon discover how large is the field within which our labour is to be spent. The poor and the neglected, the sore in heart and the helpless, should find from this verse that the divine eye is engaged on their behalf, and the divine judgment will follow those who neglect opportunities which might have been discovered. Poverty and want and helplessness are set in our midst as opportunities for the culture of the soul, as opportunities for proving that giving is the true receiving, that sacrifice is the true life, and that good-doing is the assured immortality. When is God represented in the Bible as other than the friend of the poor, the judge of the fatherless, and the saviour of all men? More people will be driven away into darkness on account of moral neglect than on account of intellectual heresy. Nowhere are we taught that mere opinion will save men, but everywhere we are assured that he who does justly, loves mercy, and walks humbly with God shall be received into everlasting habitations. Here, then, is a point at which all men may begin, without knowing aught of grammar, philosophy, or theology; salvation is not by metaphysics, salvation is not by works; salvation is a consciousness of the free gift of God, and a response to that free gift in the form of personal purity and social beneficence. Away with excuses, with shallow pleas, with selfish devices; let the overflowing river destroy them, and let the judgment from above burn them up.
“Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him” ( Pro 24:17-18 ).
What can be more intensely evangelical than this exhortation? Although it may appear to be but a moral maxim, yet in its outworking we shall require all the aid of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Never was human nature put to such strain and stress as at this point. How difficult it is not to wait for the halting of our foe, and not to rejoice in the fall of our enemy! Even when we restrain our lips from ostentatious delight, there may be hidden in the heart a subtle and secret congratulation, because our prophecies have been fulfilled and our estimates have been verified. The spirit of the gospel operates in a directly contrary way: “Love your enemies” is the golden motto of the Christian faith; “Feed those that would destroy you” is the holy exhortation of the Cross of Christ. The reason given for this self-repression is profoundly religious, namely, “lest the Lord see it, and it displease him.” We know that the Lord looketh not on the outward action only, but on the inward and inspiring motive. Can we truly say that we are not glad when the enemy falls? Are we quite sure that in our heart there is no secret felicitation in consequence of the mischief which has come upon the head of him that opposed us? Do we not quietly say, it may be with assumed reverence, that we are not surprised, because we were sure that such conduct must be followed by such consequences? It is difficult for a personal enemy to be just; it is almost impossible for us, when we are prejudiced against a man, not to hear of that man’s disasters without inwardly rejoicing that they have fallen upon him. We are called upon to be Godlike in our magnanimity; we are to have no merely personal enemies; we are to regard ourselves as parts of a great whole, and to consider that all evil-doing is directed against the Holy One rather than against ourselves. To these sacred realisations we are called by the Holy Spirit: how difficult it is to attain them, and to give practical utility to them, they know best who have seen most of the tragedy and horrible-ness of actual life. It is hard for Christians to be Christlike. We have certain theological opinions behind which we are too prone to perpetrate certain moral delinquencies; we mistake the nature of the kingdom of heaven, and we wound the very spirit of Christ, when we suppose we are right morally because we are right intellectually. Moreover, there can be no intellectual rectitude that does not stand upon moral righteousness; the words may be right, the form of the speech may be unquestionable, the nominal and formal orthodoxy may be beyond all successful contention, yet, because of the want of moral earnestness, integrity, love of honour, and love of equity, all that we profess in words and set forth in form shall be accounted worse than worthless. To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin; to him who has a fine intellectual conception that is not balanced by a faithful moral consecration shall be given to feel the weight and the bitterness of the judgment of God.
“Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked; for there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out” ( Pro 24:19-20 ).
Thus we come again and again upon the commonplaces of moral behaviour. Why this repetition? Is it because of intellectual inability? Is it indicative of a failure of moral imagination? Far deeper than this lies the reason of the reiteration of such exhortation and injunction. It is because we are so weak, it is because temptations are so numerous, it is because the enemy is so industrious, that we require to be guarded at every point and that we need to be exhorted constantly, lest our inspiration should fail and our impulses should cool and vanish. After every period of intellectual excitement there should come a period of moral instruction and comfort, lest the excitement should leave us in a state of weakness, and so should leave us a prey to the ever-watchful enemy. A wonderful piece of mosaic is this Biblical literature: here we have intellect, there we have imagination; here is reasoning, there is music; here is a statement of doctrine in the sublimest terms, and there is a persuasion to obedience in tenderest words; here is a battle illustrative of great principles, and there is a prayer expressive of conscious need: we must comprehend the Bible in its totality and in its unity; we must be Biblically learned even if we are textually ignorant, that is to say, although we cannot quote separate and independent texts we should have within us the spirit of the Bible, the very genius of revelation, that shall prevent us foisting upon Jesus Christ any sentiment which is unworthy of his history or of his Cross. The reasoning which follows the exhortation is once more profoundly religious, “there shall be no reward to the evil man,” for “the candle of the wicked shall be put out.” We are to look at the end rather than at the beginning; where we cannot understand the beginning we may be able to comprehend the end; if men are continually sowing seed and no harvest comes, we know that the seed that has been sown was worthless or has been sown only in seeming and not in reality. Every action is known by the fruit it bears: first there comes the motive, then there comes the deed, then there comes the consequence of the deed; and not until we have seen the whole process are we qualified to judge any part of it. Beautiful and suggestive is the figure that the light in which the wicked man walks is but the light of a candle, an exhaustible flame, a perishing glory, a merely flickering spark; whereas the righteous man walketh in the glory of the sun, the splendour that is round about him is the radiance of the eternal throne; he walks not in a light of his own creation, but in the very radiance of heaven. Jesus Christ is the light of the world, and Christians are the light of the world only in a reflective sense. Many there be who light their own candles, who speak their own praise, who live upon their own theories and speculations, but in the end there is nothing but darkness. The earth receives its light from above, the flowers drink in the glory of the sun; so in our earthly light we should be related to the eternal fire, and in all the expansion of our character we should be fed and sustained, comforted and blessed, by ministries far beyond. We cannot struggle up by some poor intellectual effort to the moral dignity which does not fret itself because of evil men; all this superiority of circumstance comes out of our communion with God: he who is hidden with God in heaven can come down to the affairs of earth and time with a dignity which reckons correctly, and which abstains from the debasements which attach themselves to the earth. The man who has seen eternity makes a proper estimate of the bubble of time. He who has seen a light above the brightness of the sun is not dazzled by the candles of this world; he who has entered into the spirit of the triune God can look upon the prosperity of the bad man as upon an idle dream, coming out of nothing, and vanishing into nothing evermore.
Prayer
Almighty God, show us somewhat of the wonders of thy way, that we may be rebuked and kept in expectant silence, and restrained from interfering with the course of thy providence even by our words. Thou hast set us in a great mystery of life; one thing belongs to another; all the lines travel up towards thyself; the right hand of the Lord is full of power, and the Lord’s throne is at the head of all. We are lost for want of view. All things are too near us. We are too near ourselves. We cannot see ourselves until we stand in God; then do we behold our littleness and frailty, and then do we begin to kindle with the consciousness of immortality. But we are looking down to the dust; we are mistaking all things as to their size and colour and use, and our very ability becomes a snare, and our inventiveness is but a new way to destruction. Oh that we were wise, that we were often silent, that we could breathe out our life in quiet prayer, and that many a time we could but look up when we wish to interfere. What an effectual working is thine. How thou dost commingle all things, and curiously relate them, so that men cannot take them to pieces, and understand the mechanism thereof. We always leave out the principal item; our calculation is always wrong in the first line, and therefore all our multiplication is but an elaborate mistake. Oh that we could stand still and see the salvation of God. Oh that we had grace enough to let things alone. If we could but watch thy wonder-working hand, we should see how thou dost crown all things with perfectness. Yet thou wilt keep us in our own sphere, and there we can do our little day’s work with industry and patience, and with some measure of success. Yet help us to know that it is only an intermediate sphere, not a portion cut off from thy creation, without any relation to central life and thought; show us that we are working in a corner which is vitalised from the centre. May we be diligent cultivators; may we answer the opportunity which comes to us yea, may we buy it up as a precious pearl, and use it well, to the master’s praise. May we be found at the last to have been wise, seeing things that are afar off, reckoning up forces that lie away at a great distance from the vision of the body; and thus as the ages come and go, may the word of the Lord, as known by us and spoken by us, appear, reappear, and shape the moulding of all time, and direct every thought and impulse, and sanctify every ambition. We bless thee for the religious life. How it warms the heart; how it stirs the mind; how it feeds the best forces of our nature; how it keeps us back from littleness, meanness, malevolence, impurity, injustice, wrong! Verily, it is the presence of God in the soul: may it never be taken away from us. All these things we have learned through Jesus Christ thy Son. He was like unto a man yea, he was in all points tempted like as we are: he hungered, thirsted, and was often tired and sat down by the roadside; but still when we came near him we fell back from him again: there was a line of limit there was a point of approach, and yet a point of separation. Never man spake like this man. Never man looked like this man. There was healing in the very hem of his garment; there was heaven in his gracious smile. He died for us, and rose again; he paid the price of his blood for our redemption: we will therefore not think of our littleness by reason of our sin, but of our value because of the price paid for our ransom. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Pro 24:11 If thou forbear to deliver [them that are] drawn unto death, and [those that are] ready to be slain;
Ver. 11. If thou forbear to deliver them, &c. ] That is, That are wrongfully butchered. Here, not to save a man, if it be in our power, is to destroy him. Mar 3:4 Job “brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the prey out of his teeth.” Job 29:17 The people rescued Jonathan, and Ebedmelech Jeremiah. Henry VIII delivered his Queen Katherine, and King Philip with his Spaniards kept the Lady Elizabeth from the cruel mercies of Stephen Gardiner, who had designed them destruction. Sir George Blage (one of King Henry VIII’s privy chamber), being condemned for a heretic, was yet pardoned by the king. He coming afterwards to the king’s presence, – “Ah, my pig,” saith the king, for so he was wont to call him. “Yea,” said he, “if your Majesty had not been better to me than your bishops were, your pig had been roasted ere this time.” But what a bloody mind bore Harpsfield, archdeacon of Canterbury, who, being at London when Queen Mary lay dying, made all post haste home to despatch those whom he had then in cruel custody. a
a Acts and Mon., fol. 1899, 1135, 1862.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Proverbs
THE CRIME OF NEGLIGENCE
Pro 24:11 – Pro 24:12
What is called the missionary spirit is nothing else than the Christian church working in a particular direction. If a man has a conviction, the health of his own soul, his reverence for the truth he has learnt to love, his necessary connection with other men, make it a duty, a necessity, and a joy to tell what he has heard, and to speak what he believes. On these common grounds rests the whole obligation of Christ’s followers to speak the Gospel which they have received; only the obligation presses on them with greater force because of the higher worth of the word and the deeper misery of men without it. The text contains nothing specially bearing on Christian missions, but it deals with the fault which besets us all in our relations and in life: and the wholesome truths which it utters apply to our duties in regard to Christian missions because they apply to our duties in regard to every misery within our reach. They speak of the murderous cruelty and black sin of negligence to save any whom we can help from any sort of misery which threatens them. They appear to me to suggest four thoughts which I would now deal with:-
I. The crime of negligence.
And when we pass from these merely physical conditions to think of the world and of the Church in the world, where shall we find words weighty and burning enough to tell what fatal cruelty lies in the unthinking negligence so characteristic of large portions of Christ’s professed followers? There is nothing which the ordinary type of Christian, so called, more needs than to be aroused to a living sense of personal responsibility for all the unalleviated misery of the world. For every one who has laid the sorrows of humanity on his heart, and has felt them in any measure as his own, there are a hundred to whom these make no appeal and give no pang. Within ear-shot of our churches and chapels there are squalid aggregations of stunted and festering manhood, of whom it is only too true that they are ‘drawn unto death’ and ‘ready to be slain,’ and yet it would be an exaggeration to say that the bulk of our congregations cast even a languid eye of compassion upon those, to say nothing of stretching out a hand to help. It needs to be dinned, far more than it is at present, into every professing Christian that each of us has an obligation which cannot be ignored or shuffled off, to acquaint ourselves with the glaring facts that force themselves upon all thoughtful men, and that the measure of our power is the measure of our obligation. The question, Has the church done its best to deliver these? needs to be sharpened to the point of ‘Have I done my best?’ And the vision of multitudes perishing in the slums of a great city needs to be expanded into the vision of dim millions perishing in the wide world.
II. The excuse of negligence.
III. The condemnation of negligence.
No less eloquently does the other name which is here applied to God rebuke our negligence. ‘He preserveth thy soul.’ By His divine care and communication of life, we live; and surely the soul thus preserved is thereby bound to be a minister of preservation to all that are ‘ready to be slain.’ The strongest motive for seeking to save others is that God has saved us. Thus this name for God touches closely upon the great Christian thought, ‘Christ has given Himself for me.’ And in that thought we find the true condemnation of a Christianity which has not caught from Him the enthusiasm for self-surrender, and the passion for saving the outcast and forlorn. If to be a Christian is to imitate Christ, then the name has little application to those who see ‘them that are drawn to death,’ and turn from them unconcerned and unconscious of responsibility.
IV. The judgment of negligence.
I venture earnestly to appeal to all my hearers for more faithful discharge of this duty. I pray you to open your ears to hear, and your eyes to see, and your hearts to feel, and last of all, your hands to help, the miseries of the world. Solemn duties wait upon great privileges. It is an awful trust to have Christ and His gospel committed to our care. We get it because from One who lived no life of luxurious ease, but felt all the woes of humanity which He redeemed, and forbore not to deliver us from death, though at the cost of His own. We get it for no life of silken indolence or selfish disregard of the sorrows of our brethren. If there is one tear we could have dried and didn’t, or one wound we could have healed and didn’t, that is a sin; if we could have lightened the great heap of sorrow by one grain and didn’t, that is a sin; and if there be one soul that perishes which we might have saved and didn’t, the negligence is not merely the omission of a duty, but the doing of a deed which will be ‘rendered to us according to our works.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
If thou forbear. This is counsel for a ruler or judge, and is FOR Solomon. See the Structure (p. 891). Illustrations: Doeg (1Sa 22:18); Pilate (Luk 23:22-24).
deliver = snatch, or rescue.
drawn, &c. = being taken to execution.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 24:11-12
Pro 24:11-12
“Deliver them that are carried away unto death, And those that are ready to be slain, see that thou hold back. If thou sayest, Behold, we knew not this; Doth not he that weigheth the hearts consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth he not know it? And shall he not render to every man according to his work?”
“See that thou hold back” (Pro 24:11) actually means, “See that thou hold them back that are perishing.” The marginal reading (American Standard Version) makes this clear. “Forbear thou not, to deliver.”
Taken along with Pro 24:10, there are three situations here where a true man, instead of avoiding his duty, should discharge it. “These are the crisis (Pro 24:10), the near-hopeless task (Pro 24:11), and pardonable ignorance (`We knew not this, Pro 24:12′). Such difficult, unanticipated and near-hopeless situations are to be expected in the Christian life (Act 14:22). God pity the Christian who refuses to be involved, saying, “Well, that’s none of my business.”
Pro 24:11. These are people who need delivering and who are evidently worthy. Those addressed also have the power to deliver them. Ability with opportunity represent responsibility to do so. Hold back those who would otherwise be slain. Sometimes people fail to save others for fear of getting themselves into troubles. But Christians will do their duty even if it involves laying down their lives (Gal 6:2; Heb 13:3; 1Jn 3:16). Other passages to consult: Psa 82:4; Isa 58:6-7.
Pro 24:12. People sometimes try to cover the reality of their failures (to deliver people as in Pro 24:11) by excusing themselves as if ignorant of the need. But this lie but adds another sin to the great sin of irresponsibility already committed. God knows the truth; He knows (weighs) the heart (Pro 21:2). And He will someday punish a person for his neglect of duty. Other passages; Job 34:11; Psa 62:12; Jer 32:19; Rom 2:6; Rev 2:23; Rev 22:12.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
1Sa 26:8, 1Sa 26:9, Job 29:17, Psa 82:4, Isa 58:6, Isa 58:7, Luk 10:31, Luk 10:32, Luk 23:23-25, Act 18:17, Act 21:31, Act 21:32, Act 23:10, Act 23:23-35, 1Jo 3:16, 1Jo 3:17
Reciprocal: Gen 14:14 – his brother Gen 42:21 – we saw Exo 1:17 – feared God Deu 22:1 – hide thyself Jos 10:9 – all night 1Sa 19:4 – spake good 1Sa 20:32 – Wherefore 1Sa 22:14 – And who 2Sa 13:32 – determined Job 29:12 – I delivered Job 31:34 – that I Pro 31:8 – Open Ecc 3:7 – and a time to speak Jer 21:12 – deliver Jer 22:16 – judged Jer 38:9 – these Eze 32:20 – draw Dan 2:25 – brought Act 16:28 – cried Act 28:2 – showed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 24:11-12. If thou forbear to deliver When it is in thy power to do it lawfully; them that are drawn unto death Namely, unjustly, or by the violence of lawless men; and those that are ready to be slain That are in present danger of death or destruction. He enforces, in these verses, the necessity of giving our assistance toward the rescue of innocent persons, when their lives are in danger, either by counselling them, or petitioning others in their behalf, or by doing any thing in our power for their deliverance. If thou sayest, We knew it not I was ignorant, either of his innocence, or of his extreme danger, or of my power to relieve him; doth not he consider it That this is only a frivolous excuse, and that the true reason of thy neglect was, thy want of true love to thy brother, whose life thou wast, by the law of God and of nature, obliged to preserve, and a carnal fear of some mischief, or trouble, which might befall thee in the discharge of thy duty. And he that keepeth thy soul Who is the preserver of men, Job 7:20, who daily does, and who only can, keep thee both in and from the greatest dangers; and this favour of God may be here mentioned, partly as an encouragement to the performance of the duty here spoken of, from the consideration of Gods special care and watchfulness over those that do their duty; and partly to intimate to them, that by the neglect of this duty they would forfeit Gods protection over themselves, and expose themselves to manifold dangers and calamities. The Hebrew word , however, may be rendered, he that observeth thy soul, that sees all the secret thoughts and inward motions of thy heart; which interpretation is favoured both by the preceding and following words. And shall not he render, &c. God will certainly deal with thee as thou hast dealt with him, either rewarding thy performance of this duty, or punishing thy neglect of it.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
24:11 If thou refraineth to deliver [them that are] drawn to {c} death, and [those that are] ready to be slain;
(c) No one can be excused, if he does not help the innocent when he is in danger.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The people carried away in Pro 24:11 are evidently innocent captives or oppressed individuals. We have a responsibility to help such people. If we claim ignorance of their condition as a reason for not helping them, we need to remember that God knows the true condition of our heart and will requite us accordingly. We are responsible to rescue those who are in mortal danger. This includes warning and teaching those who are hastening to destruction. [Note: Toy, p. 445.]
"In Pro 24:12 Yahweh is represented as one ’who weighs the heart.’ This figure goes back to the Egyptian god Thoth, who is often represented as standing at the judgment of the dead beside the scales with the human heart." [Note: Waltke, "The Book . . .," p. 237.]
The concept of God weighing the heart was also very old in Israelite theology going back as far as the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:17-19).