Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 29:1
He, that being often reproved hardeneth [his] neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
1. hardeneth his neck ] like an obstinate and refractory ox. The same phrase occurs in Deu 10:16; 2Ki 17:14. Comp. the similar phrase, stiff-necked, or hard-necked (the Heb. root being the same) Exo 32:9; Deu 9:6; Act 7:51 ( ); and for other figurative expressions drawn from the use of oxen, Jer 31:18; Act 26:14.
destroyed ] Rather, broken, R.V., as in Pro 6:15, A.V.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Shall be destroyed – literally, shall be broken Pro 6:15. Stress is laid on the suddenness in such a case of the long-delayed retribution.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 29:1
He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck.
The doom of the incorrigible sinner
This proverb may be accommodated to all the affairs of life. In whatever course a man blunders on, headstrong and regardless of advice and admonition, it will ruin him at last, as far as the matter is capable of working his ruin. But here principal reference is to religion. Often reproved–this is undoubtedly our character. Reproved by men from all quarters. The Word of God has reproved us. God has reproved us by His providence in private and public calamities. God has reproved us more immediately by His Spirit. We have also been our own monitors. Conscience has often pronounced our doom. Even the irrational creatures and infernal spirits may have been our monitors. Solomon assumes that a man may be often reproved, and yet harden his neck; that is, obstinately refuse submission and reformation. Nothing but a sullen and senseless beast can represent the stupid, unreasonable conduct of that man who hardens himself in sin, against the strongest dissuasion and reproofs from God and His creatures. The stiff neck that will not bend to the yoke of obedience must be broken, and its own stiffness renders it the more easily broken. It may harden itself into insensibility under reproof, but it cannot harden itself into insensibility under Divine judgments. He shall be suddenly destroyed. Sudden ruin is aggravated because it strikes a man into a consternation. There is dreadful reason to fear that you will always continue in your present condition if you persist in being proof against all admonition. (S. Davies, M.A.)
The duty of reprovers and persons reproved
The verse may be read, He that reproveth another, and hardeneth his own neck. The Hebrew is, A man of reproofs, that hardens his own neck.
1. Such a reprover of sin does it against his office. The office of a reprover binds him to be blameless.
2. Such a reprover can never reprove to a right end. It is not because he hates sin; if he did he would put it away from himself.
3. Such a reprover can never do it in a right manner. As long as a man has a beam in his own eye he cannot rightly deal with the mote in his brothers.
4. Such a reprover is a hypocrite.
5. Such a reprover is inexcusable. His reproving another mans sin makes himself inexcusable of his own.
6. Such a reprover is an absurd and impudent person. Such a man both wrongs his own soul and dishonours God. But the verse may be read, He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck. Hebrew is, Hardens his own neck. A man of reproofs equals a man often reproved. The Lord does not destroy a man nakedly, but upon consideration of sin. What a great sin it is, what a great ill it is, for man to sin against his reproofs.
The greatness of the ill is set down in two ways.
1. By the great sinfulness of the thing. It is called the hardening of a mans own neck.
2. By the greatness of the punishment that God inflicts upon this sin. When God reproves a man of sin, the reproof primarily comes out of love. The end of reproof is to bring a man to good, to reduce him into a right way, to convert a man, and save his soul. There is no reason in the world why reproof should be taken otherwise than with all willingness and thankfulness and cheerfulness. First use of this: See here what an infinite punishment God is bringing upon a kingdom when He is taking away reprovers from them.
The second use makes against those that despise the reproof of the wise. Ye despise not men, but God. The Lord proportions punishments to mens sins.
1. Because hereby mans punishment appears to be so much the more equal and worthy.
2. Because this stops a mans mouth; it convinceth s mans conscience.
3. All the standers-by see the equity of it. Consider and see how God proportions punishments to sins in kind, quantity, quality, time, and place. (William Fenner.)
The certain doom of the impenitent
I. The true idea of reproof. Whatever is calculated in its own nature or relations to arrest the attention of the mind, and call men to see their neglect of duty, or the obligation they owe to God, involves the true idea of reproof.
II. The ways in which God administers reproof. God exercises a universal providence. By judgments God ofttimes administers reproof. The Holy Spirit reproves by convincing the sinner of his sins and producing in his mind visitations of remorse.
III. The design of reproof. To effect a reformation. He means to secure this end by forbearance. When He finds that will not do, then He uses the rod.
IV. The meaning of hardening the neck. The figure is that of a bullock working with a yoke upon his neck. The neck becomes callous with the pressure of the yoke. Men are represented as pushing against Gods providence, and thus making their necks hard. The conscience of the sinner becomes quite callous under reproof if he does not yield to it.
V. The meaning of being suddenly destroyed. Opposition and destruction will always go together. The conscience becomes so stupefied that men lose the sense of danger. The danger of men is great, just in proportion as they cease to be affected by a sense of it; when men feel the most secure, if they are living in sin, then destruction is most certain; and when it comes it will be sudden, because they do not expect it at all. This is not arbitrary on the part of God; it is a natural consequence of the sinners conduct. (C. G. Finney.)
Hardening perilous
I. A case supposed.
1. You have often been reproved by kind and judicious parents.
2. Or by some faithful friend who has seen your tendency to evil, and has stepped in to prevent the destruction which he saw was on its way.
3. A still larger class among us God has counselled and reproved by His ministering servants.
4. Many have been reproved by afflictions of various kinds.
II. The severe judgment here denounced. The threat of the text is only against those who persevere in iniquity amidst all their religious privileges, who will not be warned nor instructed, who reject all advice and admonition, all offers of grace and mercy. Reflect on the suddenness, the greatness, and the eternity of the destruction which awaits impenitent offenders. But we only preach destruction that we may make you feel your need of salvation; and then, when we have awakened your fears, how gladly do we point you to the refuge and the remedy. (S. Bridge, M.A.)
A solemn warning
I. Gods lingering long-suffering. He reproves. Why? That we may turn and live. He reproves often. Why? Because He is not willing that any should perish.
II. Mans insane infatuation. Hardeneth his neck. Too many reject the Word of the Lord.
1. How terrible the power of sin!
2. How deceitful the heart of man!
3. How inexcusable and suicidal the sinner!
III. The terrirle threatening. Gods long-suffering will not always last.
1. The sinner shall be destroyed; his destruction is certain.
2. Be destroyed; his destruction fearful.
3. Shall suddenly; we know not what a day may bring forth.
IV. The awful appendix. And that without remedy. There is a remedy here and now, however sinful we have been, but there will be none hereafter. (David Jamison, B.A.)
Often reproved
I. The character implied.
II. The reproof given. Often reproved.
III. The reproof rejected. Hardeneth his neck. Setteth himself against taking the reproof, as a stubborn ox against taking the yoke. Indifferent to it. Laughs at it. Becomes worse. Obstinate in doing evil and in resisting good. Mind your own business. I am my own master. Throws off all restraint. Becomes sceptical, perhaps atheistic; scorns at religion and religious people.
IV. The punishment threatened. Shall suddenly, etc. He shall be cut off from hope; from friends; from honour; from happiness; from all his desirable possessions–suddenly; prematurely cut off; unexpectedly: apoplexy; disaster in travelling, etc. Irretrievable; eternal. Conclusion:
1. A limit to Gods long-suffering.
2. To live against Divine reproofs is perilous.
3. Divine reproofs are Divine mercies.
4. Exhort sinners. (John Bate.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XXIX
We must not despise correction. The prudent king. The
flatterer. The just judge. Contend not with a fool. The prince
who opens his ears to reports. The poor and the deceitful. The
pious king. The insolent servant. The humiliation of the proud.
Of the partner of a thief. The fear of man. The Lord the
righteous Judge.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIX
Verse 1. Hardeneth his neck] Becomes stubborn and obstinate.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Hardeneth his neck; is incorrigible, and obstinately persists in those sins for which he is reproved.
Without remedy, utterly and irrecoverably.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. hardeneth . . . neckobstinatelyrefuses counsel (2Ki 17:14;Neh 9:16).
destroyedliterally,”shivered” or “utterly broken to pieces.”
without remedyliterally,”without healing” or repairing.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He that being often reported hardeneth [his] neck,…. Or “a man of reproofs” d; either a man that takes upon him to be a censurer and reprover of others, and is often at that work, and yet does those things himself which he censures and reproves in others; and therefore must have an impudent face and a hard heart a seared conscience and a stiff neck; his neck must be an iron sinew and his brow brass: or rather a man that is often reproved by others by parents by ministers of the Gospel, by the Lord himself, by the admonitions of his word and Spirit and by the correcting dispensations of his providence; and yet despises and rejects all counsel and admonition, instruction and reproofs of every kind, and hardens himself against them and shows no manner of regard unto them. The metaphor is taken from oxen, which kick and toss about and will not suffer the yoke to be put upon their necks. Such an one
shall suddenly be destroyed; or “broken” e; as a potter’s vessel is broken to pieces with an iron rod, and can never he put together again; so such persons shall be punished with everlasting destruction, which shall come upon them suddenly, when they are crying Peace to themselves notwithstanding the reproofs of God and men;
and that without remedy; or, “and there [is] no healing” f; no cure of their disease, which is obstinate; no pardon of their sins; no recovery of them out of their miserable and undone state and condition; they are irretrievably lost; there is no help for them, having despised advice and instruction; see Pr 5:12.
d “vir increpationum”, Vatablus, Montanus, Mercerus, Gejerus; “vir correptionum”, Piscator, Michaelis; “vir redargutionum”, Schultens. e “conteretur”, Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, c. “confringetur”, Schultens so Baynus, Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius. f “et non (erit) sanitas”, Pagninus, Montanus, Baynus “non sit curatio”, Junius Tremellius “medicina”, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
A general ethical proverb here follows:
A man often corrected who hardeneth his neck,
Shall suddenly go to ruin without remedy.
Line second = Pro 6:15. The connection must make the nearest impression on a reader of the Book of Proverbs that they mean a censurer (reprehender), but which is set aside by what follows, for the genit. after is, Pro 16:29; Pro 26:21; Pro 29:10; Pro 13:20, the designation of that which proceeds from the subject treated. And since , Psa 37:15; Job 23:4, denotes counter evidence, and generally rejoinders, thus in the first line a reasoner is designated who lets nothing be said to him, and nothing be shown to him, but contradicts all and every one. Thus e.g., Fleischer: vir qui correptus contradicit et cervicem obdurat . But this interpolated correptus gives involuntary testimony of this, that the nearest lying impression of the ‘ suffers a change by : if we read ( ) with ‘ , the latter then designates the correptio, over against which is placed obstinate boldness (Syr., Targ., Jerome, Luther), and ‘ shows itself thus to be gen. objecti, and we have to compare the gen. connection of , as at Pro 18:23; Pro 21:17, or rather at 1Ki 20:42 and Jer 15:10. But it is unnecessary, with Hitzig, to limit ‘ to divine infliction of punishment, and after Hos 5:9; Isa 37:3, to read [punishment], which occurs, Psa 149:7, in the sense of punishment inflicted by man.
(Note: Vid., Zunz, “Regarding the Idea and the Use of Tokhecha,” in Steinschneider’s Heb. Bibliographia, entitled , 1871, p. 70f.)
Besides, we must think first not of actual punishment, but of chastening, reproving words; and the man to whom are spoken the reproving words is one whose conduct merits more and more severe censure, and continually receives correction from those who are concerned for his welfare. Hitzig regards the first line as a conditional clause: “Is a man of punishment stiff-necked?”…. This is syntactically impossible. Only could have such force: a man of punishment, if he…. But why then did not the author rather write the words ? Why then could not be a co-ordinated further description of the man? Cf. e.g., Ex. 17:21. The door of penitence, to which earnest, well-meant admonition calls a man, does not always remain open. He who with stiff-necked persistence in sin and in self-delusion sets himself in opposition to all endeavours to save his soul, shall one day suddenly, and without the prospect and possibility of restoration (cf. Jer 19:11), become a wreck. Audi doctrinam si vis vitare ruinam .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
1 He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
Here, 1. The obstinacy of many wicked people in a wicked way is to be greatly lamented. They are often reproved by parents and friends, by magistrates and ministers, by the providence of God and by their own consciences, have had their sins set in order before them and fair warning given them of the consequences of them, but all in vain; they harden their necks. Perhaps they fling away, and will not so much as give the reproof a patient hearing; or, if they do, yet they go on in the sins for which they are reproved; they will not bow their necks to the yoke, but are children of Belial; they refuse reproof (ch. x. 17), despise it (ch. v. 12), hate it, ch. xii. 1. 2. The issue of this obstinacy is to be greatly dreaded: Those that go on in sin, in spite of admonition, shall be destroyed; those that will not be reformed must expect to be ruined; if the rods answer not the end, expect the axes. They shall be suddenly destroyed, in the midst of their security, and without remedy; they have sinned against the preventing remedy, and therefore let them not expect any recovering remedy. Hell is remediless destruction. They shall be destroyed, and no healing, so the word is. If God wounds, who can heal?
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
RIGHTEOUS OR WICKED RULE
(Proverbs 29)
When Opportunity Ends
Verse 1-See comment on Pro 1:24-32.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 29:4. He that receiveth gifts. Zckler translates this, a man of taxes.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 29:1
REPROOF AND DESTRUCTION
I. An act of benevolence which is often resented. When a child is reproved, and if need be chastised, for playing with the fire or neglecting its lessons, all reasonable people see that it is a kind act, and the child itself, when it has grown wiser, acknowledges that the reproof, even if it took the form of punishment, was an act of true benevolence, for it has saved him from bodily suffering or from intellectual loss. But it is probable that at the time the reproof was administered it was received with resentment, and the parent or friend who administered it was looked upon as an enemy. And it is so generally with men in relation to the reproofs of God, whether they come direct in the shape of providential chastisements or indirectly in the rebukes of His servants. God can have but one aim in reproving His creatures, and that is to save them from the pain which follows sin, and to increase their capabilities of happiness by bringing them under His Divine training. But this effort of God is often resisted, and man in the act of resistance is here and elsewhere likened to the ox which refuses to obey his master. He hardens his neck against the yoke of Divine reproof. Repentant Ephraim acknowledges that under Divine chastisement he was as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke (Jer. 31:18); he resisted the efforts of his God to bring him into subjection to His wise rule, and into harmony with His benevolent purposes concerning him. The ox who does nothing but browse is living the lowest form of life which a brute can livehe eats, and sleeps, and fattens for the knife. But if his master leads him from his pasture, and harnesses him to the plough, he thereby makes him a co-worker with himself; the beast now helps to raise the corn which not only feeds himself, but feeds men also, and thus, by coming under the yoke, he becomes a more useful and valuable creature. But as he is only a brute, he is not to be blamed if he prefers the lower life to the higher. As it is with the ox and his master, so it is with the sinner and God. The godless man is content to live upon a level with the lowest level of brute lifeto satisfy his bodily appetites, to eat and drink, and die and leave undeveloped all his capacities for spiritual growth and blessedness. But God would make him a co-worker with Himself in lifting him to a higher level and in making him a more useful and blessed creature. But men often resist this benevolent intention, and resent this check upon their self-will.
II. The resistance to many acts of benevolence bringing one act of judgment. It must at last be decided whose will is to be the law of the universethat of rebellious men or that of the Holy God; and though the Divine longsuffering is so exceedingly great, He must, in the interests of His creatures, assert His right to their obedience. This He did in the case of His chosen peopleafter centuries of resisted reproof sudden and irremediable destruction came upon the nation, and those who, like the Jews, will not come under the yoke of God, must sooner or later feel His rod. If they will not be His children they must be treated as rebellious subjects. On this subject see also on chap. Pro. 6:15, page 82.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Such was the destruction of the old world, and of the cities of the plain, long hardened against the forbearance of God. Pharaoh grew more stubborn under the rod, and rushed madly upon his sudden ruin. Elis sons hearkened not unto the voice of their father, and in one day died both of them. Ahab, often reproved by the godly prophet, hardened his neck, and the bow, drawn at a venture, received its commission. How must Judas have steeled his heart against his Masters reproof! Onward he rushed, that he might go to his own place.Bridges.
Sins repeated and reiterated are much greater than sins once committed As in numbers, one in the first place stands but for a single one, in the second place ten, in the third place for a hundred, so here, each repetition is a great aggravation. It is one thing to fall into the water, another thing to lie there; it is the latter that drowns men.Swinnock.
On the subject of Pro. 29:2, see on chap. Pro. 11:10, page 206. On Pro. 29:3, see on chap. Pro. 10:1, page 137, and chap. Pro. 5:1-20, page 68. The subject of Pro. 29:4 has been treated on page 472, in the homiletics on chap. Pro. 16:10-15, and that of Pro. 29:5 in the homiletics on chap. Pro. 26:23-28, page 721.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER 29
TEXT Pro. 29:1-9
1.
He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck
Shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
2.
When the righteous are increased, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man beareth rule, the people sigh.
3.
Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father;
But he that keepeth company with harlots wasteth his substance.
4.
The king by justice establisheth the land;
But he that exacteth gifts overthroweth it.
5.
A man that flattereth his neighbor
Spreadeth a net for his steps.
6.
In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare;
But the righteous doth sing and rejoice.
7.
The righteous taketh knowledge of the cause of the poor;
The wicked hath not understanding to know it.
8.
Scoffers set a city in a flame;
But wise men turn away wrath.
9.
If a wise man hath a controversy with a foolish man,
Whether he be angry or laugh, there will be no rest.
STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 29:1-9
1.
What strong warning does Pro. 29:1 contain?
2.
What verses in Proverbs besides Pro. 29:2 state similar truth?
3.
What character in a parable of Jesus fulfilled the last statement of Pro. 29:3?
4.
Reword the last statement of Pro. 29:4.
5.
A previous verse on flattery said, A flattering tongue ……………….
6.
A snare to whom (Pro. 29:6)?
7.
Does Pro. 29:7 indicate that the righteous themselves are not always poor?
8.
How would scoffers set a city aflame (Pro. 29:8)?
9.
Does whether he be angry or laugh go with wise man or foolish man (Pro. 29:9)?
PARAPHRASE OF 29:1-9
1.
The man who is often reproved but refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be broken and never have another chance.
2.
With good men in authority, the people rejoice; but with the wicked in power, they groan.
3.
A wise son makes his father happy, but a lad who hangs around with prostitutes disgraces him.
4.
A just king gives stability to his nation, but one who demands bribes destroys it.
5, 6.
Flattery is a trap; evil men are caught in it, but good men stay away and sing for joy.
7.
The good man knows the poor mans rights; the godless dont care.
8.
Fools start fights everywhere while wise men try to keep peace.
9.
Theres no use arguing with a fool. He only rages and scoffs, and tempers flare.
COMMENTS ON 29:1-9
Pro. 29:1. Jehovah had tried to get Judah to do right, but they would not listen; therefore, He destroyed them without remedy: Jehovah…sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending…but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of Jehovah arose against his people, until there was no remedy (2Ch. 36:15; 2Ch. 36:17). When wisdom is thus despised, this is the result: Ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof…when your fear cometh as a storm, and your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come upon you, then will they call upon me, but I will not answer (Pro. 1:25-28).
Pro. 29:2. The contrast is between a righteous and a wicked ruler and between the peoples rejoicing under the righteous ruler and their sighing under the wicked. Previous contrasts involving the same in Proverbs: When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth; And when the wicked perish, there is shouting (Pro. 11:10); When the righteous triumph, there is great glory; But when the wicked rise, men hide themselves (Pro. 28:12); When the wicked rise, men hide themselves; But when they perish, the righteous increase (Pro. 28:28).
Pro. 29:3. This verse talks of two altogether different kinds of sons and the consequences. Other passages showing a sons conducts effect upon his parents: A wise son maketh a glad father; But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother (Pro. 10:1); A wise son maketh a glad father, But a foolish man despiseth his mother (Pro. 15:20); My son, be wise, and make my heart glad (Pro. 27:11), Yes, men have been made poor though their evil lusts: Lest strangers be filled with thy strength (Pro. 5:10)margin says wealth instead of strength; On account of a harlot a man is brought to a piece of bread (Pro. 6:26). The Prodigal Son wasted his substance with riotous living (Luk. 15:13). According to his elder brother, he spent it on harlots (Luk. 15:30).
Pro. 29:4. A double contrast: by justice vs. exacteth gifts and establisheth the land vs. overthroweth it. When a king rules according to the laws of justice, things go well with both him and the land, for God blesses, and the people are happy. The bribe-taking king (he that exacteth gifts) overthrows it because such is not right, God is not pleased, and the people do not approve it.
Pro. 29:5. Flattery is insincere compliments. This verse shows it is buttering a person in order to eat him. A flattering tongue worketh ruin (Pro. 26:28). When some people speak fair, they should not be believed; their hearts may be filled with abominations (Pro. 26:25), The flatteries of our verse are nothing more than something that will draw ones attentions away from the net that is being spread in ones way. Such operate on the idea expressed in Pro. 1:17 : In vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird.
Pro. 29:6. The contrast within the verse shows that the snare ensnares the transgressor himself. This very language is used in several other passages, all relating to ones transgression: A fools mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul (Pro. 18:7); It is a snare to a man rashly to say, It is holy and vows to make inquiry (Pro. 20:25); Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul (Pro. 22:25). But righteousness does not ensnare one; it leads to singing and rejoicing.
Pro. 29:7. The righteous give to the poor because they first of all take knowledge of their situation and then care. Because the wicked do not care, they do not bother themselves to take knowledge of their condition, and if they know about it, they dismiss it from their thoughts. Job is an example of one who investigated need: I was a father to the needy: And the cause of him that I knew not I searched out (Job. 29:16). Psalms 41 :l says, Blessed is he that considereth the poor. This would not be the priest and the Levite of Jesus parable (Luk. 10:31; Luk. 10:33).
Pro. 29:8. The setting of this verse is an attacked or besieged city. Men may scoff at the enemy that is able to overthrow the city. Conquerors often spared a city destruction if it surrendered, but if it resisted, it was conquered and then destroyed. Thus, it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked (Pro. 11:11). The wise men who turn away wrath would be those who, seeing that they were hopelessly outnumbered and defeated, asked for terms or conditions of peace.
Pro. 29:9. When a foolish men is encountered in a controversy, he may get angry (realizing he is getting the worst end of it), or he may laugh (not sensing that he is being defeated). Such a controversy never comes to a suitable, satisfying point of conclusion as it should. Pulpit Commentary: After all has been said, the fool only falls into a passion or laughs at the matter, argument is wasted upon him, and the controversy is never settled. Wordsworth: The irreligious fool is won neither by the austere preaching of John the Baptist nor by the mild teaching of Christ, but rejects both (Mat. 11:16-19).
TEST QUESTIONS OVER 29:1-9
1.
What was cited as an example of Pro. 29:1?
2.
Comment upon Pro. 29:2.
3.
Tie Pro. 29:3 in with Pro. 6:32.
4.
Comment upon the truthfulness of Pro. 29:4.
5.
Why does one seeking anothers destruction employ flattery at times (Pro. 29:5)?
6.
Where else is snare used in this sense (Pro. 29:6)?
7.
Why do the righteous take knowledge of the poor (Pro. 29:7)? Why dont the wicked?
8.
What is the setting of Pro. 29:8?
9.
Comment upon Pro. 29:9.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XXIX.
(1) Hardeneth his neck.And will not bear the easy yoke of God. (Comp. Mat. 11:29-30.)
Shall suddenly be destroyed.Literally, shattered, like a potters vessel that cannot be mended (Jer. 19:11; Isa. xxx 14).
And that without remedy.For what more can be done for him, if he has despised Gods warnings? (Comp. Heb. 6:4, sqq.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. Being often reproved Literally, a man of reproofs; one who has often been reproved. So, generally, the critics; but not universally. Gesenius gives: “A man of arguments, who, when censured, defends himself.” Miller translates: “A man given to reproving a sinner setting himself at ease in doctrine, so as to become a teacher. How strong a clerical text, and how good for sermons before synods and councils of the Church!” The common consent of interpreters, however, sustains the Authorized Version, notwithstanding the analogy of similar forms in this chapter is against it.
Hardeneth his neck A figure from the work ox, whose neck becomes callous by wearing the yoke. Applied to man, it imports that callousness of heart which results from resisting the truth.
Shall suddenly be destroyed Some sudden, unexpected calamity shall overtake him. The original has the force of our “shivered to pieces” irremediable destruction. A fearful admonition to hardened hearts! The Septuagint varies here marvellously: “A reprover is better than a stiffnecked man; for when the latter is suddenly set on fire, there shall be no remedy.” Comp. Pro 6:15.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
A Collection Of Solomon’s Proverbs ( Pro 10:1 to Pro 29:27 ).
Solomon’s presentation of The Book of Proverbs has followed the pattern of much Wisdom literature. This commenced with the initial heading detailing the details of the author and his purpose in writing (Pro 1:1-7), continued with a Prologue which laid the foundation for what was to follow (Pro 1:8 to Pro 9:18), and was then followed by the body of the work introduced by one or more subheadings. In Solomon’s case this main body comprises Pro 10:1 to Pro 29:27. It is usually divided up into four parts:
1) Proverbs of Solomon (Pro 10:1 to Pro 22:16), introduced by a subheading ‘The Proverbs Of Solomon’. This may possibly be divided into two sections, Pro 10:1 to Pro 15:21, and Pro 15:22 to Pro 22:16.
2) Words of the Wise (Pro 22:17 to Pro 24:22), introduced by an exhortation to hear the words of the wise. This is in a form comparable with exhortations in the Prologue, but there is no subheading in the text as we have it. It may rather therefore be seen as a third section of The Proverbs of Solomon, but with unusual characteristics.
3) Further Sayings of the Wise (Pro 24:23-34), introduced by the subheading, ‘these also are of the wise’.
4) Proverbs of Solomon copied out by the ‘Men of Hezekiah, King of Judah’ (Pro 25:1 to Pro 29:27), introduced by a specific heading.
The inclusion of the words of the wise within two sets of proverbs of Solomon, the first time without a subheading, suggests that we are to see the words of the wise and the sayings of the wise as also from Solomon, but based in each case more specifically on collections of Wisdom sayings known to him, which he himself, or his Scribes, had taken and altered up in order to conform them to his requirements thus making them finally his work. That does not necessarily mean that his proverbs in section 1 (Pro 10:1 to Pro 22:16) were not based on other material. He would have obtained his material from many sources. But once again we are to see them as presented after alteration by his hand.
We should note, for example, the continual references to YHWH that occur throughout the text. Whatever material Solomon may have appropriated, he refashioned it in order to make it the wisdom of the God of Israel, of YHWH their covenant God. This approach of taking what was written by others and refashioning it, while at the same time introducing further ideas of his own, may be seen as following the pattern of modern scholars, each of whom takes the works of others, and then reinterprets them in his own words, whilst adding to them on the basis of his own thinking. The final product is then seen as their own thinking, aided by others. The only difference is that Solomon would have been far more willing to copy down word for word what others had said and written without giving acknowledgement.
Having said that we must not assume that Solomon simply copied them down unthinkingly. As the Prologue has made clear, he did not see himself as presenting some general form of Wisdom teaching. He saw what he wrote down as given by YHWH, and as being in the words of YHWH (Pro 2:6). And he saw it as based on YHWH’s eternal wisdom, His wisdom which had also been involved in the creation of heaven and earth (Pro 3:19-20; Pro 8:22-31). Thus he wants us to recognise that what now follows is not a series of general wisdom statements, but is a miscellany revealing the wisdom of YHWH, the wisdom that leads men into the paths of life.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Pro 29:1 Illustrations – God destroyed the army of Pharaoh in the Red Sea after they had been warned of God’s pending wrath. They had seen the ten plagues upon the land of Egypt. They knew that God was mighty to judge. Yet, in the hardness of their hearts, they chose to persecute the people of God.
God destroyed the children of Israel in the wilderness because they hardened their hearts (Heb 3:7-11).
Heb 3:7-11, “Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)”
God destroyed the two sons of Eli, because they did not hearken unto His voice (1Sa 3:13-14).
1Sa 3:13-14, “For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.”
Pro 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.
Pro 29:2
The word of God came to John the Baptist during a period of Jewish history when tyrants ruled over them (Luk 3:1-3).
Luk 3:1-3, “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;”
Paul tells the Church to pray for righteous leadership (1Ti 2:2).
1Ti 2:2, “For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”
Pro 29:2 Scripture References – Note a similar verse:
Pro 11:10, “When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.”
Pro 29:3 Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.
Pro 29:3
Scripture References – Note a similar verse:
Pro 15:20, “A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother.”
Pro 29:4 The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it.
Pro 29:4 1Sa 13:13
2Sa 8:15, “And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.”
In 1 Kings 14, Jeroboam was warned by God of coming judgment because of his sins.
Pro 16:12, “It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.”
Pro 29:14, “The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Justification: The Journey to a Place of Rest ( Pro 10:1 to Pro 29:27 ) In Proverbs 10-29 we find a new emphasis regarding our spiritual journey in life. We have heard the call of wisdom in the first nine chapters. Now we have to make the choice to follow the path of wisdom, or the path of the fool. It is our decision to pursue wisdom that will justify us before God. Thus, the underlying theme of Proverbs 10-29 is our justification before God the Father, while the final chapter brings us to a place of rest, which is the destination for man’s spiritual journey in life.
Throughout Proverbs 10-29 we encounter hundreds of individual proverbs that appear to have no organized arrangement in which they are presented us. This is because in the journey of life, our encounters with the wise man and the fool appear to come in the same random order. However, God has placed all things in His divine order. When we read individual proverbs, they appear to be randomly assembled, but if we will step back and look at them as a whole or in groups, we can see an order. These proverbs are clearly grouped together by themes, such as a pure heart, the tongue, a long life, and wealth. In the same way, the circumstances that we face in our daily lives appear to have no particular order. We see very little of God’s hand in our lives in a single day, but when we step back and look as our lives over the months or years, we very clearly see God’s sovereign hand at working in our lives. We recognize that He is divinely orchestrating His purpose and plan for our lives. This is the way that the verses in the book of Proverbs are arranged.
We have seen that Proverbs 1-9, about one third of the book, is man’s call to follow the path of wisdom. Thus, about one third of the book of Proverbs is an introduction, or a preparation, for the rest of this book. Why is that so? We know that Solomon was chosen to be the successor to the throne at his birth. Therefore, he received many years of training under King David for this great task. Even today, we spent the first twenty years of our lives going to school and training for a profession, which is about one third of our lives. We spend the next two thirds of our lives building upon these twenty years of preparation. In our lives, we spend the first twenty years in preparation, the next twenty years sowing, and the last twenty years reaping what we have sown. This is why these years seem to be turning points in many people’s lives. This was the pattern in King Solomon’s life of preparation and growing in wisdom, and this is the pattern found in the book of Proverbs. It is important to note that a season of preparation is something that God has designed and instituted in the human life. He created every human being with the capacity to be shaped and molded through a training process. We often use the term “brainwashing” in a negative sense to refer to a person who has been programmed to think in a negative way; but proper training also reprograms the mind and prepares an individual for the tasks of life. Our human make-up of the spirit, soul, and body were designed to receive training before practical application and abundant living can be achieved.
Although we will study these proverbs, we will find ourselves falling short of fulfilling them in our everyday lives. None of us has walked flawlessly in obedience to any single proverb. Therefore, each individual proverb reveals God’s standard of righteousness, pointing us to Jesus, who alone fulfilled this divine standard in our behalf. In this sense, this collection of proverbs is a collection of redemptive proverbs, revealing our need for a Redeemer, who alone fulfilled every proverb.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. Justification: Solomon’s First Collection Pro 10:1 to Pro 22:16
2. Divine Service: Sayings of the Wise Pro 22:17 to Pro 24:34
3. Perseverance: Solomon’s Second Collection by Hezekiah Pro 25:1 to Pro 29:27
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Perseverance: Solomon’s Second Collection of Proverbs (126 Sayings) – Proverbs 25-29 are often called Solomon’s Second Collection of Proverbs. When we enter into chapters 25 and 29, we begin to notice a number of proverbs that deal with leaders of a nation. We now must learn that our actions ultimately affect our nation. We often find the underlying them of a section in its opening verses; and this is the case with this division in Proverbs. Pro 25:2-7 reveal how the king decrees by divine oracles (Pro 25:2-3), so that he might establish righteousness (Pro 25:4-5), so that everyone will walk humbly before the king and his decrees (Pro 25:6-7). Therefore, the proverbs in 25-29 are emphasizing how a king establishes justice in the land. Perhaps Solomon gathered this second group of proverbs separately from his first collection because he used them in specifically to establish righteousness and order in the land of Israel. This may the reason that many proverbs in this collection refer to rulers of a land (Pro 25:2-7; Pro 25:15; Pro 27:23-27; Pro 28:2; Pro 28:15-16; Pro 29:2; Pro 29:4; Pro 29:12; Pro 29:14; Pro 29:26). In fact, this collection of proverbs closes with two verses stating this very theme of how a king’s righteous judgment establishes the land (Pro 29:4; Pro 29:14).
The signposts found in the sayings of the wise (Pro 22:17 to Pro 24:34) and in Solomon’s second collection (25-29) tell us to continue in the fear of the Lord, to honor those in authority over us, and this will bring happiness into our lives as we continue on this journey. Note:
Pro 23:17, “Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.”
Pro 24:21, “My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:”
Pro 28:14, “Happy is the man that feareth alway : but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.”
Regarding the relationship of Proverbs 25-29 to our spiritual journey, we can group these proverbs under the phase called perseverance of the saints, in which God’s children have entered their divine calling and are in the process of fulfilling it in order to reach the final stage of glorification. The theme of leadership and the establishment of justice reveal our purpose for this season in our lives. God has put us on this path in order to establish righteousness in the land.
1. Proverbs About Relationships with Others Pro 25:1 to Pro 26:28
2. Proverbs About Misc. Activities Pro 27:1 to Pro 29:27
Characteristics of the Passage – A number of the proverbs found in the Solomon’s first collection (Pro 10:1 to Pro 22:16) are repeated in this section of Solomon’s second collection (Pro 25:1 to Pro 29:27). The opening verse of this section tells us that these proverbs were copied out by Hezekiah about 250 years after Solomon wrote them. Perhaps Hezekiah’s men were unwilling to delete anything they found repeated in the second collection out of holy reverence for what they now considered divine Scriptures.
Many scholars observe differences between the characteristics and content of this second collection of proverbs and the first collection. They mention a number of examples: (1) Grammar – Some scholars suggest the first collection repeatedly uses several phrases that are not found in the second collection, such as “fountain of life (two times),” “tree of life (four times),” “snares of death (two times),” “hand in hand (two times),” and “shall not be unpunished (five times).” All agree that this does not provide a strong argument to suggest different authorships and dates between the two collections. (2) Content – Other scholars use the climate of the monarchy described within the two collections to conclude that they were written in different periods of Israel’s history. For example, during the time of Solomon, the political climate was one of peace and righteousness. Thus, we see within the first collection words that support the monarchy:
Pro 14:28, “In the multitude of people is the king’s honour: but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.”
Pro 16:12, “It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.”
Pro 16:13, “Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right.”
Pro 16:15, “In the light of the king’s countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain.”
Pro 20:28, “Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.”
A contrast can be made in the second collection, where we find descriptions of people who have been oppression by the king:
Pro 25:5, “Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.”
Pro 28:2, “For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged.”
Pro 28:15, “As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.”
Pro 28:16, “The prince that wanteth understanding is also a great oppressor: but he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days.”
Pro 29:2, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”
Pro 29:4, “The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it.”
Pro 29:12, “If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.”
Such verses about political oppression are missing in the first collection. They bring new and fresh insight into the failures of a monarchy system. Scholars suggest that this indicates a later date of writing than the first collection. However, as interesting as these suggestions appear, neither of the two gives strong enough support to conclude that there was more than one author of the first and second collections of proverbs. [132]
[132] W. J. Deane, S. T. Teylor-Taswell, and W. F. Adeney, Proverbs, in The Pulpit Commentary, e Eds.H. D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Excell (New York: Funk and Wagnalis Company, n.d.), x, xvi.
The Structure of the Passage – Nelson’s Teaching Outlines of the Bible groups the verses found in chapters 25-26 into subject matter related to various aspects of our relationships with people in society. [133] I have followed these sections with different titles.
[133] Nelson’s Teaching Outlines of the Bible (Thomas Nelson: Nashville: Thomas Nelson, c1986, 1997).
1. Introduction Pro 25:1
2. Wisdom in Dealing with Leaders Pro 25:2-7
3. Wisdom in Dealing with Relationships Pro 25:8-20
4. Wisdom in Dealing with Adversity Pro 25:21-24
5. Wisdom Regarding Self-Discipline Pro 25:25-28
6. Wisdom in Dealing with the Foolish Pro 26:1-12
7. Wisdom in Dealing with the Sluggard Pro 26:13-16
8. Wisdom in Dealing with the Liar Pro 26:17-28
The fact that Hezekiah grouped the proverbs in chapters 25-26 according to subject matter implies that he may have studied the proverbs of Solomon by topic as we often do today.
In addition, our relationships with those in our society help us to see the underlying theme of perseverance, knowing that the way we manage our relationships with others determines whether or not we are continuing in the path of wisdom by walking in love with others.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Description of Stubbornness and Disobedience
v. 1. He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, v. 2. When the righteous are in authority, v. 3. Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father, v. 4. The king by judgment, v. 5. A man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet, v. 6. In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare, v. 7. The righteous considereth the cause of the poor, v. 8. Scornful men bring a city into a snare, v. 9. If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, v. 10. The bloodthirsty hate the upright, v. 11. A fool uttereth all his mind, v. 12. If a ruler hearken to lies, v. 13. The poor and the deceitful man, v. 14. The king that faithfully judgeth the poor,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
This chapter reinforces many precept given previously.
Pro 29:1
He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck; literally, a man of reproofsone who has had a long experience of rebukes and warnings. Compare “a man of sorrows” (Isa 53:3). The hardening of the neck is a metaphor derived from obstinate draught animals who will not submit to the yoke (Deu 10:16; Jer 2:20; Jer 27:8). Christ calls his yoke easy, and bids his followers to bear it bravely (Mat 11:29. etc.). The reproofs may arise from the Holy Spirit and the conscience, from the teaching of the past, or from the counsel of friends. The LXX. (as some other Jewish interpreters) takes the expression in the text actively, “A man who reproves () is better than one of stiff neck.” Shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy (Pro 6:15; Pro 15:10). The incorrigible and self-deluding sinners shall come to a fearful and sudden end, though retribution be delayed (comp. Job 34:20; Psa 2:9; Jer 19:11). And there is no hope in their end; despising all correction, they can have no possibility of restoration. We may refer, as an illustration, to that terrible passage in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 6:4, etc.), and to the fate of the Jews unto the present day. Septuagint, “For when he is burning suddenly, there is no remedy.”
Pro 29:2
When the righteous are in authority; rather, as in Pro 28:28, when the righteous are increased; Vulgate, in multiplicatione justorum. When sinners are put away, and the righteous are in the majority. Septuagint, “when the just are commended.” When good men give the tone to society and conduct all affairs according to their own high standard, the peoople rejoice; there is general happiness; prosperity abounds, and voices ring cheerfully (Pro 11:10; Pro 28:12). When the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn; they suffer violence and injustice, and have bitter cause for complaint and lamentation. This proverb is not applicable to the age of Solomon.
Pro 29:3
The first hemistich is a variation of Pro 10:1-32. I (where see note). Keepeth company with; literally, feedeth, as Pro 28:7. Harlots (see on Pro 6:26). Such vice leads to the wasting of substance (Luk 15:13), and the great sorrow of the parent. Septuagint, “But he that pastureth () harlots shall waste wealth.”
Pro 29:4
Many of the proverbs in this chapter seem to suit the time of Jeroboam II. (see on Pro 28:3). The king by judgment establisheth the land. The king, the fountain of justice, by his equitable government brings his country into a healthy and settled condition. In the security of the throne the land and people participate. He that receiveth gifts overthroweth it. The expression, (ish terumoth), “man of offerings,” “man of gifts,” is ambiguous: it may mean “the taker of bribes,” the unrighteous ruler who sells justice (Pro 15:27), or it may signify “the imposer of taxes” (Eze 45:13, etc.) or forced benevolences. Aquila and Theodotion have , “man of heave offerings,” and Wordsworth regards him as a man who claims and receives gifts, as if he were a deity on earth. Whichever sense we give to the phrase, the contrast lies between the inflexibly upright ruler and the iniquitous or extortionate prince. The Septuagint gives , “a transgressor;” Vulgate, vir avarus.
Pro 29:5
A man that flattereth his neighbour; says only what is agreeable, applauds his words and actions indiscriminately, and makes him think too well of himself he is no true friend (see Pro 28:23). Spreadeth a net for his feet; his stops (Pro 26:28; Job 18:8, etc.). If a man listens to such flattering words, and is influenced by them, he works his own ruin; self-deceived, he knows not his real condition, and accordingly makes grievous disaster of his life. The LXX. gives a different turn to the sentence, “He that prepareth a net before his friend entangles his own feet therein” (comp. Pro 26:27; Pro 28:10).
Pro 29:6
In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare (Pro 12:13). The snare is that the sinner is caught and held fast by his sin, and cannot escape, as he knows nothing of repentance, and has no will to cast off evil habits (Pro 24:16). (For “snare,” comp. Pro 18:7; Pro 20:25; Pro 22:25.) Septuagint, “For a man sinning there lies a great snare.” But the righteous doth sing and rejoice. The antithesis is not very obvious. It may mean that the good man has a conscience at peace, is free from the snare of sin, and therefore is glad; or that, in spite of a momentary fall, though he has transgressed, he knows that God forgives him on his repentance, and this makes him happy; or, generally that he rejoices in the happy life which his virtue procures for him here and hereafter (Mat 5:12). In the original “sing” represents the sudden outburst of joy, “rejoice” the continued state of happiness. “The righteous shall be in joy and gladness ( ),” Septuagint.
Pro 29:7
Considereth the cause; recognizes the claims, and, as the word din implies, supports them at the seat of judgment (comp. Job 29:12, Job 29:16; Psa 82:3, etc.). Septuagint, “A righteous man knows how to judge for the poor.” The wicked regardeth not to know it. This is a clumsy translation; it means, pays no attention so as to become fully acquainted with its details and bearings. But the words signify rather, as in the Revised Version margin, “understandeth not knowledge” (Pro 19:25; Pro 28:5), has no knowledge which would lead him to enter into the poor man’s case, and to sympathize with him in his distress; the claims of the feeble to recognition and relief at his hands are utterly unknown and disregarded. He can daily look on Lazarus at his gate, and find no call for his pity and charity; he can see the wounded traveller in the road, and pass by on the other side. The LXX. offers two translations of the latter clause, reading the second time instead of , and thereby not improving the sense: “But the ungodly understand. eth not knowledge, and the poor man hath not an understanding mind.”
Pro 29:8
Scornful men bring a airy into a snare. “Men of derision” (Isa 28:14) are those who despise and scoff at all things great and high, whether sacred or profane (see on Pro 1:22). These are the persons who raise rebellion in a country and excite opposition to constituted authority. The rendering of , “bring into a snare,” as in the Authorized Version, is supported by some of the Jewish versions and commentaries; but the more correct rendering is “blow into a blaze, inflame,” as the Revised Version (comp. Job 20:26; Eze 22:20, Eze 22:21). These scorners excite the populace to acts of fury, when all respect for piety and virtue is lost; they fan the passions of the fickle people, and lead them to civil discord and dangerous excesses (comp. Pro 22:10). Septuagint, “Lawless men burn up a city.” But wise men turn away wrath; by their prudent counsels allay the angry passions roused by those evil men (see Pro 29:11 and Pro 15:1, Pro 15:18).
Pro 29:9
If a wise man contendeth with a foolish manif a wise man has a controversy, either legal or social, with a wicked foolwhether he rage (is angry) or laugh, there is no rest. It is a question whether the wise man or the fool is the subject of this clause. St. Jerome makes the former the subject, Vir sapiens, si cum stulto contenderit, sive irascatur, sive rideat, non inveniet requiem. It matters not how the wise man treats the fool; he may be stern and angry, he may be gentle and good tempered, yet the fool will be none the better, will not be reformed, will not cease from his folly, will carry on his cavilling contention. Hitzig, Delitzsch, and others, deeming that the rage and the laughter are not becoming to the character of the wise man, take the fool as the subject; so that the sense is, that after all has been said, the fool only falls into a passion or laughs at the matter, argument is wasted upon him, and the controversy is never settled. This seems to be the best interpretation, and is somewhat supported by the Septuagint, “A wise man shall judge the nations, but a worthless man, being angry, laughs and fears not [ , which may also mean, ‘is derided and terrifies no one’].” Wordsworth notes that the irreligious fool is won neither by the austere preaching of John the Baptist nor by the mild teaching of Christ, but rejects both (Mat 11:16-19).
Pro 29:10
The bloodthirsty hate the upright; him that is perfect, Revised Version; , Septuagint. His life is a tacit reproach to men of blood, robbers, murderers, and such like sinners, as is finely expressed in the Book of Wisdom Pro 2:12, etc.. But the just seek his soul. The explanation of this hemistich is doubtful. The following interpretations have been offered:
(1) The just seek the soul of the upright to deliver him from death temporal and spiritual (comp. Pro 12:6; Psa 142:4).
(2) The just seek the murderer’s life, take vengeance on him (comp. Psa 63:9, Psa 63:10).
(3) “As for the just, they (the murderers) attempt his life,” where the change of subject, though by no means unparalleled, is awkward (comp. Psa 37:14). The second explanation makes the righteous the executioners of vengeance on the delinquents, which does not seem to be the idea intended, and there is no confirmation of it in our book. The interpretation first given has against it the fact that the phrase, “to seek the soul,” is used of attempts against the life, not of preserving it. But this is not fatal; and the above seems to be the most likely explanation offered, and gives a good antithesis. Men of blood hate a virtuous man, and try to destroy him; the righteous love him, and do their utmost to defend and keep him safe. If this interpretation is rejected, the third explanation is allowable, the casus pendens“the just, they seek his life”may be compared with Gen 26:15; Deu 2:23. Septuagint, “But the upright will seek () his life.”
Pro 29:11
A fool uttereth all his mind; his spirit; , i.e. “his anger;” , Septuagint (comp. Pro 16:32). The wording of the second hemistich confirms this rendering. A fool pours out his wrath, restrained by no consideration. It is a wise maxim that says, “Command your temper, lest it command you;” and again, “When passion enters in at the foregate, wisdom goes out at the postern.” So we have the word attributed to Evenus Parius
.
“Wrath often hath revealed man’s hidden mind,
Than madness more pernicious.”
A wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. This clause is capable of more than one explanation. The Authorized Version says that the wise man restrains his own anger till he can give it proper vent. The term occurs nowhere else, and is rendered “at last,” “finally,” and by Delitzsch, “within,” i.e. in his heart. The verb rendered “keepeth in” (shabach) is rather “to calm,” “to hush,” as in Psa 65:7; Psa 89:10, “Which stilleth the noise of the seas.” So we have the meaning: The wise man calms the auger within him; according to the proverb, Irae dilatio, mentis pacatio. Or the anger calmed may be that of the fool: The wise man appeases it after it has been exhibited; he knows how to apply soothing remedies to the angry man, and in the end renders him calm and amenable to reason. This seems the most suitable explanation. Septuagint, “A wise man husbands it () in part.”
Pro 29:12
All his servants are wicked. The ruler is willing to be deceived, and does not care to hear the truth, so his servants flatter and lie to him, and the whole atmosphere is charged with unreality and deceit. Qualis rex, talis grex. Ecc 10:2, “As the judge of the people is himself, so are his officers; and what manner of man the ruler of the city is, such are all that dwell therein.” Claudian, ‘IV. Cons. Hon.,’ 299
“Componitur orbis
Regis ad exemplum: nec sic inflectere sensus
Humanos edicta valent, ut vita regentis.
Mobile mutatur semper cum principe vulgus.”
“By the king’s precedent
The world is ordered; and men’s minds are moved
Less by stern edicts than their ruler’s life.
The fickle crowd aye by the prince is swayed.”
Cicero, ‘De Leg.,’ 3.13, “Ut enim cupiditatibus principum et vitiis iufici solet tota civitas, sic emendari et corrigi continentia.” And ibid; 14, “Quo perniciosius de republica merentur vitiosi principes, quod non solum vitia concipiunt ipsi, sod ea infundunt in civitatem; neque solum obsunt, ipsi quod corrumpuntur, sed etiam quod corrumpunt, plusque exemplo, quam peccato, nocent.”
Pro 29:13
A variation of Pro 22:2. The deceitful man. This makes no contrast with the poor. “The man of oppressions” (tekakim) is the usurer, from whom the poor suffer most wrong and cruelty. The needy man and the rich lender are thrown together in social life. St. Jerome calls them pauper et creditor. Septuagint, “When the creditor and debtor meet together, the Lord maketh inspection () of both.” The Lord lighteneth both their eyes. Both rich and poor, the oppressor and the oppressed, owe their light and life to God; he makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good; he sends rain on the just and the unjust; he is the Father, Ruler, and Judge of all. Here is comfort for the poor, that he has a tender Father who watches over him; here is a warning for the rich, that he will have to give an account of his stewardship. The former proverb spoke only generally of God being the Maker of both (comp. Psa 13:1-6 :8; Ecc 11:7).
Pro 29:14
The king that faithfully judgeth the poor (comp. Pro 16:12; Pro 20:28; Pro 25:5). Inflexible fidelity to duty is intendedthat perfect impartiality, which dispenses justice alike to rich and poor, uninfluenced By personal or social considerations. His throne shall be established forever. Being founded on righteousness, it shall pass on to his descendants for many generations (comp. Jer 22:3, etc.). The LXX; pointing differently, have, “His throne shall be established for a testimony” (lahed, instead of lahad).
Pro 29:15
The rod and reproof give wisdom to the young. The former denotes bodily correction, what we call corporal punishment; the latter, discipline in words, rebuke administered when any moral fault is noticed. The idea here enunciated is very common in this book (see Pro 10:1, Pro 10:13; Pro 13:24; Pro 23:13). But a child loft to himself bringeth his mother to shame. The verb translated “left” (, shalach) is used in Job 39:5 of the wild ass left to wander free where it wills. A child allowed to do as he likes, undisciplinedspoiled, as we call itis a shame to his mother, whose weakness has led to this want of restraint, fond love degenerating into over-indulgence (comp. Pro 17:21; Pro 28:7). Septuagint, “A son that goeth astray shameth his parents.”
Pro 29:16
When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth. The verb rabah is used in both parts of the sentence, and should have been so translated, When the wicked increase, transgression increaseth. Septuagint, “When the godless are many, sins become many.” Where the wicked get the upper hand in a community, their evil example is copied, and a lowering of moral tone and a general laxity in conduct prevail (see on Pro 29:12 : comp. also Pro 29:2; Pro 28:12, Pro 28:28). But the righteous shall see their fall. Retribution shall overtake them, and God’s justice shall be vindicated. This the righteous shall witness, and shall rejoice in the vengeance, when his eye shall see its desire upon his enemies (Psa 54:7; see also Psa 37:34; Psa 73:17, etc.). Septuagint (punctuating differently), “But when they (the godless) fall, the righteous become fearful ();” they are awestruck at the sudden and grievous fall of sinners.
Pro 29:17
Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest (Pro 19:18); Septuagint, . He will be no longer a source of care and disquiet to you. Delight (maadanim); properly, dainty dishes, and then any great and special pleasure (comp. Ec Pro 30:1-12). Septuagint, “He shall give ornament () to thy soul.” This verse and the following are presented by the Greek version in a mutilated form after Pro 28:17 (where see note).
Pro 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish; rather, cast off restraint, become ungovernable, cannot be reined in (Exo 32:22, Exo 32:25). “Vision” (chazon), prophecy in its widest sense, denotes the revelation of God’s will made through agents, which directed the course of events, and was intended to be coordinate with the supreme secular authority. The prophets were the instructors of the people in Divine things, standing witnesses of the truth and power of religion, teaching a higher than mere human morality. The fatal effect of the absence of such revelation of God’s will is stated to be confusion, disorder, and rebellion; the people, uncontrolled, fall into grievous excesses, which nothing hut high principles can restrain. We note the licence of Eli’s time, when there was no open vision (1Sa 3:1-21.); in Asa’s days, when Israel had long been without a teaching priest (2Ch 15:3); and when the impious Ahaz “made Judah naked” (2Ch 28:19); or when the people were destroyed by reason of lack of knowledge of Divine things (Hos 4:6). Thus the importance of prophecy in regulating the life and religion of the people is fully acknowledged by the writer, in whose time, doubtless, the prophetical office was in full exercise: but this seems to be the only passage in the book where such teaching is directly mentioned; the instructors and preceptors elsewhere introduced as disseminating the principles of the chochmah being parents, or tutors, or professors, not inspired prophets. But he that keepeth the Law, happy is he! “The Law” (torah) is not merely the written Mosaic Law, but the announcement of God’s will by the mouth of his representatives; and the thought is, not the blessedness of those who in a time of anarchy and irreligion keep to the authorized enactments of the Sinaitic legislation, but a contrast between the lawlessness and ruin of a people uninfluenced by religious guidance, and the happy state of those who obey alike the voice of God, whether conveyed in written statutes or by the teaching of living prophets. (For “happy is he,” comp. Pro 14:21; Pro 16:20.) Septuagint, “There shall be no interpreter () to a sinful nation, but he that keepeth the Law is most blessed.”
Pro 29:19
A servant will not be corrected by words. Mere words will not suffice to teach a slave, any more than a child, true, practical wisdom. He needs severer measures, even the correction of personal discipline. Septuagint, “By words a stubborn () slave will not be instructed.” The next clause gives an explanation of this necessity. For though he understand he will not answer. The answer is not merely the verbal response to a command, as, “I go, sir;” but it implies obedience in action. The reluctant slave thoroughly understands the order given, but he pays no heed to it, will not trouble himself to execute it, and therefore must meet with stern treatment (comp. Pro 29:15; Pro 23:13, etc.; Pro 26:3). “That servant which knew his Lord’s will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes” (Luk 12:47). Septuagint, “For even if he understand, he will not obey.”
Pro 29:20
Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? (comp. Pro 26:12); Vulgate, velocem ad loquendum; Septuagint, . Jas 1:19,” Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak.” “A talkative () man is dangerous in his city; and he that is rash () in his words shall be hated” (Ecc 9:18). We might also translate, “hasty in his matters,” “hasty in business,” and the gnome would be equally true (see note on Pro 19:2). There is more hope era fool than of him. The dull, stupid man (kesil) may be instructed and guided and made to listen to reason; the hasty and ill-advised speaker consults no one, takes no thought before he speaks, nor reflects on the effect of his words; such a man it is almost impossible to reform (see Jas 3:5, etc.). “Every one that speaks,” says St. Gregory, “while he waits for his hearer’s sentence upon his words, is as it were subjected to the judgment of him by whom he is heard. Accordingly, he that fears to be condemned in respect of his words ought first to put to the test that which he deliversthat there may be a kind of impartial and sober umpire sitting between the hear and tongue, weighing with exactness whether the heart presents right words, which the tongue taking up with advantage may bring forward for the heater’s judgment” (‘Moral.,’ 8:5, Oxford transl.).
Pro 29:21
He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child. The verb panak, which is not found elsewhere in the Old Testament, is rightly here translated as in the Vulgate, qui delicate nutrit. It refers to the spoiling a person by over-refinement, luxury, and pamperinga treatment peculiarly unsuitable in the case of a bond servant, and one which makes such forgetful of his dependent position. Septuagint, “He that liveth wantonly () from childhood shall be a servant.” Shall have him become his son at the length; i.e. at length, like “at the last,” equivalent to “at last” (Pro 5:11). The word rendered “son” (, manon) is of doubtful meaning, and has been variously understood or misunderstood by interpreters. Septuagint, “And in the end shall have pain () over himself;” Symmachus, “shall have murmuring ( );” Vulgate, Postea sentiet eum contumacem. Ewald translates “ungrateful;” Delitzsch, “place of increase,” i.e. a household of pampered scapegraces; but one does not see how the disaster can be called a place or a house. It seems safest in this uncertainty to adopt the Jewish interpretation of “progeny:” “he will be as a son.” The pampered servant will end by claiming the privileges of a son, and perhaps ousting the legitimate children from their inheritance (comp. Pro 17:2; and the ease of Ziba and Mephibosheth, 2Sa 16:4). “Fodder, a stick, and burdens are for the ass; and bread, correction, and work for a servant. If thou set thy servant to labour, thou shalt find rest; but if thou let him go idle, he will seek liberty” (Ecclesiasticus 33:24, etc.). Spiritual writers have applied this proverb to the pampering of the flesh, which ought to be under the control of its master, the spirit, but which, if gratified and unrestrained, gets the upper hand, and, like a spoiled servant, dictates to its lord.
Pro 29:22
An angry man stirreth up strife. This is a variation of Pro 15:18 and Pro 28:25 (which see). A furious man aboundeth in transgression. “A furious man” is a passionate person, who gives way to violent fits of anger (Pro 22:24). Such a man both makes enemies by his conduct and falls into manifold excesses of word and action while under the influence of his wrath. “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” (Jas 1:20). The Greek gnome says
And again
“Unchastened anger leads to many ills.”
Septuagint, “A passionate man diggeth up sin”a forcible expression, which is not unusual in reference to quarrels.
Pro 29:23
A man’s pride shall bring him low. The same thought is found in Pro 15:33; Pro 16:18; Pro 25:6, etc.; Luk 14:11. Honour shall uphold the humble in spirit; better, as the Revised Version, he that is of a lowly spirit shall obtain honour (comp. Pro 11:16; Isa 57:15). The humble man does not seek honour, but by his life and action unconsciously attains it (comp. Job 22:29). Septuagint, “Haughtiness brings a man low, but the lowly-minded the Lord upholdeth with glory.”
Pro 29:24
Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul. The accomplice of a thief puts his own safety in danger. This is explained by what follows: He heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not; better, he heareth the adjuration, and telleth not. This refers to the course of proceeding defined by Le Pro 5:1, and intimated in Jdg 17:2. When a theft was committed, the person wronged or the judge pronounced an imprecation on the thief and on any one who was privy to the crime, and refrained from giving information; a witness who saw and knew of it, and was silent under this formal adjuration, has to bear his iniquity; he is not only an accomplice of a criminal, he is also a perjurer; one sin leads to another. Some commentators explain the first hemistich as referring only to the crime of receiving or using stolen goods, by which a man commits a crime and exposes himself to punishment; but it is best taken, as above, in connection with the second clause, and as elucidated thereby.
Pro 29:25
The fear of man bringeth a snare. He who, through fear of what man may do to him, think or say of him, does what he knows to be wrong, lets his moral cowardice lead him into sin, leaves duty undone,such a man gets no real good from his weakness, outrages conscience, displeases God. See our Lord’s words. Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe (Pro 18:10). Such trust carries a man safe through all dangers; fearing to offend God, living as always under his eye, he feels Divine protection, and knows that whatever happens is for the best. The LXX. joins this to the preceding verse, thus: “He who shareth with a thief hateth his own soul; and if, when an oath is offered, they who hear it give, no information, they fearing and reverencing men, are overthrown, but he that trusteth in the Lord shall rejoice.” They add another rendering of the last verse, “Ungodliness causeth a man to stumble, but he who trusts in the Lord ( 2Pe 2:1) shall be saved.” is used for Jehovah in the New Testament, e.g. Luk 2:29; Act 4:24.
Pro 29:26
Many seek the ruler’s favour; literally, the countenance of the ruler. A variation of Pro 19:6. There are numbers who are always trying, by means fair or surreptitious, to curry favour with a great man who has anything to bestow (comp. lKi Pro 10:24; Psa 45:12). But every man’s judgment cometh from the Lord. The real and only reliable judgment comes, not from an earthly prince, but from the Lord, whose approval or disapproval is final and indisputable. Therefore one should seek to please him rather than any man, however great and powerful.
Pro 29:27
An unjust man is an abomination to the just. This great moral contrast, marked and universal, is a fitting close of the book. The word “abomination” (toebah) occurs more than twenty times in the Proverbs; it is appropriate here because the good man looks upon the sinner as the enemy of God, as the psalmist says, “Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them thine enemies” (Psa 139:21, etc.). He that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked; because he is a standing reproach to him, and by every tone and look and action seems to express his condemnation. Septuagint, “A direct way is an abomination to the lawless.” The Vulgate ends the chapter with a paragraph which is found in some manuscripts of the Septuagint after Pro 24:22 (where see note), Verbum custodiens filius extra perditionem erit.
HOMILETICS
Pro 29:1
Hardened under reproof
I. REPROOF MAY RE REJECTED. It is not violent and compulsory correction. We have free wills, and God does not destroy our wills in order to reform our conduct, for he only delights in voluntary obedience; but he sends warnings and chastises us as his children. This treatment should lead to repentance. Still, it is addressed to our reason, our conscience, our affections. Pharaoh repeatedly rejected Divine reproofs, when he refused to let the Hebrews go after each successive plague was removed. The Israelites in the wilderness murmured and rebelled again and again, in spite of continuous mercies and numerous sharp rebukes. God is often warning his children now. The faithful preaching of his truth is a rebuke to the thoughtless and the sinful. The interior voice of conscience utters its own solemn Divine reproof. If we sin heedlessly, we do not sin unwarned. The rejection of the reproof is no sign of its weakness or insufficiency. Even the warning words of Christ failed to arrest the wilful people of Jerusalem in their headlong race to destruction (Mat 23:37).
II. REPROOF IS REJECTED BY STUBBORN SELF–WILL. The neck is hardened. The obstinate man is like a horse that will not obey the reins; like one that has taken the bit into its teeth and will rush on in its own wild course.
1. This implies determination. One who was unreproved might plead ignorance or forgetfulness. Such an excuse cannot be put forward by the man who has been often reproved. His disregarded warnings will rise up in the judgment to condemn him. Meanwhile his continiuous refusal to give heed to them is a sure sign of deliberate sinfulness.
2. This also implies hardness of heart. It is the hard heart that makes the neck hard. The stiff-necked generation is a stony-hearted generation. The repeated rejection of reproof tends to harden the heart more and more. The ear grows deaf to the often-neglected alarum.
III. REPROOF, WHEN REJECTED, IS FOLLOWED BY RUIN. The reproof is a warning. Its very sternness is inspired by love, because it is intended to guard the foolish soul against impending danger. But after this has been heard unheeded there can be no escape.
1. There is no excuse. The warning has been uttered. Everything possible has been done to arrest the downward career of the stubborn reprobate.
2. There is double guilt. The rejection of the reproof is an additional sinan insult to the Divine righteousness and love.
3. There can be no hope of escape. The destruction may be sudden, after its long delay, and “that without remedy.”
IV. REPROOF, WHEN HEEDED, LEADS TO RESTORATION.
1. It contains hope. For if there were no way of escape open the language of reproof would be wasted. In that case it would come too late, and might as well be spared. The sternest reproof is a call to repentance, and this call points to a restoration.
2. It prepares for the gospel. John the Baptist makes straight the way for Christ. After we have humbly submitted to reproof, we shall hear the joyous message of the gospel.
Pro 29:2
The religion of politics
I. RELIGION IS CONCERNED WITH POLITICS. Too often the two spheres are kept disastrously distinct. On the one hand, it is pretended that the sacred character of religion would be desecrated by its being dragged into the political arena; and on the other hand, the claim of religion to have a voice in public affairs is set down to the ambition and tyranny of priestcraft. Now, it is not to be supposed that purely religious subjects should be obtruded on the uncongenial platform of a public meeting. Very possibly they would be resented; we are not to cast pearl before swine. Moreover, there is a time for everything. But religion claims to influence politics, to be a leading factor in public movements, to hold the standard by which all political actions are to be judged. It must do this if it is to carry out its mission of leavening the whole lump. It should leave no region of life untouched; commerce, literature, art, science, recreation, society, and politics must all come under its influence. For religion to withdraw from politics is to hand that important region of life over to the devil. We find that the Bible has much to say on the conduct of public affairs.
II. THE WELFARE OF A PEOPLE IS LARGELY DETERMINED BY THE MORAL CHARACTER OF THE GOVERNMENT.
1. The principal influence of religion on politics must be moral. In public life nice distinctions of creed, fine varieties of abstract dogma, and academic discussions of theoretical divinity are brushed aside as mere cobwebs compared to the serious, practical, present day questions that are at stake. But the moral influence of religion does not belong to any of these categories. That influence is direct, practical, and real. The religion of politics is the morality of public life viewed in the light of God.
2. The moral character of public affairs is of vital interest to the people. States are ruined by immoral government. Bad passions stir up needless strife. Wicked greed, jealousy, or revenge are at the root of most wars. A government of a high moral character would have found a means of keeping the peace, where one of lower tone has plunged the nation into all the horrors of war. The right and peaceable relation of class to class within the community can only be preserved when justice and humanity are observed in the conduct of public affairs.
III. IT IS THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN MEN TO SEE THAT THE RIGHTEOUS ARE IN AUTHORITY.
1. In a system of popular government all who have a voice should make that voice heard. It is a distinct dereliction of duty for any Christian man to withdraw from all influence in public life. It may be urged that the tone of that life is worldly. If so there is the more reason why unworldly men should enter it in order to give it a higher character. The Christian is not a recluse. He is called to be the salt of the earth, to season all society with wholesome thought and action. It is unfair to leave the burden of public affairs to others, and then to profit by their labours; and yet this is what is done by those people who are too devout to assist in the making of good laws, but by no means too devout to avail themselves of those laws when they are made.
2. Religion will best influence politics by good men being at the head of affairs. Good men will make good measures. It is therefore necessary to select men of high character for parliament and also for municipal offices.
Pro 29:8
Scornful men
The evil of a contemptuous treatment of life and duty is to be seen in many relations. Let us consider some of them.
I. SCORN FOR THE PEOPLE. This was the temper of the old monarchical and aristocratic systems. The mischief of it was seen in the explosion of the French Revolution. The “dim multitude” cannot be treated as so much chaff of the threshing floor. The nation is the people. The first interest of the nation is the welfare of the great bulk of the population, not the luxury of what is regarded as “the cream of society”
II. SCORN FOR THE POOR. This was the attitude of the wealthy Jews in ancient Israel, which called forth stern rebukes from the prophets of God (e.g. Amo 6:3-6); and the same fault was detected in the Christian Church by St. James (Jas 2:1-3). The indifference which too many of the prosperous feel for their hard-pressed, suffering brethren is one of the most dangerous symptoms of society. It lies at the root of socialism.
III. SCORN FOR INJUSTICE. In some cases there is worse than poverty; there is Positive wrong doing. The powerful oppress the weak. Strong masters hold down miserable slaves. This evil condition was a perpetual cause of danger to Rome in its most prosperous age. It is seen in the “sweating system” in England today.
IV. SCORN FOR DANGER. Misery and injustice are sources of danger. But other and direct dangers may menace a country. The scorn of pride will be no security against those dangers. We shall not be protected by staging, “Rule, Britannia,” or by shouting, “Britons never shall be slaves.”
V. SCORN FOR WICKEDNESS. The greatest danger of the state is not in poverty at home; nor is it in war from abroad. It lies in the moral corruption of the people. Wholesale debauchery, widespread drunkenness, a perfect epidemic of gambling, profligacy, dishonesty,these are the cankers that eat out the vital strength of a nation. Indifference to such evils is contempt for moral law.
VI. SCORN FOR RELIGION. In the race for wealth, in the dance of pleasure, in the mad orgy of worldly engagement, multitudes treat the claims of religion with scorn. Others, in their misery and despair, refuse to believe that any help or hope can come to them from heaven. This scornful attitude towards the first duties and the highest interests of life must be fraught with fatal consequences. Meanwhile the scornful attitude entirely excludes the beginnings of better things, Humility and repentance are impossible so long as this defiant mood is cherished.
Pro 29:18
No vision?
The revelation of ancient prophecy was not continuous and uninterrupted, but it came in flashes, between which there were intervals of darkness. Sometimes those intervals were long and most distressing to a people that had learnt to draw its chief lessons from Divine oracles. Such a time was experienced in the days of Eli, for “the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no open vision” (1Sa 3:1); and another and longer period was that of the “four centuries of silence” between the closing of the Old Testament and the opening of the New Testament.
I. MEN NEED A HEAVENLY VISION. This requirement was recognized in Israel on especial grounds, because the people felt themselves to be a divinely directed nation, with God for their King and Leader. The fading away of the prophet’s vision would be like the vanishing of the pillar of cloud and fire in the wilderness; a necessary guidance would be lost. But heavenly visions are not less needed by all men.
1. Men need to know heavenly truth.
(1) In order to do the will of God. The servant must know his master’s will if he is to do his duty. Earthly knowledge is not enough. Heavenly messages are wanted, or the duty to God will be neglected.
(2) For the saving of a man’s own soul. We are not merely earthly animals. We are naturally related to heaven. To be starved of heavenly truth is to be left to perish in earthly mindedness.
2. Men cannot discover heavenly truth. It must be revealed. Without a vision from God the world is in spiritual darkness.
II. MEN CAN HAVE A HEAVENLY VISION. God has not left his people to grope in a gross Cimmerian darkness. Light hass fallen from heaven on earth.
1. This is given in the Bible. That record of old revelation enshrines a perpetual vision of God for all who have eyes to behold it. Therefore it is the duty of Christian people
(1) to study the Scriptures,
(2) to circulate them throughout the world, and
(3) to teach and expound them to children and the ignorant.
2. This is enjoyed in personal experience. Every man can have his own vision, nay, must have it if he would really see truth. It is not to be supposed that everybody can he a Daniel or an Ezekiel, can behold Isaiah’s wonderful vision of God (Isa 6:1-13) or St. John’s glorious apocalypse of the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 21:1-27). Much less is each man to look for his own separate gospel, and to feel called upon to write his own newer Testament. But in the understanding and appreciation of truth we must each see it for ourselves by the aid of a Divine inspiration. This was predicted by Joel of the new dispensation (Joe 2:25), and claimed by St. Peter (Act 2:16-21).
III. MEN MAY LOSE THEIR HEAVENLY VISION. God is not capricious. If the Divine voice is silent, this must be because there are no obedient ears to receive it. The vision is only withdrawn when the eyes of men are so blinded by sin and worldliness that they cannot behold it. Then God may send a famine of the Word of truth (Amo 8:11). It is a fearful thing to be incapable of seeing the truth of God or hearing his voice. But this condition is dependent on our own conduct. We blind our eyes against the light of heaven when we plunge into the mire of sin. We need to pray, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy Law” (Psa 119:18). Christ came to open blind eyes (Luk 4:18), and to give new visions of God’s truth (Joh 18:37).
Pro 29:25
The fear of man
I. THE FEAR.
1. In what it consists. This fear is a dread of the disfavour of man, and its hurtful results. It may take various forms.
(1) Fear of human authority. Thus, in days of persecution, the weak shrink from martyrdom. Wrongs are often permitted for fear of the consequences of agitating against them.
(2) Fear of the great. Some men have an awe of mere rank and station. They bow obsequiously before riches; they dread to oppose important personages.
(3) Fear of society. “Mrs. Grundy” is regarded with awe. It is thought to be a dreadful thing to be out of the fashion. Social impropriety, in the eyes of the fastidious, is regarded as worse than moral delinquency.
(4) Fear of the multitude. This is the new fear of man peculiarly mischievous in our democratic age. There is a danger lest men should concede to popular clamour what they do not believe to be good or right.
(5) Fear of those we love. Perhaps this is the most difficult fear to resist (but see Mat 10:37).
2. How it originates.
(1) In cowardice. This is an unworthy fear. It is selfish and immoral. It springs from too much regard for our own feelings, and too little reference for duty.
(2) In godlessness. Man takes the place of God. The mob is deified. Human action is treated as supreme.
II. ITS SNARE.
1. The deception of it.
(1) In regard to duty. Fear takes the place of conscience. It blinds us to the sense of right and wrong, blurring the great outlines of morality. Instead of asking, “What is right?” a person who is haunted by this shameful fear only inquires, “What is safe?” Now, there is no more self-deluded mortal than the man who is only sure of being “safe.” When he folds his arms in smug complacency, he is really “in the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity.”
(2) In regard to danger. Subservience to the opinion of other people can never afford real security. It is but a shallow and tricky device. We can never please all men, and in attempting to escape the wrath of one party we rouse that of another. If, however, the sleek time server were clever enough to propitiate all human enmity, he would have left himself exposed to the far more terrible wrath of Heaven.
2. The fatality of it. This fear brings a snare. It entraps its unwary victim. When once the craven-hearted man is caught in the meshes of worldly fears, he finds it vain to struggle for liberty. This fear creates a miserable bondage. No serf under the old feudal system was more bound to his lord than the poor slave of public opinion is to his hydra-headed master. This wretched fear of man is fatal to all true manliness. It will make shipwreck of the most honourable career. The only needful fear is fear of doing wrong, fear of the devil (Mat 10:28).
III. ITS ANTIDOTE. We are to find a refuge from the ensnaring fear of man by putting our trust in the Lord. God is mightier than the whole world. A howling mob hounding its victims to death cannot shake the confidence of one who has made the Lord his Refuge. Trust in God saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from cowardice when threatened by cruel Nebuchadnezzar and cast into the burning fiery furnace. Christ was calm and fearless before all his foes, fortified by the prayers of Gethsemane. We need to rise into a higher atmosphere above all the mists of popular opinion. Men may frown and rage, or laugh and ridicule; but he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Psa 91:1).
“Earth may be darkness; Heaven will give thee Light.”
Pro 29:26
The supreme Arbiter. I. IT IS A COMMON MISTAKE TO ASCRIBE TO MAN THE INFLUENCE WHICH BELONGS ONLY TO GOD. In the previous verse we have been warned against falling into the snare of the fear of man, and encouraged to find our safety in trust in God. A similar contrast is again presented to us, but from the opposite side. We are tempted to flatter the great in order to win their favour; but we are now reminded that our destiny does not lie in their hands, but in the hands of One who is supreme in judgment, though his rule is too often ignored by us. Helena, in ‘All’s Well that ends Well,’ says
“It is not so with him that all things knows,
As ’tis with us that square our guess by shows;
But most it is presumption in us when
The help of Heaven we count the act of men.”
1. This common mistake arises partly from the fact that the human influence is visible, while that of God is unseen. The molehill at our feet thus seems to be more important than the mountain that bounds our horizon but is wrapped in mist.
2. It is also caused by the further fact that much of God’s judgment is postponed. We do not yet experience the full effect of the Divine arbitrament.
II. GOD‘S JUDGMENT WILL BE EXPERIENCED BY EVERY MAN. He is not only the Arbiter of the fate of those who call in his aid; he is the “Judge of all the earth” (Gen 18:25). Abraham recognized the fact that God was the Judge of Sodom and Gomorrah, though no doubt the wicked cities of the plain utterly repudiated his authority. The godless will be judged by God. Those men who do not choose to put their case in the hands of God will nevertheless receive their sentence from him.
III. IT IS GOOD NEWS FOR THE WORLD THAT GOD IS THE SUPREME ARBITER. This is not set before us as a truth of terror. On the contrary, it is declared as a great consolation among the ills of life.
1. God is just. He is perfectly fair, utterly impartial. no Respecter of persons. Rich and poor stand on equal grounds before his judgment seat.
2. God is wise. The most acute human judge may be deceived. But he that searcheth the heart knows all facts about all men. His judgment must be based on truth.
3. God is strong. He is able to execute his sentence. When he declares what is right, he will also establish his judgment.
IV. IT IS WELL FOR MEN TO ACKNOWLEDGE GOD AS THEIR ARBITER. We shall all have to submit to his judgment in the end. It would be wise for us to acknowledge his rule throughout life. Surely it is most fatally foolish to labour for the favour even of the most influential men, if this involves disregarding the thoughts and will of God. The verdict of the lower court will be overridden by the judgment of the higher court. Therefore what is most incumbent on all men is to see that they are right and straight in the eyes of the One supreme Judge. By sin, as we must acknowledge, we are all wrong in his eyes. Therefore no human favour can save us till we have been put right and justified through the grace at Christ.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
Pro 29:1-7
Private morality and the public weal
I. TRUTHS OF PERSONAL CONDUCT.
1. The obstinate offender and his doom. (Pro 29:1.) The repeated complaint against Israel was that they were a “stiff-necked people.” Self-willed, haughty, persistent, defying rebuke and chastisement, is the habit described. It invites judgment. “When lesser warnings will not serve, God looks into his quiver for deadly arrows.” They who will not bend before the gentle persuasions of God’s Holy Spirit must feel the rod. Men may make themselves outlaws from the kingdom of God.
2. Wisdom and virtue inseparable in conduct. (Pro 29:3.) So much so that the same word may occasionally do duty for either notion. Thus the French mean by one who is “sage” one who is chaste and virtuous. The effects are alike. Joy is given to parents by the sage conduct of children; and vice is seen to be folly by the waste and want it brings in its train (comp. Pro 6:26; Pro 10:1; Pro 28:7).
3. The dishonesty of flattery. (Pro 29:5.) It may be designed to deceive, and is then coloured with the darkest hue of treachery. Or it may be undesigned in its effects. But in either case, the web of flattering lies becomes a snare in which the neighbour stumbles to his fall (comp. Pro 26:24, Pro 26:25, Pro 26:28). The kiss of the flatterer is more deadly than the hate of a foe. “When we are most praised for our discernment, we are apt to act most foolishly; for praise tends to cloud the understanding and pervert the judgment.”
4. Delusive and genuine joy. (Pro 29:6.) The serpent is concealed amidst the roses of illicit pleasures; a canker is at the core of the forbidden fruit. A “shadow darkens the ruby of the cup, and dims the splendour of the scene.” But ever there is a song in the ways of God. See the example of Patti and Silas even in prison (Act 16:25). “Always there are evil days in the world; always good days in the Lord”.
II. THE INFLUENCE OF PERSONAL GOODNESS ON SOCIAL AND PUBLIC WEAL.
1. The general happiness is dependent on the conduct of individuals. (Pro 29:2; comp. Pro 28:12, Pro 28:28.) For society is a collection of individuals. “It is no peculiar conceit, but a matter of sound consequence, that all duties are by so much the better performed, by how much the men are more religious from whose abilities the same proceed. For if the course of political affairs cannot in any good sort go forward without fit instruments, and that which fitteth them be their virtues, let polity acknowledge itself indebted to religion, godliness being the chiefest, top, and well-spring of all true virtue, even as God is of all good things.” “Religion, unfeignedly lived, perfecteth man’s abilities unto all kinds of virtuous services in the commonwealth” (Hooker, ‘Eccl. Pol.,’ Ecc 5:1).
2. The effect of just administration and of bribery. (Pro 29:4.) The best laws are of no avail if badly administered. God’s throne is founded on justice (Psa 89:14). And this only can be the foundation of national stable polity and of the common weal “We will sell justice to none,” says the Magna Charta. The theocracy was overthrown in the time of Samuel by the corruption of his sons. The just administration of David “bore up the pillars” of the land (2Sa 8:15). The greed of Jehoiakim again shook the kingdom to its foundations (Jer 22:18-19). Righteousness alone exalteth a nation.
3. Justice to the poor. (Pro 29:7.) The good man enters into the feelings of others, and makes the lot of the oppressed, in sympathy and imagination, his own. The evil and hard-hearted man, looking at life only from the outside, treats the poor as dumb driven cattle, and easily becomes the tyrant and the oppressor. Peculiarly, sympathy, consideration, compassion for the lowly and the poor, have been infused into the conscience of the world, and made “current coin” by the example and spirit of the Redeemer.J.
Pro 29:8-11
Dishonourable passions
Such is the designation given by St. Paul (see Revised Version of the New Testament, Rom 1:26, etc.) to the various workings of the evil leaven in the soul. Here is a description of some of these “lusts.”
I. SCOFFING. (Pro 29:8.) Set on fire of hell, it inflames others, disturbs the peace of communities, produces failures and tumults in public life. But wisdom calms, and turns all things to the best. The scoffer, the malevolent critic of existing institutions, is a public pest; the judicious man, a public blessing. The one raises tumults, the other quells them.
II. CONTENTIOUSNESS. (Pro 29:9.) It delights in dispute for dispute’s sake. The man of this vice does not want to elicit truth, but to find fuel for his passion. Alternating between rage and ridicule, he uses words merely as weapons of offence and defence. Egotism is at the root of all his activity.
III. THE SANGUINARY TEMPER. (Pro 29:10.) All hatred to the truth involves hatred to the truth speaker and the truth doer. Here lies the secret of all persecution and of all judicial murders. But in ourselves, whenever we detect the rising of resentment against him who exposes our faults or fallacies, we may find something of the dark temper of him “who was of the wicked one, and slew his brother” (1Jn 3:12).
IV. WANT OF SELF–CONTROL. (Pro 29:11.) The impetuous, unbridled temper, which explodes with wrath at the smallest provocation, or with ill-considered opinions. He is wise who knows when to hold his peace. We are not always to speak all we feel or think, but when we do speak should ever think what we say. We must remember that “there is a time to speak, and a time to keep silence.”J.
Pro 29:12-17
Government in truth and equity
I. THERE MUST BE THE FORCE OF EXAMPLE. (Pro 29:12.) Especially in regard to truthfulness. Nothing is more easily caught than an example of untruthfulness, evasion, hypocrisy. Servants’ manners reflect their masters’ characters. The more conspicuous the station, the further the influence of the example extends.
II. THERE MUST BE RESPECT TO THE RULER AND JUDGE OF ALL. (Pro 29:13.) He is no Respecter of persons; but he is the Protector of all, and the Judge between man and man. The distinctions of ruler and subject, of rank and rank, of class and class, are temporary; the common relation of all to God is spiritual and eternal.
III. THERE MUST BE REGARD TO THE LOWLY. (Pro 29:14.) Must not the test of every government be at last thisWhat did it accomplish for the poor, for the burdened, for the slave and the oppressed? “Glorious” wars and additions of territory can never compensate for injustice at home; the renown of arms for a people’s misery. The throne that is not propped by bayonets, but built upon a people’s gratitude and loyalty, may defy the storms of revolution.
IV. DOMESTIC GOVERNMENT TEACHES THE SAME TRUTHS ON A SMALLER SCALE. (Pro 29:15-17.)
1. There is the same need of firmness and discipline. Absolute liberty is licence. All our freedom is bounded by necessity. The good of the whole demands fixed law; and this must be observed in the household as in the body politic. A weakness in the administration of acknowledged law is fatal to the purity of the home, to the welfare of nations. Evil doers must be kept down; if their character cannot be changed, their power to work mischief must be taken from them by the unflinching administration of law. And lastly, firmness, so far from alienating, really wins the good will, the respect, and obedience of subjects in the petty commonwealth of home and in the larger sphere of the state.J.
Pro 29:18-23
Fatal defects in the social state
I. THE WANT OF COMMANDING RELIGIOUS TEACHING. The great prophets of Israel were the great instructors of the people. They declared Jehovah’s living oracles; they made clear the eternal principles of the moral law; they forecast what must be the future under moral conditions. The Christian preacher has succeeded to the office of the Jewish prophet. Woe to the nation if the supply of preachers ceases! if, sunk in material interests, they are allowed to forget that the “Word of the Lord” lives and endures, and obedience to it must be the foundation of all private blessing, all public prosperity!
II. THE WANT OF FIRM POLICY AND CONDUCT. (Pro 29:19.) There always will be a class more or less of “slaves,” who must be governed, not by mere rhetoric or the appeal to feeling, but by the knowledge that words will be backed by deeds. God means what he says. The laws of nature are no mere abstract statements of truth; they are stern and solemn facts, which cannot be defied with impunity. And the lawless must understand that what ought to be shall be.
III. THE WANT OF CALM DELIBERATION. (Pro 29:20.) Whether in private or in public life, this too may he a ruinous defect. Thus rash enterprises are begun, hostilities break out without warning, a lifelong alienation or the misery of a generation may spring from the passion or the pique of the moment.
IV. WANT OF DUE SEVERITY IN DISCIPLINE. (Pro 29:21.) The exegesis of the verse certainly points to this meaning. Men are stung by the ingratitude or contumacy of those whom they had weakly petted, and whose faults they had nourished by their smiles. But human nature will only respond to just and true treatment; and injurious kindness will reap a thorny crop of ingratitude.
V. WANT OF SELF–CONTROL AND OF SELF–KNOWLEDGE. (Pro 29:22, Pro 29:23.) (For the first, see Pro 15:18; Pro 28:25.) Wrath is the very hot bed of transgression and every “evil work.” And self-esteem is a neighbour vice. So near are extremes in life: the moment we are highest in our own imagination we are really lowest in power, in position, in prospect. “He that would build lastingly must lay his foundation low. As man falls by pride, he recovers by humility.” And the more God honours men, the more they should humble themselves.J.
Pro 29:24-27
Prevalence in alliance with religion
I. PRUDENCE AND RELIGION ARE EVER IN HARMONY. There can be no divorce between them. We are not placed between cross lights here. What intelligent regard to self prescribes, God’s Law commands. Approach the facts of life from these two opposite sides, travel by either of these two paths, they meet at last in duty, in safety, in peace, and salvation.
II. SOME EXAMPLES OF THIS HARMONY.
1. All dishonesty or complicity with it is self-destructive. (Pro 29:24.) Enlightened experience says so, and stamps itself in the clear dictum, “Honesty is the best policy.” God’s Word says so, and here and in a thousand similar declarations and warnings pronounces a curse upon the sin.
2. Fear of man is perilous; confidence in the Eternal is safety. (Pro 29:25.) Experience again ratifies this. The coward dies a thousand deaths; the brave, but once. The feeble-hearted daily miss opportunities; the brave create them. Moral cowardice springs from want of inner conviction of the might of truth; moral strength, from the inner certainty that nothing but truth is victorious. Positive revelation here again fortifies the hints of common knowledge.
3. The vanity of honour from others; the true honour that comes from God. (Pro 29:26.) What bitter things have been written down in the experience of men of the world concerning the favour of the great, and the folly of courting it and depending upon it! and how does the same lesson echo back from the page of Holy Writ! Act well your part in Jehovah’s sight; seek the honour that cometh from him only;how common and Divine wisdom effect ajuncture once more!
4. Eternal antipathies. (Pro 29:27.) What experience teaches us in one form, that fellowship must be founded on sympathy, that tastes must be respected, that deep, undefinable feelings attract us to or repel us from others, God’s Word again confirms: “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.” Acquaintance is mere collocation of persons; friendship and Christian communism are the eternal affinity of souls in God.J.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Pro 29:1
The doom of obduracy
There are four stages which conduct to spiritual ruin.
I. HUMAN DISLOYALTY. Man is found (or finds himself) at enmity with God; he does not reverence, love, honour, serve, him. He owes everything to his Maker and Preserver and generous Benefactor; but he has not paid his great debt, and now he is estranged in spirit, and his life is one of disloyalty and rebellion.
II. DIVINE SUMMONS TO RETURN. God is saying, “Return unto me, and I will return unto you;” “Let the wicked forsake his way and let him return unto the Lord.” By many messengers, in many voices, God calls us to repentance and reconciliation.
III. HUMAN RECUSANCY. God calls, but men will not hearken or they will not heed. They either
(1) deliberately decline to listen; or they
(2) do listen without being seriously impressed; or they
(3) are impressed without coming to any right and wise decision; they linger and delay; they continually postpone; and every new procrastination makes indecision easier and delay more dangerous.
IV. DIVINE PATIENCE. God “bears long” with men. We see his merciful and wonderful patience when we look at:
1. The time during which he continues to them preservation and privilege. Through childhood and youth, through manhood and the days of decline, up to extreme old age, God continues to men his sustaining and preserving power, and all the fulness of Christian privilege; though all the while they are abusing his gift of life by retaining it for their own personal enjoyment, and his gift of opportunity by slighting, or despairing, or misusing it.
2. The various means he employs in order to reach and restore us.
(1) God invites men, through his Word, and through the Christian ministry, and by the voices of the home and of human friendship.
(2) He commands; he requires that all men should repent and believe.
(3) He warns.
(4) He reproves; he often reproves. “He that is often reproved;” and very commonly a disloyal heart is often rebuked of God. Time after time he receives the admonition of his fellows, or he suffers the penalty of his guilt. God makes him to understand that “the way of transgressors is hard;” the merciful hand of the Divine Father interposes many obstacles in the way of his children’s ruin, that they may be stopped and may be led to return on their way. But sin does its fatal work of indurating the heart, of paralyzing the conscience, of blinding the eyes of the children of men; and the man who is “often rebuked” only “hardens his neck,” and then comes the end
V. SUDDEN AND IRREMEDIABLE RUIN.
1. Sometimes (perhaps frequently, in the case of those who are guilty of flagrant sin) the day of probation ends with startling suddenness: “They are brought into desolation in a moment.” Death comes down upon them without any warning. In the full flow of iniquity their soul is that very night required of them, and they pass from guilt to judgment.
2. Commonly, the end comes without expectation, and so without preparation. Men are going on with the engagements and the indulgences of life; and they are expecting to go on indefinitely. Then comes the serious illness, the sick chamber, the medical attendant, the anxious inquiry, the unfavourable response, the solemn communication and the distressed and agitated soul has to say, “My hour is come, and I am not ready for its coming.”C.
Pro 29:2
(See homily on Pro 11:10)C.
Pro 29:5
(See homily on Pro 27:5, Pro 27:6.)C.
Pro 29:7
(See homily on Pro 19:17.)C.
Pro 29:8-10
The senselessness of scorn, etc
Here is a triplet of truths we may gather from these three texts.
I. THE SENSELESSNESS OF SCORN. (Pro 29:8.) To be of a scornful spirit, to bestow scornful looks, to use scornful language,this is gross folly.
1. It is utterly unbecoming. Not one of us is so removed above his fellows as to be entitled to treat with entire disregard what they may have to say or what they propose to do.
2. The wisest men, and even the Wise One himself, think well to listen to what the humblest can suggest.
3. It leads to a blind opposition to true wisdom; for often wisdom is found with those in whom no one expects to discover it; even as the scornful Greek and the proud Roman found it in the despised teachers from Judaea.
4. It ends disastrously. It “brings a city into a snare,” “sets a city in a flame.” It refuses to consider the serious danger that is threatened, or it provokes to uncontrollable anger by its disdainfulness; and the end is discord, confusion, strife.
5. It deliberately neglects the one way of peace. A wise man who does not refuse to listen and to learn, who prefers to treat neighbours and even enemies with the respect that is their due, “turns away wrath,” and saves the city from the flame. Scorn is thus a senseless thing in every light.
II. THE USELESSNESS OF CONTENTION. (Pro 29:9.) We are not to understand that it is a vain or foolish thing to endeavour
(1) to enlighten the ignorant, or
(2) to convince the mistaken. Where there is an honest and loyal spirit, it may be of great service to do this. What is useless is
(3) to debate with the contentious. Nothing comes of it but the clatter of the tongue and the triumph of the complacent “fool.” He may rage or he may laugh; he may passionately declaim or he may indulge in banter and in badinage, but he does not seek, and he will not find, the truth. He is no nearer to wisdom at the end than he was at the beginning. Time is wasted; the heart of the wise is disappointed; the way ward man is confirmed in his folly;let him alone.
III. THE AIM OF THE UPRIGHT. This is twofold.
1. Peace. The wise man, who is the upright man, “turns away wrath;” and he objects to a contest with the contentious, because “there is no rest.” Those in whom is the Spirit of Christ are always setting this before them as a goal to be reached; they speak and act as those that “make for peace.” They feel that everything which can be should be avoided that makes for dissension and strife; they are the peacemakers, and theirs is the blessing of the children of God (Mat 5:9).
2. Life. They (the upright) “seek the soul,” or the life, of the man whom the bloodthirsty hate (Pro 29:10). To “seek the soul” or the life of men is the characteristic of the good.
(1) They care, in thought and deed, for the preservation and the protection of human life; they seek the removal of all that threatens it.
(2) They care much for all that enlarges and ennobles human lifeeducation, morality, sound discipline.
(3) They care most of all for that one thing which crowns human life, and may be said to constitute itthe return of the soul to God and its life in him. In this deepest and truest sense they “seek his soul;” for they are regarding and pursuing its spiritual and eternal welfare.C.
Pro 29:11
(and see Pro 12:16; Pro 14:33)
The time to be silent
There is a time to keep silence as well as a time to speak (see Ecc 3:7). According to our individual temperament we need the one injunction or the other. There are few, however, of either sex or of any disposition who do not need to be urged to guard the door of the lip. This is one of those things in which we all offend in our time and in our way. Impatience most frequently leads to transgression; but there are other provocationsthere are other occasions when the warning word is wanted. We should carefully command our tongue when there is in our mind
I. THE IDEA OF ACHIEVEMENT. It is unwise to talk of what we are going to do as soon as it occurs to us to act. We may think ourselves capable or our circumstances favourable when, on further consideration or inquiry, we find that we are not equal to the task or that our position makes it impossible to us. We should think before we undertake.
II. THE THOUGHT OF IGNORANCE. Nothing but harm can come of counsel given in ignorance of any case before us. Either we persuade our friends and colleagues to take action which is unwise and will prove to be injurious and possibly disastrous; or we are at once corrected by those who know better, and we are ashamed. Do not go to the council without learning the facts and understanding the matter, or else wait well and learn patiently before you speak at all.
III. THE FEELING OF RESENTMENT. “A fool uttereth all his anger, but a wise man keepeth it back and stilleth it” (Revised Version; Pro 12:16). Nothing more distinctly marks the presence of wisdom or folly than the habit of speaking quickly or restraining speech under provocation. It is an unfailing criterion. The reasons for silence at such a time are obvious enough, and they should be strong enough.
1. Hasty speech is
(1) very likely indeed to be incorrect, imperfect, if not wholly wrong, for our judgment is sure to be disturbed and unhinged when our spirit is wounded;
(2) most likely to provoke our opponent to feel strongly and to strike severely, and thus the flood gates of strife are opened;
(3) unworthy of the wise and strong, lowering in the eyes of our best friends and in our own regard;
(4) condemned of God (Jas 1:19, Jas 1:20).
2. Conscientious silence under provocation is
(1) an admirable victory over our lower nature (Pro 16:32);
(2) the way of peace in the council, in the home, in the Church;
(3) the path in which we follow Christ our Lord, and gain his Divine approval (Mat 27:12; Mat 6:9).C.
Pro 29:13
(See homily on Pro 22:2.)C.
Pro 29:15-17
(See homily on Pro 13:24.)C.
Pro 29:18
Spiritual ignorance and obedience. (See also homily on Pro 19:2.) Two things are clear:
1. That God has provided us with many sources of knowledge. We have, for materials to work with, a very complex and richly endowed nature; and we have, for materials to work upon,
(1) that same nature of ours with all its instincts, impulses, desires, hopes;
(2) the great visible system around us into which we can constantly be looking, and of which we might be expected to learn much;
(3) human life, and the providence of God as manifested therein.
2. That these sources of wisdom, which are constant and common to our race, prove to be lamentably insufficient. Man, under the dominion and depression of sin, cannot read aright the lessons which his own nature, the visible universe, and the providence of God are fitted and intended to teach him. He shows himself utterly incapable; he is completely false in his ideas, and pitiably wrong in his course of action. Hence we come to the conclusion of the text
I. THE LAMENTABLE RESULT OF SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE. “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Where there is no special Divine revelation, supplementing the knowledge and correcting the ignorance of the unenlightened, there is a “perishing” or a “nakedness” in the land. The sad and miserable result, as all lands and all ages testify, is:
1. Literal, physical death. Without the knowledge of God, and in the absence of the control which the knowledge of his will can supply,
(1) there is strife, violence, war, and of this death is the continual fruit;
(2) there is vice, and this, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
2. Loss of character. Not only of that which is sometimes understood by character, viz. reputation, but also of character itself. Where God’s Word and will are unknown, there is such a deplorable descent into the erroneous and the immoral, that both of these go down and perish.
3. Absence of spiritual life. The life of our life is in God, and not only in his kindness to us, but in our knowledge of him. To be in utter ignorance of him, to have lost all belief in him, to be spending our days in spiritual separation from him,is not this to be so destitute of all that beautifies and brightens, of all that enlarges and ennobles, human life, as to be “dead while we live”? So thought and taught the great Teacher and his great apostle (Luk 9:60; Joh 5:24; 1Ti 5:6). It is not merely that there is a sad exclusion, at the end, from the heavenly kingdom; it is that spiritual ignorance of God constitutes death, and they who are living without God, and becoming more and more alienated from and unlike to him, are perishing “day by day.”
II. THE BLESSEDNESS OF OBEDIENCE. “He that keepeth the Law,” etc. Happy is the man who walks in the fear of God, in the love and the service of Jesus Christ; for
1. He is walking in the path where all the worst evils cannot harm him; he is defended from “the evil which is in the world;” he is upheld in his purity and his integrity.
2. He is living a life which will command the esteem and win the love of the wise and the worthy.
3. He abides under the wing of a heavenly Father’s favour; he is enjoying the friendship of a Divine Saviour.
4. He is expending his powers in the conscious, the happy service of him “whose he is,” and in whose service is true and lasting freedom.
5. He is exerting a benignant influence in every circle in which he moves.
6. He is travelling homewards.C.
Pro 29:20, Pro 29:22
(See homily on Pro 29:11.)C.
Pro 29:23
(See homily on Pro 16:18.)C.
Pro 29:25, Pro 29:26
Two temptations and two resources
As responsible human souls, we find ourselves exposed to two dangers, and we have two sources of refuge and strength of a very similar character.
I. TWO TEMPTATIONS.
1. To be unduly affected by the fear of man’s displeasure. “The fear of man,” etc. Now, the fear of man:
(1) May be dutiful. It is the duty of children to have a reverential regard for their parents, and to shun most carefully their disapproval. There is a “fear” appropriate to servants (Eph 6:5). We should fear to dissatisfy those who have a right to our faithful service.
(2) May be desirable. We should, as wise co-workers with God, fear to do that which, instead of conciliating, will disaffect those whom we want to win to righteousness and wisdom. But the tear of which Solomon writes
(3) is dishonourable and dangerous. It is a fear which is born of cowardice, a slavish disinclination to encounter the anger or the opposition of those who are in the wrong. It is an undue concern about the action of those who may claim a right, but who cannot sustain it, to keep us back from duty or to compel us to some unworthiness.
By this unmanly and unholy fear we may be
(1) prevented from entering the kingdom or the Church of Christ;
(2) deterred from speaking his truth with fulness and faithfulness;
(3) hindered from bearing the testimony we should otherwise offer against some evil course;
(4) led into actual and even active fellowship with wrong, Then, indeed, our fear is “a snare,” and it betrays us into sin.
2. To be unduly impelled by a desire for man’s favour. “Many seek the ruler’s favour.” There is, of course, nothing wrong in seeking the interest of the powerful. It is simple wisdom, on the part of those who are struggling and rising, to do that. But it may easily be and often is overdone. Our Lord used very decisive language on this subject (Joh 5:44). When
(1) the desire is excessive;
(2) language is used or action is taken which is untruthful or dishonest, or which makes a man fall in his own regard;
(3) there is so much solicitude that a man loses self-reliance as well as self-respect, and forgets the help which is to be had from above;then “seeking the ruler’s favour” is a mistake, and even more and worse than that.
II. TWO SOURCES OF STRENGTH.
1. A sense of Divine approval. “Every man’s judgment eometh from the Lord.” Why be troubled about man’s condemnation so long as we have his acquittal? Let Judas complain, if Jesus excuses and commends (Joh 12:1-8). Let the critics pass their sentence; it is a small thing to a man who is living under an abiding sense that “he that judgeth him is the Lord” (1Co 4:3, 1Co 4:4; Rom 2:29).
“Men heed thee, love thee, praise thee not;
The Master praises;what are men?”
And it is not only the present judgment and acceptance of God to which we have recourse, but his future judgment also, and the commendation he will pass upon our fidelity (see Rom 14:10-13; 1Co 4:5).
2. A hope of Divine succour. “Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.” Again and again, in the Old and New Testaments, by psalmists and prophets and apostles, as well as by our Lord himself, we are invited and exhorted to “put our trust in the Lord;” and we are assured that, so doing, we shall not be ashamed. If God does not deliver us from our enemies, and from the trouble riley occasion us, he will certainly deliver us in our adversity; he will give us strength to endure, grace to submit, courage to bear and brave the worst, sanctity of spirit as the result; he will turn the well of our affliction into a fountain of spritual blessing.C.
Pro 29:27
How to hate the wicked
There is a hatred we have to endure, and there is also a hatred which we have to cherish. The question of any difficulty isWhat is the feeling we should cultivate in our hearts towards the guilty? We may glance at
I. THE HATRED OF US BY THE WICKED. “He that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.”
1. This is a well-verified fact, attested by Scripture, by history, by observation, probably by experience.
2. Its explanation is at hand.
(1) Wicked men are utterly out of sympathy with the righteous. Their tastes, inclinations, habits, are all at variance with those of the good and pure.
(2) The upright are obliged to condemn them, either in private or in public.
(3) The life of the one is a standing reflection upon the conduct of the other.
3. There is one right way to meet it; viz.
(1) to endure it as Jesus Christ endured it (Heb 12:3; 1Pe 2:23), and as seeing the invisible but present and approving Lord (Heb 11:27);
(2) to make an honest effort to remove it by winning those who indulge it. But the more difficult question is how we are to bear ourselves toward those whose conduct we reprobate, whose character we detest, whose persons we are not willing to admit into our homes. How shall we order
II. OUR HATRED OF THE WICKED? That there is a very strong feeling against the wrong doer in the minds of the holy is obvious enough. It is a fact that “an unjust man is an abomination to the just.” “Do not I hate them that hate thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies,” said David (Psa 139:21, Psa 139:22). Jesus Christ “looked round about on them with anger” (Mar 3:5). God is “angry with the wicked every day” (Psa 7:11). He “hateth all the workers of iniquity” (Psa 5:5). Our feeling, therefore, is the reflection of that which is in the heart of the Holy One himself. Of what elements should it be composed?
1. One element that should be absent. There should be no trace of personal ill will, of a desire for the suffering of the man himself; for the soul of the sinful we should wish well, and we fall into a mistake, if not into a sin, when we allow ourselves to find a pleasure in witnessing or in dwelling upon the humiliation or the sorrow of the wicked. We ought only to wish for that as a means of their purification and recovery.
2. The elements that should be present.
(1) Pure resentment, such as God feels, such as our Lord felt when he lived amongst us (see Mat 23:1-39),a feeling of strong reprobation, which we are obliged to direct against them as the doers of unrighteousness.
(2) Faithful but measured condemnation. There is, in this view, a time to speak as well as a time to keep silence; and both publicly and privately it behoves us to blame the blameworthy, cud even to denounce the shamefully unjust or cruel. But here we are bound to take care that we are well acquainted with the matter on which we speak, and that our judgment is an impartial one.
(3) Fearless and unflinching opposition. We must actively and steadfastly oppose ourselves to the iniquitous, and do our best to bring their purposes to the ground.
(4) Sincere and practical compassion. With all this that is adverse, we may and should conjoin such pity as our Divine Saviour has felt for ourselves, and such honest and earnest endeavour to win them to the truth and to the practice of righteousness as he put forth when he came to redeem us from sin and to raise us to the likeness and restore us to the kingdom of God.C.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Pro 29:1. Hardeneth his neck See Exo 32:9.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
d) Against stubbornness and insubordination
Chap. 29
1He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck
shall suddenly be destroyed and without remedy.
2When the righteous increase the people rejoice,
but when a wicked man ruleth the people mourn.
3He that loveth wisdom maketh his father glad,
but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.
4The king will establish the land by judgment,
but a man (fond) of bribes destroyeth it.
5A man who flattereth his neighbor
spreadeth a net for his feet.
6In the transgression of the wicked man is a snare,
but the righteous will rejoice and be glad.
7The righteous knoweth-the cause of the poor;
the wicked doth not discern knowledge.
8Scoffers set on fire the city,
but wise men turn back anger.
9A wise man contendeth with the fool;
but he rageth, and laugheth, and there is no rest.
10Men of blood hate the upright,
but the righteous seek his soul (to deliver it).
11All his wrath doth the fool pour forth,
but the wise quieteth it afterward.
12A ruler that giveth heed to deceitful words,
all his servants are wicked.
13The poor man and the usurer meet together;
Jehovah giveth light to the eyes of both.
14A king who judgeth the poor faithfully,
his throne shall be established for ever.
15The rod and reproof impart wisdom;
but a neglected son causeth his mother shame.
16When the wicked are multiplied transgression increaseth;
but the righteous shall see their fall.
17Correct thy son, and he will give thee rest,
and bring delight to thy soul.
18When there is no revelation the people are ungoverned,
but he that keepeth the law, blessed is he!
19By words a servant will not be corrected;
for he perceiveth them but doth not conform to them.
20Seest thou a man hasty in his words;
the fool hath more hope than he.
21One bringeth up his servant tenderly from a child
and afterward he shall be a son.
22An angry man stirreth up strife,
and a passionate man aboundeth in transgression.
23A mans pride shall bring him low,
but he that is of a lowly spirit retaineth honor.
24He that is partner with a thief hateth his own soul;
he heareth the curse and showeth it not.
25Fear of man bringeth a snare,
but he that trusteth Jehovah shall be preserved.
26Many seek the favor of the ruler,
but from Jehovah cometh mans judgment.
27An abomination to the righteous is the unjust man,
and an abomination to the wicked is he who is upright in his way.
GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL
Pro 29:5.With we should, according to Pro 28:23, supply ; and expresses here the dative relation as usually does; Comp. Psa 36:3.
Pro 29:6. stands for , illustrating a very common transition from roots into the form; Ewald, 138, a. [Green, 140, Proverbs 1 : Btt. 1147, A., etc.]
Pro 29:10.Between and there seems to be an assonance intended.
Pro 29:18.[ an instance of the attachment of the suffix of the singular to form pluralia lantum; comp. in Pro 14:21; Pro 16:20, the only other instances in which the noun occurs with the suffix of 3d pers. sing. Btt. suggests that this may he a trace of the dialect of Ephraim; 888, and n. 1; 888, 1.A.]
Pro 29:25. Btt. treats as a fem. Infin. ( 990, 4, B and n.3), and notices the not uncommon sequence of a masculine predicate (990, 3, .).A.]
EXEGETICAL
1. Pro 29:1-7. Against various forms of obstinate unrighteousness, especially oppression, prodigality, flattery, etc.He that is often reproved, being stiffnecked. A man of corrections or reproofs (for which Hitzig needlessly substitutes punishments [which Gesen. would render arguments, i.e., a man who when censured defends himself]) is one who deserves many corrections, is continually bringing them upon himself (comp. the man of sorrows, Isa 53:8). Here he is described as such a man, who maketh his neck hard, i.e., the stiffnecked man who will everywhere defiantly carry through his own will (comp. Exo 32:9; Exo 33:3; Exo 39:9; Deu 9:6; Deu 31:27, etc.; and also the hardening of the heart in Pro 28:14). [The E. V. which is followed by nearly all our expositors, and which we have given in the general version of the chapter, makes the obstinacy not the original cause of the many corrections, that for which the offender is in the first instance reproved, but the disposition evinced by him under all reproofs whatsoever. The final difference is not great; sudden and utter destruction will follow and end unavailing reproofs.A.]. With b compare the literally identical second clause of Pro 6:15.
Pro 29:2. When the righteous increase. According to Pro 28:28 this is the same thing as the wickeds perishing. Hitzig: when righteous men attain to power,an unnecessary assimilation of the meaning of the verb to that in clause b. For the rest compare Pro 28:12.
Pro 29:3. With a compare Pro 10:1; with b, Pro 6:26; Pro 28:7.
Pro 29:4. A king will establish the land by judgment, (i.e., by the maintenance of justice). For the verb comp. 1Ki 15:4. The man of gifts (bribes) is then naturally the unjust ruler who perverts justice from love of gifts (Bertheau). Rosenmueller and Hitzig explain the phrase as meaning a man of taxes or assessments; in like manner Luther: he who assesses the land excessively. This is possible, but not demonstrable with full certainty. The conception of the Vulgate is at any rate too general: Vir avarus, and also Stiers; he who willingly receives presents. [K. agrees with Hitzig, etc.; H., N., S., M., take our authors view.]
Pro 29:5. A man who flattereth his neighbor; see Critical notes.Spreadeth a net for his feet. He does this even when he is not intending it; the web of enticing errors before his neighbors eyes, becomes, when he comes into contact with them, a net in which he is caught (Hitzig). For the sentiment comp. Pro 26:24-25; Pro 26:28.
Pro 29:6; In the transgression of the wicked man is a snare, i.e., for himself; comp. Pro 18:7; Pro 20:25; Pro 22:25. Hitzig proposes instead of the noun the corresponding verb (in the Niphal); In the sin of the wicked he ensnareth himself. A change plainly as superfluous as that of Ewald, who, following the steps of some earlier expositors but clearly in violation of the order of words, combines the epithet evil with the snare.But the righteous will rejoice and be glad, i.e., in his own happy escape from danger. For a like combination of to exult, or shout for joy, and to be glad, comp. Psa 35:27.
Pro 29:7. The righteous knoweth the cause of the poor, i.e., their judicial cause, their claims before a court. For this use of the verb to know comp. Pro 12:10; for the sentiment Pro 29:14; Job 29:12; Job 29:16.The wicked doth not discern knowledge (others know understanding); i.e., he listens to no reason, has no sensibility for right and equity (Hitzig). Comp. Pro 28:5. [This explanation, which is also Wordsworths (knowledge, which consists in piety and charity), we prefer to the more external one given, e.g., by H., S., M.; does not acquaint himself with the poor mans cause.A.]
2. Pro 29:8-11. Against scoffing, contentiousness, thirst for blood and passionateness.Mockers set on fire the city. Men of derision is a more select expression for the common scorners, one found likewise in Isa 28:14 [intending and meaning more than would be ordinarily suggested by the rendering of the E. V.; scornful men.A.]. The setting on fire (lit. blowing upon, comp. Ezek. 21:36) the city is a fitly chosen figurative expression for the excitement of the passion and the party spirit of the people of the city; stands here like in Mat 12:24 of the community of the city.With b comp. Pro 15:1; Pro 15:18; Ecc 10:4. [The connection is not unknown in modern times of religious skepticism and rationalism, with political radicalism and a revolutionary spirit.A.].
Pro 29:9. A wise man contendeth with a fool;but he rageth and laugheth and there is no rest. The first clause forms, somewhat like the abl. absol. in Latin, a clause by itself, the participle of which may be resolved into if or when the wise contendeth, etc. The subject of the verbs in b is the fool and not the wise man (Ewald, Umbreit, Elster, Stier [De W., Muffet, N., etc., while Bertheau, K., H., S., etc., understand the fool, the E. V., M. and others being ambiguous]), in which case the (and there is no ceasing, no rest comes, comp. 1Sa 25:9) would form quite too short a conclusion; moreover the raging and the laughing appear to be much rather characteristic signs of the fools conduct than of the wise mans; comp. Pro 29:11 and Pro 12:16.
Pro 29:10. Men of blood hate the upright. Men of blood as in Ps. 5:7; 26:9; 55:24; 139:19.But the righteous seek his soul, viz., to preserve and prosper it. That the seeking the soul here stands bono sensu, unlike its use in some other passages (e.g., Psa 40:15; 1Ki 19:10, etc.,) [on the other hand comp. in Psa 142:5], appears from the contrast with clause a; Hitzigs emendation is therefore unnecessary, substituting for , and thus obtaining as the meaning: and seek to separate his soul, to isolate it (!). [Of our expositors H. prefers the common rendering of the predicate, and makes the upright a nom. or ace. absolute.A.]
Pro 29:11. All his wrath doth the fool pour forth. Spirit is here plainly wrath, as in Pro 16:32, and not soul (Umbreit) or mind Stier, etc.; [so E. V. and some of our interpreters]).But the wise quieteth it afterward. , which occurs only here, means afterward, at length; others explain this unusual expression by back, retrorsum; e.g., De W., Stier, Hitzig, Gesen., etc.: Keepeth it back, restraining it, pressing it in as it were (?).
3. Pro 29:12-17. Admonitions to a just and mild mode of government, and also the strict discipline of children. With Pro 29:12 comp. Sir 10:2, and also Cic. De Leg., III. 13 and the Latin proverb; Qualis rex talis grex, like king, like people.
Pro 29:13. The poor man and the usurer (oppressor) meet together. The man of exactions should be interpreted with the LXX (), Vulg. (creditor), Ewald, Hitzig, Fuerst, etc., by usurer, inasmuch as , as a plural from () [?] is very probably equivalent in meaning to usury; [Rd., Btt., etc., prefer the broader meaning oppression]. A man of usury, money-lender is furthermore only a more concrete expression for a rich man, and this is the corresponding term in Pro 22:2.Jehovah giveth light to the eyes of both; i.e., according to the parallels cited, Jehovah has given to them both the light of their life; from God comes to both the light of life and the joy of life; comp. Psa 13:4; Job 33:30; Ecc 11:7. [Here is comfort to the poor in his sufferings; here is warning to the rich in his violence, Words.]
Pro 29:14. A king who judgeth the poor faithfully. In truth, or fidelity is not here conscientiously, with truth to his own convictions, but conformably to the state of the facts, so that he permits true judgment (Zec 7:9) to reach the poor (Hitzig). With the sentiment comp. Pro 20:28; Pro 25:5.
Pro 29:15. With a comp. Pro 23:13; Pro 13:24; with b, Pro 10:1; Pro 17:21; Pro 28:7. The neglected is literally he who is exempted from discipline, who is left to his own will.
Pro 29:16. When the wicked are multiplied transgression increaseth, so far forth as the wicked who are found in the decided majority think that they may with impunity commit all manner of wickedness. With b comp. Psa 37:34 where the joyful beholding of the destruction of the wicked is expressed by the same phrase.
Pro 29:17. With a comp. Pro 19:18.And give delight to thy soul. not delicacies, dainties (Bertheau), but delights, joys in general, whose increasing variety is expressed by the plural (Stier).
4. Pro 29:18-23. Against lawlessness, insubordination, a passionate temper, and pride.When there is no revelation the people are ungoverned. here denotes prophetic prediction, the revelation of God by His or , seers (1Sa 9:9), [E. V. when there is no vision]; the chief function of these consisted in their watching over the vigorous fulfilling of the law, or in the enforcement of the demands of the law. By the phrase in lack of Vision a time is described like that mentioned in 1Sa 3:1, when the word of the Lord was precious; or like those mentioned in Hos 3:4; Amo 8:12; 2Ch 15:3; Psa 74:9, times distinguished by poverty in prophetic testimonies and activities. In such times the people must necessarily be undisciplined and unbridled, (so Exo 34:25 [where the E. V. incorrectly renders naked]).But he that keepeth the law blessed is he! (comp. Pro 14:21; Pro 16:20.) This benediction forms no strict antithesis to clause a. The connection of ideas seems to be this: But he who in such seasons of ascendant lawlessness nevertheless keeps Gods law, etc. (Hitzig).
Pro 29:19. By words a servant will not be corrected; i.e., mere words do not reform a servant, who rather needs a sharper correction.For he perceiveth them but doth not conform to them; lit. but there is not an answer, that is in action, by actual obedience, by (2Co 10:6, etc.). Bertheau is wrong: For he will observe itthat there is no coming to blowsand there will be no answer; no less is Ewald incorrect: But he becomes intelligent (gains understanding) without an answer, and likewise Von Hofmann, Schriftbew., II. 2, Pro 377: if he has understanding no answer follows.
Pro 29:20. Almost exactly like Pro 26:12. Comp. also Sir 9:18, where the corresponds precisely with the hasty in his words of our verse.
Pro 29:21. If one bringeth up his slave tenderly from a child afterward he will be a son. The relation of the two clauses is like that in Pro 29:9, to fondle is used here only in the O. T.; it is more common in Aramaic. which according to the Rabbinic is cognate with suboles, seems to be designed to distinguish the son of the household, the free filius familias in contrast with the house-slave; comp. Luthers term Junker [a squire]. Others interpret the Hapaxlegom. differently, e.g. Ewald, following the Arabic: he will be unthankful [Fuerst, intractable]: Stier his end will be (evil) development; Von Hofmann, ubi supra: there is at last a lamentation, etc. [Holden: shall be grieved]. Hitzig reads which is to be interpreted, like Psa 44:15 (14) a shaking of the head, or even a wringing of the hands! To write would be more natural than this: his end will be contention, as the Vulgate seems to have understood the expression, when it renders: postea sentiet eum contumacem.
Pro 29:22. An angry man stirreth up strife. Almost precisely like Pro 15:18; comp. Pro 28:25.And a passionate man aboundeth in transgression; for in the sense of great or rich in something, comp. Pro 28:20; Pro 28:27. See Pro 22:24 for a phrase kindred to the lord of passion, i.e., the passionate man.
Pro 29:23. With a compare Pro 16:18; Pro 25:7; with b, Pro 16:19; Pro 11:16.
5. Pro 29:24-27. Warning against the fear of man, disposition to please men, and complicity in transgressions.He that is partner with a thief hateth himself; i.e., inasmuch as he, as the concealer of a thief, brings upon himself the guilt and likewise the penalty of the full theft.He heareth the curse and showeth it not; i.e., he hears the curse which according to the law (Lev 5:1 sq.) marks a theft as an offence deserving a heavy penalty, and yet does not reveal the perpetrators of the deed which is laden with such a curse, and thus brings the curse also upon himself. [The E. V. is altogether ambiguous and misleading.]
Pro 29:25. Fear of man bringeth a snare. Fear of man (for which Hitzig conjectures , desiring or delighting in man) is strictly trembling before men; comp. 1Sa 14:15. Such a fear of man bringeth a snare, because it easily betrays into a participation in the sinful actions of men. With b comp. Pro 18:10.
Pro 29:26. Many seek the face (favor) of the ruler; they wait upon him, the potentate, in person, as a token of their homage, and in order to gain his favor. Comp. Pro 19:6; 1Ki 10:24.But from Jehovah cometh mans judgment; i.e., God, the Supreme Ruler, allots the destinies of men most justly and equitably; with Him one obtains the desired judgment more certainly than with any human ruler whatsoever. Comp. Pro 16:33. Hitzig arbitrarily says: judgment is here equivalent to rank, dignity.
Pro 29:27. Comp. Pro 11:20; Pro 28:4; and for the expression they that walk uprightly, or are upright in the way, in clause b, see in particular Psa 37:14, and also Pro 2:7.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
When early expositors (Stcker, Wohlfarth, etc., comp. also Stier) represent the chapter before us as directed especially against stiff-necked obstinacy, or against wilful disobedience and persistent refusal of correction, this conception of its main subject not only corresponds with Pro 29:1, but also with the repeated occurrence of rebukes of lawless conduct and the bad training of children, such as the following series of proverbs exhibits (Pro 29:9; Pro 29:12; Pro 29:15; Pro 29:17-19; Pro 29:21). Besides the manifold warnings against violent temper and its evil consequences fall under the same category (Pro 29:8; Pro 29:11; Pro 29:22); in like manner the dissuasions against prodigality (Pro 29:3), oppression of the poor (Pro 29:2; Pro 29:7; Pro 29:13-14), pride (Pro 29:23), flattery and bribery (Pro 29:4-5; Pro 29:12), injustice and deeds of wickedness in general (Pro 29:6; Pro 29:10; Pro 29:16; Pro 29:27). As a peculiar form of insubordination, or persistent disregard of the divine law, there is brought out prominently toward the end of the chapter the fear of man, which has not before been expressly mentioned in the Book of Proverbs. And this is done in such a way as to distinguish three degrees of this fault; the concealing of a theft, as its rudest and lowest form (Pro 29:24); the trembling before men, or pliability with respect to such conduct of wicked persons in general as is sinful and entices to sin (Pro 29:25); and the mere disposition to please men, or reliance on the protection and favor of powerful men, instead of on God alone (Pro 29:26).
A special adaptation to the theocratic political organization of the people of God under the Old Testament is given to the general direction which the chapter takes against wilfulness, insubordination and want of discipline, in Pro 29:18 : When there is no revelation, the people become lawless; but he that keepeth the law, blessed is he! In this remarkable testimony to the need of prophecy as the living watch and ward of the law, there is evidently brought to view that thought which is doctrinally and in respect to the history of salvation the most significant in the section. This is a thought which could develop itself, and find expression only after repeated periods had occurred in which prophecy was wholly or partially silent, and therefore only on the ground of sorrowful experiences that had accumulated in such seasons. The appearance of this thought, however, in the section before us by no means compels the assumption that this division of the book may not have originated till after Hezekiah, and this Hitzig also admits. Comp. above, the exegetical interpretation of the passage.
The great significance of prophecy for the moral life, both of the theocratic people of God and of Christian nations, has been well presented by Elster, in connection with this passage. Where the continuity of these prophetic revelations (to which it belonged to maintain in life and to develop the fundamental revelation made in i the law) was interrupted, this was the sign of a stagnation in the theocratic life, of an incapacity to understand the voice of God that ever continued to exist in Israel. Such a condition must therefore necessarily bring with it also a moral lawlessness in the people. For when the law was a vivid reality, it must necessarily develop prophetic manifestations, because there is in the law itself a struggling toward a higher perfection, so that the faithful keeping of the law stood in the most intimate reciprocity with the flourishing of prophecy.Naturally the relation of this proverb to the life of Christian nations is thereby not excluded, for we must then contemplate the law as first revealed in its true import in the light of the gospel, and revelation as the continued working of the Spirit in the Church.
How far moreover in the life of Christian nations we can and must speak of an abiding cooperative work of prophecy [i.e., naturally that of the New Testament), upon its successful development, religious and moral, Von Zezschwitz has shown with peculiar force and pertinence in his three discourses on Domestic Missions, popular education and prophecy (Frankfort on the Main, 1864); see in particular pp. 86 sq.
HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL
Homily on the chapter as a whole: The blessing of strict discipline on the basis of the word of God, or its necessity for the prosperity whether of individual persons and households, or of entire nations and States.Stcker: Third hinderance to the attainment of true wisdom: obstinate disobedience or stubbornness; origin, characteristics and remedy of this evil.
Pro 29:1-7. [Trapp (on Pro 29:1): If men harden their hearts, God will harden His hand.J. Howe: A fearful thing when the gospel itself shall not be my remedy!Chalmers: The hardening effect of continued resistance to the application of a moral force.S. Davies: To follow the conduct of our own folly and refuse the advantage we might receive from the wisdom of others discovers an uncreaturely pride and self-sufficiency; and the career of such a pursuit, whatever be its object, will always end in disappointment and confusion.Hooker (on Pro 29:2): Religion unfeignedly loved perfecteth mans abilities unto all kind of virtuous services in the common-wealth.]Zeltner (on Pro 29:1): He that obstinately opposes the Holy Ghost and will not receive the wholesome corrections of Gods word, his heart the evil spirit hardens; he thereby plunges himself into calamity.(On Pro 29:3): Pious parents can experience no greater joy than when they see their children walk in true wisdom and the fear of God.(On Pro 29:5): The caress of a flatterer is much more dangerous than the hatred of an enemy.[South (on Pro 29:5): Three Sermons on Flattery.Bridges (on Pro 29:6): There is always a snare in the ways of sin; always a song in the ways of God.]Lange (on Pro 29:7): Let judges and rulers take good heed lest they by their negligence in the cause of the humble be reckoned as among the ungodly.Von Gerlach: By righteousness there is opened to man a view into all departments of life; especially may he transfer himself into the position and case of the oppressed; while to the wicked man, who looks on every thing superficially, such insight is denied, and he therefore easily comes to oppress the poor.
Pro 29:8-11. Hasius (on Pro 29:8): An unwashed mouth may easily stir up much evil; but it is a characteristic of wisdom to make the best of every thing.Starke: A true Christian is at the same time a good citizen in the commonwealth; for he seeks to produce and preserve peace.[Lord Bacon: Scorners weaken all the foundations of civil government; a thing the more to be attended to, because the mischief is wrought not openly, but by secret engines and intrigues.Lawson: The holy seed are the substance and strength of a land.Lord Bacon (on Pro 29:9): In this contest the chances are altogether unequal; seeing it is no victory to conquer, and a great disgrace to be conquered.]Lange: One should not suffer himself to be kept from the proclamation of the truth by the opposition of foolish people, 2Ti 4:2; if one does not receive it, another does.Von Gerlach (on Pro 29:11): Among the characteristics of folly there is always found a boisterous, ungovernable nature; to wisdom belongs self-command.
Pro 29:12-17. Melanchthon (on Pro 29:12): The example of distinguished persons, such as rulers, teachers, etc., avails and effects very much, and that in both directions, by promoting good as well as evil. Most rapidly, however, is the plague of base vices transmitted, especially in the circle of household companions, and in the daily retinue of these persons of high station.[Muffet: He that carrieth Satan in his ear is no less blame-worthy than he which carrieth him in his tongue.]Cramer (on Pro 29:13): The Holy Scriptures are for poor and for rich; every one findeth his own chapter therein adapted to himself. But in order that the one as well as the other may see what is needful for them, both need enlightenment and divine help.Starke (on Pro 29:14): Not so much by strength and might as rather by faithful, kind and righteous treatment of subjects is a government preserved and confirmed.Von Gerlach (on Pro 29:15; Pro 29:17): Mothers are wont to be most at fault in indulging their children, and must therefore bear away the chief shame of its fruits.[Chalmers: By joining the rod with the reproof, the moral is sometimes the better enforced when there is added to it the physical appliance.]
Pro 29:18. Luther: Without Gods word man can do nothing but practise idolatry and his own will.Melanchthon: As well princes as people must consider that pious governments, which God aids by His counsel and blessing, are more needful than all things beside; they must therefore beseech God for such a wholesome government, and not plunge themselves in sin and vice, lest God withdraw it from them as a judgment.Stcker (special sermon for married people, based on Pro 29:18): On the indispensable necessity of the divine word to a blessed domestic relation: a) How Christian hearts should stand related to the word of God; b) What advantage and reward they have from its right use.Wohlfarth: Take religion from man and he sinks into the deepest barbarism.[Flavel: The Spirit and the word of God usually come and go together.]
Pro 29:19-27. Zeltner (on Pro 29:19-21): As self-willed menials do when they are indulged, so likewise our own vile flesh and blood. If one leaves to this its own will even a little, it will quickly rule over the spirit,Gal 5:17 sq.[Lord Bacon (on Pro 29:21): Princes and masters ought to keep a measure in conferring grace and favor on their servants. Sudden promotion begets insolence; continual obtaining of desires begets impatience of refusal; and if there be nothing further to aspire to, there will be an absence of alacrity and industry.]Starke (on Pro 29:24): Both the bold sinner himself and he likewise who makes himself partaker in the sins of others, brings upon himself Gods wrath and punishment.(On Pro 29:25): It is a sinful fear of man when one from timidity acts to please others against his conscience.A means against this fear of man is pre-eminently prayer for a joyous spirit (Psa 51:12; Psa 51:14), and faith and child-like reliance on Gods protection.[Flavel: Men vainly hope to find mercy with God, but expect none from men; so the voice of conscience is drowned by the louder clamors and threats of adversaries.Arnot: It is not a transference of fear from man to God that makes a sinner safe; the kind of affection must be changed as well as its object. Safety lies not in terror, but in trust. Hope leads to holiness.]Von Gerlach (on Pro 29:26): Justice and favor which princes can ensure are indifferent in the presence of Gods decision.(On Pro 29:27): It is no good sign for him who would be upright when he can be on friendly terms with the ungodly.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 820
DANGER OF OBSTINACY IN SIN
Pro 29:1. He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
AWFUL, most awful, is this declaration; yet is it most salutary, and worthy of the deepest attention. Many indeed imagine that it is suited only to the dispensation of the Law: but it is no less suited to us under the Gospel. The Gospel does not consist of promises only, but of threatenings also: and St. Paul himself tells us, that the day of the Lord will so come as a thief in the night; and that when men are saying, Peace and safety, then will sudden destruction come upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape [Note: 1Th 5:2-3.].
But in discoursing on such a subject, we would exercise all imaginable tenderness: and we entreat all who are here present to lift up their hearts to God, and to implore the effectual assistance of his good Spirit, that they may be enabled to tremble at his word, and to receive it with meekness, as an engrafted word, which is able to save their souls.
There are two things here to which we would draw your attention;
I.
The character described
God, with much patience and long-suffering, reproves the sinners of mankind
[In a variety of ways he administers reproof. At all times he speaks, silently indeed, but powerfully, to men in his word. Every sin is there depicted in its proper colours, and marked as an object of his righteous indignation. There especially we hear him denouncing his judgments against impenitence and unbelief: Except ye repent, ye shall all perish: He that believeth not, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. There too do we find him requiring of us, that we become new creatures in Christ Jesus; and declaring, that except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. In short, every thing that is necessary for us either to know or do, is there revealed and in every part of it God himself is addressing us day and night
He reproves us also by his Providence. Every one of his dispensations towards us has a voice, to which we should give heed, and from which we may gain the most valuable instruction. Does he summon to his tribunal a neighbour, a friend, a relative? He says to the survivors, Prepare to meet your God. Does he make a severer inroad on your domestic circle, by cutting off the olive branches that were round about your table, or by taking away the desire of your eyes with a stroke? He bids you to seek all your happiness in him alone. By every change of whatever kind, he tells you that this is not your rest. Nor does he speak less by mercies than by judgments. Every gift is sent to draw you to him as the Donor; and every instance of his goodness and long-suffering and forbearance is intended to lead you to repentance.
Further, he reproves us also by his Spirit. Who amongst us has not often heard his still small voice, saying to us, Repent? Who has not felt many checks of conscience, when he was tempted to commit iniquity? These have been no other than the motions of Gods Holy Spirit within us, testifying against sin, and inviting us to serve our God [Note: Gen 6:3.].]
But against his reproofs how often have we hardened our necks!
[Many will not endure reproof at all: and, if the word which is ministered to them by the servants of God disquiet their minds, and especially if it strike at their besetting sin, they will vent their indignation against the faithful Messenger who thus disturbs their slumbers. The reproof given to Amaziah was so reasonable, that one would imagine it could not possibly give offence: yet behold, what resentment it kindled in the infatuated monarch! Art thou made of the kings counsel? Forbear. Why shouldest thou be smitten [Note: 2Ch 25:15-16.]? Nothing could be more just than the reproof which Jeremiah was ordered to administer to the Jewish people: yet the only effect it produced was, to excite their wrath, and to make them threaten him with instant death: When Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the people, then the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, took him, saying, Thou shall surely die [Note: Jer 26:2-8.] Herod went further still, and actually put the greatest of all the Prophets to death, for no other fault than that of telling him that he should not persevere in his adulterous commerce with his brother Philips wife [Note: Mat 14:3-10.]. Thus it is at this day. Men indeed cannot proceed to such extremities against their reprovers now as they did in former times: but the worlds enmity is the same against all who testify of it that the works thereof are evil; and it is owing to the protection of the laws, rather than to any diminution of mens hatred against the truth, that contempt only, and not death, is the portion of Gods faithful servants.
But it is not only in a way of outward opposition that men manifest their obduracy. Many who externally approve of the faithful ministry of the word, are in reality as averse to it in their hearts. They hear the word perhaps even with pleasure, as Ezekiels hearers did; but they will not do it [Note: Eze 33:31-32.]. Say whether this be not the case with many amongst you: you have had the whole counsel of God declared unto you; but have you complied with it? Are you truly brought to the foot of cross, in deep humiliation, in earnest prayer, and in a simple reliance on the blood of Jesus as your only hope? Have you also taken his yoke upon you, so that you are daily and hourly fulfilling his will, and regarding his service as perfect freedom? Are you dying daily to the world, and living altogether as pilgrims and sojourners hare, having your conversation in heaven, and looking forward to the second advent of your Lord as the consummation and completion of your bliss? If you be not thus brought to live unto your God, you have not yet complied with his reproofs: and if you are speaking peace to yourselves in such a state, then are you hardening your necks against him. In words indeed you call him Lord, Lord: but whilist you do not the things which he says, you are still among the number of those to whom he will say, Depart from me; I. never knew you, ye workers of iniquity ]
Having then seen the character that is described in our text, let us consider,
II.
The judgment denounced against him
What but destruction can await such a character, even destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power? Yes, this is the judgment denounced against him; and his destruction, whenever it shall arrive, shall be,
1.
Sudden
[Not unfrequently does God mark by some signal judgment those who have obstinately withstood his warnings and invitations. The Ante-diluvian infidels, who would not be reclaimed by the ministry of Noah, were swept away, as soon as ever their day of grace was ended; as were Pharaoh also, and all his host, when they proudly set themselves in array against the Majesty of heaven. Ananias and Sapphira were also made examples of Gods indignation against wilful and deliberate sin.
But though death should come upon us gradually, as it respects the body, it may, as far as it respects our preparation for it, be altogether instantaneous. The effect of wilful sin is, to harden the heart, and to render us more and more indisposed for repentance. It also grieves the Holy Spirit of God, and provokes him to withdraw those gracious influences which he has hitherto vouchsafed. When delaying our repentance, we are apt to fancy that we shall in a time of sickness have such a favourable opportunity for spiritual exercises, as will abundantly make up for all the time that we have lost: but when sickness comes, we find that we cannot realize all our fond expectations: the state of our bodies perhaps unfits us for exertion: and the indisposition of our mind for holy things in become more deeply rooted, no that we cannot relent, or humble ourselves before God. The word of God, when we look into it, is only as a sealed book. The instructions we receive, produce no effect. Even during their full enjoyment of bodily health many are given over to final impenitence, so that the ministry of the word serves only to harden them, and the Gospel itself becomes to them only a savour of death [Note: See Isa 6:9-10. which is quoted six times in the New Testament. See also Jer 7:23-27.] God gives them over to judicial blindness, and leaves them to harden themselves in order to their more aggravated condemnation. Thus he dealt with the sons of Eli [Note: 1Sa 2:25.]; and thus he has declared he will deal with us, if we wilfully reject his tender solicitations [Note: Pro 1:24-31.] Thus may death come in its most gradual and protracted form, and yet, as far as respects our souls, be as sudden, as if it visited us like a thief in the night.]
2.
Irremediable
[If once God say to his Holy Spirit, Strive no longer with that man: he is joined to idols: let him alone [Note: Hos 4:17.]; the man is in fact left to irremediable destruction. He will live only to fill up the measure of his iniquities, and to treasure up wrath against the day of wrath. But at all events, the very instant that death arrests us, our day of grace is terminated: there is no repentance in the grave; no possibility of passing the gulf that is fixed between heaven and hell: the worm that gnaweth the conscience will never die; the fire that torments the body will never be quenched: the wrath to come will ever be the wrath to come.
What a fearful thought is it, that of those to whom the word of salvation is now preached, many will come at last into that place of torment, and many, who, like the Foolish Virgins, once had the lamp of outward profession, and associated with the wise virgins, will, instead of being admitted to the marriage supper of their Lord, be cast into outer darkness, where is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth! The Lord grant that none of you may ever experience this doom! yet it is certain, that if you harden your necks against either the precepts of the Law or the promises of the Gospel, this will be your state for ever.
To put you more effectually on your guard, let me]
Address
1.
Those who are indisposed to submit to Gods reproofs
[The word delivered to you, so far as it accords with Gods revealed will, is Gods, and not ours. We are his ambassadors; and it is He who speaks to you by our mouth. Indeed, whoever he be that gives you the counsels of true wisdom, he is Gods representative to you. Think then, ye who have rejected the counsels of your friends, and the admonitions of your ministers, what will be your reflections in the last day: when you call to mind the instructions once given by your parents, the advice offered by some pious friend or relative, the warnings delivered by Gods servants in the public assembly, how distressing will it be to see that they were only the means of aggravating your eternal condemnation! Oh! let me prevail with you, ere it be too late. Consider, I pray you, Who ever hardened himself against God, and prospered? To-day then, while it is called to-day, harden not your hearts, lest you provoke God to swear in his wrath, that you shall never enter into his rest.]
2.
Those who are inclined to obey his will
[Truly this disposition is of the Lord: it is he that has given you either to will or do. Bless him, then, that the destruction which has come suddenly and irremediably on so many millions of mankind, was not permitted to come on you in your unawakened state. And now let your hearts be right with him: let every word of his sink down into your ears, and be obeyed without reserve. Seek an entire conformity to his mind and will. Forget all that is behind, and reach forward constantly to that which is before. Seek to grow up in all things into Christ, your living Head. Make more and more use of that remedy which is in your hands. Apply the precious blood of Christ more and more to your souls, to purge you from your sins; and seek more abundant supplies of the Spirit of grace, to transform you into the Divine image: so shall you be happy now in the prospect of your inheritance, and be progressively rendered meet for your full possession of it.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
CONTENTS.
Here are many like words to the former, by way of proverbs in this Chapter to the same purport as before, in holding forth the mysteries of the kingdom.
Pro 29:1-4 He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance. The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it.
By the king here spoken of, must be meant the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the king uniformly intended through all the scriptures, whose government is in righteousness, and who will minister true judgment unto the people. He is Jehovah’s king, and so revealed. Psa 2:6 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Vision Which Saves
Pro 29:18
Of all the blessings for which we thank God, none are greater than the light and the powers of sight which we possess. Obvious as are the advantages of the powers of physical sight, they only emphasize a condition which is indispensable in the moral and spiritual sphere. The wise man is thinking of the catastrophes which await those who for any reason are blind to the truth about life and who are ‘destroyed for lack of knowledge’.
I. History contains many sad records of such catastrophes from the wilful refusal to behold the vision of life and duty.
1. We remember in the history of Israel how the people could not wait in patience for the revelation God would make known to them through Moses.
2. Again, in the judgment that came upon Eli and his sons we are told significantly, ‘The word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no open vision.’
3. In the days of Isaiah, because of the iniquity of the people, the punishment which shall fall upon them is spoken of as a penal visitation of blindness.
4. So true is it that men, having eyes, see not; they will not look beyond the fleeting, changing scene which allures them, to the vision of unchanging eternal reality, and therefore they perish. The sad lament never rang more pathetically than when at last it was said of Jerusalem: ‘If thou hadst known in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace, but now they are hid from thine eyes’.
II. The gift of vision. The greatest gift of God to man has been the revelation of truth which has been vouchsafed in the person of the Eternal Son, Jesus Christ The vision of truth and the meaning of life has been finally manifested to mankind in the intelligible form of a human life. God has vouchsafed the vision of truth, which is ‘the Light of Life’; but He has also given power to take in the vision, insight into the veiled mystery of truth, discernment of the inner reality which lies behind the transitory shapes of things which meet our eyes. ‘He hath given unto us His Holy Spirit.’
III. Such is the gift. Consider how its inexhaustible benefits are conveyed to mankind. The gift is for the enrichment of human life, that men ‘may have life, and have it more abundantly’. The interpreters of Divine messages, whether through the medium of paint or marble, through intellectual pursuits or discovery, as men of action or as thinkers, have been men of vision, ‘the seers,’ and are among ‘the goodly fellowship of the prophets’.
At every crisis in the world’s or our nation’s history salvation or destruction has depended upon the capacity of men to see beyond the present, and the resolution to pursue with inflexible determination the vision which had been revealed.
J. P. Maud, Christian World Pulpit, vol. LXXII., 1907, p. 55.
References. XXIX. 18. Lyman Abbott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. 1895, p. 170. A. E. Garvie, ibid. vol. lxv. 1904, p. 27. J. P. Maud, ibid. vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 55. J. Pulsford, Our Deathless Hope, p. 157. XXIX. 25. W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth, p. 550. XXX. 1-9. Ibid. p. 559. XXX. 2. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvi. No. 2140.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
A Stiffnecked People, Etc.
Pro 29
Men hardened their necks against the yoke of God, which is described by Jesus Christ in Mat 11:29 , Mat 11:30 . Those who thus harden their necks shall be destroyed; that is to say, shall be shattered or dashed to pieces like a potter’s vessel that cannot be put together again. This shattering shall be final “without remedy.” Nothing more can be done for the man than has been done by the process of frequent and affectionate reproof. By “reproof” we are to understand warning, expostulation, remonstrance, a process of pointing out to men the consequence of the actions which they are performing so heedlessly. In ancient times the Lord said, “I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people.” We read of the children of Israel that they continually hardened themselves against their Maker, yea, and defied him as if it were to his face. “They mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.” It is complained again that “they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.” We have the same term used in the New Testament; for example, by Stephen when he exclaimed, “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” We cannot safely dispense with the element of warning in any great process of human education. The warning voice may indeed be despised as the voice of croaking and complaining; it may be charged as being wanting in encouragement and stimulus, but in reality the warning voice is only such that it may become a voice of encouragement. It is no pleasure to the apostle to warn or threaten or denounce. But he is bound to do this, because he is appointed of God as a watchman, and the blood of the people will be required at the watchman’s hand, if so be he has fallen asleep or has been unfaithful to his vocation. God will take away the heavy yoke when we have taken away hardness of heart from before him. Ere our first tear has fully fallen God will relieve us from the charge of the heavy yoke. “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.” Prestige, ancestry, old and established advantages shall go for nothing in the day of the divine wrath, when God comes to judge those who have scorned his counsel and rejected his messengers.
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn” ( Pro 29:2 ).
So the voice of the people is here the voice of God. There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding. Righteousness in authority is no mere or barren sentiment; it is a tree most fruitful in happy consequences. Everybody knows when the government is in the hands of wicked men, for a blight seems to fall upon society, and all things young and lovely and musical flee away as from a threatening shadow. Men cannot govern in wickedness and yet have a really happy nation. When righteousness is at the head of things, all the flowing streams carry health and pleasure whithersoever they go. “Righteousness exalteth a nation.” Throughout the whole scope of human history, the same sacred and solemn testimony is borne. “When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.” Men have confidence in legitimate enterprise and speculation when virtue is at the head of affairs: let an honest nation propose a loan, and instantly the whole world is eager to take it up, not because the interest is great, or the promises are splendid, but because whatever is offered will certainly be forthcoming with punctuality and exactness. When wicked men perish there is indeed shouting, the shouting of joy and gratitude, as there would be when a poison-tree is cut down, or as when a beast of prey is slain, or as when a great danger is averted. “When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory: but when the wicked rise, a man is hidden…. When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: but when they perish, the righteous increase.” Illustrations of the rule of wickedness and the rule of righteousness will be found in the Book of Esther: “Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple”; “The city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad”; “But when the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city Shushan was perplexed.” If, therefore, only for economical reasons, men should always vote for any government that best represents the most virtuous sentiments of the nation. Do not trust to brilliant statesmanship, but to brilliant character. Where the one cannot be had except at the expense of the other, let us make a point of electing to stand by integrity, uprightness, solid and unselfish patriotism. The nation does not want brilliant wickedness; better infinitely that it should have conscience, righteousness, fearless integrity. What is true of the nation is true of the family; what is true of the family is true of the individual man. Let your character be strong, large, generous; if possible, cultivate your mind to a corresponding degree of enlargement, but if the one must suffer neglect, see to it that you do not neglect the culture of your moral affections and sentiments. Why? Not only because of what these affections and sentiments are in themselves, but because, as we have already said, it is impossible to cultivate with pious industry the moral nature without at the same time attending with carefulness to the excitement and satisfaction of the intellectual faculties. It is, alas! possible to be very careful about intellectual culture and to be wholly indifferent to moral development; but it is, happily, impossible to be anxious about moral development and to be indifferent to intellectual expansion and culture. Therefore for every reason let men be anxious about their moral education, for in the end there shall arise from such attentiveness great results of a personal, social, political, and intellectual kind.
“If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest” ( Pro 29:9 ).
Wise men should therefore leave the strife before it is begun. Whether the wise man treat the fool with haughty disdain, or with good nature, the result will be the same, that is to say, the fool will not cease from his strife or folly. Everything is thrown away upon the fool. Possibly the sense may be that the fool himself rages and laughs: it is impossible for him to listen judicially to any arguments that may be offered: he laughs without reason and he denounces without reason; his laughter is madness: in short, he is a fool, a dull stupid person, headstrong in his own way, lying quite beyond the line of reasoning or persuasion. Always let a fool alone.
“The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the Lord lighteneth both their eyes” ( Pro 29:13 ).
The rich and the poor meet together, but the Lord is the maker of them both. We see the Lord both in men and in their circumstances. It is practical atheism to regard God as the Creator of the man and as having nothing to do with the man’s surroundings. “The Lord lighteneth both their eyes,” that is to say, each of them, whether rich or poor, oppressor or oppressed, owes his life to the living God, and from that living God each shall receive due judgment in the end. Whatever may be said of the circumstances of each as to their origin or explanation, it is certain that the life of each is derived from heaven, and an account of it is due to the divine Giver.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he” ( Pro 29:18 )>.
By “vision” understand revelation. Where the connection between the natural and the supernatural is cut off, destruction is the necessary consequence. The word “perish,” however, does not etymologically in this case mean destruction; a more literal rendering would be: Where there is no revelation the people run wild; that is to say, each man is a law unto himself; individual conscience is magnified above general sentiment, and being unduly magnified it becomes a source of trouble rather than a symbol of the divine judgment Even conscience may be perverted. When conscience inspires a prejudice the result is mature and mischievous pharisaism. Men must live upon the supernatural because they themselves are more than merely natural: they have aspirations that lift themselves above the heavens; they have stirrings and impulses of heart which can only be satisfactorily interpreted by religious explanations. The divine vision is given in some sort to every man. Every man’s conscience ought to be accepted as a revelation of God. But here we cannot too frequently insist that conscience itself is exposed to perversion. Saul thought that he was doing good when he was doing evil: he was under the impression that he was obeying God when he was destroying the disciples of Christ. Our personal impressions should be rectified by a profound study of human nature and of human history, and should especially be rectified by lofty and continual communion with heaven.
“A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit” ( Pro 29:23 ).
The lowly in spirit shall lay hold upon honour. “He that exalteth himself shall be abased.” Continually is pride brought to the dust. Unless men really understand the measure of their strength, and the number of their days, they will become the victims of false impression, and will addict themselves to mischievous pursuits. The Psalmist seemed to grasp the occasion when he said, “Behold, thou hast made my days as an hand-breadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.” The Lord has promised to look with special graciousness towards the man who is poor and of a contrite heart, and who trembles at the divine word. God’s grace is promised for the revival of the spirit of the humble, and the sustenance of the heart of the contrite ones. It is curious to observe how some men are soon brought to destruction by an improvement in their circumstances. They have not moral ballast enough to enable them to bear with dignity continual accession of fortune; they miscalculate; they suppose that their riches will abide for ever; they think that he who is rich is strong; out of all these sophisms there comes moral looseness, and from moral looseness there soon comes a general overthrow of the spirit and even of the surrounding circumstances. Sad it is to observe how good fortune becomes misfortune; the very goodness of God as seen in the bountifulness of his providence is turned to the disadvantage and ruin of the man who does not receive that goodness in the right spirit. Be sure that God who made us knows how much honour or wealth we can sustain; when he draws the line and says, “Hitherto shall fortune come, and no farther,” he knows that any addition to what we already possess would destroy our equilibrium, and cause us, it may be, to plunge into some infinite chasm. What have we that we have not received? If we have genius, the light is not of our own kindling; if we have great practical power, we hold it as a trust; if we have wealth, we should remember the words, “The Lord thy God giveth thee power to get wealth.” Humility is the salvation of character. Humility, however, cannot be put on; it cannot be arranged for, or be made matter of calculation, as who should say, See how I succeeded in humbling myself, or in clothing myself with the beautiful garments of modesty. Humility is the result of divine action in the soul. To have seen God is to have been cleansed from all vanity; to have been near the king is to turn our eyes with contempt upon all the circumstance and fading glory of this transient world.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XXIV
OTHER PROVERBS OF SOLOMON AND THE APPENDICES
Pro 25:1-31:31
The title of the section, Pro 25:1-29:27 , is found in Pro 25:1 : “These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.” Perowne says,
This title is interesting as affording a proof that revival of literary activity accompanied the revival of religion and of national prosperity which marked the reign of Hezekiah. Hezekiah himself was a poet of no mean order (Isa 38:9-12 ); and “the men of Hezekiah” were doubtless a body of scribes engaged under the direction of the king in literary labors. But beside this, this brief title is one of those “fragments of history,” which, as Professor Sayce has shown, “have been illuminated by the progress of oriental research,” and “the importance and true significance of which can now be realized for the first time.” This title points, he thinks, to the existence of a royal library in Jerusalem, into which these proverbs, never before edited, were now gathered and “copied out” and similar to the libraries which are now known to have existed in the cities of Babylonia and Assyria. The vassalage of Judah to the king of Assyria in the reign of Ahaz had necessarily led to the introduction of Assyrian culture into Jerusalem. Ahaz himself had led the way. In the court of the palace he had erected a sundial, a copy of the gnomons which had been used for centuries in the civilized kingdoms of the Euphrates and the Tigris. But the erection of the sundial was not the only sign of Assyrian influence. The most striking feature of Assyrian and Babylonian culture was the libraries, where scribes were kept constantly employed, not only in writing and compiling new books, but in copying and re-editing older ones. The “men of Hezekiah” who “copied out” the proverbs of Solomon performed duties exactly similar to the royal scribes in Nineveh.
It would be a profitable exercise to note all the varieties of stanza, and to select a number of the most beautiful proverbs found in this section, and then compare Pro 25:7 with Luk 14:8-10 as an example of the New Testament elaboration of a proverb, but these matters must be left to the Bible student to be worked out for himself. The author recommends an earnest reading and careful study of this wonderful section of the proverbs of Solomon.
The collection of proverbs in Pro 30 is ascribed to a philosopher, or teacher, named Agur, the son of Jakeh, and is addressed by him to Ithiel and Ucal, presumably his scholars or disciples. The name Ithiel occurs again as that of a Benjamite in Neh 11:7 . Ucal as a proper name is not found elsewhere in the Old Testament. Horton says, Whoever Agur was, he had a certain marked individuality; he combined meditation on lofty questions of theology with a sound theory of practical life. He was able to give valuable admonitions about conduct. But his characteristic delight was to group together in quatrains visible illustrations of selected qualities or ideas.
The following is a brief analysis of Pro 30 :
The chapter, which is highly interesting and in some respects unique, on which account it may have been selected out of other similar literature for publication as an Appendix to this book, consists of a Title, or note of authorship (Pro 30:1 ), followed by a prologue, in which in a spirit of deep abasement, which is the spirit of true wisdom, the author confesses his own utter ignorance in view of the great questions which offer themselves for solution. The study of nature makes it clear that there is a God; but who can tell Who and What He is (Pro 30:2-4 )? Only by revelation can He be known; and in that revelation, held sacred from all admixture, man finds Him and is safe (Pro 30:5-6 ). To the God thus found and trusted the writer turns with a two-fold prayer that he may be in himself a real and true man; a prayer that in his earthly lot he may have the happy mean, removed from the temptations which belong to the extremes of poverty and riches (Pro 30:7-9 ). Then, after an isolated proverb of the familiar type (Pro 30:10 ), another peculiarity of this Collection, which may have been a further reason for its being appended to the Book of Proverbs, is introduced. A series of five “numerical proverbs,” or “quatrains,” as they have been called, groups of “four things,” with a single proverb inserted between the second and third groups (Pro 30:17 ), brings the Collection to a close with the exception of one final proverb at the end of the chapter (Pro 30:32-33 ). CAMBRIDGE BIBLE
It is very interesting to note in this chapter Agur’s prayer (Pro 30:7-9 ), the four insatiable things (Pro 30:15-16 ), the four inscrutable things (Pro 30:18-20 ), the four intolerable things (Pro 30:21-23 ), the four wise little things (Pro 30:24-28 ) and the four stately things (Pro 30:29-31 ), all of which have their lessons for us. There are several fine isolated proverbs here (Pro 30:10-11 ; Pro 30:14 ; Pro 30:17 ; Pro 30:32-33 ), each with its own lessons.
Pro 31:1-9 has King Lemuel for its author. This is just another name for Solomon. Taking the chapter as a whole, the following is a good, brief analysis:
1. Salutation (Pro 31:1 )
2. Maternal admonitions (Pro 31:2-9 ).
3. Characteristics of a worthy woman (Pro 31:10-31 ).
From the salutation we learn that King Lemuel was the author of Pro 31:1-9 which is the oracle taught him by his mother. This is a fine example of maternal influence. There can be no finer compliment to a good mother than the effect of her life and teaching finding expression in the conduct and writings of her children.
The maternal admonitions in Pro 31:2-9 are expressions of the desire of a true mother’s heart for her children. The warning here concerning strong drink with its results in the lives of kings and princes might be good advice for kings, princes, governors, and others in high positions today. It will be noted that the admonition here relative to strong drink is immediately connected with the admonition concerning women and it does not require an extensive observation now to see the pertinency of these warnings. These are twin evils and wherever you find one of them you find the other also. It is not to be understood that there is sanction here of strong drink as a beverage, but rather the medicinal use of it as in the case of Paul’s advice to Timothy to take a little wine for the stomach’s sake. It may also be noted here that righteous judgment is unjoined and this, too, is always in danger at the hands of those who indulge in strong drink.
The passage, Pro 31:10-31 , is an acrostic, or alphabetical poem, and a gem of literature. This passage is the picture of a worthy woman. In the Cambridge Bible we have this fine comment:
The picture here drawn of woman in her proper sphere of home, as a wife and a mother and the mistress of a household, stands out in bright relief against the dark sketches of woman degraded by impurity, or marred, by imperfections, which are to be found in earlier chapters of this Book (Pro 2:16-20 ; Pro 5:1-23 ; Pro 5:7 ; Pro 22:14 ; Pro 23:27-28 , and Pro 11:22 ; Pro 19:13 ; Pro 21:19 Corruptio optimi pessima. We have here woman occupying and adorning her rightful place, elevated by anticipation to the high estate to which the Gospel of Christ has restored her. It is an expansion of the earlier proverbs: “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord” (Pro 18:22 ). The ideal here set forth for the woman is fine and represents her at her best and most influential business, viz: that of making a home.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the title of the section, Proverbs 25:1-29:28, and of what is it a proof?
2. What are the varieties of stanza found in this section?
3. What kinds of parallelism are found in this passage?
4. Give ten of the most beautiful proverbs found in this section, showing their application.
5. What proverbs in this section are elaborated in a New Testament parable?
6. Who were Agur, Ithiel, and Ucal and what may be remarked especially of Agur?
7. Give a brief analysis of Pro 30 .
8. What is Agur’s prayer?
9. What are the four insatiable things according to Agur?
10. What are the four inscrutable things?
11. What are the four intolerable things?
12. What are the four wise little things?
13. What are the four stately things?
14. Who was King Lemuel?
15. Give a brief analysis of Pro 31 .
16. What do we learn from the salutation?
17. What are the maternal admonitions in Pro 31:2-9 and what do you think of them?
18. What can you say of the passage, Pro 31:10-31 ?
19. According to this passage what is the picture here of a worthy woman?
20. What do you think of the ideal here set forth for the woman?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Pro 29:1 He, that being often reproved hardeneth [his] neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
Ver. 1. He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck. ] As an untamed heifer, that “pulleth away the shoulder,” Zec 7:11 and detracteth the yoke; or as the creature called monoceros, the unicorn, interimi potest, capi non potest, a may be slain but not taken; so those that refuse to be reformed, b hate to be healed, will not bend, shall surely and severely be broken, certissime citissimeque confringentur, they shall certainly and suddenly be dashed in pieces as a potter’s vessel, that cannot be pieced together again. Isa 30:13-14 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel, Jer 15:12 and shall not the fierce wrath of God shatter and shiver out a silly sinner that will needs stout it out with him, and yet is no more able to stand before him than a glass bottle before a cannon shot? Let Eli’s sons, and such refractories, look for ruin. The prophet fitly compares them to headstrong horses that get the bit into their mouths, run desperately upon the rocks, and so in short time break first their hoofs and then their necks. Queen Elizabeth, in talking with Marshal Biron – whom the French king sent ambassador to her, anno 1601 – sharply accused Essex (who had recently lost his head) of obstinacy, rash counsels, and wilful disdaining to ask pardon, and wished that the French king would rather use mild severity than careless clemency, and cut off the heads of treacherous persons in time, &c. This might have terrified Biron from those wicked attempts which he was even at this time plotting against his king, had not his mind been besotted. But the power of his approaching fate did so blind him, that within few months after he underwent the same death that Essex did – though nothing so piously and Christianly, as having hardened his neck against wholesome counsel. c Now if men harden their hearts, God will harden his hand, and hasten their destruction, and that without remedy.
a Solinus.
b Corriptimur sed non corrigimur. – Augustine.
c Cambden’s Elisabeth, fol. 562.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
often reproved, &c. Illustrations: Antediluvians (Genesis 6, 1Pe 3:20. 2Pe 2:5. Luk 17:26, Luk 17:27): Pharaoh (Exo 7:13, Exo 7:14; Exo 8:15; Exo 10:1, Exo 10:20, Exo 10:27).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 29
He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy ( Pro 29:1 ).
That is a heavy, heavy proverb. The person that is often reproved by God. How many times God has reproved you for your evil. God has reproved you for your sin. And you’ve hardened your heart to God’s reproof. You go right back into the same thing. You do it over again. And God has reproved you. He, that being often reproved, you begin to harden your heart against that reproof of God. Now what’s going to happen is that you’re going to be destroyed suddenly, and that without remedy. That is really heavy-duty indeed. The sudden destruction that will come upon you without any remedy. It’s terrible when God says, “Hey, that’s it. There’s no remedy.” And lets a person go.
When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked are ruling, the people mourn. Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keeps company with harlots is wasting his substance. The king by judgment establishes the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it. A man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet. And in the transgression of an evil man there is a snare: but the righteous doth sing and rejoice. The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regards not to know it. Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath ( Pro 29:2-8 ).
There are cases of this in history in the Bible where the scorners brought the city into battle, into war. But there are other cases where wise counsel saved the cities from destruction, or people from destruction. You remember when David was desiring some food for his men from Nabal, and he had been with Nabal’s men; he’d been around them. And David had, you know, sort of overseen the guys. They were protecting them and all. And so when David needed food, he came to Nabal and Nabal cursed David and said, “Who’s David and so forth that I should give him food?” He was just really rank about it. So David armed his men; he was going to go after old Nabal. You know, wipe him out. And his wife Abigail came and said, “Oh, my husband, he’s a dunce. Don’t pay any attention. Why should you waste your time with a character like that? And now, you know, here, take this.” She brought him a bunch of food and all. And told David just not to. Her wise counsel. He said, “Oh, blessed is your counsel, you know, because if it weren’t for you, I would have spilled that guy’s blood. I mean, I was mad at him. I was going to do him in.”
So through wise counsel the wars are averted. The city is spared. But through scornful men, the city can be brought into snare or destruction.
If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest. The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul. A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it till afterwards. If a ruler hearken to lies, all of his servants are wicked. The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the LORD lighteneth both their eyes. The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever ( Pro 29:9-14 ).
And now we have a couple here that have to do with children, fifteen and seventeen.
The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yes, he will give delight unto thy soul ( Pro 29:15 , Pro 29:17 ).
Going back now to sixteen.
When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall ( Pro 29:16 ).
Eighteen:
Where there is no vision, the people perish ( Pro 29:18 ):
God help us. We’ve got to have a vision for the Lord’s work and for the accomplishing of the Lord’s work. People that are without a vision perish.
but he that keepeth the law, happy is he ( Pro 29:18 ).
We’ve heard this, “Where no vision is, the people perish.” That’s a very often-quoted proverb.
A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will not answer. Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope for a fool than for him ( Pro 29:19-20 ).
So be slow to speak.
He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length ( Pro 29:21 ).
If you take good care in bringing up a servant from a child, he becomes like a son to you.
An angry man stirs up strife, a furious man abounds in transgressions. A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. And whoso is partner with a thief hates his own soul: he hears cursing, and bewrayeth it not ( Pro 29:22-24 ).
Twenty-five:
The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso puts his trust in the LORD shall be safe ( Pro 29:25 ).
“The fear of man brings a snare.” It will cause even great men, the fear of man will cause even great men to do untoward things. Because of the fear of King Abimelech, Abraham tried to toss his wife off as a sister. It was the fear of Abimelech that caused Abraham to say, “She’s my sister.” The fear of man brings a snare.
My great hero David was afraid of King Achish who was the king of the Philistine city of Gath, and David suddenly became afraid that Achish would maybe imprison him or something. And so David began to act like a madman. Look what the fear of man will do to otherwise great men. Here is David, slobbering all over his beard, screaming and scrabbling, trying to climb the walls, just because he was afraid of Achish. “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoso puts his trust in the Lord, he shall be safe.” So we need not have the fear of man, but we surely need to put our trust in the Lord.
Many seek the ruler’s favor; but every man’s judgment cometh from the LORD ( Pro 29:26 ).
The real decision-making process comes from God. You seek the ruler’s favor, but the judgment really proceeds from the Lord.
An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked ( Pro 29:27 ). “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Pro 29:1
Pro 29:1
“He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck Shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
Often, hard-headed stubbornness is the reason behind the termination of one’s employment, or for his confrontations with others, which are potentially violent or even fatal. Our proverb, however, deals with one’s spiritual growth. It is the failure to heed the reproof and gentle instruction founded upon God’s Word that can damage and even destroy the soul. Pro 13:18 and Pro 15:10 also warn against the man who hates reproof.
Pro 29:1. Jehovah had tried to get Judah to do right, but they would not listen; therefore, He destroyed them without remedy: Jehovah…sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending…but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of Jehovah arose against his people, until there was no remedy (2Ch 36:15; 2Ch 36:17). When wisdom is thus despised, this is the result: Ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof…when your fear cometh as a storm, and your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come upon you, then will they call upon me, but I will not answer (Pro 1:25-28).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Verse Pro 29:2. The sentiment of this proverb often recurs. On the surface it hardly appears to be true. To observe long issues is to be convinced of the absolute accuracy of the sentiment.
Verse Pro 29:8. A fine motto for engraving on the walls of the Foreign Office of any nation.
Verse Pro 29:13. That is to say, all intelligence is a divine gift, whether it be used in righteousness or in wickedness. Sin is always the prostitution of a God-given power to base purposes.
Verse Pro 29:18. This proverb teaches that the one cohesive principle in national life is the consciousness of God which issues in true social conditions.
Verse Pro 29:21. This is a simple statement of a fact. Whether it be one of blessing or of evil depends on the Christian’s servant. An evil servant treated well assumes the position of a son in arrogance. A good servant treated well assumes the position of a son in devotion.
Verse Pro 29:24. In this proverb the words, “He heareth the adjuration and uttereth nothing,” is a purely technical term of the courts, which means that a man who, while not the actual thief is yet in fellowship with him, will on his oath perjure his soul.
Verse 27. A statement of the necessary and abiding antipathy between righteousness and unrighteousness.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Proverbs 29
Irrevocable and crushing judgment will be the reward of one who despises wise counsel and plunges on in his sin until the patience of the Lord is exhausted.
29:1
Hardening the neck is a figure taken from the manner in which a stubborn bullock turns away from and avoids the yoke. This illustration aptly pictures obstinate men who persistently refuse to heed reproof. They set their wills stubbornly against what would be for their own best interests, thus ensuring their destruction.
God is gracious and long-suffering, slow to anger, and does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. Yet even His patience with the unrepentant will one day come to an end. He will plead, and strive, and warn until it is clear that the heart is fully set on having its own way. Then He leaves the hardened soul to its doom, giving it up to sudden destruction. There are many scriptural examples of this, such as Korah, Dathan, Abiram, Belshazzar, and Jezebel.
29:2
See notes on Pro 28:12,28. However much individual men prefer sin to holiness, collectively they rejoice when the righteous are in authority and mourn when evil men rule. Even the vilest people enjoy the comfort and protection of themselves and their property when the upright flourish. The unbeliever who hates Christianity and makes it the butt of his cheap ridicule, nevertheless prefers to live in a land where the teachings of the Bible are generally held and where the Christian faith is respected. To the degree that principles of the New Testament control the minds of the men who administer civil government, peace and prosperity prevail; none know this better than the openly skeptical. The same was true in Israel in regard to the Law and the Prophets. The reign of a Josiah or a Hezekiah was much to be preferred to that of an Ahab or a Manasseh.
29:3
See note on Pro 28:7. Loose living is a snare to which young men are particularly exposed. He who is wise will avoid it as he would a viper about to strike. Immorality will ruin body and soul. Its awful consequences are beyond description. Flee also youthful lusts (2Ti 2:22) is a very beneficial warning. See 1Co 6:15-20.
29:4
When David sang that He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God, he had to admit my house be not so (2Sa 23:3, 5). It is Christ who is seen as the King who will one day establish the land by judgment. A scepter of righteousness will be the scepter of His kingdom. Meantime it is the privilege of every earthly sovereign to endeavor to be a fitting type of Gods anointed Ruler. The receiver of gifts or bribes is not a godly model. His evil example results in the corruption of the entire government. See this in Samuels sons (1Sa 8:3).
29:5
True praise, the honest recognition of merit in another, is right and proper in its place. It may be the means of cheering and encouraging a deserving person, who is perhaps depressed. But flattery- saying what the heart does not mean in order to mislead or to curry favor-is a net and a snare for the feet of the one who listens. Insincere compliments are most dangerous. The humble man will turn away in fear from any who approach him in this way. The heart is too prone to think well of itself as it is without listening to the flattering words which only fuel the fire of pride. The doom of Absalom should sound a solemn warning in our ears! None were so praised as he, and few princes have failed more terribly (2Sa 14:25). See also notes on Pro 28:23 and connected passages.
29:6-7
The evil man is overthrown by his own transgressions. The very sins in which he delighted prove to be his undoing. When the upright shouts and sings for joy, the wicked is pierced through with many sorrows. The latter lives only for himself and does not consider the cry of the needy. The former, recognizing his own indebtedness to Gods sustaining and preserving grace, is quick to show compassion to the indigent who cry for help. In his benevolence he becomes an imitator of Christ who always went about doing good (Act 10:38). Contrast the spirit of Peter and John with that of the unscrupulous Pharisees (Act 3:1-8; Mat 23:23-28).
29:8
The first part of the couplet in this verse is rendered by J. N. Darby, Scornful men set the city in a flame. When a crisis arises and the populace are stirred, the ruler who meets them with cold sarcasm or stinging scorn only adds to their anger and causes their passions to burn more fiercely than ever. Rehoboams answer to the men of Israel is an exemplification of this (1Ki 12:13-14). If he had followed the counsel of the wise men he would have appeased the people and averted their indignation.
29:9
It is futile to endeavor to convince a fool of his errors. He is proud in heart and admires himself and his opinions above all else. To strive with him will yield no good result. Whether he becomes heated and wrathful or whether he seems for the moment to accept advice cheerfully, it all comes to the same thing: there will be no happy resolution because the fool will refuse to accept correction. Nehemiahs controversy with the sometimes affable but generally openly angry Sanballat illustrates well what is meant by this proverb (Neh 2:10,19; 4:1-10; 6:1-9).
29:10
Because of the differences in their lives, bloodthirsty men hate those who are upright. This is seen in Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother.. .because his own works were evil, and his brothers righteous (1Jn 3:12). Holiness and godliness invariably provoke the hatred of wicked men who see condemnation of their own vile ways in what is right and good.
The just, on the other hand, are glad to be their brothers keeper- seeking to preserve his life and care for his soul. This concern for the blessing of others is one of the first and strongest evidences that a man has been born of God.
29:11
Mind and spirit are used synonymously for the seat of intelligence. A fool readily pours out all he knows, regardless of the effect it may have for good or evil. A wise man discreetly guards his tongue, knowing the impropriety of hasty speech. It is not that the fool is more frank and open than the wise; but mere frankness, without a consideration of what one says, is not at all to be commended. This quickness to speak is what characterizes that pest of society, the gossip and the talebearer.
On the road to Emmaus our Lord Himself, who knew all things, did not immediately reveal His full knowledge of the solemn events in which He had been the central figure. He asked the disciples, What things? when they expressed their wonder at His apparent ignorance. He wished to test their hearts; and all was for their blessing, as was proven afterward (Luk 24:13-32). Joseph, in his dealings with his brothers, maintained the same reserve until the moment arrived when the revelation, I am Joseph! had its full effect (Genesis 42-45).
29:12
In the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus there is a passage which seems to explain this proverb. As the judge of the people is himself, so are his officers; and what manner of man the ruler of the city is, such are all that dwell therein. A corrupt ruler will surround himself with corrupt men, his own evil example acting powerfully on the formation of the characters of those around him. Therefore it is important that those who occupy positions of authority possess integrity and uprightness. It was a sad period in the history of Judah when their pastors, or rulers, were their examples in disobedience to God (Jer 2:8; 10:21).
29:13-14
See notes on Pro 22:2. It is unfortunate that there are those who oppress the needy; both are totally dependent on the same common Benefactor who maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust (Mat 5:45). His eye is over all His works, and He notes the need as well as the behavior of all His creatures. He makes the eyes of both the poor and those who lord it over them to alike sparkle with life and intelligence.
A faithful king will be thoughtful of the weak and will judge the poor fairly, thus patterning his actions after the Most High who rules over all in righteousness. Therefore his throne will be established in peace. The word forever (kjv) is often used in what might be called a limited sense, as when in law we speak of transferring property to him and his heirs forever, that is, to perpetuity. See what is said concerning the throne of Solomon, a type of the reign of Christ (Psa 89:19-29).
29:15
See notes on Pro 19:18 and 23:13-14. An undisciplined child will bring shame on his mother and ruin on himself. Refusing to discipline him because of a personal dislike of causing temporary pain, demonstrates hatred instead of love. Correction and reproof, properly administered, are for the childs best interests and open his heart to wisdom. Let the over-indulgent parent be warned by the fate of Adonijah. It was for good reason that God recorded the unhappy fact that his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? No wonder Adonijah became a rebel! (1 Kings 1; 2:13-25).
29:16
See verse 2 of this chapter and the connected passages. It is a principle in Gods moral government that although the wicked may seem to prevail over the righteous, they will surely retreat and righteousness will hold sway at last. When the wicked are in power, lawlessness flourishes and uprightness is crushed; but this can only be for a time. The triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment, as Zophar rightly observed, though he was wrong in applying it to Job when he was looking for the cause of his affliction (Job 20:5).
Throughout the past and the present dispensations, in large measure the wicked have been in power. At times God has permitted them to test most severely the patience of the righteous. But their overthrow is near, when Gods King will appropriate His rightful power and reign, and the world-kingdom of our God and His Christ will come. Then the upright will have dominion in the morning- a morning without clouds, when righteousness and the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Isa 11:9; Hab 2:14).
29:17
See verse 15 of this chapter. What wisdom a parent needs for correction to be properly administered and his household brought up in the fear of God! Perhaps nothing so causes one to realize his own failures and shortcomings as to see them duplicated in his children; and nothing, therefore, makes one feel more keenly the need of divine grace and wisdom in dealing with their children. But Gods Word is sure. Let the father and mother exercise a firm but kindly discipline, and God has promised that their efforts will bear good fruit. The corrected son will give rest to the heart and delight to the soul. This was seen in Isaac, whose lovely obedience did not flinch even when it meant to permit himself to be bound on the altar. And it is noteworthy that God had foreseen in Abraham the ability to control his household before he made him the recipient of the promises (Gen 18:19).
29:18
By the word vision (kjv) is meant spiritual enlightenment and insight into divine things. A reference to 1Sa 3:1 will make this clear: The word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. To meet the need of communicating with His people God raised up Samuel, who was appropriately called the Seer-the man with opened eyes-as Balaam described himself.
It is important that the people of God in all ages have this open vision. Would God that all the Lords people were prophets, (Num 11:29) having the eyes of their hearts enlightened that they might discern clearly what is of God and what is opposed to His mind. The apostle Paul in writing to the carnal Corinthians urged them to earnestly seek the best gifts, especially the gift of prophesy (1Co 14:1, niv). The prophet is one who enters into the knowledge of the Lord and disseminates it in freshness and power, meeting the actual need of the time. He does not necessarily foretell future events, but he declares the message that reaches the conscience and activates the affections.
When ministry of this nature is lacking among the people of God and the assemblies of His saints, they soon become lawless. Substituting natural enthusiasm for the Spirits energy, they open the door to what is simply carnal knowledge.
But we should not forget the second part of the couplet. Even if ministry of an edifying character is rarely known, where the Word of God controls the ministry there will be blessing. He who obeys Gods Word will be happy amidst the existing confusion, enjoying fellowship with Him. When leaving the Ephesian elders at Miletus, Paul did not commend them to gifted ministers, in view of evil teachers soon to arise. Instead he commended them to God and the Word of His grace, which was able to build them up. This Word abides today and remains to comfort and direct the saints in all circumstances. But the enlightened eye is needed to discern what has been revealed therein. Lack of vision will be revealed in a cold, dry, theological, or philosophical, treatment of the Scriptures, as though presented to exercise the intellect, rather than the heart and the conscience. Pauls prayer for the Ephesians is applicable for all Christians while in this world of trial and testing (Eph 1:15-23).
29:19
The Septuagint reads, a stubborn servant, which seems to convey the right thought. Correction by words alone would avail little with such an unprincipled and self-willed person. Therefore strict discipline would be required to make him render proper service, which is implied in the phrase he will not answer (kjv). Is this not true with those of us who have been made servants of our Lord Jesus Christ? Have we not often failed to heed His Word, refusing its correction, therefore having to know the pains of chastisement? Obedience is a lesson slowly learned. Most of us are more or less patterned on the order of Jonah, who only became obedient after serious grief and trouble.
29:20
In 26:12 this statement is made concerning a man who is wise in his own eyes. The two attributes are likely to be found in the same person. He who is filled with self-conceit is very liable to be hasty in his words. Of God it is said, He will not call back his words (Isa 31:2); He need not do so, for the words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times (Psa 12:6). But the self-confident man is continually speaking words that he has to recall because of his reckless impatience and his ready exaggeration. There is little hope of changing such a man, unless there be true self-judgment and repentance. This serious sin is often treated as a mere infirmity in which the person who commits the sin is to be pitied rather than blamed. Hasty speech is evidence of a disobedient spirit. It was characteristic of King Saul and on one occasion would have caused the death of Jonathan had the people not interfered and rescued him (1 Samuel 14). Jephthah too is a solemn warning as to hasty speech (Judges 11).
29:21
In a note, J. N. Darby states that son is literally, son of the house. He explains it as meaning that the servant inherits his masters goods. It was this that pained Abraham; for, much as he valued the service of Eliezer of Damascus, he could not bear the thought of a servant inheriting in the place of a son. Gods servants are His sons and so will be His heirs and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ in glory.
29:22
See note on Pro 28:25. A man of unbridled temper provokes continual contention and had best be avoided. His fury can only spring from an unchecked evil nature, and therefore he constantly violates all law, human or divine. None can walk in communion with the Lord Jesus Christ and display a wrathful and passionate spirit. The two things do not go together. See the elder son in the parable, whose unreasonable anger was the only jarring note in the merriment occasioned by his brothers return (Luk 15:28).
29:23
Pride precedes destruction. It is a sure precursor of coming judgment. But he who is of a meek and humble spirit will obtain honor. Seeking it not, it will be thrust on him; while he who purposely seeks after his own glory, will fail miserably to obtain what he desires. Contrast Haman and Mordecai throughout the deeply interesting book of Esther.
29:24
To share the plunder a robber has stolen is to make oneself a participant in his evil deeds and draw down on ones head the same sentence. This action is against a persons own best interests, even viewed from a worldly standpoint. Put under oath, he is afraid to testify the full truth, and therefore brings himself under condemnation for abetting and concealing a theft. See Lev 5:1.
It is a serious thing indeed to join in with other mens sins. The Holy Ghost warns the believer against it, showing that association with evil, or acceptance of it, necessarily defiles him who acts in this way. See 2Jn 1:10-11; and 1Ti 5:22. This is a principle often forgotten in our day, but one of vital importance for all who desire to maintain the holiness of Gods house on earth.
29:25
In the 14th verse of the preceding chapter we were told, happy is the man that feareth alway. However in this verse we learn that there is a fear to be avoided as dangerous and soul ensnaring. The fear of God is most attractive in a saint. The fear of man is destructive of his spiritual life and testimony. How many people have been ruined by this fear!
Safety and security are the reward of the one who trusts the Lord alone. He who fears God will not fear man. He who fears man does not fear God as he should. See Paul in Gal 1:10; and compare Luk 12:4-5, and Joh 12:43.
29:26
This proverb adds to what the previous verse had brought to our notice. They who seek the rulers favor are those who fear man and will have to learn by sad experience the futility of putting their trust in princes.
The Lords judgment is ever righteous. When Wolsey cried, Had I but served my God as faithfully as I served my king, He would not have cast me off in my old age, he uttered a great truth.
While the man of God will be obedient to rulers, he will never fawn on them. He sees in earthly rulers the representatives and servants of the Most High, who is the supreme Ruler in the kingdoms of men. Elijah was a splendid example of the man of God, when he confronted the ungodly Ahab, as narrated in 1 Kings 18.
29:27
The two families of people described in this proverb are forever opposed. The just detest what the wicked love and vice versa. So it always has been since Cain strove with Abel and killed him. So it will be until the devil and all who do his bidding are cast into the lake of fire. There can be no truce or treaty of peace between the hosts of good and evil. Incessant warfare must be waged until righteousness dwells undisturbed in the new heavens and the new earth, and God is all in all in the universe of bliss.
Until then, let those who know their God shrink not from the conflict. Grasping the sword of the Spirit, covered with the armor of God, they should go forth valiantly to meet the foe. They must depend on the strength of the One who says, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earthAnd, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (Mat 28:18-20).
This chapter concludes the collection of proverbs copied out, or collected, by the men of Hezekiah and marks the end of the sayings distinctly attributed to Solomon. The next two chapters, which close the book, are credited to Agur the son of Jakeh, and to King Lemuel. The latter, I judge, is a pseudonym for the wise king Solomon; but Agur, as we will see, is evidently a different person.
The question of inspiration is not disputed, whoever these men may be, for the very simple reason that in the times of our Lord Jesus Christ the book of Proverbs was composed of the various parts which are now included in it. when He said, the Scripture cannot be broken, He necessarily included each portion of the Proverbs.
Whether Solomon himself, or a later editor, collected them into one volume, we have no means of knowing. Though we do know that Proverbs 25-29 never formed part of the book until the reign of the great reformer Hezekiah.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Pro 29:18
I. If we did not belong to two worlds-that is, if we had not two very distinct natures-we should of course be utterly insusceptible to the vision of a higher, purer world than this. But because the physical man enshrines an inner man, the world of spirits can just as clearly be demonstrated to us as this world is demonstrated to our senses. Whether the opening up of communication between our spirit and the spirit-world will be during our earth life remains with God. But it is a fixed law and rule with Him, in order to keep faith alive on the earth, that some in every age shall not taste death until they have seen the glory of God and the forms of the immortals.
II. There ought never to be an age without visions. If there be no open vision, then there is no direct testimony of the existence of God, or of the soul, or of a future life. A materialistic age, an age that sees no vision, but is entirely absorbed by material thoughts and in the pursuit of material good, may be a prosperous, flourishing world-age; but souls are ignored and given over to perish.
III. Reasoning from the conduct and method of God in all ages, we are driven to the conclusion that it is most reasonable to look for visions in our own day. No new age ever did, or ever can, dawn which is not inaugurated, however privately and secretly, 6y a new communication from God to man. Therefore we may be sure that to certain men and women in our own century the heavens have been as literally opened as they ever were to an Ezekiel, a Paul, or a John. In the age of no faith, Heaven breaks silence, and “the Son of man cometh.” Therefore is it that here and there in our valley of dry bones there stands a man who is announcing the new faith with majestic authority and the earnestness of realisation.
J. Pulsford, Our Deathless Hope, p. 157.
Reference: Pro 29:19-27.-R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. iii., p. 306.
Pro 29:25
This has been proved to be true: (1) in the profession of Christianity; (2) in protesting against personal and social evils; (3) in attempting service on behalf of Christ; (4) in the proposition of new lines of thought. The fear of man produces three effects upon the sufferer: (1) loss of self-control; (2) modification of emphasis; (3) deepening of selfishness.
Parker, City Temple, vol. i., p. 62.
References: Pro 29:25.-Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Genesis to Proverbs, p. 198; W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 366. Pro 30:1-6.-R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. iii., p. 318. Pro 30:1-9.-W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 379. Pro 30:4.-A. Fletcher, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xiii., p. 113. Pro 30:7-9.-G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 247. Pro 30:7-12.-R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. iii., p. 333. Pro 30:8.-Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 165. Pro 30:13-20.-R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. iii., p. 345. Pro 30:20.-S. Cox, Expositor, 2nd series, vol. vi., p. 256. Pro 30:21-33.-R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, p. 354.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 29 The Final Instructions
These final instructions given in proverbs cover the similar ground as those in the previous chapters. Wisdom shines out in each, and the contents of every proverb shows that the author is not Solomon but He who is perfect in knowledge. He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. Scripture abounds with examples of cases of hardening the neck and the heart, like Pharaoh, Ahab and others. This proverb will be finally proven to be the truth when an ungodly age will end with judgment for those who were often reproved and continue in sin.
Once more the sin of flattery is mentioned. A man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet Pro 29:5. Flattery is akin to lying and can never be right, but is always a mistake, which results in the gravest consequences. More servants of the Lord have been spoiled by flattery than in any other manner. It is literally, as this proverb says, spreading a net for his feet.
In Pro 29:23 we read, A mans pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. It should be connected with the proverb in Pro 26:12, Seest thou a man wise in his own conceits? There is more hope of a fool than of him. Pride always brings low; humility always brings up. The highest place is the lowest place. The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe Pro 29:25. The fear of man is born of unbelief. The Christian who fears man shows clearly that he is not looking to the Lord, but to man. The fear of man surely bringeth a snare, it leads to men-pleasing and men-praising. And because one seeks the honor which comes from man and not the honor which cometh from God only, man, his approval or disapproval, is feared. The fear of man is as dangerous, as subtle and as un-christianlike as flattery, talebearing, backbiting, whispering and the other evil things mentioned in these proverbs.
This chapter concludes the proverbs of Solomon. As we have seen, the instructions which he received, first from the Lord, and the instructions which were given such which were for his conduct and life, for guidance and direction, and the proverbs which were revealed to him to give to others. We express once more the belief that every true Christian should devote more attention to these God-given instructions. How much there is in all of them for all classes of believers!
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
He, that being often reproved: Heb. a man of reproofs, Pro 1:24-31, 1Sa 2:25, 1Sa 2:34, 1Ki 17:1, 1Ki 18:18, 1Ki 20:42, 1Ki 21:20-23, 1Ki 22:20-23, 1Ki 22:28, 1Ki 22:34-37, 2Ch 25:16, 2Ch 33:10, 2Ch 36:15-17, Jer 25:3-5, Jer 26:3-5, Jer 35:13-16, Zec 1:3-6, Mat 26:21-25, Joh 6:70, Joh 6:71, Joh 13:10, Joh 13:11, Joh 13:18, Joh 13:26, Act 1:18, Act 1:25
hardeneth: 2Ch 36:13, Neh 9:29, Isa 48:4, Jer 17:23
shall: Pro 6:15, Pro 28:18, Isa 30:13, Isa 30:14, Zec 7:11-14, 1Th 5:3
Reciprocal: Gen 19:14 – as one Exo 7:23 – neither Exo 8:15 – he hardened Exo 9:7 – the heart Exo 32:9 – a stiffnecked Deu 29:19 – that he bless Jdg 20:13 – would not 2Sa 2:22 – wherefore 1Ki 22:18 – Did I not tell 2Ki 17:14 – but hardened 2Ch 18:17 – Did I not tell 2Ch 36:16 – till Neh 9:16 – hardened Job 9:4 – who hath hardened Psa 6:10 – and be Psa 35:8 – Let destruction Psa 50:21 – will Psa 64:7 – suddenly Pro 1:23 – my reproof Pro 9:8 – Reprove Pro 10:17 – he that Pro 15:32 – instruction Pro 21:29 – hardeneth Pro 22:3 – the simple Pro 28:14 – but Ecc 8:7 – he knoweth Isa 1:28 – the destruction Jer 6:15 – therefore Jer 7:26 – but Jer 11:11 – which Jer 31:18 – as a Jer 36:23 – he cut Jer 36:31 – will bring Eze 3:19 – if thou Eze 33:4 – whosoever heareth Eze 33:9 – if he Dan 5:5 – the same Hos 9:17 – because Amo 8:14 – shall fall Hab 2:7 – they Mat 24:50 – come Mat 27:19 – his Joh 9:34 – and dost Rom 2:5 – But after Eph 5:11 – but Heb 3:8 – Harden
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The Way of the Righteous
Pro 29:1-27
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
1. The time when God shall say “it is enough.” Our verse, as a whole, reads thus: “He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” Can you see written all over this verse, the voice of God saying, “Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground”? Can you not read all through this verse, God’s order, “Let the sickle fall”? He has pleaded, and pleaded often. He has reproved time and time again. Yet, the subject of His love, and pleading has been hardening his neck, He has refused to hear, He will not bow his head. Thus God says, he “shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
The wicked may go so far, but no farther. In the case of Nebuchadnezzar the time came when to him it was spoken, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, * * The kingdom is departed from thee.” There came a time in the life of Belshazzar when God would delay judgment no longer. To him there appeared the finger of a man’s hand writing over against the wall and this is what was written: “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.” God said, “It is enough.” God sent forth His edict against the king. He was weighed in the balances and found wanting; and, that night was the Babylonian king slain. Let the sinner beware! God will often reprove him but if he continues to harden his neck, there will come a time when he will be suddenly destroyed, and destroyed without remedy. There is another thing to consider in Pro 29:2 and Pro 29:6. It is this:
2. The time when the people either rejoice, or mourn.” When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” This is because, “In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare: but the righteous doth sing and rejoice.” It is always true that the rule of the wicked bringeth sorrow. Think, if you will for a moment, of some of the kings of Israel who reigned in wickedness. They never gave their people any peace. They put upon them taxes and demands of service that wore them out. On the other hand under the reign of the righteous, the land was full of singing. This is the message we need today. God deliver us, as a nation, from the authority of men who would lead us into bondage.
3. The time when true greatness shines forth. This is set forth in Pro 29:7, perhaps you can discover it. “The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.” True greatness finds us loving one another. True greatness is a great leavener of castes, of cliques. God’s rebuke herein, stands forth against the Church, which says unto the rich man, who weareth the gay clothing, “sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool.”
If we have despised the poor, we are under the reproof of Almighty God. If, on the other hand, there comes in our assembly, a man with a gold ring and goodly apparel and we have respect unto him, we disown and dishonor our Lord.
It is written: “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”
In the early Church the believers went together and had all things in common. They went so far as to sell their houses and possessions and divide the money severally as every man had need. Somehow or other this verse in Proverbs grips the soul when it says the “righteous considereth the cause of the poor.” There is a Scripture in the Book of Job, where Job recounts before God and before his persecutors, how in the days of his plenty he delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. Job’s blessing was upon the one ready to perish. He caused the heart of the widow to sing for joy. He was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. He was a father to the poor. In those days Job, the rich man, was Job the deliverer of the needy. Do you marvel that God said of Job that there was none like him upon the face of the earth, a man that was perfect and upright, and that feared God? This is the very heart of true Christianity.
4. The time when the wicked fall. In Pro 29:16 we read, “When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall.” This carries us once more to the chapter in the Psalms, where Asaph said, “I saw the prosperity of the wicked. * * The ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.” Then Asaph said, “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely Thou didst set them in slippery places: Thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.”
I. THE CHILD WHO MAKES HIS PARENTS TO REJOICE (Pro 29:3)
Here is the key text: “Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.”
1. We have before us the dutiful child. Here is a child who loveth wisdom and who walks in righteousness. We have traveled in many parts, and how often have we had fathers and mothers come to us bemoaning the fact of their son’s tyranny. Somehow or other the son who is a joy to his father, and to his mother, is the one who walks in the way of God.
A noted judge in a southern city pleaded with the evangelist in behalf of his two sons. He said, “They are wayward. They have wandered away from God and away from home, and they are bringing disgrace upon their father and mother.” The judge himself was not a Christian but he longed to see his sons saved.
To us there is nothing more beautiful than Solomon’s words concerning his father, David. He said, “I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.” Then David said to Solomon: “Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.”
What is there on earth that can bring greater joy to a parent’s heart, than sons or daughters who walk uprightly?
2. The son who keepeth company with the impure. Here is the boy who, prodigal like, goes out and spendeth his substance in riotous living. This verse in Proverbs carries us to that picture which the Lord Himself painted of the Prodigal Son. What about the father? He was at home longing after his boy. We are all familiar with the song:
“Where is my wandering boy tonight?
The boy of my tenderest care,
The boy that was once my joy and light,
The boy of my love and prayer?
Go for my wandering boy tonight,
Go, search for him where you will;
But bring him to me with all his blight,
And tell him I love him still.”
There was a time when that prodigal boy was the babe of his mother’s heart. As he lay asleep in her lap, she builded air castles and they all centered in him. She thought of the time when he would be her stay and her comfort, but, alas, when he grew up he kept company with the wayward, and wasted not only his own substance, but his father’s. God pity the homes which sin has broken!
II. THE TRAINING OF A CHILD (Pro 29:15)
Here is the text: “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.”
1. Child training is vital to happiness. A woman one day asked us if we believed in using the rod. We told her we were not wiser than the Word of God, and that God said, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son.” “Yes,” said she, “but I love ray child so much I can’t bear to punish him.” Our text gives God’s own statement, that a child left to himself, left to have his own way, left to go his own gait, will bring sorrow and sighing and shame to his mother. We remember how the Spirit through Paul, said unto Timothy, “The unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”
2. Child training is absolutely vital in the home. The parents should never allow themselves to be so engrossed in business or in pleasure that they neglect their child. God said unto the father, who is the head of the house,-“Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
God was talking of His own commandments, and His Word; then, He went on to say to the father, “And thou shalt bind “them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”
Beloved, let us remember that it is to the father that God gave the command to teach his children. If we want our children to rise up and call us blessed, we must certainly bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. King Lemuel, however, spoke tenderly of his mother, and of all which she taught him. Thus was King Lemuel led in the paths of righteousness, and thus did he rise up to praise and rejoice the heart of his mother.
3. Training neglected leads to sorrow and shame. There are fathers who give more attention to the raising of their stock, than to the raising of their sons. They watch over their horses, and cows and even their pigs. They give them every possible attention, while they allow their children to run unreined and unruled, whithersoever their spirit leadeth them. Think you not that a child left to himself will bring shame to his mother?
God has said in Pro 29:17 of our Scripture, “Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.” On the other hand, if a son is not corrected, if the rod and reproof is set aside, that son will rise up to pierce the heart of his parents even as a sword pierceth. Correction must ever be the steppingstone to delight. A home where the children do not honor the father and the mother is a home filled with shadows and filled with sin.
III. THE MAN WITH VISION (Pro 29:18)
Our text is must delightful and yet filled with warning. “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the Law, happy is he.” The man without a vision is the man who is circumscribed in his sight. He looks only at the thing’s immediately about him. He never sees the future, he never looks beyond this life to the life to come. In discussing this verse we wish to present several characters and their visions.
1. Joseph and his dreams. Joseph was a youth who saw things. He dreamed dreams and he believed in them. The truth is that God revealed many things to Joseph in the dreams of his head. Joseph told his dreams to his brethren and to his father. In fact, his brethren called him “the dreamer,” saying, “Behold, this dreamer cometh.” The only youth that ever amounts to anything is the youth who dreams. He is not content with the things at hand. He is reaching to the things before. He is pressing every nerve toward the prize of the up-calling of God in Christ Jesus.
2. Abraham and his city. Here is a young man called to leave home, land, city and all. He went out not knowing whither he went. He confessed himself a stranger and a pilgrim mid the things of this world. He was Abraham, the tent dweller. However, Abraham was a man of vision. He looked for a city whose Builder and Maker was God.
3. Moses and his reward. Moses forsook Egypt as a young man not fearing the wrath of the king. He esteemed the plaudits of Christ as greater treasures than all the riches of Egypt. He accounted suffering the afflictions of the children of God as better than all the pleasures of the courts of Pharaoh. He did all of this because he was looking far on into the ages to come, and he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.
4. David and his vision. King David knew God in. his youth. Through many vicissitudes and trials David pressed his way. This was the reason of his success. He said, “I have set the Lord always before me.”
5. Christ and His vision. The Lord Jesus “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame.” “He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.” God give us men with vision.
IV. THE HONOR AND STRENGTH OF THE HUMBLE (Pro 29:23)
“A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.”
1. Pride cometh before a fall. Satan, himself, walked up and down mid the stones of fire. He had entrance to Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was his covering. Yet, Satan became wise in his own conceit. Then it was that God said of him. “How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!”
Satan’s antichrist, like Satan, will exalt himself above God and all that is called God. He will go into the temple in Jerusalem, acclaim himself as God, and demand to be worshiped. Thus it is that he too shall be brought down. He who lifted himself up because of his beauty and was corrupted because of his brightness, will be laid low.
King Uzziah was another who lifted himself up. He did many wonderful things in Israel. He reigned fifty-two years, and then in the pride of his heart, he went into the Temple to offer sacrifices, taking upon himself the place of a priest as well as of king, and God smote him.
2. The humble shall be exalted. God tells us in our key verse that “a man’s pride shall bring him low”; He also says that “honour shalt uphold the humble in spirit.” There is a certain fidelity in the soul of the humble. A fidelity to their calling and to God who calls them. He will hold high the banner of God’s righteousness, but will not exalt his own banner. He will honor God, but will not honor himself. Would that we could grasp God’s analogies;-the way to become rich, is to become poor; the way to become wise, is to acknowledge our own folly; the steppingstone to exaltation, is the pathway of humiliation.
The Lord Jesus Christ “being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name.” He who will humble himself shall also he exalted. If we are willing to follow with Christ in the pathway of His humiliation, we may also reign with Him in the realm and rule of His glory. If we share with Him His Cross, we shall also share with Him His Crown.
V. THE PLEASURE OF SERVING (Pro 29:25)
Our text says: “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.”
1. The fear of man. There are many alas who in their deeper hearts believe in Christ, but they will not confess Him because the fear of man has brought a snare to their souls. Christ spoke of certain of the scribes and Pharisees saying, that they believed in Him, but for the fear of the Jews they would not confess Him for “They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”
A young lady or a young man often hears the voice of God calling them to step forth into the life of sacrificial service. However, their boy friend or their girl friend, as the case may be, is a snare to them. They are afraid to bear reproach, God grant that the young people who study this lesson shall not hesitate because of what any man or woman may do or say. Let us remember that it is given unto us, not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for His sake. The great call of the Book of Hebrews is, that we should “go forth * * unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.” Had Peter continued to carry that same spirit of the fear of man, which he portrayed as he cowed before a maid, he would never have had his name blazoned forth as the Apostle of Pentecost.
2. The fear of the Lord. If we fear men we fall into a snare, If we fear the Lord, and put our trust in Him whom we fear, we shall be safe. In the big Union Depot the man at the gate seemed quite unpopular to many who passed by him, showing their tickets. One of the passers-by said to him, “You do not seem popular with this crowd.” He quickly replied, “I am not after their approval. The one I seek to please is upstairs.” Whose praise and approval do we seek? Is it the praise of man, or the praise of God? Let the ambition of our hearts be this: that, by and by when we stand before Him, we may hear from His own precious lips, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Our Lord was not ashamed of us. In our behalf He walked the rugged road to Calvary. In our behalf He died. He was not ashamed of us. Let us therefore cease to fear man, and take our stand with the Christ who was despised and rejected for us.
VI. “THE UNRULY MEMBER” (Pro 29:20)
“Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.”
1. The message of James on the tongue. As we read this verse in Proverbs, our minds hasten over to the Book of James, chapter 3. We wish to call your attention to several statements therein.
“If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” In this Scripture God seems to make the tongue our chief cause of offense. He also makes victory over the tongue, the assured sign of a full-grown believer, able to bring his whole body under subjection. The Holy Ghost speaks to us about bits in the mouths of horses, and of how those bits cause the horses to obey us. He also speaks of “ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.” Then the Spirit says, “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things.”
James likens the tongue unto a little fire, that kindles a great matter, “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on. fire of hell.” It is true that, “Every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind; but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”
After we have studied these words from the Apostle James do we wonder that our verse in Proverbs says; “Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him”? When we think of the tongue of the wicked, we think of a man, like a wild beast running to and fro, pouring out his blasphemies against God. The Book of Jude speaks of Christ’s Second Coming as being the theme of Enoch’s preaching. Enoch said, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
2. The tongue of the righteous. How beautiful are the mouths of those who preach peace? “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” Truly, our conversation is in Heaven. The words we utter, if they are pure and true and holy, will find their reward up yonder. The messages of life, and light, and love, whether written or spoken, will be words which will have a wonderful harvest of blessing.
VII. CAUSING OTHERS TO FALL (Pro 29:8)
“Scornful men bring a city into a snare.” This is the reading of Pro 29:8. Pro 29:10 says that “The bloodthirsty hate the upright.” In Pro 29:11 it says, “A fool uttereth all his mind.” In this final word, we wish to speak of the far-reaching effects of the ungodly. “A scornful man will lead his city into a snare.” “A bloodthirsty man will overthrow the upright, in the hate of his soul.”
Beloved, Satan goes about seeking whom he may devour. How aptly does this follow what we have said about the tongue.
The third chapter of Romans describes the dire effects of the ungodly in their hatred against the righteous. We read these words concerning the wicked: “Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: * * their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Speaking of the wicked we read in the Psalms, “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.” These wicked men are spoken of as having gone aside and of having become filthy. They are called the workers of iniquity. May God deliver us from evil men! When Jesus hung upon the Cross, there was a great crowd of the ungodly who encircled Him. The 22d Psalm in giving a description of them, says, “For dogs have compassed Me; the assembly of the wicked have inclosed Me: they pierced My hands and My feet.”
Again the Psalmist writes: “Many bulls have compassed Me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset Me round. They gaped upon Me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.”
If you read these words concerning the attitude of the ungodly toward Christ, the Son, do you marvel that Jesus said, “If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of His household?” Christ also said, If they hated Me they will also hate you.
Thus it is that we begin to realize the deeper meaning of our key text, and how God said that “scornful men bring a city into a snare”; that “the bloodthirsty hate the upright,” and that “A fool uttereth all his mind.” May the Lord deliver us from unrighteous and ungodly men!
What is the attitude of the world toward the righteous? It is ever the attitude of crucifixion; it is the attitude of non-affiliation; it is the attitude of calumny and defamation.
There is no common ground between the saint and the sinner. There is no place of fellowship between darkness and light There is no possible comradeship between a believer and an unbeliever.
He who will live godly in Christ Jesus will find himself despised and rejected of men, even as the Lord was despised and rejected.
What then shall be the attitude of the saved to the ungodly? We may not walk with them under the yoke of comradeship, but we may go over the world with the message of love and redemption. We cannot join with them in their evil deeds, but we can call them from their deeds, Jesus Christ ate with sinners to be sure, but as He ate He called them to repentance, He told them of the return of the prodigal boy, and of how the father ran out to meet him and kissed him. So let us remember that while we are not of the world, and the world hateth us, yet, we are sent into the world.
AN ILLUSTRATION
At the close of the War of 1866, the triumphant army of Prussia came to Berlin for a reception of welcome. As each regiment approached the city gate, it was halted by a choir, demanding by what right it would enter the city. The regiment replied in a song reciting the battles it had fought, the victories it had won; then came a welcome from the choir, “Enter into the city.” And so the next came up reciting its deeds, and another, and another, each challenged and welcomed. They marched up the Linden between rows of captured cannon, with banners they had borne and the banners they had taken, and they saluted the statue of grand old Frederick, the creator of Prussia. So, when all the fierce warfare of earth, shall have been accomplished, and the Kingdom of Christ assured, the phalanxes of His Church shall go up to the City with the songs and tokens of victory. They shall march in together, singing hallelujahs, and shall lay their trophies at the feet of Him upon whose head are many crowns-King of kings and Lord of lords.-Thompson.
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
Pro 29:1. He that being often reproved Who having received frequent reproofs from wise and good men, and perhaps also chastisements from God; hardeneth his neck Remains incorrigible, and obstinately persists in those sins for which he is reproved and corrected; shall suddenly be destroyed Is in danger of falling, and that on a sudden, into utter and irreparable ruin.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 29:1. He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck. The Greeks have a similar proverb. . . He who often offends, and is not punished, ought to fear that his punishment augments by the delay of justice. Aged and hardened sinners should remember this; it is the voice of philosophy, the voice of the bible, the voice of God. Some men after smarting for a sin take warning, and will go no more with that company, nor expose themselves to that snare. Others, though reproved inwardly by conscience, and the divine influence of God joined thereto, still repeat their sin. Under the ministry, they tremble; yet they go to their sin, and then shun the light. Thieves, though often admonished, yet return to their courses. Other sinners, God sometimes afflicts, and with repeated strokes; yet they return again to folly. Stripes of this kind are often Gods last measures with the incorrigible. Oh sinner, if this be thy situation, as the Lord thy God liveth, there is but a step between thee and death. Oh stop where thou art, stop in the name of God, for another relapse, and the scale of justice may turn against thee, and thou shalt fall into hell and destruction.
Pro 29:12. If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked. Camden, in his Britannia, when describing the county of Sussex, reports a case, which occurred while our Norman kings were in the habit of giving away manors to their knights. The earl of Kent, a known character, fixed his eye on Busham park, which then belonged to his grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. Kent, accompanied by six knights, went to Lambeth; and falling down on both his knees, implored the prelate to give him Busham park. His grace, feeling the insult, gave vent to passion in strong repetitions, I give you Busham park,I give you Busham park! Kent rose and humbly thanked his grace, and going off immediately to the king, with his six knights, they all deposed that his grace said, I give you Busham park. The grant was registered in the kings book, and Kent maintained himself in the possession.
Pro 29:16. When the wicked are multiplied, and accustomed to rule, good men fear to displease them, and often leave some divine duty unperformed. The conscience is of course ensnared with sin. Sometimes to oblige the wicked they are drawn into sinful compliances, which betray them into actual guilt; and sometimes they have been so weak as to tell but part of the truth, which has afterwards much disgraced them with weakness and want of simplicity. Let us pray that, like the patriarch, out of weakness we may wax strong; and fearing God we may fear none besides. What are the greatest of men but dust; and what are the menaces of the proud but words of worms?
Pro 29:18. Where there is no vision, the people perish. Where there is no man of God to awe them by example, to teach them in public, and to pray for them, and guide them in extraordinary cases, they perish for lack of knowledge. What a blessing then is a public ministry, crowded with hearers; what a blessing is the prevailing influence of religious society; and what a blessing is a course of early instruction to the rising age!
Pro 29:25. The fear of man bringeth a snare. The fear of man is put here in opposition to the fear of God. By concessions to tyrants, or to factions; by conceding the duties we owe to God, we become entangled, and burdened in conscience to please men, who cannot but perceive our weakness and our sin. The prophets were bold, the apostles had courage, and the martyrs braved the fire, and the sword.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 29:2. cf. Pro 11:10 f., Pro 28:12-28.
Pro 29:4. he that exacteth gifts: lit. a man of presents.
Pro 29:9 b. Who is the subject? If it is the wise man, the meaning is that however he treats his opponent, seriously or lightly, he cannot end the matter. If it is the fool, the thought will be that he shows no decorum of manner. The proverb seems directed against a wise mans going to law with a fool.
Pro 29:11. Lit. A fool sends forth all his spirit, and a wise man stills it backward. This is obscure. The general sense is that the fool cannot restrain any of his emotions, while the wise man does so.
Pro 29:13. A variant of the theme of Pro 22:2.lighteneth the eyesi.e. preserves alivecf. Psa 13:3.
Pro 29:18. The rendering cast off restraint rests on Exo 32:25. The root may mean to loose, and is used of the flowing locks of the warriors (Jdg 5:2; cf. ICC). If RV is correct, the proverb seems to contrast the intermittent prophetic vision with the Torah as means of guidance. When the vision fails, the Torah still remains. Cf. the attitude expressed in Isa 50:10.
Pro 29:21 b. Uncertain. The word rendered become a son does not occur elsewhere, and seems to be an error. LXX has he who lives in luxury from childhood shall be a servant, and in the end will come to grief for himself. Probably the proverb is connected with Pro 29:20, and refers to the unwisdom of too lenient a discipline for slaves.
Pro 29:24 b must be explained by Lev 5:1, where to hear the voice of swearing is the technical expression for to put a person on oath. The man is put on his oath, and does not reveal what he knows. Hence he runs the risk of Divine (or human) judgment for perjury.
Section V. The Appendix.The section contains (a) a series of short collections of sayings (30): (b) a short collection of aphorisms for kings (Pro 31:1-9); and (c) an acrostic description of the Virtuous Woman (Pro 31:10-31). Both the nature of these collections and their position in the book suggest that they are later than the other collections, and were added in the last stage of the editing. (See Introduction.)
First Division, containing the sayings of Agur, a series of tetradic proverbs, and a six-stanza aphorism on anger.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
This FIFTH SECTION now has similarities to the fourth, but carries us further, for if the fourth stresses mainly the testing of ways and walk. This dwells more upon results, that is the recompenses of a true Divine government. What is sown will also be reaped, and this is to be a most sobering consideration as regards our entire conduct.
The first verse vividly declares this principle:
“He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
Great as is the patience of God and His warnings and reproofs many, yet the more often He has reproved the more awful and swift will be the judgment. Because man appears to get away with rebellion once or twice he dares to more harden his heart against reproofs. His sudden destruction without remedy – no hope of appeal or of restoration – is an awesome answer to such arrogance.
“When the righteous are in authority the people rejoice: but when the wicked heareth rule, the people mourn.”
Proper authority though firm and decided is cause for peace and rejoicing among the people: but authority in the hands of one whose motives are evil and selfish will spread sorrow and distress everywhere. How the world has suffered from this! But only when he who is absolutely righteous takes authority into His own hands will real peace and joy be established on earth. This is a normal result of good government; though it is very possible also for an abnormal state to exist, such as at the end of the thousand years of the peaceful reign of the Son of Man, when only wicked pride and hatred of God lead men in rebellion against Him whose reign has been in every way faithful and beneficient.
“Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.”
The desire to rejoice a father’s heart should itself be a strong incentive to lose wisdom: and how much more so in the ease of a child of God, whose love of wisdom rejoices the heart of his God and Father. In contrast to this is the selfish unfaithfulness toward God that chooses evil companionships wrong associations and thereby squanders his substance – all of that by which he might be serving God profitably. Whether it be natural things, natural abilities, or spiritual benefits we must, as stewards, give account of the use we have made of them.
The king by judgment established the land: but he receiveth gifts overthroweth it.” This judgment is of course a just administration. The only basis for solid prosperity in any government. Bribery and corruption is the opposite of this. A ruler receiving such gifts will be false and unjust in his rule, and the land itself be overthrown. Is the child of God not unspeakably thankful for a Ruler whose justice is absolutely perfect?
“A man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet.”
This of course is the same principle as bribery. Let the believer take care to avoid such ensnaring nets. Accepting flattery is accepting falsehood, for flattery is actually deceit: it is not even honestly meant, nor is it sober, real fact. Satan is extremely adroit in such methods.
“In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare: but the righteous doth sing and rejoice.”
A man’s transgression will result in snaring his own feet: he may think himself immune, but he will be caught, just as Haman was hanged on the gallows he spitefully erected for Mordecai. But the righteous, with tranquil conscience, need fear no snares of this kind: they sing and rejoice.
“The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.”
If one does not want to know it, he can likely persuade himself he is ignorant of it, but the righteous desire to know, and they consider the cause of the poor. Not that this means indiscriminate giving of money or of goods, but rather help wisely given, and in proper time.
‘”Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath.'”
The New Translation renders this, “Scornful men set the city in a flame.” This attitude is that of haughty contempt for the Word of God and warnings of danger. Isa 28:14 speaks of “scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.” It is distinctly prophetic of the time of the end, when the King of the North threatens the nation. But their brazen self-confidence, and confidence in “the beast,” the revived Roman Empire, will set their own city in a flame: they will be trodden down (vs. 18). If wise men were rulers, they should know how to “turn away wrath,” rather than invite it.
“If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest.”
There can be no satisfactory conclusion in a case like this: the wisest, clearest arguments are likely only to enrage a foolish man, or to invite him to derisive laughter. For this reason it is wise to “go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.” “Foolish and unlearned questions” we are to avoid (2Ti 2:23).
“The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the Just seek his soul.”
This has been true since the days of Cain, “who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” This hateful spirit manifests the man; for “the just” care for men’s souls. If one should claim to be a Christian, and yet show hatred toward believers, it is the same haughty attitude as Cain’s, when he defiantly answered God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” of course, the reason for this is that the honorable practise of a believer irritates the conscience of the man who chooses evil.
A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.”
A fool will pour out all that he knows, or thinks he knows, without regard to the need or condition of those to whom he speaks; and without considering the damage he might cause. He may even pride himself on being “frank and outspoken,” while actually crude and ill-mannered. A wise man, on the other hand, will he careful to weigh well what he speaks, taking time to consider the implications that might easily be attached to his words. Not that he will in any way be deceitful, but he will consider the condition and the need of those to whom he speaks.
“lf a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.”
How serious the responsibility of a ruler to ascertain without doubt the truth or falsehood of a matter. If he listens to lies, he encourages the falsehood of his servants: all his servants will be wicked. Though David was generally careful in such matters, yet even he failed sadly in his listening to Ziba’s slander of Mephibosheth, a true-hearted servant of David (2Sa 16:1-4; 2Sa 19:24-30). Nor did David afterward properly judge the matter as he ought to have.
“The needy and the oppressor meet together; the Lord lighteneth the eyes of them both.”
Whether to the poor, or to the oppressor, it is the Lord who gives light and understanding. When they meet together therefore, is it possible that the oppressor’s conscience is dormant when the Lord has lightened his eyes? Can he think that the poor is so unenlightened that he does not discern that he is oppressed? Oh no! The Lord gives them both light to discern the situation. Let them look one another in the eye, and see whose conscience writhes.
“The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established forever.”
In a full, absolute sense this will be true only of the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is a King perfectly faithful and true in His adjudging matters for the poor of the land. Men may today loudly acclaim their anti-poverty campaigns, while the poor are still discriminated against and oppressed. It is only a shallow veneer. How the earth groans for a King who will reign in righteousness and fully plead the cause of the needy. His throne alone will be established in perpetuity. All others have failed, though some have been blessed in measure for the measure of faithfulness on the part of the particular king.
“The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.”
If one is not wise, he will not learn wisdom by mere education: the rod and reproof are imperative needs. They may not be taken kindly at the time, for they are intended to hurt. A child needs this, as does also a child of God when disobedient. God may use providential means to chasten and scourge us and we know it is for good. If a child is left to himself, his ignorance will lead him badly astray, so that the shame of it will come upon his mother’s shoulders. The child of God may well thank his Father that He does not leave us to ourselves, but “scourgeth every son whom He receiveth” (Heb 12:1-29).
“When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall.”
Such is the state of things as the end of a dispensation nears. The wicked multiply, and evil is more bold, developing at an alarming rate. Here is the law of cause and effect: but the wicked seldom stop to consider that such an effect in turn becomes cause of another effect: “the righteous shall see their fall.” For wickedness builds feverishly higher and higher a tower badly out of balance, which, when it reaches a certain point, must fall.
But verse 17 is a lovely contrast to this,
“Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.”
The child must be corrected in order to be preserved from increased transgression. Moreover, this will cause rest to the faithful parent, and more than this, a real solid delight. Observe in all this chapter the value of proper, careful government.
“Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint; but happy is he that keepeth the law.”
Vision here is that perception that sees beyond the realm of mere natural observation, a spiritual insight that is the only real preservative of honor and order. “He that is spiritual discerneth all things” (1Co 2:1-16), even things that are merely temporal. If this character is lacking then the people will “cast off restraint.” How forcible a comment on this is our present-day revulsion against the blessed truth of God! Apostasy has brought with it a reckless abandon that scorns every warning of the judgment of God. Yet nevertheless, in the face of it, there is yet blessing for the individual whose heart bows to the truth of God. In Israel, he who still kept the law, was actually happier than those who cast off restraint.
“A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand, he will not answer.”
The Septuagint translation renders this “a stubborn servant,” which would of course seem more clear. But it is a painful thing for a master to get no response to his words of correction. Let the servant of God take heed, and thankfully receive the correction a wise Master sees necessary to give; and answer Him with true submission of heart.
“Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than of him”
Scripture regards a fool as one who leaves God and eternity out of his reckoning. We may ask, Can there be anything worse? Yes, at least there is still a very real possibility of such a man’s conversion. But a man who habitually speaks his mind without consideration is virtually a hopeless case. He is so self-opinionated that he thinks he need never take time to consider anything. It is evident that such an attitude will effectually hinder any change in the man. What he hears he will hastily condemn if it does not suit his own selfish thoughts.
“He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length.”
Faithful, true dealing with a servant will normally produce a response of faithfulness. This is beautifully illustrated in God’s own dealings with mankind, as Gal 4:1-7 bears witness. In the Old Testament, believers are looked at as young children under tutors and governors, differing in no way from servants. But in the New Testament, by virtue of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, every believer is seen to have received the adoption of sons, no longer in the place of mere servants, but given a place of trust and dignity. What wisdom and faithfulness there is in all God’s ways with us, to accomplish such results! The contrast to verse 20 is evident: God is not hasty, but patient, faithful, considerate; and this bears fruit.
“An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.”
Again, cause and effect are seen here. But this contrasts with the previous verse. Anger against a servant would not produce the effects of verse 21. One may have even clear thoughts as to right and wrong, but his strong anger against wrong will not correct the wrong: it will rather stir up strife and cause worse friction than the evil a man condemns. If one has formed a character of this kind, the harm he will do is incalculable. In fact his fury against what he considers wrong will cause him to “abound in transgression”: his wrongs will be more than those he denounces.
“A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.”
Thus pride causes the opposite effect to that which man intends by it. He wants to exalt himself, but actually brings himself low. How many since Eve have been deceived by Satan with this same sugared yet poisonous bait, “Ye shall be as God.” But on the other hand, the humble in spirit, who seek no place of distinction, no honor in the world, are yet upheld by such honor as God in grace puts upon them. They honor God: He honors them. This is beautifully seen in such men as Joseph and Daniel, while the opposite is seen in such as Absalom and Haman, and how many more!
“Whoso shareth with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth the adjuration, and declareth not” (New Trans.).
The evils we have previously seen (hasty words, bad temper, pride) may easily lead to bad companionships, indeed they are almost bound to do so, if not judged. Though one is not himself a thief, his consorting with a thief will certainly brand him: he is showing hatred for his own soul, for he callously makes his own soul suffer, by such folly. He is in a position where he knows the guilt of the other man: he hears the adjuration, but he declares not. This refers to Lev 5:1 : “If anyone sin, and hear the voice of adjuration, and he is a witness whether he hath seen or known (it), if he do not give information, then he shall bear his iniquity.” If he knows and does not declare the guilt of the thief, then he may expect the same judgment as the thief. The principle is evident in any kind of wrong association, of course: let the believer guard against implicating himself in any questionable companionship.
“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.”
The connection with the previous verse is obvious. One who is partner with a thief would fear to expose the thief. If I put myself under obligation to man, in that measure will the fear of man influence me; and I am ensnared by my own fear. But how dreadful a thing that through fear of offending a mere man, I may find myself in the position of positively offending God! The only safety from such snares is a dependent, genuine trust in the Lord. This means no confidence in the flesh, for it is choosing the Lord as the soul’s confidence rather than anything or anyone else.
“Many seek the ruler’s face; but a man’s right judgment is from Jehovah” (New Trans.).
The reason for many seeking the ruler’s face is evident: their object is generally selfish, that is, to influence the ruler on their own behalf. Do we seek God’s face for this reason? Many do this, not realizing that God is no respecter of persons: He will act in absolute truth and justice in every case. In the day of accounts there will be no favoritism. Let this deeply influence our own character now, so that in realizing that a man’s right judgment is from the Lord, we may be sure to judge ourselves honestly, with a just balance.
“An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.”
The world may speak of “tolerance,” as though man ought to tolerate everything, yet it is impossible: the most strenuous advocate of “tolerance” will himself be intolerant of at least some things. It should be evident there can be no concord between a just and an unjust man: there is actually “a great gulf” between the two; and Divine government will rightly “fix” this gulf unless, before death, the unjust turn in repentance to the Lord.
But this verse, coming as it does at the end of this fifth section, dealing with God’s government and man’s reaping as he sows, would seem to imply the solemn truth of Rev 22:11, “He that is unjust, let him he unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him he righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” It is an eternally fixed state, with no hope of concord ever existing between the first two and the latter two: the “great gulf” is “fixed.”
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
CHAPTER 30
THE NEED OF REVELATION
“Where no vision is, a people casts off restraint, but he that keepeth the law is happy.”- Pro 29:18
THE form of the proverb shows that we are not to treat the vision and the law as opposite, but rather as complementary terms. Visions are it is true, especially the mark of the prophets, and the law is often confined in a special sense to the Pentateuch; but there is a much wider usage of the words, according to which the two together express, with tolerable completeness, what we mean by Revelation. The vision means a perception of God and His ways, and is quite as applicable to Moses as to Isaiah; and, on the other hand, the law covers all the distinct and articulate instruction which God gives to His people in any of His ways of self-communication. “Come ye,” says Isaiah, {Isa 2:3} “and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem”; where the whole context shows that, not the Mosaic Law, but rather a new and particular declaration of the Lords will, is referred to.
But while the vision and the law are not to be treated as opposites, it is possible to distinguish between them. The vision is the actual contact between God and the human spirit, which is the necessary condition of any direct revelation; the law is the recorded result of such a revelation, either passed from mouth to mouth by tradition, or written permanently in a book.
We may then a little amplify the proverb for the sake of exposition: “Where there is no living revelation, no perceived contact between man and God, there the bonds which hold society together are relaxed or broken; but he that holds by the revelation that has been given, obeying the law, so far as it has been presented to him, happy is he.”
Man has need of a revelation; that is the assertion. Society, as an ordered and happy body of men in which each person is rightly subordinated to the whole, and in which law, as distinct from individual caprice, prevails, requires a revealed law. The light of nature is good, but it is not sufficient. The common sense of mankind is powerful, but not powerful enough. In the absence of a real and valid declaration of Gods will times must come when the elemental passions of human nature will break out with unrestrained violence, the teachings of morality will be disputed, their authority will be denied, and their yoke will be broken; the links which hold the state and the community together will snap, and the slow growths of ages may disappear in a moment. It is not difficult to show the truth of this assertion from experience. Every people that emerges from barbarism has a vision and a law; a certain revelation which forms the foundation, the sanction, the bond of its corporate existence. When you can point to a tribe or a group of tribes that know nothing of God, and therefore have no idea of revelation, you at once assure us that the people are sunk in a hopeless savagery. We are, it is true, inclined to deny the term revelation to those systems of religion which lie outside of the Bible, but it is difficult to justify such a contraction of view. God has not left Himself anywhere without a witness. The more closely we examine the multitudinous religions of the earth, the more clearly does it appear that each of them had at its origin a definite, however limited, revelation. The idea of One all-powerful, good, and wise, God is found at the beginning of each faith that can be traced back far enough, and the actual condition of heathen systems always suggests a decline from a higher and a purer religion. We may say, then, with much plausibility, that no lasting and beneficial form of human society has ever existed apart from a vision and a law.
But leaving the wide field of comparative religions, do we not see an illustration of the truth of the text in the European countries which are more subject to our observation? In proportion as a people loses its faith in revelation it falls into decay. This was made manifest in the experience of the French Revolution. When the Jacobins had emancipated themselves from the idea of God, and had come out into the clear light of reason, so terribly did they “cast off restraint” that their own leader, Robespierre, endeavored with a feverish haste to restore the recognition of God, assuming himself the position of high pontiff to the Supreme Being. The nearest approach that the world has probably ever seen to a government founded on Atheism was this government of the French Revolution, and a more striking commentary on this text could hardly be desired.
But the need of a revelation can be apprehended, apart from all appeals to history, by simply studying the nature of the spirit of man. Man must have an object of worship, and that object must be such as to command his worship. Auguste Comte thought to satisfy this need of the heart by suggesting Humanity as the Grand Etre, but humanity was and is nothing but an abstraction. Feeling this himself, he recommended the worship of woman, and he prostrated his heart before Clotilde de Vaux; but sacred and beautiful as a mans love of a woman may be, it is no substitute for worship. We must have quite another than ourselves and our own kind, if our hearts are to find their rest. We must have an Almighty, an Infinite; we must have one who is Love. Until his spirit is worshipping, man cannot realize himself, or attain the height of his intended stature.
Again, man must have an assurance of his own immortality. While he believes himself to be mortal, a creature of a day, and that an uncertain day, it is impossible for him to rise much above the level of other ephemeral things. His pursuits must be limited, and his aims must be confined. His affections must be chilled by the shadow of death, and in proportion as he has nobly striven and tenderly loved, his later years must be plunged in hopeless gloom, because his efforts have been ineffectual and his beloved have gone from him. No juggling with terms; no half-poetic raptures about “the choir invisible,” can meet the mighty craving of the human heart. Man must be immortal, or he is not man. “He thinks he was not made to die.”
But to meet these demands of the spirit what, apart from revelation, can avail? That metaphysics is futile practically all men are agreed. Only the philosopher can follow the dialectics which are to prove the existence of God and the immortality of the soul. And even the philosopher seems to grow pale and wizened in the process of his demonstration, and wins at last a vantage-ground of cold conviction, to find that there is no comfort there. But can science offer the assurance which philosophy was unable to give? Let us listen to the conclusion of a scientific writer on this subject, one who has lost his hold on revelation and can realize a little of what he has lost.
“The highest and most consoling beliefs of the human mind,” he says, “are to a great extent bound up with the Christian religion. If we ask ourselves frankly how much, apart from this religion, would remain of faith in a God, and in a future state of existence, the answer must be, very little. Science traces everything back to primeval atoms and germs, and there it leaves us. How came these atoms and energies there, from which this wonderful universe of worlds has been evolved by inevitable laws? What are they in their essence, and what do they mean? The only answer is, It is unknowable. It is behind the veil, and may be anything. Spirit may be matter, matter may be spirit. We have no faculties by which we can even form a conception from any discoveries of the telescope or microscope, from any experiments in the laboratory, or from any facts susceptible of real human knowledge, of what may be the first cause underlying all these phenomena.”
“In like manner we can already, to a great extent, and probably in a short time shall be able to the fullest extent to trace the whole development of life from the lowest to the highest; from protoplasm, through monera, infusoria, mollusca, vertebrata, fish, reptile and mammal, up to man; and the individual man from the microscopic egg, through the various stages of its evolution up to birth, childhood, maturity, decline, and death. We can trace also the development of the human race through enormous periods of time, from the modest beginnings up to its present level of civilization, and show how arts, languages, morals, and religions have been evolved gradually by human laws from primitive elements, many of which are common in their ultimate form to man and the animal creation.”
“But here also science stops. Science can give no account of how these germs and nucleated cells, endowed with these marvelous capacities for evolution, came into existence, or got their intrinsic powers. Nor can science enable us to form the remotest conception of what will become of life, consciousness, and conscience, when the material conditions with which they are always associated, while within human experience, have been dissolved by death, and no longer exist. We know as little, in the way of accurate and demonstrable knowledge, of our condition after death as we do of our existence-if we had an existence-before birth.”
Science frankly confesses that she can tell us nothing of the things which it most concerns us to know. On those things she is no farther advanced than she was in the days of Aristotle. Never do we feel how much men need a revelation so vividly as when we have grasped the first principles of such a great scientific thinker as Mr. Herbert Spencer, and realize how far he is able to take us and how soon he has to leave us. How does it meet the craving of the soul for God to show us the slow stages by which man became a living soul? As well might you try to satisfy the musicians ear by. telling him how his art had grown from the primitive tom-tom of the savage. How can it help the life to be lived wisely, lovingly, and well, in the midst of the uncertainty of the world, and confronted by the certainty of death, to be told that our physical structure is united by a thousand immediate links with that of other mammals. Such a fact is insignificant; the supreme fact is that we are not like other mammals in the most important respects; we have hearts that long and yearn, minds which enquire and question- they have not; we want God, our heart and our flesh crieth out for the living God, and we demand an eternal life- they do not.
How can science pretend that what she does not know is not knowledge, while she has to confess that she does not know precisely the things which it most concerns us as men to know? How can the spirit of man be content with the husks which she gives him to eat, when his whole nature craves the kernel? What probability is there that a man will close his eyes to the sun because another person, very clever and industrious, has shut himself up in a dark cellar, and tries to persuade him that his candle is all the light he may legitimately use, and what cannot be seen by his candle is not real?
No, science may not prove revelation, but she proves our need of it. She does her utmost, she widens her borders, she is more earnest, more accurate, more informed, more efficacious than ever: but she shows that what man most wants she cannot give, -she bids him go elsewhere.
But now it may be said: It is one thing to prove that man needs a revelation, and another to show that a revelation has been given. That is perfectly true, and this is not the place to adduce all the evidence which might prove that revelation is a reality; but what an advance we have made on the cold, self-satisfied deism of the eighteenth century, which maintained that the light of nature was enough, and revelation was quite superfluous, when the truest and most candid voices of science are declaring with such growing clearness that for the knowledge which revelation professes to give, revelation, and revelation alone, will suffice!
We Christians believe that we have a revelation, and we find that it suffices. It gives us precisely those assurances about God and about the soul without which we falter, grow bewildered, and begin to despond. We have a vision and a law. Our Bible is the record of the ever-widening, ever-clearing vision of God. The power and authority of the vision seem to be the more convincing, just because we are permitted to see the process of its development. Here we are able to stand with the seer and see, not the long aeonian stages of creation which science has been painfully tracking out in these later days, but the supreme fact, which science professes herself unable to see, that God was the Author of it all. Here we are able to see the first imperfect conception of God which came in vision and in thought to the patriarch or sheikh in the earliest dawn of civilization. Here we can observe the conceptions clearing, through Moses, through the Psalmists, through the Prophets, until at last we have a vision of God in the person of His Son, who is the brightness of the Fathers glory, the express image of His countenance. We see that He, the unseen Creator, is Love.
Our Bible, too, is the record of a law, -a law of human conduct, the will of God as applied to earthly, life. At first the law is confined to a few primitive practices and outward observances; then it grows in complexity and multiplication of details; and only after a long course of discipline, of effort and apparent failure, of teaching and-deliberate disobedience, is the law laid bare to its very roots, and presented in the simplified and self-evidencing form of the Sermon on the Mount and the apostolic precepts.
It is not necessary to start with any particular theory about the Bible, any more than it is necessary to know the substance of the sun before we can warm ourselves in his beams. It is not necessary to look for scientific accuracy in the histories and treatises through which the vision and the law are communicated to us. We know that the vessels are earthen, and the presupposition all through is that the light was only growing from the glimmer of the dawn up to the perfect day. But we know, we are persuaded, that here, to seeing eyes and humble hearts, is the revelation of God and of His will.
Nor is it only in the Bible that God speaks to us. There have been times in the history of Christendom-such times as the middle of the eighteenth century-when though the Bible was in mens hands, it seemed to be almost a dead letter. “There was no vision, and the people cast off restraint.” It is by living men and women to whom He grants visions and reveals truths, that God maintains the purity and power of His revelation to us. He came in vision to Fox and the early Friends, to Zinzendorf and the early Moravians, to Wesley and the early Methodists. Seldom does a generation pass but some seers are sent to make the Word of God a living influence to their age. The vision is not always unmixed with human error, and when it ceases to be living it may become obstructive, a cause of paralysis rather than of progress. But Augustine and Jerome, Benedict and Leo, Francis and Dominic, Luther and Calvin, Ignatius Loyola, and Xavier, Fenelon and Madame Guyon, Jonathan Edwards and Channing, Robertson and Maurice, Erskine and MacLeod Campbell, are but examples of Gods method all down the Christian ages. The vision comes pure and fresh as if straight from the presence of God. Traditionalism crumbles away. Doubt retreats like a phantom of the night. Mighty moral revolutions and spiritual awakenings are accomplished by the means of His chosen ones. And it should be our desire and our joy to recognize and welcome these seers of God.
“He that keepeth the law, happy is he.” It is a mournful thing to be without a revelation, and to grope in darkness at midday; to hold ones mind in melancholy suspense, uncertain about God, about His will, about the life eternal. But it is better to have no revelation than to have it and disregard it. Honest doubt is full of necessary sorrow, but to believe and not to obey is the road to inevitable ruin. “He that keepeth”-yea, he that looks into revelation, not for curiosity, but for a law by which to live; who listens to the wise precepts, not in order to exclaim, “How wise they are!” but in order to act on them.
There are many professing Christians who are constantly plunged in gloom. Unbelievers may point the finger at them, and say, “They believe in God, in salvation, and in heaven, but see what an effect it has on them. Do they really believe?” Oh, yes, they really believe, but they do not obey; and no amount of faith brings any lasting happiness apart from obedience. The law requires us to love God, to love men; it requires us to abstain from all appearance of evil, to touch not the unclean thing; it bids us love not the world, it tells us how impossible the double service of God and Mammon is. Now, though we believe it all, it can give us nothing but pain unless we live up to it. If there is a vision and we shut our eyes to it, if there is a law and we turn away from it, woe unto us! But if we receive the vision, if we loyally and earnestly keep the law, the world cannot fathom the depth of our peace, nor rise to the height of our joy.