Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 29:12
If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants [are] wicked.
12. Comp.
“As is the judge of his people, so are his ministers;
And as is the ruler of the city, such are all they that dwell therein.”
Sir 10:2 .
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
All his servants are wicked – They know what will please, and they become informers and backbiters.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. If a ruler hearken to lies] Wherever the system of espionage is permitted to prevail, there the system of falsity is established; for he who is capable of being a spy and informer, is not only capable of telling and swearing lies, but also of cutting his king’s or even his father’s throat. I have seen cases, where the same spy received pay from both parties, and deceived both.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
If a ruler hearken to lies, delight in flatteries or calumnies, or any lying words or deceitful and wicked practices,
all his servants are wicked; partly because he chooseth only such for his service; and partly because they are either corrupted by his example, or engaged by their place and interest to please him, and comply with his base lusts.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. His servants imitate him.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
If a ruler hearken to lies,…. To men that tell them in order to soothe and flatter him, or to hurt the character and reputation of others, that they may raise their own: rulers should not listen to and encourage such sort of persons; for, as lying lips do not become a prince, so it is not right to have liars about him; David would not suffer such to dwell in his court, Ps 101:7;
all his servants [are] wicked; or the greatest part of them: for a ruler of such a disposition will take none but such into his service, that flatter him, and calumniate others; and such a conduct, being pleasing and agreeable to him, is a temptation to his ministers to act the same wicked part; as is a prince, such are his courtiers; his example has a great influence upon them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
12 A ruler who listens to deceitful words,
All his servants are godless.
They are so because they deceive him, and they become so; for instead of saying the truth which the ruler does not wish to hear, they seek to gain his favour by deceitful flatteries, misrepresentations, exaggerations, falsehoods. Audita rex quae praecipit lex . He does not do this, as the saying is, sicut rex ita grex (Sir. 10:2), in the sense of this proverb of Solomon.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
12 If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.
Note, 1. It is a great sin in any, especially in rulers, to hearken to lies; for thereby they not only give a wrong judgment themselves of persons and things, according to the lies they give credit to, but they encourage others to give wrong informations. Lies will be told to those that will hearken to them; but the receiver, in this case, is as bad as the thief. 2. Those that do so will have all their servants wicked. All their servants will appear wicked, for they will have lies told of them; and they will be wicked, for they will tell lies to them. All that have their ear will fill their ear with slanders and false characters and representations; and so if princes, as well as people, will be deceived, they shall be deceived, and, instead of devolving the guilt of their own false judgments upon their servants that misinformed them, they must share in their servants’ guilt, and on them will much of the blame lie for encouraging such misinformations and giving countenance and ear to them.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Destructive Influence
Verse 12 declares that if a ruler or person of authority listens to lies he wants to hear, all his subordinates will be wicked. Ahab is an example. He wanted to take Ramoth in Gilead from Syria and his false prophets told him what he wanted to hear, that he would be successful. His attempt, however, was a disaster, ending in his death, 1Ki 12:12-14; 1Ki 22:6; 1Ki 22:29-37.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 29:13. The deceitful. Rather the usurer. A man of usury is only a more concrete expression for a rich man, and this is the corresponding term in chap. Pro. 22:2 (Zckler).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 29:12
A MORAL CANCER IN A KINGS COURT
I. A man in authority should be a discerner of character. The man whose bodily sight is defective is not fit to be entrusted with the destinies of others in any case in which clear vision is needed. A purblind seaman would not be the man to stand upon the bridge of a vessel and direct its movements, nor would a general unable to distinguish friends from foes be a safe person to whom to entrust the guidance of an army in the field. And a man is manifestly in the wrong place if he is a ruler over others and is not a discerner of character.
II. A man in authority should be the possessor of a character. A ruler may be a good man himself and yet be imposed upon by others, but as a rule a lover of truth is a discerner of truth, and an honest man will detect the false ring of the liars words. But if a man is himself a liar, he will instinctively shrink from contact with true men, and true men will not care to hold intercourse with him, or to serve him, and so he must necessarily gather round him servants who are like himself. Such processes of attraction and repulsion are always going on in the world, in all departments of government, in the family, in the factory, and in the court. The servants are generally what the master is, and the courtiers reflect the character of the monarch.
III. It is therefore indispensable to the moral purity of any community that its head be first a good man and then an able man. Moral excellence is before all other things needful, but it is not the only thing needful. A good man is not always a keen discerner of character, although his goodness will strengthen his power of discernment, but he who rules men should possess in an uncommon degree the power of reading them as well as that of setting them a good example in his own life.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
He that carrieth Satan in his ear is no less blameworthy than he which carrieth him in his tongue. Untruths are cherished and fostered, as it were, by those who are too light of belief. But this credulity is especially to be shunned by rulers in church, commonwealth, or private families; for all the inferiors commonly follow the example of the superiors. It may indeed sometimes fall out that an Obadiah may lurk in Ahabs court, but this is rare, and commonly the sway goeth another way. Who were Sauls courtiers but Doeg and such backbiters?Muffett.
How wise was Davids determinationboth as the sovereign of his people and the ruler of his houseto discountenance lies, and uphold the cause of faithful men! (Psa. 101:2-7.Bridges.
It is natural, when we think of Solomons own situation as king of Israel, to expect to find some of his maxims of proverbial wisdom bearing special reference to the character and conduct of men in power. And so it is. When, moreover, we think of the wisdom with which, at the outset of his reign, and at his own earnest request, he was divinely endowed, we as naturally anticipate a correspondence between the maxims and the character. Nor are we disappointed. The maxims are not those of the selfishness of power,not those of arbitrary despotism or the sovereignty of royal will; nor are they those of an artful, intriguing, Machiavelian policy. They are sound and liberal, and based on the great principle of the public good being the end of all governmentthe principle that kings reign, not for themselves, but for their people; while, in all their administration, they ought to be swayed and regulated by the laws of an authority higher than their own, by a regard to the will of God as their rule, and the glory of God, to which all else must ever be subordinate, as their supreme aim. But we must not forget, that the Book of Proverbs forms part of the canon of inspired Scripture; that it does not contain, therefore, the mere dictates of human wisdom, how extraordinary soever that wisdom was; that a greater than Solomon is here.Wardlaw.
The reigns of those princes who gave an easy belief to accusations, are stained with the most atrocious crimes. Tiberius Csar put to death the greater number of his own privy councillors, by giving ear to lies, and encouraging his servants to be wicked; and it is probable that the worst action that ever was committed since the fall of Adam, the murder of the Prince of Life, was occasioned by Pilates wicked and cowardly regard to the temper of that tyrant, and his fear of being accused as an encourager of treason, if he had suffered our Lord to escape.Lawson.
Rulers are the looking-glasses according to which most men dress themselves. Their sins do much hurt, as by imputation (2 Samuel 24.)the prince sinned, the people sufferedso by imitation; for man is a creature apt to imitate, and is more led by his eyes than his ears. Height of place ever adds two wings to sin, example, and scandal, whereby it soars higher and flies much further.Trapp.
The subject of Pro. 29:13 is the same as that of chap. Pro. 22:22, page 636. The deceitful man should be the man of usury, money-lender, meaning simply the rich man. (Zckler.) For subjects of Pro. 29:14-15, see on chapter Pro. 16:10-15, page 472, and Pro. 13:24, page 335, also on chap. Pro. 19:13-18, page 573.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(12) If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.If a ruler shows that he likes adulation and falsehood rather than unpleasant truths, his attendants will provide him with what he wishes. (Comp. Sir. 10:2.) So Jeremiah complains (Jer. 5:31) that prophets, priests, and people were all wilfully deceiving each other.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Lies Hebrew, word of falsehood. It may mean a false accusation against some one, or a false suggestion as to his own merits, abilities, or prerogatives. Bacon takes it to mean an easy, credulous temper; ready to believe detractors and sycophants without examination. “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 they that dwell therein.” Sir 10:2 . This last is far too strong.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 29:12. If a ruler hearken to lies In conformity to this aphorism, Tacitus says of Claudius, “There is no safety with that prince into whose mind all things are conveyed, as it were, by infusion and direction from others.” And Comines observes, that it is better to be servant to a prince whose suspicions have no end, than to one whose credulity hath no measure.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 29:12 If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants [are] wicked.
Ver. 12. If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked. ] He shall have his Aiones and Negones, that will say as he says, and fit his humour to a hair, as Doeg did Saul’s, as the false prophets did Ahab’s, as Herod’s courtiers did him on his birthday feast, &c. These were fit helves for such hatchets, fit lettuce for such lips, fit servants for such masters.
“Mobile mutatur semper eum principe vulgus.”
Claudian.
Like prince, like people. The common sort are like a flock of cranes; as the first fly, all follow. Or as in a beast, the whole body follows the head. Rulers are the looking glasses according to which most men dress themselves. Their sins do much hurt, as by imputation – 2Sa 24:15-17 , the prince sinned, the people suffered a – so by imitation; for man is a creature apt to imitate, and is led more by his eyes than by his ears. Magis intuentur quid fecerit Iupiter, quam quid docuit Plato, saith Augustine. Jupiter’s adulteries drew the people to like wantonness. Hence Chaerea in Terence, Haec ego non facerem quae Iupiter fecit? saith he, Should I make dainty of doing that which Jupiter did? Height of place ever adds two wings to sin, example and scandal, whereby it soars higher, and flies much farther. Let rulers, therefore, look to it. Let them not be “partakers of other men’s sins” 1Ti 5:22 – they have enough of their own to answer for. Potentes potenter torquebuntur – let them take heed that “the iniquity of their heels,” of those that follow them at the heels, “doth not compass them about.” Psa 69:5
a Delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 29:12
Pro 29:12
“If a ruler hearkeneth to falsehood, All his servants are wicked.”
“If a ruler listens to lies, then all his servants will be evil. “If a ruler listens to lies, then all his servants become depraved. As these renditions stand, they seem to say that a king’s listening to falsehoods would somehow make his servants evil. Toy commented that, “The courtiers adjust themselves to the prince. We cannot find any support in any of the versions or commentators for our feeling that something else is meant here. “If a king, or any other man in authority, can be moved by false reports that he heeds, then false reports will be lodged against all his servants by evil men seeking to replace them.” If a king believes falsehoods, he will soon have no confidence in any of his servants!
Pro 29:12. This verse pictures a wicked ruler of which there have been many. Both their advisers are wicked (he hearkens to their falsehood), and his servants are wicked. A wicked ruler, wicked counselors, and wicked servants can only add up to a wicked reign.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Pro 20:8, Pro 25:23, 1Sa 22:8-23, 1Sa 23:19-23, 2Sa 3:7-11, 2Sa 4:5-12, 1Ki 21:11-13, 2Ki 10:6, 2Ki 10:7, Psa 52:2-4, Psa 101:5-7
Reciprocal: Gen 12:15 – princes Gen 39:19 – heard Exo 5:10 – taskmasters Jdg 16:17 – all his heart 1Sa 18:22 – servants 1Sa 19:19 – General 1Sa 22:9 – Doeg 1Sa 24:1 – it was told 1Sa 24:9 – General 2Sa 11:16 – he assigned 2Sa 13:29 – servants 2Ki 1:11 – O man 2Ki 21:9 – seduced 2Ch 24:17 – Then the king 2Ch 33:9 – made Judah Neh 5:15 – even their Psa 12:8 – wicked Psa 101:7 – He that worketh Pro 14:35 – king’s Pro 17:7 – much Jer 26:22 – men Jer 37:2 – neither Dan 3:2 – sent Zep 1:9 – which