Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 10:17
He [is in] the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.
17. in the way &c.] Rather (with R.V. marg.),
A way of life is he that heedeth correction:
But he that forsaketh reproof causeth to err
The one by his example and influence is a way of life to his fellow men; in measure and degree he can say what only the Perfect Example could say fully, “I am the way.” The other on the contrary not only goes himself, but leads others, astray.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
literally, A way of life is he that keepeth instruction. The verb erreth is better rendered in the margin. The influence for good or evil spreads beyond the man himself.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. He is in the way of life] The truly religious man accumulates knowledge that he may the better know how to live to God, and do most good among men.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The way of life; which leadeth to life and blessedness. That keepeth instruction; that observeth and obeyeth the wholesome counsels of God, and of good men.
Erreth, to wit, from the way of life, or into the ways of sin, and so of death; Heb. leadeth into error, or seduceth, to wit, himself, as appears by the opposition of this to the former clause; he wittingly and willingly exposeth himself to temptation and wickedness, because he rejecteth that admonition which is a proper preservative from it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. keepethobserves (Pro 3:18;Pro 4:22).
refusethor, “turnsfrom reproof,” which might direct him aright.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He [is in] the way of life,…. Of eternal life, which is truly, properly, and by way of eminency, “life”, Mt 19:17; and which is a life of glory; a life of perfection, of perfect holiness, knowledge, obedience, love, peace, and joy; a life free from all the inconveniences of the present life, animal or spiritual; a life of pleasure, and which will last for ever: the “way” to it is not by works of righteousness done by men, since by these the law is not fulfilled, nor justice satisfied; and therefore no justification of life by them, or what entitles to eternal life; it is sinful, dangerous, and a vain thing, to seek for eternal life in this way; Christ is the only true way to it; who, by his obedience, sufferings, and death, has opened the new and living way; and through his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, way is made for all that believe in him to enter into eternal life: and such are in the way to it who are in Christ, secretly in election, openly in the effectual calling; when they are made new creatures, are quickened by the Spirit and grace of Christ, and have that principle in them which is a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life; who have a sight of Christ, and come unto him by faith; who truly believe in him, with which eternal life is connected. Particularly he is in the way unto it
that keepeth instruction; the instruction in righteousness which the Scriptures give, especially the Gospel part of them; which is an instruction into the mind and will of God about man’s salvation; into the grace of God, as displayed therein; into the person and offices of Christ, and salvation by him; into the doctrines of peace, pardon, righteousness, and life, through him. Now he to whom this instruction comes with power, and is the savour of life unto life; who receives it in the love of it; who “observes” i it, as the word here used signifies; takes notice of and follows its direction, pointing out Christ as the way of salvation, instructing to look to him and believe in him, and be saved; and who retains and holds fast such instruction, and abides by it; and finds the word of the Gospel, and eats it, and is nourished by it unto everlasting life; he is most assuredly in the way of it;
but he that refuseth reproof erreth; that is, from the way of life. He that rejects the counsel and advice, the admonitions and reproofs, given in the word of God, by the ministers of it; or by parents and masters, friends or relations, that wish him well; he wanders far off from the way that leads to life, and goes into the paths of sin, and consequently is in the way of death. Some render it, “causeth to err” k; either others, as Aben Ezra; or both himself and others, as Jarchi: and then it may be understood of him “that forsaketh reproof” l, as it may be rendered; that is, that declines giving reproof, when it lies in his way, and is his duty to do it. Aben Ezra reads this clause in connection with the former, as said of one and the same person,
“he is in the way of life that keepeth instruction, and forsakes or rejects the reproof of him that causeth to err.”
i “observat”, Tigurine version; “servat”, Cocceius; “observans”, Schultens. k “faciens errare”, Montanus, Gejerus; “seduceus sese”, Tigurine version; “errare facit”, some in Vatablus; “facit oberrare”, Cocceius. l “qui relinquit increpationem”, Pagninus; “deserens”, Montanus, Schultens; “derelinquit”, Piscator; “deserit”, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The group of proverbs now following bring again to view the good and bad effects of human speech. The seventeenth verse introduces the transition:
17 There is a way to life when one gives heed to correction;
And whoever disregards instruction runs into error.
Instead of (Pro 5:6), there is here ; and then this proverb falls into rank with Pro 10:16, which contains the same word . The accentuation denotes as subst.; for way, road = [a wayfarer, part. of ] would, as , Lev 11:7, , Psa 94:9, have the tone on the ultima. It is necessary neither to change the tone, nor, with Ewald, to interpret as abstr. pro concreto, like , for the expression “wanderer to life” has no support in the Mishle. Michaelis has given the right interpretation: via ad vitam est si quis custodiat disciplinam . The syntactical contents, however, are different, as e.g., 1Sa 2:13, where the participle has the force of a hypothetical clause; for the expression: “a way to life is he who observes correction,” is equivalent to: he is on the way to life who…; a variety of the manner of expression: “the porch was twenty cubits,” 2Ch 3:4, particularly adapted to the figurative language of proverbial poetry, as if the poet said: See there one observant of correction – that (viz., the [ , to watch] representing itself in this ) is the way to life. and are related to each other as and ; [ , to leave, forsake] is equivalent to . would be unsuitable as a contrast in the causative sense: who guides wrong, according to which Bertheau understands 17a, that only he who observes correction can guide others to life. We expect to hear what injuries he who thinks to raise himself above all reproach brings on himself. Hitzig, in his Commentary (1858), for this reason places the Hithpa. (rather write ) in the place of the Hiph.; but in the Comm. on Jeremiah (1866), 42:20, he rightly remarks: “To err, not as an involuntary condition, but as an arbitrary proceeding, is suitably expressed by the Hiph.” In like manner , (to touch), (to go to a distance), denote the active conduct of a being endowed with reason; Ewald, 122, c. Jewish interpreters gloss by supplying ; but it signifies only as inwardly transitive, to accomplish the action of the .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
17 He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.
See here, 1. That those are in the right that do not only receive instruction, but retain it, that do not let it slip through carelessness, as most do, nor let it go to those that would rob them of it, that keep instruction safely, keep it pure and entire, keep it for their own use, that they may govern themselves by it, keep it for the benefit of others, that they may instruct them; those that do so are in the way of life, the way that has true comfort in it and eternal life at the end of it. 2. That those are in the wrong that do not only not receive instruction, but wilfully and obstinately refuse it when it is offered them. They will not be taught their duty because it discovers their faults to them; that instruction which carries reproof in it they have a particular aversion to, and certainly they err; it is a sign that they err in judgment, and have false notions of good and evil; it is a cause of their erring in conversation. The traveller that has missed his way, and cannot bear to be told of it and shown the right way, must needs err still, err endlessly; he certainly misses the way of life.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 10:17. Not, He is in the way, but He is the way. Erreth, causeth others to err.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 10:17
THE INFLUENCE OF EXAMPLE
We take here the rendering of all recent commentators as given in the Critical Notes, and understand the verse to set forth the truth that no man liveth to himself. His character is reproduced in others.
I. A good man is a way, because he is the means to an end. The way to the city is the road by which we reach it. The life of a holy man is a way to spiritual and eternal life, because it is the means by which men come home to God. If there were no good men in the world, there would be no means by which sinners could be brought from death unto life. Christ is pre-eminently the way, because His life is the great means by which men learn to know and to return to God. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me (Joh. 14:6). The longer a path is trodden the more distinctly it proclaims itself as a way. So a good man becomes a more evident way the longer he lives. A good life is so distinct in its teachings that both sage and savage are compelled to admit its influence, and the longer it exerts its power for good the more pronounced it becomes. The Son of God has for ages been the way to life, and the longer He continues to be so the more distinctly is He seen to be the means to this end.
II. The conditions to be fulfilled in order to become a way of life.
1. The man must keep instruction. It is not enough to receive it. The Word of God must not only be heard, but must be remembered. The commandments of God must not only be received, but must be kept. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them (Joh. 13:17).
2. He must submit to discipline even when it takes the form of reproof. This is implied in the last clause of the verse, He that refuseth reproof causeth to err. The man who has attained a position in any profession, and has thereby become qualified to lead others, has done so because he has submitted to discipline even when it has been in the unpalatable form of reproof. Such a man can well exhort others to submit to that by which he has become fit to be their guide. Even the Son of God learned obedience by the things which He suffered (Heb. 5:8).
III. An ungodly man injures others as well as himself. He not only wanders from the path himself, but he causeth (others) to err. We often hear it said of a godless manof one who refuseth reproofthat he is nobodys enemy but his own. This cannot be. It has been truly said that nothing leaves us wholly as it found us. Every man we meet, every book we read, every picture or landscape we see, every word or tone we hear, mingles with our being and modifies it. This being so, every man makes every man with whom he comes in contact better or worse, and as every good man draws others into the path of life, so every man who refuses to submit to Divine discipline drags others with him in the broad road that leads to destruction.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
St. Basil, answering the question, With what mind anyone ought to receive the instructions of reproof administered unto him, giveth this answer, With the same mind that befitteth him who, being sick of some disease and troubled for the preserving of life, receiveth a medicine, namely, with the greatest desire of recovering his health. For there is a way of life though a man be not sick but dead unto sin. And the hand that putteth into this way is instruction, and that which must keep us in the way is the keeping of instruction: for he that refuseth reproof erreth, erreth in refusing, erreth more by refusing.Jermin.
This is the idea of other verses (1113): that a man going to heaven blazes a path for others. He is a way. Others travel upon him in his prayers and in his example.Miller.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(17) Erreth.Literally, committeth error. This is probably the true sense, and harmonises better with being in the way of life, which occurs just before, than the marginal rendering, causeth to err. The word occurs in a similar sense in Jer. 42:20 (there translated, ye have dissembled).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. He is in the way of life “A way of life is he that heedeth instruction.” Zockler. So, substantially, Stuart and Miller. “He is himself a way to life.” As Miller says, “He blazes the way to heaven.”
Erreth ( math’heh;) causes others to err, leads astray. The sense of the verse is: The way of life (to others) is he that pre-serveth discipline; but he that neglects admonition causeth (others) to err; that is, he permits them to err by his neglect to admonish them. So, substantially, Zockler, Stuart, Conant, Fausset, Miller, etc.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 17. He is in the way of life,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 10:17. He is in the way of life, &c. He is in the way of life who observeth discipline. Houbigant and Schultens. The LXX read, Instruction or discipline keepeth the way of life.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 10:17 He [is in] the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.
Ver. 17. He is in the way of life. ] Rich fools refuse reproof; hold themselves above admonition, Tange montes et fumigabunt, and are therefore, by the just judgment of God, led through a fool’s paradise into a true prison. Divitibus ideo amicus deest, quia nihil deest. Rich men have few faithful counsellors.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
refuseth. Some codices read “hateth”.
erreth = leadeth astray.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 10:17
Pro 10:17
“He is in the way of life that heedeth correction; But he that forsaketh reproof erreth.”
McGee cited Absalom as a classical example of one, “Who wouldn’t accept reproof”; but one hardly needs to go that far back in history to find myriads of other examples of the same error!
Pro 10:17. In Pro 10:16 labor led to life; in this verse heeding correction does. All people make mistakes and will be corrected: as children by parents (Heb 12:9), school teachers, and other adults; later in life by employers, neighbors, mates, Gods leaders, and even God through chastening (Heb 12:5-6). David listened to what Abigail had to say, saw the wisdom of it, and wisely changed his course (1Sa 25:32-33). For other passages on heeding correction see Pro 12:1; Pro 13:18; Pro 15:5; Pro 15:31-32. But there will always be those who forsake reproof, and they will not prosper (Pro 15:10). See also Pro 1:25-26.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the Blessing of the Lord Maketh Rich
Pro 10:17-32
Let us specially avoid talking too much. Silence is golden. See Pro 10:19. Yet the tongue of the just is as choice silver and the lips of the righteous feed many, Pro 10:20-21. When we speak, let us say something and let the people to whom we speak feel that their heart is lighter and that the heavenly horizons are nearer and clearer. Whatever you do, beware of uttering slander, Pro 10:18. You know, by your own experience, what is acceptable; see to it that your mouth brings forth wisdom and grace, Pro 10:31-32.
But this portion of Scripture deals, not only with the speech of the good man, but with his stability. The blessing of God is upon him, enriching him in all manner of ways; and there is no alloy in this gold, no bitterness in Gods love, Pro 10:22. The desire of the righteous is granted, because it is begotten of the divine Spirit. He is built on the Everlasting Rock, Pro 10:25; Pro 10:30. His hope is gladness, Pro 10:28. As he walks in Gods way, he gathers strength, Pro 10:29. Though he fall he is not utterly cast down; for God succors him with His saving strength, Psa 37:24.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
the way: Pro 3:1, Pro 3:2, Pro 3:18, Pro 4:4, Pro 4:13, Pro 12:1, Pro 22:17-19, Mat 7:24-27, Luk 11:28, Heb 2:1, 2Pe 1:5-11
he that: Pro 1:25, Pro 1:26, Pro 1:30, Pro 5:12, Pro 15:10, Pro 29:1, 2Ch 25:16, Heb 12:25
erreth: or, causeth to err, Ecc 5:6
Reciprocal: Pro 1:23 – my reproof Pro 9:6 – in
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 10:17. He is in the way of life The way which leadeth to life and blessedness; that keepeth instruction That observeth the wholesome counsels of God and good men: but he that refuseth reproof erreth Namely, from the way of life, or into the ways of sin, and so of death. Hebrew, , causeth to err, or seduceth, namely, himself: he knowingly and willingly exposes himself to temptation and wickedness, because he rejects that admonition which is a proper preservative from it.