Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 10:25
As the whirlwind passeth, so [is] the wicked no [more]: but the righteous [is] an everlasting foundation.
25. As &c.] Rather, When the whirlwind passeth the wicked is no more. The parallelism is thus best preserved. Like the house on the sand when the whirlwind passes over it, the wicked shall be swept away (Psa 37:10): like the house on the rock unshaken by the storm, the righteous shall stand firm as “an everlasting foundation.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Or, when the whirlwind is passing, then the wicked is no more. Compare Mat 7:24-27.
The righteous … – In the later rabbinic interpretation this was applied to the Messiah as being the Just One, the Everlasting Foundation, on whom the world was established.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 25. As the whirlwind passeth] As tornadoes that sweep every thing away before them; so shall the wrath of God sweep away the wicked; it shall leave him neither branch nor root. But the righteous, being built on the eternal foundation, yesod olam, shall never be shaken.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
As the whirlwind passeth; which is suddenly gone, though with great noise and violence.
So is the wicked no more; his power and felicity is lost in an instant.
Is an everlasting foundation; or, hath an everlasting, &c. His hope and happiness is built upon a sure and unmovable foundation.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
25. (Compare Psa 1:4;Psa 37:9; Psa 37:10;Psa 37:36).
righteous . . .foundationwell laid and firm (Mat 7:24;Mat 7:25).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
As the whirlwind passeth, so [is] the wicked no [more],…. The wicked themselves are like a whirlwind, noisy, boisterous, and blustering; such is the man of sin, who speaks like a dragon, breathing out slaughter and threatening against the saints; and so are his followers, fierce and heady, and like a whirlwind, pernicious and destructive, bearing down, carrying away, and destroying all before it; so the locusts of the bottomless pit, under their king Abaddon, or Apollyon, the destroyer; and all tyrannical persecutors, who are as the boar out of the forest, and the wild beast of the field: and these “pass away” like a whirlwind, swiftly, suddenly, and at once; now they are seen in great power and authority, and anon they are not any more, Jer 4:13; as the whirlwind, which digs up the earth, makes a circle and buries itself in it; so the wicked dig a pit for others and fall into it themselves, Ps 7:14; and as a whirlwind passes away to the joy of men, so when the wicked perish there is shouting; as will be at the destruction of antichrist more especially, Pr 11:10; and it is in the whirlwind and storm of divine wrath, which falls upon the head of the wicked, by which they are caused to pass away, Jer 23:19; so that they are “not”: not that they are annihilated at death, they will rise again and come to judgment, and live in torment for ever; when they pass away, they are somewhere; they are “not” indeed in the land of the living, in their own houses, as formerly, which will know them no more; they are not in their grandeur and prosperity, enjoying their riches and honour; but they are in their own place, in hell they lift up their eyes, though they wish they had no being;
but the righteous [is] an everlasting foundation; he is in a firm and stable state here and hereafter; interested in everlasting love; in which he is rooted and grounded; secured in an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; having a share in everlasting salvation, and eternal redemption wrought out by Christ; being justified by his everlasting righteousness, which will answer for him in a time to come; and a partaker of those graces of the Spirit, faith, hope, and love, which are a well of living water springing up to everlasting life; and having everlasting strength and everlasting consolation in Christ, and a title to eternal life through him. Or, “but the righteous [has] an everlasting foundation” t; the sense is the same; which foundation is not external privileges of birth and education, or a mere outward profession of religion, or works of righteousness done; these are not everlasting, but sandy foundations; but Christ is the righteous man’s foundation, and he is the only one, 1Co 3:11. Some take the sense to be, the “righteous”, that is, Jesus Christ the righteous, “is an everlasting foundation”; he is the foundation of the church, the rock on which it is built; he is the foundation of the apostles and prophets, on which they were laid, and by whom they are saved; he is the foundation of every particular believer, they are rooted and built up on him; he is the foundation of their faith, hope, love, peace, joy, and comfort, and of their eternal glory and happiness: and an “everlasting one” he is; he is so in his person as God-man; in his offices of Prophet, Priest, and King; in the efficacy of his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice; and is a foundation which is sure, and will never fail: he has been the foundation of his people in all ages; and he is the same today, yesterday, and for ever. Hence, though the wicked pass away as the whirlwind, and by one, the righteous shall not; they are on a foundation, and cannot be blown off of it by the storms and tempests of Satan’s temptations, their own corruptions, the persecutions of men, the errors of the wicked, or by the whirlwind of divine wrath and vengeance. Some render it, “the righteous [is] the foundation of the world” u; the pillar and support of it; as the righteous are the salt of the earth, they are the stay of it: the whirlwind of God’s wrath would tear up the course of nature, dissolve the earth, and all things in it, were it not for the sake of the righteous; and, when they are called and gathered in, there will be a general dissolution of all things, 2Pe 3:9.
t “atjusti fandamentum perpetuum est”, Tigurine versions; “justo vero sit, vel est fundamentum perpetuum”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. u “Fundamentum mundi”, Hebraei in Mercer. Maimonides apud Grotius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
There now follows a series of proverbs, broken by only one dissimilar proverb, on the immoveable continuance of the righteous:
25 When the storm sweeps past, it is no more with the wicked;
But the righteous is a building firm for ever.
How Pro 10:25 is connected with Pro 10:24 is shown in the Book of Wisdom 5:15 (the hope of the wicked like chaff which the wind pursues). The Aram., Jerome, and Graec. Venet. interpret of comparison, so that the destruction of the godless is compared in suddenness and rapidity to the rushing past of a storm; but then ought to have been used instead of ; and instead of with the apodosis, a disturbing element in such a comparison, would have been used , or at least . The thought is no other than that of Job 21:18: the storm, which is called , from , to rush forth, is meant, as sweeping forth, and the temporal, as Exo 11:4 (lxx ), with htiw ,) apod. following, like e.g., after a similar member of a temporal sentence, Isa 10:25. is a figure of God-decreed calamities, as war and pestilence, under which the godless sink, while the righteous endure them; cf. with 25a, Pro 1:27; Isa 28:18; and with 25b, Isa 3:25, Hab 2:4; Psa 91:1. “An everlasting foundation,” since is understood as looking forwards, not as at Isa 58:12, backwards, is a foundation capable of being shaken by nothing, and synecdoch. generally a building. The proverb reminds us of the close of the Sermon on the Mount, and finds the final confirmation of its truth in this, that the death of the godless is a penal thrusting of them away, but the death of the righteous a lifting them up to their home. The righteous also often enough perish in times of war and of pestilence; but the proverb, as it is interpreted, verifies itself, even although not so as the poet, viewing it from his narrow O.T. standpoint, understood it; for the righteous, let him die when and how he may, is preserved, while the godless perishes.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 10:25. When the whirlwind passeth, the wicked is no more.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 10:25
THE WHIRLWIND AND THE SURE FOUNDATION
I. The resemblance of a wicked man to a whirlwind.
1. They are both destructive forces. A whirlwind passes over a district and everything that resists its advance is either overthrown, broken, or made to bend to its fury. Every wicked man in his sphere is a destroyer of human happiness and of moral life, but the image is especially applicable to tyrants who have been destroyers of the lives of thousands of their fellow-creatures, and have ruined the happiness of thousands more in their unscrupulous onward march to the attainment of their own selfish ends. Isaiah describes such a one when he says, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof? (chap. Pro. 14:16-17.)
2. They often burst forth with sudden fury, and seem beyond the control of ordinary laws and methods of operation. A whirlwind often descends upon a peaceful valley without any warning, and its fury is the more terrible by reason of its suddenness, and because of the impossibility of foretelling its course and where it will fall in its most destructive power. So a wicked man is a lawless man, he is not guided by principle but by passion and impulse, none of his fellow-creatures can foretell what will be his next act of violence, or who will be the next victims of his selfish ambition. It is this lawless, uncontrollable destructiveness which makes both the moral and the physical whirlwind the terror of the human race, and leads men instinctively to avoid them if possible.
3. The triumph of both is short. How soon nature rights herself after the passage of a whirlwind. She covers the broken rocks with verdure, the trees put forth fresh branches clothed with fresh leaves, others grow up in the places of those which were uprooted, grass and corn spring again, and all looks lovely as before the visitation. The whirlwind passeth, and so does the wicked man. It is soon written of him that he is no more, and men who have trembled at his name take heart, and nations and peoples whom he seemed to have annihilated spring into existence again, and the world rights itself. How many such instances stand recorded in history from the days of Nebuchadnezzar to those of Napoleon. How many times has the experience of the Psalmist been repeated: I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree, yet he passed away, and lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found (Psa. 37:35-36). How often has the world had occasion to repeat the song, How hath the oppressor ceased! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us (Isa. 14:4-8).
II. In what respects a righteous man is an everlasting foundation.
1. His character is something to build upon. Nothing can be built upon a whirlwind, but a substantial structure can be raised upon a good foundation. Men may build hope upon the word and character of a righteous man. A promise given by him is a solid ground of confidence upon which the heart of his brother-man may rest securely. Thus righteousness is a constructive force in the worlda foundation without which society cannot exist. Especially is this true of the ideal man, Christ Jesus. Because He is the Righteous One (Isa. 11:4) His promises are as anchors of the soul to the children of men. In resting upon His word His disciples build upon a sure foundation (1Co. 3:11). Upon His character rests all their hopes for their own blessedness in the future, and for the restoration of a fallen world. Every man is a foundation if righteousness is the chief element of his character.
2. Because for his sake the world stands. The owner of a house may let it stand if there is a good foundation of solid rock, although the superstructure may be comparatively worthless. Our Lord tells us concerning the tribulations which he foretold, that except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elects sake those days shall be shortened (Mat. 24:22). This teaches us that the righteousness of the godly is the power which averts the destruction of the wicked, and keeps the world in existence. In this sense, therefore, the righteous are a foundation.
3. The righteous are an everlasting foundation, because righteousness is the basis of confidence in eternity as it is in time. The blessedness of the life to come is founded upon righteousness. The Kingdom of God in both worlds is established in righteousness (Isa. 54:14). The immutable character of the heavenly world is founded upon the righteousness first of its righteous King, and then upon that of His righteous servants.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The righteous may be poor, and, in his sinful state, anything but a stately building to the Lord, but in his meanest infancy he is a foundation. Very little appears above the surface. But he is a basis of all that is to be built, and that basis is to be eternal.Miller.
The proverb reminds us of the close of the Sermon on the Mount, and finds the final confirmation of its truth in this, that the death of the godless is a penal thrusting of them away, but the death of the righteous a lifting them up to their home. The righteous also often enough perish in times of war and of pestilence; but the proverb, as it is interpreted, verifies itself, even although not so as the poet, viewing it from his narrow Old Testament standpoint, understood it; for the righteous, let him die when and how he may, is preserved, while the godless perishes.Delitzsch.
The continuance of the wicked is but while they dig the pit of their own destruction.Jermin.
The Lord will lay a sure foundation, and he that believeth shall not make haste (Isa. 28:16). These two promises lie together in the Scripture. When your hearts hope is fixed on that precious corner-stone, you need not be thrown into a flutter by the fiercest onset of the world and its god.Arnot.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(25) As the whirlwind passeth.Better, when the whirlwind, &c. (Comp. Wis. 5:14-15; Job. 21:18; Mat. 7:24, ff.) Death is ruin to the wicked, and gain to the righteous (2Ti. 1:12).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
25. So is the wicked no more Literally, then the wicked is not; that is, the whirlwind sweeps them away, or they pass away quickly like the whirlwind.
But the righteous An everlasting foundation is theirs. The antithesis lies between the evanescence of the wicked and the stability of the righteous. Compare Psa 125:1; Psa 37:27; Psa 15:5; Job 1:19; Isa 28:18-19; Pro 1:27; Mat 7:24, etc. The rabbins applied the latter clause to the Messiah, as the Just One, the Everlasting Foundation, on whom the world was established.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 25. As the whirlwind passeth,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 10:25 As the whirlwind passeth, so [is] the wicked no [more]: but the righteous [is] an everlasting foundation.
Ver. 25. As the whirlwind passeth away. ] The whirlwind is terrible for the time, but not durable. Lo, such is the rage of tyrants and persecutors. Nubecula est, cito transibit, said Athanasius of the Arian persecution. Our Richard III and Queen Mary had, as the bloodiest, so the shortest reigns of any since the Conquest. Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. Dioclesian, that cruel persecutor, giving over his empire, decreed to lead the rest of his life quietly, a But he escaped not so, for after that his house was wholly consumed with lightning and a flame of fire that fell from heaven. He, hiding himself for fear of the lightning, died within a little while after. “Then terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night. The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth; and, as a storm, hurleth him out of his place. For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand. Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place,” as Job elegantly and emphatically sets it forth. Pro 26:20-23
But the righteous is an everlasting foundation.
a Euseb., De Vit. Const, lib. iii.
b Absque stationibus non staret mundus.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
As the whirlwind passeth, &c. Illustrations: Gen 7:21-23 (compare Mat 24:37-39. Luk 17:26, Luk 17:27); Elah (1Ki 16:7-10); Sennacherib (2Ki 19:35-37).
an everlasting foundation. Compare Mat 7:24-27.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 10:25
Pro 10:25
“When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more; But the righteous is an everlasting foundation.”
The truth of this is apparently lost on our beloved America today. “It is righteousness that exalteth a nation” (Pro 14:34). Ten righteous people would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction. The only foundation therefore for any `everlasting’ society is righteous people. Humanism is the destruction of any society built upon it.
Pro 10:25. Finally Gods patience with the wicked comes to an end, and He sweeps them away with the suddenness of a whirlwind. After such a storm has passed, oftentimes it is only the foundation of a building that is left. The righteous are like that foundation, the wicked like the building that was carried away. Psalms 37 is a psalm that says the same thing over and over. Read it, noting the sudden destruction of the wicked and the continuation and blessing of the righteous.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the whirlwind: Pro 1:27, Job 27:19-21, Psa 37:9, Psa 37:10, Psa 58:9, Psa 73:18-20, Isa 40:24
an: Pro 10:30, Psa 15:5, Mat 7:24, Mat 7:25, Mat 16:18, Eph 2:20, 1Ti 6:19, 2Ti 2:19
Reciprocal: Deu 33:27 – underneath Pro 12:3 – shall not be established Pro 28:18 – walketh Jer 23:19 – General Luk 6:48 – and laid 1Jo 2:17 – abideth