Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 10:27
The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
27. Comp. Pro 3:2.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Pro 10:27
The fear of the Lord prolongeth days.
Long life a promised blessing
We may wish for one another long life. Every one wishes it for himself. It is a mistake to regard this wish as an infirmity. Strong love of life is not necessarily sinful.
1. Long life is distinctly promised in Scripture as a blessing to Gods people, both in the Old and New Testaments.
2. See why long life is a blessing. Because God rewards the good works of His people. He enables them to do good works, and rewards their work. The reward is not salvation but glory. Life, like health, intellect, influence, is a talent, lent to us for our Masters service and our own profit; the greater the loan the larger the profit; the longer it is in trust, the fuller the results. There are difficulties in the way of accepting this truth. One is the seemingly contradictory language of Scripture on the subject. Some passages speak of early departure as a blessing. This is true only in special cases. And we must distinguish between things good and desirable in themselves, and things which become so by Gods appointment. Another objection is this–Admitting that long life is a blessing, and a promised blessing, still we do not see the fulfilment of the promise. We see young saints departing, and old sinners remaining. In reply it may be urged that, if we could take the average of life, we should find it to be in favour of godly men. And the exceptions to the rule are more apparent than real. In many cases we see only the pious death, we are not acquainted with the whole previous life. It may be that the good man, whose early death so distresses and perplexes us, has, in early life, deserved that his days should have been thus shortened. And the cases of early death are simply exceptions to a generally working law.
3. What practical bearing shall this truth have upon our lives? We have rescued this text from the strained interpretation of those who do not look on long life as in itself a blessing. We have learned the true meaning and use of this longing after life which all men feel. It is no small gain to our peace of mind, when we can see that this love of life is not always an infirmity or a sin, but that the Christian may lawfully desire long life, as a longer time of working and suffering for Christ. And such a lawful desire for long life gives the strongest motive for rightly using life as it passes.
4. The tendency of vice is to shorten mens days. The text implies that, as life is a talent given to be rightly used, so, if abused, it is taken away from the possessor. We desire a longer life for the ungodly and careless, because we know that life is an opportunity for salvation; we would give the wicked further chance of repentance. (Abp. W. C. Magee.)
The fear of the Lord prolongeth days
There is no doubt about it. The fear of the Lord leads to virtuous habits, and these prevent that waste of life which comes of sin and vice. The holy rest which springs out of faith in the Lord Jesus also greatly helps a man when he is ill. Every physician rejoices to have a patient whose mind is fully at ease. Worry kills, but confidence in God is like healing medicine. We have therefore all the arrangements for long life, and if it be really for our good, we shall see a good old age, and come to our graves as shocks of corn in their season. Let us not be overcome with sudden expectation of death the moment we have a finger-ache, but let us rather expect that we may have to work on through a considerable length of days. And what if we should soon be called to the higher sphere? Certainly there would be nothing to deplore in such a summons, but everything to rejoice in. Living or dying we are the Lords. If we live, Jesus will be with us; if we die, we shall be with Jesus. The truest lengthening of life is to live while we live, wasting no time, but using every hour for the highest ends. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Prolongeth days; partly because it gives them a title to the promise of long life, as well as to other promises; partly because it gladdeth the heart, which doth good like a medicine, Pro 17:22, and preserves a man from those wicked practices which tend to the shortening of the days.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
27. (Compare Pro 9:11;Psa 55:23).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The fear of the Lord prolongeth days,…. Not beyond the time fixed in the unalterable purposes and decrees of God, Job 14:5; but longer than some others, or than those that fear the Lord expect to live; or longer than, according to the course of nature, and the weakness of their constitutions, it could be thought they should live. Long life is promised to them that fear the Lord; godliness has the promise of this life and of that to come; the fear of the Lord is the means of preserving persons from those things which are pernicious to the health of men, and so of prolonging their days; as well as it has length of days, for ever and ever, even eternal life, annexed to it; see Ps 34:11;
but the years of the wicked shall be shortened; through diseases, which their sins bring upon them, which cut them off before they have lived out half their days; or by means of which, their sins, they come into the hand of the civil magistrate, and die before their time; or are taken off in their full strength by the immediate judgment of God, as were Ananias and Sapphira; and so they die in the midst of their days; and before the time, which, according to the course of nature, and the common period of life, in all human probability they might have arrived unto, Ps 55:23.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
From this point the proverbs fall into the series connecting themselves with Pro 10:25:
27 The fear of Jahve multiplies the days of life;
But the years of the godless are shortened.
This parable, like Pro 10:25, also corresponds with the O.T. standpoint, having in view the present life. The present-life history confirms it, for vice destroys body and soul; and the fear of God, which makes men contented and satisfied in God, is truly the right principle of longevity. But otherwise also the pious often enough die early, for God carries them away from the face of the evil, Isa 57:1.; or if they are martyrs for the truth (Psa 44:23, cf. Psa 60:6), the verification of the above proverb in such cases moves forward (Wisd. 4:7ff.) into eternity, in which the life of the pious continues for ever, while that of the godless loses itself with his death in the state of everlasting death. Pro 9:11, cf. Pro 3:2, resembles 27a. Instead of , was to be expected; but the flexion does not distinguish the transitive (Arab. kasara ) and intransitive (Arab. kasura ) as it ought.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. 28 The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.
Observe, 1. Religion lengthens men’s lives and crowns their hopes. What man is he that loves life? Let him fear God, and that will secure him from many things that would prejudice his life, and secure to him life enough in this world and eternal life in the other; the fear of the Lord will add days more than was expected, will add them endlessly, will prolong them to the days of eternity. What man is he that would see good days? Let him be religious, and then his days shall not only be many, but happy, very happy as well as very many, for the hope of the righteous shall be gladness; they shall have what they hope for, to their unspeakable satisfaction. It is something future and unseen that they place their happiness in (Rom 8:24; Rom 8:25), not what they have in hand, but what they have in hope, and their hope will shortly be swallowed up in fruition, and it will be their everlasting gladness. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. 2. Wickedness shortens men’s lives, and frustrates their hopes: The years of the wicked, that are spent in the pleasures of sin and the drudgery of the world, shall be shortened. Cut down the trees that cumber the ground. And whatever comfort or happiness a wicked man promises himself, in this world or the other, he will be frustrated; for the expectation of the wicked shall perish; his hope shall be turned into endless despair.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Future Destiny
(Pro 10:27-30)
Verse 27 contrasts the longevity the LORD grants to those who fear Him with the shortened life of the wicked, Pro 3:2; Pro 3:16; Pro 9:11; Pro 11:19; Job 15:32-33; Job 22:15-16; Psa 55:23; Ecc 7:17; Pro 1:7 on fear of the LORD.
Verse 28 assures that the righteous shall find the joy they desire, but the hopes of the wicked shall fail, Pro 11:7; Job 8:13-14; Job 11:20.
Verse 29 declares that what is a stronghold to the righteous is destruction to the wicked. AV and RV render the stronghold as “The Way of the LORD.” RSV has it “The LORD is a stronghold.” Compare Job 17:9; Psa 28:7-8; Isa 40:31; Zec 10:12; Php_4:13; Pro 21:15; Pro 29:1; Psa 1:6; Joh 14:6.
Verse 30 repeats the divine law respecting occupancy of the earth; the righteous shall, the wicked shall not. Psa 37:9; Psa 37:11; Mat 5:5; Rev 21:1-4; Rev 21:8.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 10:27
LONG LIFE
This verse must be looked at
I. Generally. The fear of the Lord prolongs life because, other things being equal, godliness tends to bodily health. A good man governs his life by some kind of law, his passions and inclinations do not play the lord over his conscience and will. This has a beneficial influence upon his bodily health. He has contentment with his present lot, trust in his God amid all the anxieties of life, and hope for the future. Such a state of mind tends to soundness of bodily health, whereas the manner of life of a godless man is opposed to health and consequently to long life. If a complicated machine is permitted to work with some of its parts improperly adjusted and fretting against each other at every turn of the wheel, the friction will soon wear away the parts, and ere long they will cease to act. A soul without godliness is a complicated mechanism which has never been rightly adjusted. There is no ruling principle, no guiding hand, one passion wars against another, the man bears the burden of life alone, he is at times a prey to the fears spoken of in Pro. 10:24, and the rule of all these devils in the soul has a tendency to wear out the body before its time. This is a truth universally admitted. But the words must also be regarded
II. Relatively. That is, with a due regard to other circumstances. The length of a good mans life does not always depend upon himself, but upon the age in which he livesupon the people by whom he is surrounded. The godliness of Abel shortened his life very materially. If his works had not been righteous, his brother would not have murdered him. The first Christian martyr met with an early and a violent death because he was a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost (Act. 6:5); and the fear of the Lord has shortened the days of millions since then. The ranks of the noble army of martyrs have been filled up by volunteers of every age and many nations since Stephen fell asleep, testifying to the fact that, so far as life in this world is concerned, other things must be taken into consideration.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
There is no such wholesome airthere is no such kindly physicthere is no such sovereign cordialas the fear of the Lord. That makes the days of the godly as long as the years of the wicked.Jermin.
The righteous days are great and noble, and the wickeds days are mean and small. And this is the meaning of the Proverb, Made little, literally, shortened (E.V.). We thought at first that this was decisive against our sense, and against our rendering of all the verses expounded in chap. 3. (Pro. 10:2-16). Our thought of this was increased by Job. 14:1, and by all the expositions. But when we turned to Psa. 102:23, our own sense was wonderfully confirmed. That verse reads, He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days: where shortened must have a sense coincident with continued living. And what that sense is, such passages as these: Is my hand shortened? (Isa. 50:2), The soul of the people was (lit.) shortened, The days of his youth hast Thou shortened (Num. 21:4; Psa. 89:45), and nearly all the other instances strikingly confirm. The meaning is, Wisdom makes our days grander and grander, and Impenitence makes them weaker, and always of less account.Miller.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(27) The fear of the Lord prolongeth days.The special Old Testament blessing for obedience (comp. Pro. 9:11), often fulfilled now, too, in the case of those who live on to old age, in the quiet fulfilment of duty; while others are shortening their lives by excessive anxieties, or the pursuit of pleasure.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27. Prolongeth Literally, addeth.
Shortened Cut off short, curtailed, because they feared not Jehovah. Compare Pro 3:2; Pro 9:11; Pro 14:27; Psa 55:23; Ecc 7:17; Ecc 8:12-13.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Physical Body of Man: Long life This section emphasizes man’s physical body, as Pro 10:1-9 has emphasized the heart of man and Pro 10:10-32 has emphasized the tongue, or mind, of man. Although there is still some verses that focus upon the tongue until Pro 10:32, we do find a transition in an emphasis about a long life.
Pro 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
Pro 10:27
The phrase “prolongeth days” literally reads, “adds days.” The Lord can add days to the life of a righteous man. We see this happen in the life of Hezekiah when he was told that he would not live. After pleading to God, the Lord added fifteen years to his life.
2Ki 20:5-6, “Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.”
Pro 10:27 “but the years of the wicked shall be shortened” – Illustration:
Gen 6:3, “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”
Pro 10:27 Comments – The contrast is clear in Pro 10:27. God will add years to the righteous, and He will subtract years from the wicked. This is seen in the long life of Noah in contrast to the destruction of his wicked generation. It was at this time in history that God shortened man’s life to one hundred and twenty years.
Gen 6:3, “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”
Pro 10:28 The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.
Pro 10:28
Pro 13:12, “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”
A wicked man’s hope is in this life. Our hope as Christians is in eternal life. Thus, when a wicked man dies, none of his hopeful expectations are realized, but rather disappointment and horror. His hope for anything comes to a complete end; it dies. In contrast, when a righteous man dies, his hopes are just beginning to be realizes, and far beyond his expectations and will continue throughout eternity (Job 27:8, Pro 11:7; Prov 14:43).
Job 27:8, “For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?”
Pro 11:7, “When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth.”
Pro 14:32, “The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.”
In the parable of the rich fool how the rich man’s hopes were in the things of this world, for he said to himself, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” Once he died, his hope of good things died with him. (Luk 12:13-21)
In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, we see how poor Lazarus’s hope was realized in his death, while the expectations of the rich man perished at his death (Luk 16:19-31). G. S. Bowes gives us the following examples of the fallen expectations of the wicked:
“Alexander the Great was not satisfied, even when he had completely subdued the nations. He wept because there were no more worlds to conquer, and he died at an early age in a state of debauchery. Hannibal, who filled three bushels with the gold rings taken from the knights he had slaughtered, committed suicide by swallowing poison. Few noted his passing, and he left this earth completely unmourned. Julius Caesar, ‘dyeing his garments in the blood of one million of his foes,’ conquered 800 cities, only to be stabbed by his best friends at the scene of his greatest triumph. Napoleon, the feared conqueror, after being the scourge of Europe, spent his last years in banishment.” (G. S. Bowes, Our Daily Bread 29 February 1991) [82]
[82] William MacDonald, Proverbs, in Believer’s Bible Commentary, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Pub., 1995), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), comments on Proverbs 10:28.
Pro 10:29 The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.
Pro 10:29
Gen 18:19, “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD , to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”
Deu 9:16, “And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the LORD your God, and had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the LORD had commanded you .”
Jdg 2:22, “That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.”
2Ki 21:22, “And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD .”
2Ki 22:2, “And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father , and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.”
Psa 119:33, “HE. Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes ; and I shall keep it unto the end.”
Hos 14:9, “Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.”
Jer 5:4, “Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD , nor the judgment of their God.”
Jer 21:8, “And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life , and the way of death.”
Mat 3:3, “For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord , make his paths straight.”
Act 18:25, “This man was instructed in the way of the Lord ; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.”
Contrast “the way of the Lord” with “the way of the wicked”:
1Ki 15:34, “And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam , and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.”
1Ki 22:52, “And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father , and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin:”
Psa 146:9, “The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.”
Pro 8:13, “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way , and the froward mouth, do I hate.”
Pro 15:9, “ The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness.”
Isa 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way ; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
“The way of the Lord” refers to the providence of God at work in our lives. Note:
Jer 10:23, “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”
Pro 20:24, “Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?”
Scripture References – Note a similar verse:
Isa 40:31, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Pro 10:29 Comments – The contrast in Pro 10:29 is seen in the fact that the Way of the Lord brings a righteous man to a place of strength, but the way of the Lord brings weakness and destruction to the wicked man. Thus, the way of the Lord is God’s providence, both blessings and judgment, at work in our lives.
Pro 10:30 The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.
Pro 10:30
Mat 6:32-33, “(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Pro 10:31 The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out.
Pro 10:31
Pro 10:31 “but the froward tongue shall be cut out” Word Study on “cut out” – Strong says the Hebrew word “cut out” ( ) (H3772) is a primitive root that literally means, “to cut off, to cut down, or to cut asunder.” The Enhanced Strong says this Hebrew word is used 288 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “ cut off 145, make 85, cut down 23, cut 9, fail 6, destroy 4, want 3, covenanted 2, hew 2, misc 9.”
Scripture References – Note a similar verse:
Psa 12:3, “The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:”
Pro 10:31 Comments – The two Hebrew verbs in Pro 10:31 give a clear picture of the contrast. The tongue of the righteous germinated, or bears fruit, but the tongue of the wicked must be pruned, or cut off. The mouth of the just brings forth good fruit. He is a tree of life (Pro 15:4). In contrast, the tongue of the wicked will be cut down, as it is an unprofitable tree to the vinedresser.
Pro 15:4, “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.”
Pro 10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.
Pro 10:32
Pro 10:32 Comments – The contrast seen in Pro 10:32 is that the righteous speaks wisdom, which is accepted by God, but the wicked speak perversity, which is unacceptable in God’s eyes.
Pro 10:31-32 Comments – The Tongue of Man Pro 10:31-32 appears to form a couplet, as they speak about the same issue, which is the tongue of man.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
v. 27. The fear of the Lord prolongeth days,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
Ver. 27. The fear of the Lord prolongeth days. ] Heb., Addeth days, viz., beyond expectation or likelihood in a course of nature. “The days of mourning for my father are at hand,” said bloody Esau, “and then will I slay my brother Jacob.” Gen 27:41 But threatened men, if they fear God especially, Ecc 8:12-13 live long. For even Isaac who died soonest, lived above fifty years beyond this. See Trapp on “ Exo 20:12 “
But the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The fear of the LORD. See note on Pro 1:7.
prolongeth days = increaseth days; not necessarily in number, but in greater value and importance.
shortened = cut down, or made little, as in Isa 50:2; Isa 59:1. Mic 2:7. Num 11:23; Num 21:4. (discouraged). Jdg 10:16 (grieved); Pro 16:16 (vexed). Job 21:4 (troubled). Zec 11:8 (loathed). Psa 102:23, where it refers to affliction, not to continued living.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 10:27
Pro 10:27
“The fear of Jehovah prolongeth days; But the years of the wicked shall be shortened.”
There is no mature person who cannot recall from what he has observed many examples of the wicked whose lives have been shortened and terminated by their wicked deeds. The drunken drivers killed in accidents, the robber shot in the act, the adulterer slain in vengeance – the list is endless.
Pro 10:27. As a rule a person or a people given to sin will not live as long as a godly person or people. Sin soon burns its victims out like a roaring fire does the wood. Read Pro 9:11 and Psa 55:23 in connection with this verse.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
fear
(See Scofield “Psa 19:9”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
fear: Pro 3:2, Pro 3:16, Pro 9:11, Psa 21:4, Psa 34:11-13, Psa 91:16
prolongeth: Heb. addeth
the years: Job 15:32, Job 15:33, Job 22:15, Job 22:16, Psa 55:23, Ecc 7:17, Jer 17:11, Luk 12:20
Reciprocal: Gen 6:7 – I will Deu 11:9 – prolong Deu 17:20 – that he Job 5:26 – in a full age Pro 19:23 – fear
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
LONG LIFE AND PROMISED BLESSING
The fear of the Lord prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
Pro 10:27
All men love life: there is not one who really desires death. We doubt much if there be one who would be pleased if we were to say to him or her, I hope you may die soon: I hope you may not live to see another new year.
We believe that this strong instinctive love of life, though it may be perverted and abused, has yet its use; and, rightly directed, finds its meaning and its place in the Gospel system.
I. Long life is distinctly promised in Scripture as a blessing to Gods people.Let thine heart keep My commandments; for length of days, and long life, and peace shall they add to thee, etc. And we find it granted, as a special favour, to Hezekiah: fifteen years being added to his days in answer to his prayers. On the other hand, we find shortness of life denounced as a punishment: Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. Long life is spoken of as a blessing in the New Testament. St. Paul reminds the Christians to whom he wrote of the promise of long life attached to the fifth commandment; and speaks of the recovery of Epaphroditus as an instance of the mercy of God. So long life is a lawful subject of desire and of prayer.
II. How and why long life is a blessing.An important truth is this, that God rewards the good works of his people. God does not give salvation as a reward for the works even of His children; but having saved them freely and fully by His Son, and having by His Holy Spirit enabled them to do good works, He does reward His work in them as if it were solely theirs: Your Father will reward you openly. They all enter heaven, but their places there are to be decided by their works on earth. Then it is most certain that time is a most important element in the calculation. A long life to spend in working is a blessing.
If the fear of the Lord prolongeth days, how is it that we see so often young saints departing and old sinners remaining? We believe that if we could take the average of life we should find it to be in favour of the godly. The other cases are exceptionscases in which, for some wise reason, God has seen fit to supersede His general law, which accords long life to those who fear Him.
III. What practical bearing has this truth upon our lives?The Christian may lawfully desire long life, not from the fear of death, nor even from love to those he leaves behind, but as a means of gaining honour in His Masters service, as a longer time for working and suffering for Christ.
IV. The years of the wicked shall be shortened.The tendency of vice is to shorten mens days. Life is a talent given to be rightly used, and if abused it is taken away from the possessor. While earthly death is a judgment upon the ungodly, it is not so awful a judgment as a prolonged sinful life. If the aged saint be a glorious sight, so the aged sinner must be the most awful sight on earth.
Archbishop Magee.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Pro 10:27-28. The fear of the Lord prolongeth days For it gives those who are influenced by it a title to the promise of long life, as well as to other promises; it gladdens their hearts, which does good like a medicine, Pro 17:22; and it preserves them from those wicked practices which tend to the shortening of a mans days. The hope of the righteous shall be gladness Though at present it be mixed with doubts, and fears, and disappointments, yet at last it shall be accomplished and turned into enjoyment; but the expectation of the wicked, &c. Shall be utterly frustrated, and so shall end in sorrow.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked {m} shall be shortened.
(m) The time of their prosperity will be short because of their great fall, though they seem to live long.