Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 12:21
There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.
21. evil mischief ] Rather, mischief evil, with R.V., reversing the meaning of the two Heb. words.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Pro 12:21
There shall no evil happen to the just.
The security of the faithful
The things which distinguish us most try us most. Those attributes of our nature which serve to mark its superiority, serve also to evince its liability to trouble. The animal tribes, as they have no capacity for reviewing the past, so have they no power of anticipating the future. And hence they have no dread, in the strict sense, of coming evils. But we can look forward. We can busy ourselves in thought and imagination with days to come. Yet the heavier half of the cares and anxieties that we have to bear are connected with this faculty. The afflictions we fear often distress us more than the afflictions we lie under. But God, who gave us our being, knows this, and has provided against it in His Word. Does not this text meet our whole case? Amidst all disasters the good may be confident and calm. What is the significance of this assurance? It cannot be taken literally. Evil in the sense of earthly calamity, sorrow and trial is the lot of all. What, then, does the text mean? Things which are evil in themselves do not, as such, fall upon the people of God. For them the curse is turned into a blessing. A divine process of transmutation takes place in the case of every ill that befalls a child of God, and the ill becomes a good. Illustrate this–
1. From cases of personal affliction of mind, or of body, or of both.
2. Adverse circumstances.
3. Bereavements. This subject teaches the goodness of Divine providence; and it tranquillizes us under present trials. (C. M. Merry.)
No evil to the just
The word just was a term used anciently in connection with the chase, and meant the equal dividing of the prey procured by hunting among those that took part in the pursuit. It means to do right, to try to be harmless. Though the just man sometimes come short of the mark, his prevailing disposition and aim are to be and to do right. He is studious to do right. To such a man, it is declared, no evil shall happen. How are we to understand this?
1. Whatever evil comes to a just man cannot happen in the sense of coming by chance. There is a government of God over the affairs of men, and therefore nothing takes place by accident or chance. No evil can come to the just man that does not come designedly, or permissively, in the course of providence.
2. To a just man no evil can come that is not controlled and overruled for his good. All things work together for good to them that love God.
3. This is true in relation to helping others, as well as himself. Those who have suffered themselves are the better prepared to sympathise with and help their fellow-creatures that suffer.
4. No permanent evil can come to a just man. Then–
(1) Let us thank God for pains and afflictions.
(2) We should understand that, if we try to be just, we shall have our reward now and hereafter. There can be no failure or mistake. (H. M. Gallaher, D.D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 21. There shall no evil happen to the just] No, for all things work together for good to them that love God. Whatever occurs to a righteous man God turns to his advantage. But, on the other hand, the wicked are filled with mischief: they are hurt, grieved, and wounded, by every occurrence; and nothing turns to their profit.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
No evil; either,
1. Of sin; or rather,
2. Of suffering or mischief, as the next clause explains this. No such evil shall befall them as doth commonly befall the wicked, who are filled, or overwhelmed, and utterly destroyed by it; whereas good men are supported under their troubles, and shall be delivered out of them, and receive much benefit by them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. no evil(as in Ps91:10), under God’s wise limitations (Ro8:28).
mischiefas penal evil.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
There shall no evil happen to the just,…. The evil of sin: no iniquity, as the Targum; which, and the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, interpret of sin not being agreeable, convenient, suit able, and pleasing to a righteous man. Moreover, the Lord, by his Spirit and grace, weakens the power of sin in them; and, by his providence, prevents and removes occasion of sinning; and by his power preserves from it, from being overcome and carried away with it, at least finally and totally. Or the evil of punishment is here meant; no penal evil shall befall them; the punishment of their sin has been inflicted on Christ their surety, and therefore shall never be laid on them; and whatever afflictions may happen to them, which have the name and appearance of evil, these work together for their good, spiritual and eternal; so that, in reality, no evil thing, properly speaking, happens to them; see Ps 91:10. Or whatever does come to them comes not by chance unto them, but by the decree and will of God, and is overruled for good;
but the wicked shall be filled with mischief; or “with evil” h, the evil of sin; with malice and wickedness, with all impiety and unrighteousness, with ignorance and error; with all kind of sins, both against the first and second table of the law, and so with all the consequences of sin: with the evil of punishment; with an evil conscience, with the terrors of it; with many distresses here, and with everlasting destruction hereafter. Some understand it of the mischief they devise to others, which they are full of and big with; and “though” they are, as Aben Ezra interprets the word, yet no evil shall happen to the righteous; the mischief contrived by them shall fall upon themselves.
h “malo”, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
21 No evil befalls the righteous,
But the godless are full of evil.
Hitzig translates “sorrow,” and Zckler “injury;” but the word signifies evil as ethical wickedness, and although it may be used of any misfortune in general (as in , opp. ); thus it denotes especially such sorrow as is the harvest and product of sin, Pro 22:8; Job 4:8; Isa 59:4, or such as brings after it punishment, Hab 3:7; Jer 4:15. That it is also here thus meant the contrast makes evident. The godless are full of evil, for the moral evil which is their life-element brings out of itself all kinds of evil; on the contrary, no kind of evil, such as sin brings forth and produces, falls upon the righteous. God, as giving form to human fortune (Exo 21:13), remains in the background (cf. Psa 91:10 with Psa 5:1.); vid., regarding , the weaker power of , to go against, to meet, to march against, Fleischer, Levy’s Chald. Wrterbuch, 572.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
21 There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.
Note, 1. Piety is a sure protection. If men be sincerely righteous, the righteous God has engaged that no evil shall happen to them. He will, by the power of his grace in them, that principle of justice, keep them from the evil of sin; so that, though they be tempted, yet they shall not be overcome by the temptation, and though they may come into trouble, into many troubles, yet to them those troubles shall have no evil in them, whatever they have to others (Ps. xci. 10), for they shall be overruled to work for their good. 2. Wickedness is as sure a destruction. Those that live in contempt of God and man, that are set on mischief, with mischief they shall be filled. They shall be more mischievous, shall be filled with all unrighteousness, Rom. i. 29. Or they shall be made miserable with the mischiefs that shall come upon them. Those that delight in mischief shall have enough of it. Some read the whole verse thus, There shall no evil happen to the just, though the wicked be filled with mischief and spite against them. They shall be safe under the protection of Heaven, though hell itself break loose upon them.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Divine Watchcare
Verse 21 assures divine protection for the just who live according to God’s rules, Pro 1:33; Psa 91:10; Gen 50:20; Rom 8:28; 2Pe 2:9. The wicked who live in contempt of God shall be filled with mischief (evil) and He will deal with them appropriately in His own time, Pro 11:5; Pro 12:7; Isa 48:22.
Verse 22: See comments on Pro 11:20.
Verse 23: See comments on Pro 10:14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 12:21
ALL WORKING FOR THE GOOD OF THE RIGHTEOUS
The first clause cannot, of course, mean that nothing that appears evilthat no sorrow or loss happens to the just. Such an assertion would be contrary to other teachings of Scripture, as well as to experience and history. The righteousness of the first man who is called righteous (Luk. 11:51) led to his murder. If Joseph had been a less virtuous man, the iron of imprisonment would not have entered into his soul (Psa. 105:18). If John the Baptist had been a timeserving godless man, he would not have had the bitter experience of the dungeon of Machaerus. To these men, and to all the noble army of martyrs, many of the things which happened were very evil in themselves. The Word of God likewise forewarns men that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, that through much tribulation they must enter into the kingdom of God (2Ti. 3:12; Act. 14:22). And every just man now living has had experience of evil befalling him in his health, his circumstances, or in some other form. But
I. No evil shall really injure the godly man. It shall not hurt his better part, that which is the man himselfhis spiritual nature, his moral character. The storms that cannot uproot a tree only make it take deeper root-hold, and so add to its strength. If it break some of the branches it makes it more fit to weather another tempest. So all the trials of the just man tend to strengthen his character by causing him to lay a firmer hold upon the things that are unseen and eternal.
Affliction then is ours;
We are the trees whom shaking fastens more,
While blustering winds destroy the wanton bowers,
And ruffle all their curious knots and store.Herbert.
The true interpretation of the text is found in the inspired declaration of Paul, We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). Many elements work together to produce a good harvest at the appointed time. Winter winds and snow, summer breezes, gentle rain and noontide heat, all have a part in the work. One of these agencies alone would not bring forth one golden ear, but the working together will cover the land with fields of grain ready for the sickle. Many and various materials and agencies must be brought together to build a seaworthy ship. Iron and wood, fire and water, men skilled in many different arts must work together to bring about the required result. And so with the just man. Manifold experiences, failure and success, joy and sorrow, make up his earthly life. Not sorrow alone, nor joy alone, would fit him for his eternal inheritancewould fit him to be presented faultless before the presence of his Lord (Jud. 1:24). But it is the combination of both, the many things working together, that effect the desired good. And so no evil befals him, because all the evil shall work together with the good for his eternal well-being.
II.The wicked man shall likewise attain to a completion of character. The wicked shall be filled with mischief teaches
(1) that wicked men are not so bad as they can be. Thorns and briars grow stronger year by year. Time is needed to transform the blade into the full ear. As the present season of probation is but the beginning of mans life, we conclude that men can go on eternally progressing in the character which now belongs to themthat all their present habits of thought and feeling can become much stronger than they are at present. Therefore, a wicked man can grow worse than he is at present.
(2) That wicked men are not so bad as they shall be. If a stone is set in motion down a hill it will keep on its course unless it is arrested by some opposing force. So, unless a godless man yields to a Divine influence, and so is brought to repentance, he shall wax worse and worse (2Ti. 4:13). No man can stand still in character; if he do not grow better, he must grow worse. And this filling up of the measure of wickedness is but the necessary reaction of his own actions. He is filled with his own mischief. As the just mans present actions go to strengthen and develop his spiritual nature, and to complete and perfect his character in goodness, so every act of the godless man is one more link of the chain of evil habit which binds him daily more tightly, and sinks him every day a little lower in the moral universe of God.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
No evil, or calamity; literally nothing worthless or empty. The root means nothingness, entire vacuity. The expression, too, is peculiar. There shall not happen to the righteous any nothingness at all. But as several of the nouns that mean evil, through a deep philosophy, trace to the same kind of root, calamity, or actual evil, is the proper translated sense. No event that turns out an actual calamity can ever happen to the saint. And if anyone points to their tremendous agonies it is well enough to go back to the root, nothingness. Nothing worthless; that is, nothing that proves not so useful as to be better than present joy. Nothing not actually precious. In the whole course of their lives each is filled with their own proper lot. The wicked, if he have joys, will find them sorrows; and the righteous, if he have sorrows, will find them, not nothings, but for his eternal joy.Miller.
The word signifies evil as ethical wickedness, and although it may be used of any misfortune in general, it denotes especially such sorrow as is the harvest and produce of sin (chap. Pro. 22:8; Job. 4:8; Isa. 59:4), or such as brings after it punishment (Hab. 3:7; Jer. 4:15). That it is also here thus meant the contrast makes evident.Delitzsch.
First, for evil of sin. God will not lead him into temptation; but will cut off occasions, remove stumbling-blocks out of his way; devoratory evils, as Tertullian calls them, he shall be sure not to fall into That evil one shall not touch him (1Jn. 5:18) with a deadly touch; nibble he may at their heels, but cannot reach their heads, shake he may his chain at them, but shall not set his fangs in them, or so far thrust his sting into them as to infuse into them the venom of that sin unto death (1Jn. 5:17). Next, for evil of pain, though many be the troubles of the righteous (Psa. 34:19), and they fall into manifold temptations (Jas. 1:2), they go not in step by step into these waters of Marah, but fall into them, being, as it were, precipitated, plunged over head and ears, yet are bidden to be exceeding glad, as a merchant is to see his ship come laden in. Their afflictions are not penal, but probational; not mortal, but medicinal. By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit, the taking away of his sin (Isa. 27:9). Look how the scourging and beating of a garment with a stick drives out the moths and the dust; so doth affliction corruptions from the heart; and there is no hurt in that; no evil thereby happens to the just. To treasure up sin is to treasure up wrath (Rom. 2:5). Every bottle shall be filled with wine (Jer. 13:12); the bottle of wickedness, when once filled with those bitter waters, will sink to the bottom; the ephah of wickedness, when top full shall be borne into the land of Shinar, and set there upon her own base (Heb. 5:8; Heb. 5:11). He that makes a match with mischief shall have his bellyfull of it (Hos. 4:17; Pro. 14:14); he shall have an evil, an evil, an only evil (Eze. 7:5), that is, judgment without mercy, as St. James expounds it (chap. Pro. 2:13). Non surgit hic afflictior, as the prophet Nahum hath it (chap. Pro. 1:9); affliction shall not rise up the second time. God will have but one blow at him; he shall totally and finally be cut down at once. The righteous are smitten in the branches; but the wicked at the root (Isa. 27:8); those he corrects with a rod; but these with a grounded staff (Isa. 30:32); and yet the worst is behind too. For whatever a wicked man suffers in this world is but hell typical; it is but as the falling of leavesthe whole tree will one day fall on them. It is but as a drop of wrath forerunning the great storm; a crack forerunning the ruin of the whole building; it is but as paying the usemoney for the whole debt, that must be paid at last.Trapp.
The great principle of self-preservation implanted in our nature which, puts us on our guard against the slightest inconvenience, and maketh us arm for the repelling of a single evil, fails to engage men in the pursuit of that which would powerfully protect us in the most difficult circumstances, and universally secure us against all manner of hazards. Piety alone is that armour of proof which renders those that wear it safe and invulnerable, and yet, as if the Christian were the only infidel, how few of us are so thoroughly convinced of this great truth as to pursue it with an eagerness proportionate to its value. The text assures usThat a religious life and conversation is the best security against all manner of evils. All evil to which we can be liable, may be reduced under three heads.
I. Such as are inflicted immediately by God. Here it is necessary to distinguish between such afflictions as He vouchsafeth in mercy and those with which He visiteth in judgment. The best of men are not exempted from the former, they are not always so intent upon their duty, but that they stand in need of a remembrancer, or it pleaseth God to afflict them for the trial of their faith, for the exercise of their patience, and to wean them from the world. But these are but like the more difficult talks of a discreet and loving tutor; which recommend the pupils to a higher applause and a more excellent advantage, and are, therefore, so far from doing them any harm that they ought to be looked upon as most valuable blessings. Those inflictions therefore of God, which may be justly entitled to the name of evils, are such only as He visiteth in judgment, and from such nothing can more effectually secure us than a godly life and conversation.
II. Such as are occasioned by ourselves. Many evils are the effect of sin and carelessness, and as it is the work and office of true piety to make us at the same time holy and considerate, it will evidently appear that none of these evils shall happen to the just.
III. Such as are brought upon us by the malice of men or devils. These are only tolerated by Gods connivance and permission. The devil, furious and malicious as he is, always drags his chain after him, by which he may be drawn back to his infernal dungeon, and therefore, unless He hath some such favourable ends, as I formerly instanced in His own inflictions, He will certainly keep His own out of their ravenous jaws. Shall we then neglect the only means by which we may be defended against such numerous calamities? To be just is no more than to follow after the thing that is good, and good is desirable in its own nature; we have such an inward tendency towards it that nothing which is ill can debauch our affections, but by taking upon itself the appearance of being good. If, then, a seeming good doth so allure us, how ought we to be enamoured of the real substances. Nicholas Brady.
The wicked are hurt, wounded, or grieved, by every occurrence, and nothing turns to their profit.A. Clarke.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(21) There shall no evil happen to the just.Comp. our Lords promise as to temporal matters for those who seek the kingdom of God (Mat. 6:33). and for Gods care in spiritual matters, 1Co. 10:13.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. Evil Calamity.
Happen Meet or befall. Rom 8:28 is a good comment on this clause: “All things work together for good to them that love God.”
Filled with mischief Evil calamity. Compare Pro 10:3; Pro 11:23; Pro 12:2-3; Psa 91:10; 1Co 3:22-23; 2Co 4:17; 2Th 1:6; 1Pe 3:12-13 ; 2Pe 2:9.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 21. There shall no evil happen to the just,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 12:21 There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.
Ver. 21. There shall no evil happen to the just. ] First, For evil of sin: God will not lead him into temptation, but will cut off occasions, remove stumbling blocks out of his way: devoratory evils, as Tertullian calls them, he shall be sure not to fall into. “That evil one shall not touch him,” 1Jn 5:18 viz., tactu qualitativo, as Cajetan expounds it, with a deadly touch: nibble he may at their heels, but cannot reach their heads; shake he may his chain at them, but shall not set his fangs in them, or so far thrust his sting into them as to infuse into them the venom of that sin unto death. Pro 12:17 Next, For evil of pain: though “many be the troubles of the righteous,” Psa 34:19 and they “fall into manifold temptations,” Jam 1:2 they go not in step by step into these waters of Marah, but “fall into” them, being, as it were, precipitated, plunged over head and ears, yet are bidden to be “exceeding glad,” as a merchant is to see his ship come laden in. Their afflictions are not penal, but probational; not mortal, but medicinal. “By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit, the taking away of his sin.” Isa 27:9 Look how the scourging and beating of a garment with a stick, drives out the moths and the dust; so doth affliction corruptions from the heart; and there is no hurt in that, no evil happens thereby to the just.
But the wicked shall be filled with mischief.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
no evil = nothing in vain. Hebrew. ‘aven. App-44.
mischief. Hebrew. ra’a’. Same word as “evil” in verses: Pro 12:12, Pro 12:20.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 12:21
Pro 12:21
“There shall be no mischief happen to the righteous; But the wicked shall be filled with evil.”
Toy preserved the form of the antithesis thus: “No mischief befalls the righteous, but the wicked are full of misfortune.”
Pro 12:21. Mischief and evil here both mean calamity or difficulty. Other passages using evil in this way: Amo 3:6; Ecc 12:1. Had Jonah obeyed God, he would not have had the nightmarish experience he did (Jon 1:1 to Jon 2:6).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
no: Rom 8:28, 1Co 3:22, 1Co 3:23, 2Co 4:17
filled: Pro 1:31, Pro 14:14, Jer 13:12-14, Hab 2:16, Rev 18:6
Reciprocal: Psa 91:10 – There Psa 121:7 – preserve Pro 19:23 – he shall
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
". . . decent people do not have frequent trouble of their own making . . ." [Note: Ross, p. 972.]
The verse is also true when one considers what happens to people after death, as well as before.
"The rigid application of this law was the mainstay of Job’s comforters; but taken rightly, it is a stimulating truth as valid for Paul (Rom 8:28 with 36, 37) as for Joseph (Gen 50:20)-cheaply held in prosperity, precious in adversity." [Note: Kidner, p. 98.]