Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 15:17
Better [is] a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.
A dinner of herbs – The meals of the poor and the abstemious. The stalled ox, like the fatted calf of Luk 15:23, would indicate a stately magnificence.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. Better is a dinner of herbs] Great numbers of indigent Hindoos subsist wholly on herbs, fried in oil, and mixed with their rice.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Love; true friendship and kindness between those that eat together.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. dinneror, “allowance”(2Ki 25:30)
of herbsand that theplainest.
and hatred(comparePro 10:12; Pro 10:18).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Better [is] a dinner of herbs, where love is,…. What Plautus i calls “asperam et terrestrem caenam”, “a harsh and earthly supper”, made of what grows out of the earth; which is got without much cost or care, and dressed with little trouble; a traveller’s dinner, as the word k signifies, and a poor one too to travel upon, such as is easily obtained, and presently cooked, and comes cheap. Now, where there are love and good nature in the host that prepares this dinner; or in a family that partakes of such an one, having no better; or among guests invited, who eat friendly together; or in the person that invites them, who receives them cheerfully, and heartily bids them welcome: such a dinner, with such circumstances, is better
than a stalled ox, and hatred therewith; than an ox kept up in the stall for fattening; or than a fatted one, which with the ancients was the principal in a grand entertainment; hence the allusion in Mt 22:4. In the times of Homer, an ox was in high esteem at their festivals; at the feasts made by his heroes, Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Ajax, an ox was a principal part of them, if not the whole; the back of a fat ox, or a sirloin of beef, was a favourite dish l. Indeed in some ages, both among Greeks and Romans, an ox was abstained from, through a superstitious regard to it, because so useful a creature in ploughing of the land; and it was carried so far as to suppose it to be as sinful to slay an ox as to kill a man m: and Aratus n represents it as not done, neither in the golden nor silver age, but that in the brasen age men first began to kill and eat oxen; but this is to be confuted by the laws of God, Ge 9:3; and by the examples of Abraham and others. Now if there is hatred, either in the host, or in the guests among themselves, or in a family, it must stir up strifes and contentions, and render all enjoyments unpleasant and uncomfortable; see Pr 17:1; but where the love of God is, which is better than life, and the richest enjoyments of it; which sweetens every mercy, and cannot be purchased with money; and secures the best of blessings, the riches of grace and glory, and itself can never be lost; where this is, the meanest diet is preferable to the richest and most costly banquets of wicked men; who are hated and abhorred by the Lord, for their oppression and injustice, their luxury, or their covetousness; for poor men may be loved of God, and the rich be abhorred by him, Ps 10:4.
i Capteivei, Act. 1. Sc. 2. v. 80. . 3. Sc. 1. v. 37. k “viaticum”, Montanus, Amama “commeatus”, Cocceius. l Iliad. 7. v. 320, 321. Odyss. 4. v. 65. & 8. v. 60. Vid. Suidam in voce . Virgil. Aeneid. 8. v. 182. m Aelian. l. 5. c. 14. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 45. n Phoenomena, v. 132.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Common Food With Love Better Than Banquet With Hatred
Verse 17 declares that a poor man’s meatless dinner of herbs where love prevails is better than an elaborate fatted ox dinner in an atmosphere of hatred, Luk 15:23; Luk 15:25-28.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 15:17. Dinner of herbs, literally a travellers meal.
Pro. 15:18. Stirreth up, lit. mixes, implying the reciprocal idea of giving and taking offence (Fausset).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 15:17
TWO FEASTS
I. The equality here existing between the poor man and the rich manthey both have a dinner. This is as it ought to be. God gave the earth to the children of men, and when He enriched them with this large donation He intended that every living creature upon the earth should have enough to eat every day. When men lack sufficient food it is not because there is any lack in Gods gifts, either of herbs or oxen. When both the rich man and the poor man are fed out of the abundance of Gods gifts His Divine purpose in giving them is accomplished.
II. The inequality between the dinner of the poor man and that of the rich. The poor man is sustained upon the same kind of food as the rich mans ox is fattened upon. In common with the beast he lives upon the produce of the earth. The rich man eats the ox which has been fed upon that which is the only food of the poor man. This is not as it should be. God never intended that one part of His human family should enjoy a monopoly of any of the food which He has provided. When He gave the earth into the hands of the first man He intended that all His children should be partakers of all the kinds of food which the earth afforded, and which were suited to the part of the world in which they lived. When it is otherwise it arises from sin, either personal or relative. Poverty does not always spring from indolence, or from inability to subdue the earth, and to obtain from it a full share of all that it affords, and when it does not, the man who is compelled to eat a dish of herbs while his neighbour feasts from the stalled ox, is either sinned against in the present, or has been sinned against in the past.
III. Opposite states of mind which more than compensate the poor man for his humbler meal. Hatred takes away all enjoyment from any of Gods gifts. If a rich man bears malice against the guest whom he is entertaining at his tableif while he feeds him upon the best, he desires for him the worsthe knows nothing of the pleasures of hospitality. Hatred is murder in the germ, and he who harbours such a devil within his breast cannot possess that peace of soul without which the choicest viands cannot be enjoyed. But love is a large compensation for a dinner of herbs. Love to husband or wife, to parent or to child, makes sweet every family meal, however homely the farethat charity which seeketh not her own, thinketh no evil, beareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things, is a sauce to the humblest dish which one man can set before another, and more than lifts it above the rich mans feast given for the sake of custom or expediency to guests to whom he has not a particle of goodwill.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
A feast of salads, or Daniels pulse, is more cherishing with mercy, than Belshazzars banquet without it.T. Adams.
Ruth and Naomi were happy when they lived on the gleanings of the field of Boaz, and in the fulness of their satisfaction poured their blessings on the head of him that allowed them the scanty pittance. The conversation of friends is far pleasanter than any dish at the table. Where hatred is, there is silence or sullenness, or at least hollow mirth and tasteless ceremony; but where love and the fear of God are, the table conversation is delightful and useful. We find even a heathen poet reflecting on the pleasures of such an entertainment. (O noctes cnque dem!Hor). How blessed were the disciples of our Lord, when they sat at meat with Him! Barley loaves and fishes were probably ordinary fare with them, but they were entertained with Divine discourse. Such pleasure as they enjoyed we cannot now expect; but His religion is admirably fitted to promote our present happiness, for love is His great commandment.Lawson.
The sentiment is applicable, with a special force of emphasis, to domestic life. In proportion to the delightful sweetness of the concord in which the fond affections of nature and grace bind the members of a family in one happy social circleall being of one heart and of one souldividing the cares and more than doubling the enjoyments of life by mutual participation and sympathy, all bosoms throbbing with a common pulsation, all lips wearing a common smile, and all eyes filled from a common fountain of tears, in proportion to the delightful sweetness of such a scene is the wretchedness of its reverse; and there is no one who has experienced either the sweetness or the wretchednessespecially the formerthat will not subscribe to the sentiment so simply yet so strongly expressed.Wardlaw.
An allowance of vegetables. Not only vegetables, but the lighter sorts of them; more nearly herbs; not only light fare, like that, but a limited amount; not only flesh on the other scale, but stalled beef; not only stalled beef, but no limit; a stalled ox. Not only might this well be a worldly proverb to represent the married state, and all the arena of human affection, but signal, when brought into religion. A dinner of herbs, with the blessed love of the Redeemer, is better than a pampered feast and the gloom of the impenitent.Miller.
If love be the entertainer, it matters not much what the provision be: if true friendship be set upon the table of his heart that inviteth thee, let that make thee to esteem well of whatsoever is set on the table before thee. Thou comest with a gluttonous appetitenot the affection of a friendif thy cheer be that which thou lookest after. Wherefore, then, though it be a dinner of herbs, yet if they come from loves garden it is worthy of thine acceptance: thou mayest be sure that no serpent lies hid in those herbs. If it be but so small a dinner as a traveller taketh with him (see Critical Notes), yet if it bring affection with it, thou mayest be sure that no hurt is coming to thee. But if thy dinner be a fatted ox, and hatred be the hand that carveth it unto thee, perhaps it is but to fat thee for the like slaughter.Jermin.
Mark well, it is neither said in the Bible, nor found in experience, that they are all happy families who dine on herbs, and all unhappy who can afford to feast on a stalled ox. Some rich families live in love, and doubly enjoy their abundance; some poor families quarrel over their herbs. Riches cannot secure happiness, and poverty cannot destroy it. But such is the power of love, that with it you will be happy in the meanest estate; without it, miserable in the highest. Would you know the beginning, and the middle, and the end of this matter, the spring on high, the stream flowing through the channel of the covenant, and the fruitful outspread in a disciples life belowthey are all here, and all oneCharity:God is Love, Love is of God, Walk in love.Arnot.
There were many great feasts in the times of the apostles, and yet none of them are so much commended in the Scriptures as the meetings of believers, who did eat together with gladness and singleness of heart, notwithstanding they had neither so much meat, nor so costly dishes, as divers others had. It is noted of Abraham that he entertained God and His angels to dinner. The Lord Himself would be his guest, since he would be so good a housekeeper; and yet the victuals which are mentioned are only butter and milk, and veal that had not time to cool between the killing and dressing; notwithstanding his hospitality is preferred before the Persian kings royal banquet, for the one purposed to show his greatness in pomp, and the other his goodness in love. The one dealt exceeding unkindly with his own wife and the other very courteously with them that seemed to him to be mere strangers. They that dress most meat are not always the kindest men, for our Saviour was full of liberality when He gave but barley-bread and fish to His disciples, and Nabal was but a churl, though he killed both sheep and oxen for his sheep-shearers.Dod.
The subject of Pro. 15:18 has been treated in Pro. 15:1. (See Homiletics on page 400, also on chap. Pro. 14:29, page 386.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
In the pit, the blasphemy will rise and swell, as it is stirred up one man by his neighbour. Upbraidings (Pro. 15:13) are contagious, even in this world. Ordinary quarrels are wonderfully quieted, if a man waits. But Divine quarrels, if we stay to look at God, and observe His reasonings, are wonderfully held back, and by His grace signally prevented.Miller.
Observe the principles of hatred and love, contrasted in active exercise. Some persons make it their occupation to sit by the fire, to feed and fan the flame, lest it be extinguished. A useful and friendly employment, were it a fire to warm. But when it is an injurious, consuming, and destructive element, it would seem difficult to discover the motive of these incendiaries, did we not read, that out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, wickedness, an evil eye, pride, foolishness (Mar. 7:21-22).Bridges.
Surely it is a wrathful man that is the lawyers best client. He is altogether for scire faciam, I will make thee to know what thou hast done, what thou has said; which the lawyer does but turn into a scire facias, although at last himself pay dearest for the knowledge which is gotten. But he that is slow to anger, hath a Quietus est for any suit before it is begun. His care is rather to buy his peace with loss, than to sell his rest for gain. He considereth it to be true which St. Ambrose teacheth him, that to be freed from the loss of strife is not a little gain.Jermin.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
17. A dinner of herbs A portion or ration of greens.
A stalled ox Stall-fed, highly fattened. A ration of vegetables where love is, is better than roast beef with hatred. The force of this proverb is pre-eminently felt in the family circle.
A stalled ox was, by the Hebrews, as by other ancient peoples, reckoned among the noblest of entertainments. It is mentioned among the provisions for the table of Solomon and of Nehemiah. In the New Testament, the marriage supper which the king made for his son consisted, in great part, of oxen and fatlings, (Mat 21:4😉 and the fatted calf was brought forth to entertain the returning prodigal. Luk 15:23. It has been observed, also, that Homer never sets any other repast than this before his heroes at the great feasts. The moderns, especially of the Anglo-Saxon stock, have by no means lost their appreciation of its savour. But without love, alas! even a stalled ox is unpalatable. “Bread, fruits, and vegetables form the usual diet of the masses of Western Asia and of Southern Europe. The necessity for daily animal food is not felt as in more northern climes.
At the same time, animal food is highly relished in the East, though rarely met with except at the tables of the opulent. (Muenscher.) Vegetables represent simpler fare. Flesh is holiday fare. Compare Dan 1:12.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 17. Better is a dinner of herbs,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 15:17. Better is a dinner of herbs They eat very little meat in the east in comparison with what we do: bread, dibbs, leban, butter, rice, and a very little mutton, make the chief of their food in the winter, says Dr. Russel, speaking of the common people of Aleppo; as rice, bread, cheese, and fruit, do in the summer. Dr. Shaw gives a like account of the abstemiousness of the Arabs. This sparingness is occasioned, not by animal food being disagreeable to them, but by the straitness of their circumstances. The Arabs abound in cattle; but, being forced to draw all the other conveniencies of life from the profit they make of them, they kill very few for their own use. The Israelites were in much the same situation; great strangers to trade and manufactures; their patrimony but small, as they were so numerous; and therefore Solomon might with great propriety describe a ruinously expensive way of living by their frequent eating of flesh, chap. Pro 23:20 which in our country would be expressed in a very different manner. A dinner, however, on herbs alone is not what the ordinary people of Aleppo are obliged to content themselves with, sparing as their way of living is; a thought which may serve to illustrate the present passage, where the contrast between the repasts of the rich and the poor is designed to be strongly marked. See Observations, p. 181 and the ingenious Mr. Seed’s Sermon on this text, vol. 1: serm. 3. Stalled oxen, or oxen fatted in a stall, were looked upon as the highest entertainment. It is not unworthy of remark, that Homer never sets any other repast than this before his heroes.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 15:17 Better [is] a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.
Ver. 17. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is. ] Mensa consecrata est amicitiae, saith one. The table is dedicated to friendship, and an absurd thing it is there to raise quarrels, or to revenge wrongs, as Absalom did when he killed his brother Amnon; as Alexander did when he killed his friend Philotas; and as the great Turk when he intends the death of any of his great Bashaws – he invites them to a feast, in the midst whereof he commandeth the black gown to be cast upon their shoulders, and then they are presently taken from table and strangled. Isaac made a feast for Abimelech and Phicol, to show that he was heartily reconciled to them. Gen 26:30 The Greeks had their , or love feasts for like purpose. Among the Latins, as Varro testifieth, it was held a complete feast, si belli conveniant homines, si temporis sit habita ratio, si locus sit non ingratus, sl non negllgens apparatus, a if they were merry men that met, if they sat not over long, nor over late; if the place were pleasant, and the cheer indifferent. Green herbs, it seems, was a great dish with them, which therefore they called Holus, ab , as if they thought no dish were wanting if that were set upon the table. These herbs they are called , Acetaria, because they used to dip them in vinegar, and thereunto if they had bread, which they called Panis of , they held they had all that heart could wish or need require. b
a Varro, Invetr. fragm.
b Becman.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 15:17
Pro 15:17
“Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.”
Who could miss the point here? “Better a dish of vegetables with love, than the best beef served with hatred. A preacher said, “It’s better to have a hamburger at McDonalds with somone who loves you than to be entertained at the Waldorf by someone who hates you.”
Pro 15:17. A dinner of herbs represents a meatless meal (a poor mans meal); stalled ox represents a luxurious meal. Note the double contrast: dinner of herbs vs. stalled ox and where love is vs. hatred. People can have a good fare of food and love at the same time just the same as people can have hatred with their dinner of herbs. This verse does teach that love in the home is better than luxury in the home if there is to be only one and not both.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Pro 17:1, Pro 21:19, Psa 133:1-3, Phi 2:1, 1Jo 4:16
Reciprocal: Gen 16:6 – Abram 1Sa 20:24 – the king Psa 37:16 – General Pro 21:9 – brawling woman in a wide house Ecc 4:6 – General Jer 46:21 – fatted bullocks Rom 14:2 – eateth Phi 2:14 – disputings