Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 22:11
He that loveth pureness of heart, [for] the grace of his lips the king [shall be] his friend.
11. for the grace of ] If this rendering be retained, with both A.V. and R.V. text, it will mean that purity of heart, honest and good motives, will produce such winning speech as, by contrast with the empty and hollow flattery of the courtier, will conciliate the favour of the king. Comp. Pro 16:13, and Ecc 10:12: “the words of the wise are gracious.”
We may render, however, with R.V. marg., “that hath grace in his lips,” and then the meaning will be that if he who has pure motives ( loveth pureness of heart) has also a happy gift of expressing himself ( grace in his lips), he will be sure to make the king his friend.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
More literally, He that loveth pureness of heart, his lips are gracious, the king is his friend.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 22:11
He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.
Purity
What is purity–this bright and blessed strength of human life? The foundation of all purity must rest upon the body. Without bodily purity no other form of purity is possible. On this must rise the structure of mental and spiritual purity. Our thoughts and words must be not less pure than our actions. Action is ripened thought, and thought is germinating action. No man suddenly falls. The thoughts have grown accustomed to dwell on impurity long before the deed of impurity is committed. In pureness of mind lies our best defence. And purity of mind is essential to clearness of spiritual vision and lofty exaltation of soul. The vision of the Invisible is impossible to the impure. And the beatific vision of God should be mans noblest ambition. Practical suggestions:
1. Cleanliness is a strong defence of bodily purity, and with this must go good moral habits.
2. Wholesome environment and occupation are strong aids to purity. When the surroundings of life are not wholesome, it is a struggle to keep life pure.
3. Go not into the way of temptation, and avoid the companionship of the impure.
4. Reverence your body. Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost; let us not defile them with impurity. And whatever else you leave undone, yet believe in pure and sacred love. Love that is not pure is not love. The love of home is a splendid defence against impurity. (Canon Diggle.)
The grace of the lips
I. Pure-heartedness. The moral beauty, the moral affluence of it; what it is and what comes out of it; what is a purehearted man, and how does his pure-heartedness stand related to his life? The proverb speaks of love for pure-heartedness, a recognition of it, and a joy in it, as the greatest and best of possessions.
II. The outcome of pure-heartedness. A pure-hearted man will be pure in speech; his conversation will be seasoned with the salt of his pure feeling. Speech is the blossom of a mans life, and is fair or foul, fragrant or offensive, according to the character of the tree.
1. Conversation is the grace of the lips. Not mere religious talk; not prudery–the over-conscientiousness that detects wrong where no wrong is. Over-sensitiveness is not delicacy.
2. Prayer is a grace of the lips that springs from pure-heartedness.
3. The preaching of a pure-hearted man is a grace of the lips. Because of this grace of the lips which springs from purity of heart, special favours shall be won. The king shall be his friend. Good men win social confidence wherever they are, and the favour of the King of kings. (Henry Allon.)
The good man
This passage leads us to consider the heart, the speech, the influence, and the blessedness of a good man.
I. The heart of the good man. He loveth pureness of heart. Not merely does he love the pure in language, in manners and habits, in outward deportment, but the pure in heart. Pureness of heart in mans case implies–
1. A moral renewal.
2. An urgent necessity. Without pureness of heart there is no true knowledge of God, or fellowship with Him.
II. The speech of the good man. For the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. By the grace of his lips we are to understand something more than grammatic accuracy, or elegant diction–something more than logical correctness or strict veracity. It means speech that is morally pure–pure in sentiment, pure in aim. It is said of Christ that the people wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. The man of a pure heart will have lips of grace. If the tree is made good, the fruit will be good.
III. The influence of the good man. The king shall be his friend. Solomon here speaks probably of his own determination. He meant to say that he would give his friendship to such men. This, says Mr. Bridges, had been his fathers resolution (Psa 51:6; Psa 119:63). This character smoothed the way to royal favour for Joseph (Gen 41:37-45), for Ezra (Ezr 7:21-25), and Daniel (Dan 6:1-3; Dan 6:28). Nay, we find godly Obadiah in the confidence of wicked Ahab (1Ki 18:3; 1Ki 18:12; 2Ki 13:14). So powerful is the voice of conscience, even when God and holiness are hated! Such alone the great King marks as His friends. Such He embraces with His fatherly love (Pro 15:9). Such He welcomes into His heavenly kingdom (Psa 15:1-2; Psa 24:3-4).
IV. The blessedness of a good man The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge. Three different interpretations have been given to the expression.
1. That the Lord vigilantly watches over His truth in the world. This is a truth, although we are not disposed to accept it as an interpretation of the passage.
2. That what the eyes of the Lord see He remembers for ever. The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge. He retains His knowledge. We do not preserve our knowledge. We forget far more than we retain. But we are not disposed to accept this as the idea of the passage.
3. That the Lord exercises a protecting superintendence over those who possess His knowledge. That it means, in fact, the same as the expression elsewhere. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. This we accept as the true idea. Whilst the Lord keeps the good man, He overthroweth the words of the transgressor. (D. Thomas, D.D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. He that loveth pureness of heart] Who aims to be what God would have him to be – the King of kings shall be his Friend. There is no class of men that value uprightness more than kings; as none stand so much in need of it in their servants.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That loveth pureness of heart; who is plain-hearted or sincere, and abhors dissimulation. For the grace of his lips; for those gracious speeches which naturally and commonly flow from a pure heart. Or, and (understand, loveth, out of the former clause) grace of his lips; whose discourse is gracious and sincere.
The king shall be his friend; the greatest men will, or should, desire and highly prize the acquaintance and advice of such persons, rather than of dissemblers and flatterers, wherewith they are most commonly pestered.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. (Compare Margin).
pureness of heartandgentle, kind words win favor, even from kings.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He that loveth pureness of heart,…. Though man’s heart is naturally impure, and all that is in it, the thoughts, affections, mind, conscience, understanding, and will; yet there is such a thing as pureness of heart; as where the grace of God is; where there it pure love to God, Christ, and to holy and heavenly things and persons; where there is pure and unfeigned faith in Christ, and a purifying hope of eternal life by him; where the Holy Spirit dwells as a sanctifier, and Christ dwells by faith; where there is sincerity and integrity; and where the heart is sprinkled by the blood of Christ from an evil conscience: and, though none are entirely free from impurity of flesh and spirit, yet every good man hates the impurity that is in him, and loves purity, and is desirous of it, and makes use of all means for it; and he loves a man of a pure heart, as Aben Ezra interprets it; he loves pureness of heart in himself and others. Some versions understand this of God: the Septuagint and Arabic versions are, “God loveth holy hearts”; and so the Targum,
“God loveth the pure in heart:”
the Syriac version differs,
“he loves God that is pure in heart;”
but all wrong; the sense is as before given;
[for] the grace of his lips; or, “grace [is in] his lips”; or, “his lips [are] grace” z, or gracious; as the lips of Christ, though in a greater measure and degree, Ps 45:2; as is a man’s heart, so are his lips, A man of a pure heart will speak a pure language; a good man will talk of good things; a wise man of wisdom, and a gracious man of the grace of God; of the doctrines of grace he has received; of the blessings of grace bestowed on him; of the promises of grace applied unto him; of the experiences of grace he has been favoured with; of things grateful and acceptable to others, which minister grace, and are to the use of edifying;
the king [shall be] his friend; carry himself friendly to him, admit him to familiarity with him, take him into his court, and make him of his privy council; this is what a king should do, and what a wise and good king will do, and it is his interest so to do: a man of an upright heart, and of a graceful speech, is or should be regarded by princes; as Hushai the Archite by David; and Daniel even by Nebuchadnezzar, a Heathen king. Jarchi’s note is,
“the holy blessed God loves and embraces him;”
and this sense may very well be received: the Lord loves purity of heart; he is good to them that are of a clean heart; he loves graceful lips, or lips speaking grace, in prayer, praise, or Christian conversation: he is a friend to such; to the pure he shows himself pure; the pure in heart shall see him, and ever dwell with him: Christ, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, loves purity and righteousness, and hates iniquity; the lips of his people are pleasing to him, they are like a thread of scarlet; he loves to hear their voice, especially speaking of his own grace; he is a friend unto them, one that loves at all times, and sticks closer than a brother.
z “gratia sunt labia ejus”, De Dieu, Cocceius, Michaelis, Schultens; “cujus labia sunt grata”, i.e. “gratiosa”, Mercerus; “gratia in labiis ejus est”, some in Vatablus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
11 He that loveth heart-purity,
Whose is grace of lips, the king is his friend.
Thus with Hitzig, it is to be translated not: he who loveth with a pure heart – we may interpret syntactically in the sense of puritate cordis or purus corde (Ralbag, Ewald, after Pro 20:7), for that which follows and is its supplement has to stand where possible as the accus. of the object; thus not: qui amat puritatem cordis, gratiosa erunt labia ejus (de Dieu, Geier, Schultens, C. B. Michaelis, Fleischer), for between heart-purity and graciousness of speech there exists a moral relation, but yet no necessary connection of sequence; also not: he who loves purity of heart, and grace on his lips (Aben Ezra, Schelling, Bertheau), for “to love the grace of one’s own lips” is an awkward expression, which sounds more like reprehensible self-complacency than a praiseworthy endeavour after gracious speech. Excellently Luther:
“He who has a true heart and amiable speech,
The king is his friend.”
is not adjectival, but substantival; is thus not the constr. of the mas. , as Job 17:10, but of the segolate , or (since the ground-form of , 1Sa 16:7, may be as well as ) of the neut. , like , Psa 46:5; Psa 65:5: that which is pure, the being pure = purity (Schultens). (gracefulness of his lips) is the second subject with the force of a relative clause, although not exactly thus thought of, but: one loving heart-purity, gracefulness on his lips – the king is his friend. Ewald otherwise: “he will be the king’s friend,” after the scheme Pro 13:4; but here unnecessarily refined. A counsellor and associate who is governed by a pure intention, and connects therewith a gentle and amiable manner of speech and conversation, attaches the king to himself; the king is the ( ), the friend of such an one, and he also is “the friend of the king,” 1Ki 4:5. It is a Solomonic proverb, the same in idea as Pro 16:13. The lxx, Syr., and Targ. introduce after the name of God; but 11b does not syntactically admit of this addition. But it is worth while to take notice of an interpretation which is proposed by Jewish interpreters: the friend of such an one is a king, i.e., he can royally rejoice in him and boast of him. The thought is beautiful; but, as the comparison of other proverbs speaking of the king shows, is not intended.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
11 He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.
Here is, 1. The qualification of an accomplished, a complete gentleman, that is fit to be employed in public business. He must be an honest man, a man that loves pureness of heart and hates all impurity, not only pure from all fleshly lusts, but from all deceit and dissimulation, from all selfishness and sinister designs, that takes care to approve himself a man of sincerity, is just and fair from principle, and delights in nothing more than in keeping his own conscience clean and void of offence. He must also be able to speak with a good grace, not to daub and flatter, but to deliver his sentiments decently and ingeniously, in language clean and smooth as his spirit. 2. The preferment such a man stands fair for: The king, if he be wise and good, and understand his own and his people’s interest, will be his friend, will make him of his cabinet-council, as there was one in David’s court, and another in Solomon’s, that was called the king’s friend; or, in any business that he has, the king will befriend him. Some understand it of the King of kings. A man in whose spirit there is no guile, and whose speech is always with grace, God will be his friend, Messiah, the Prince, will be his friend. This honour have all the saints.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Men Who Delight Kings
Verse 11 (marginal rendering) suggests that the king favors men of clean hearts and gracious speech, Vs 29; Pro 14:35; Pro 16:13. Jesus said the pure in heart are blessed, Mat 5:8.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 22:11
A ROAD TO ROYAL FRIENDSHIP
I. The pure in heart deserve to be honoured with the friendship of the king. Where there is purity of heart, the springs of moral life are healthythe whole man is an embodiment of truth and goodness. Such a man is worthy of the honour and confidence of those who stand in the highest positions, inasmuch as purity of heart belongs to the man himself, and is a possession that is counted precious by the best beings in the universe, whereas power and rank are often but accidents of birth, and in themselves alone are valueless in the sight of God, and in the eyes of the greatest and noblest of His creatures.
II. The king consults his own interest when he shows favour to such men. A man of pure heart is a great blessing to any community. His very life is in itself a light which scatters moral darknessa well which makes a fertile spot wherever it springs forth. And it is in proportion to the number of such men in a kingdom that the realm enjoys peace and prosperity. If we could find any earthly commonwealth composed entirely of such citizens, we should find a place where the kingdom of God had comea heaven upon earth. But where there is purity of heart there is grace of lipsthere is active effort to spread truth and righteousness. The well does not confine itself to the spot where it first issues from the earth, but sends forth health-giving streams far and near. Seeing, then, that such men are the real pillars of a state, he only is a wise king who seeks them out and delights to do them honour.
III. Some kings have recognised their obligations and interest in this matter. Pharaoh discerned the purity of Josephs heart by the grace of his lips, and made him the second ruler in his kingdom, and Darius promoted Daniel to the highest office in his realm. Davids resolution wasMine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. (Psa. 101:6.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pureness of heart describes not the natural, but the renewed man. It is no external varnish, no affectation of holiness; but sincerity, humility, shrinking from sin, conformity to the image of God. He who hath fully attained this pureness is before the throne of God. He who loveth it is the child of God on earth. His perfection is desire, constant progress, pressing towards the mark. (Philip. Pro. 3:12-15).Bridges.
What Solomon says is rather an encouragement to love and cultivate pureness of heart, than a motive to be directly regarded, and allowed to influence us to this duty. It is only one of those indirect results which may be enjoyed as a testimony of the higher approbation of God. While we thank God for the favour He may give us in the sight of men,we must see that we seek no friendships, whether among the greatest or the least, the highest or the lowest, by any other means whatever than the pureness of heart, and the consistency of life here recommended.Wardlaw.
Grace in the lips is necessary to recommend pureness of heart. We ought always to speak the words of truth, but we ought to speak it in the most pleasing manner possible, that we may not render it unacceptable by our manner of representing it. Daniel showed his integrity and politeness at once, by the manner of his address to Nebuchadnezzar, when he was called to give him very disagreeable information.Lawson.
He that hath pureness of heart cannot choose but love it, such is the exceeding beauty and amiableness of it; and he that loveth pureness of heart cannot choose but have it, for that it is which purifieth and cleanseth the heart. Many there be who love a cleanness, and neatness, and pureness of apparel; many there are who love a clearness and pureness of countenance and complexion. No washing or purifying is thought to be enough to make this appear, so that often the heart is defiled by it. And with such puritans the courts of princes are much attended, wooing with this bravery the favour of the court and prince. But it is to the pure in heart that God inclineth in favour the heart of the king. And because the heart is not discernible by the king, God therefore giveth grace unto the lips, in which the purity of the heart shining, tieth the heart of the king as a friend unto him.Jermin.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
TEXT Pro. 22:11-21
11.
He that loveth pureness of heart,
For the grace of his lips the king will be his friend.
12.
The eyes of Jehovah preserve him that hath knowledge;
But he overthroweth the words of the treacherous man.
13.
The sluggard saith, There is a lion without;
I shall be slain in the streets.
14.
The mouth of strange women is a deep pit;
He that is abhorred of Jehovah shall fall therein.
15.
Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
But the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
16.
He that oppresseth the poor to increase his gain,
And he that giveth to the rich, shall only come to want.
17
Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise,
And apply thy heart unto my knowledge.
18.
For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee,
If they be established together upon thy lips.
19.
That thy trust may be in Jehovah,
I have made them known to thee this day, even to thee.
20.
Have not I written unto thee excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
21.
To make thee know the certainty of the words of truth,
That thou mayest carry back words of truth to them that send thee?
STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 22:11-21
1.
What New Testament verse talks of pureness of heart also (Pro. 22:11)?
2.
What blasphemous Assyrian king did God overthrow (Pro. 22:12)?
3.
Do you really think there was a lion in the street (Pro. 22:13)?
4.
What does God think of one who is guilty of adultery (Pro. 22:14)?
5.
What are some examples of childhood foolishness (Pro. 22:15)?
6.
What two classes will end up in need (Pro. 22:16)?
7.
What does it mean to incline ones ear (Pro. 22:17)?
8.
What is the antecedent of it in Pro. 22:18?
9.
True knowledge should lead one to trust in whom (Pro. 22:19)?
10.
What kind of teachings had the Proverb writer set forth (Pro. 22:20)?
11.
Who had sent this person (Pro. 22:21)?
PARAPHRASE OF 22:11-21
11.
He who values grace and truth is the kings friend.
12.
The Lord preserves the upright but ruins the plans of the wicked.
13.
The lazy man is full of excuses. I cant go to work! he says. If I go outside I might meet a lion in the street and be killed!
14.
A prostitute is a dangerous trap; those cursed of God are caught in it.
15.
A youngsters heart is filled with rebellion, but punishment will drive it out of him.
16.
He who gains by oppressing the poor or by bribing the rich shall end in poverty.
1721.
Listen to this wise advice; follow it closely, for it will do you good, and you can pass it on to others: Trust in the Lord. In the past, havent I been right? Then believe what I am telling you now, and share it with others.
COMMENTS ON 22:11-21
Pro. 22:11. What a beautiful, wonderful person is portrayed by the words loveth pureness of heart and the grace of his lips, meaning a person with purity abiding in his heart and who has the ability to express himself in a courteous way. Kings may not always have been virtuous people, but they admired such. Even the wicked King Herod had a high regard for John the Baptist: Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him; and she could not; for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was much perplexed; and he heard him gladly (Mar. 6:19-20). Mat. 5:8 also exalts purity of heart.
Pro. 22:12. The eyes of Jehovah here stand for his knowledge of the affairs upon earth and of His providential workings resulting from what He sees, He preserves those who have knowledge, who use their God-created faculties to acquire enlightment that He gives. It pleased Him that Solomon placed such a high value upon wisdom and knowledge (1Ki. 3:9-10; 1Ki. 4:29-34). God lamented in Hoseas day, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou has rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee (Hos. 4:6). When God overthrew Sennacherib (2Ki. 19:35), it was an instance of His overthrowing the words of the treacherous (2Ki. 18:28-35).
Pro. 22:13. The same sluggard excuse for not going to work is in Pro. 26:13. Since wisdom would include ones physical safety, it is doubtful if there was a lion in the streets. All lazy people are full of excuses for not working, for they do not want to work. Just as where theres a will to do something, there is usually a way to do it, so where there is no will to work, there is usually a handy excuse for not doing it.
Pro. 22:14. Many times in Proverbs does the father warn the son about the wicked, immoral woman (Pro. 2:16; Pro. 5:3-23; Pro. 6:24-35; Pro. 7:5-27; Pro. 23:27-28). Notice in the passages just cited how she uses her mouth (words and kisses) to break the young man down. Her mouth is said to be a deep pit into which men fall, and usually they do not get out! That God hates this sin in a terrible way, notice the strong language: He that is abhorred of Jehovah shall fall therein. Ecc. 7:26 says, I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets and whose hands are bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.
Pro. 22:15. A childs actions often reflect lack of good judgment and his immaturity: When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things (1Co. 13:11). Oh, the foolish, unwise, careless, thoughtless things that children will do! What will drive it far from him? Proper, severe punishment. Other passages teaching such punishment; Pro. 13:24; Pro. 19:18; Pro. 23:13-14; Pro. 29:15. Many parents do not do as God commands, and that foolishness remains engrained in the natures and ways of their rebellious children.
Pro. 22:16. Proverbs shows that laziness and lack of industry can bring one to want (Pro. 6:9-11), but this verse shows that oppressing the poor to get gain and trying to bribe the rich for ones own advantage can do the same. The man described in this verse is a man to beware of.
Pro. 22:17. The sayings (a new saying each verse) is noticeably interrupted here for a five verse section urging the son to listen to the good instruction that he is receiving. God has given us ears with which to listen to what others say to us; they should be used when the wise are speaking. He has given us hearts or minds that can apply what we hear to our lives. The double commandment of this verse, then, is incline thine ear and apply thy heart.
Pro. 22:18. To live as Pro. 22:17 says brings a pleasant way to live. What we hear and apply we keep within us as knowledge, and they become proverbs or sayings upon our own lips.
Pro. 22:19. True knowledge should cause us to trust in God, who is the First (the cause) and the Last (the judge). Remember, The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge (Pro. 1:7). That his son might come to trust in Jehovah was the purpose of the fathers careful instruction.
Pro. 22:20. The father here refers to the quality of his instructions. Compare Pro. 4:1-2; Pro. 8:6-8.
Pro. 22:21. As a young man grows up, he is going to be subjected to many ideas of people, some being diametrically opposed to others. It is easy for a youth in the state of immaturity to be tossed to and fro by such (Eph. 4:14). This is why it is so necessary that the truth that the father teaches be taught in such a way that his son is well grounded in that truth, for only as he knows the truth will he be able to detect the counterfeit. On the latter statement of the verse, if a son has been brought up to know truth, to respect it, and to tell it, when being sent by others on a responsible mission, he will be able to know what truth is, to evaluate the situation, and to bring back a true report.
TEST QUESTIONS OVER 22:11-21
1.
What king in Bible days respected a pure man with good teaching (Pro. 22:11)?
2.
What does eyes of Jehovah stand for in Pro. 22:12?
3.
Why does a sluggard offer excuses (Pro. 22:13)?
4.
What word in the second statement of Pro. 22:14 goes with deep pit in the first statement?
5.
How does the strange woman use her mouth to the destruction of men (Pro. 22:14)?
6.
Cite some instances of childhood foolishness (Pro. 22:15).
7.
What will drive foolishness from a child (Pro. 22:15)?
8.
According to Pro. 22:16 what are two ways to become poor?
9.
Incline thine ……. and apply thy ……. (Pro. 22:17).
(Pro. 22:17).
10.
What does it mean for wisdom to be established upon thy lips (Pro. 22:18)?
11.
True knowledge should lead one to ……. in Jehovah (Pro. 22:19).
12.
How good should ones counsel be (Pro. 22:20)?
13.
Parental teachings should be so clear that youth would not be ……. to and fro (Pro. 22:21).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(11) For the grace of his lips.Rather, who has grace of lips; one who loves the truth and can speak it pleasantly.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Loveth pureness of heart He that loves purity and sincerity.
For the grace of his lips The sincerity and truthfulness of his speech and life, the king (is) his friend. The verse is obscure. It probably means: He that loves sincerity above all things, and is able to deliver his mind in acceptable language, is a fit companion for a king. On the expression “ grace of his lips,” comp. Ecc 10:12. Zockler renders: “He that loveth with a pure heart, whose lips are gracious, the king shall be his friend.” The Septuagint thus: “The Lord loves holy hearts, and all blameless persons are acceptable with him: a king rules with his lips.” Compare Pro 16:13.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 11. He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 22:11. He that loveth pureness of heart The LXX and Arabic read, The Lord loveth pure hearts, and all those who are free from sin are acceptable to him. They who insist upon the Hebrew reading as perfect, must imagine the sense to be, “The Lord loveth purity of heart: the king is a friend to the grace of the lips;” i.e. Purity of heart is that alone which gives favour in the sight of God: though eloquence of speech and gracefulness of address may be sufficient to recommend a man to the favour of his prince. Houbigant renders it, If any one loveth purity of heart, he shall feed the king with the grace of his lips: i.e. says he, “If any one has a sincere and honest heart, he, far removed from all falsehood and flattery, shall feed with the truth kings, from whom truth in the general is banished.” Bishop Patrick paraphrases it, “He who loves sincerity above all things, and is able to deliver his mind in acceptable language, is fit to be privy counsellor to a king.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The Pure In Heart, Etc.
Pro 22:11-29
“He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of [or, and hath grace in] his lips the king shall be his friend” [Lit., “He that loveth pureness of heart, his lips are gracious, the king is his friend”] ( Pro 22:11 ).
This would seem to be the lower level of the holy word spoken upon the mount “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” This proverb sets forth the image of a man whose pure heart finds an equivalent or correspondence in the grace or favour of his lips. We may take it in this way: when the heart is pure the speech will be clean; when the spirit is right with God, language will be lifted above all equivocation or double-meaning will be simple, direct, true, sincere; when the soul is holy the language will rise into music. Good men are known by their speech; they are not rough in words, or crude in tone, or boisterous in claim; they do not lift up their voice, nor cry, nor strive with the clamour of conscious weakness; they speak quietly, graciously, gently, hopefully; so much so indeed at times that their very gentleness may be mistaken by the superficial for weakness, whereas it is the very perfection and refinement of strength. Only weak men are boisterous; only men who are uncertain of their intellectual or moral position seek to make up by noise what is wanting in truth and equity. It would seem as if the pure heart were destined to bring kings into subjection. The king is to be the friend of the man who loves pureness and speaks music. Here is a hint of the ultimate triumph of moral power. No longer is the king to be amazed and fascinated by mere thunder and lightning, by iron and chariots and horses; his ear is to be entranced by heart-music; he is to say, This is the voice of heaven; he is to admit that the man who can so speak must have been schooled and cultured in the very sanctuary of heaven.
“The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets” ( Pro 22:13 ).
A singular illustration this, of how the decay of one faculty may be the beginning of the activity of another. Industry has gone down, but imagination has risen. The slothful man seeks to make up by excuse what is wanting in energy. How ridden by the nightmare is the slothful man’s imagination! He sees foes in the air; he hears voices which none other can detect; he is wishful to impress upon his friends the fact that he himself is most willing to go out, yea, even eager to work, and prepared to undergo any amount of sacrifice, but he sees a lion, he is assured of a supreme difficulty, he is prepared to testify that his life is not worth a day’s purchase should he attempt to work under such and such circumstances. He cannot fell a tree, but he can see a lion; he dare not encounter the cold, for he is sure that he would be slain by a foe. The man that is thus a lion-maker in his own imagination will soon bring himself under the subjection of his own diseased fancy; presently the lion will be real to him, although it will be imaginary to all who stand by and look on. Beyond a certain point fancy ceases, and fact begins, in the case of the diseased mind: literally there is no lion, but imaginatively and sympathetically the whole road is crowded with beasts of prey. To the man who is so diseased it is no relief to tell him that other people cannot see the lions; he sees them himself, he watches their open mouths, he is terrified by their gleaming eyes, he flees away from them as from pursuing death. Men should be careful how they permit any morbid influence to operate upon their fancy; health should be the first law of nature; every man should feel himself bound to attend to the laws of bodily health; for oftentimes through their observance alone can healthfulness of mind be sustained. So intimate is the relation between mind and body, that when the one is neglected the other falls into desuetude; and when the one is abused even in the sense of temporary enjoyment, the other goes down in quality, in force, in executive ability. “Know ye not that ye are the temples of the Holy Ghost?” Is not the body a consecrated sanctuary? You cannot laugh men out of their superstitions after a certain point. Christian trainers should take the mind early in hand, and see that it be disabused of all superstition; and not only so for negative work is not enough the mind should be inspired by sacred impulse and filled with pure and reverent thought When the mind is so guarded and so sustained it will be impossible for the fancy to create lions.
“He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want” ( Pro 22:16 ).
Read the passage: he that oppresseth the poor is really preparing for his own oppression; for he is giving to the rich, and in due time the rich will rule over him with a rod of iron. Here is the same great law whose operation we have watched with interest and thankfulness. For a time the great man seems to do what he pleases, to order the poor as if they were his dogs, forgetting that all the while he himself is only enabling some other man to rule over him with a like severity. All bribery is to be brought low, all oppression is to lick the dust, the great purpose of the kingdom of heaven is to bring in the Son of man, who shall rule in righteousness, in simplicity, and tenderness; all trickery of subordination, all tyranny shall be brought to destruction as in an instant, and man shall respect man because he first honours and loves God. No rich man can love the poor man, no poor man can love the rich man, as simply between themselves: the second commandment follows the first, and is to be approached through the first, and is accessible only through the first, and the first commandment is Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul and mind and strength; then afterwards it shall be easy, yea a supreme delight, to love one’s neighbour as one’s self.
From the seventeenth verse we are enjoined to hear the words of the wise. The word “wise” being in the plural number, it has been supposed that what follows is a collection of proverbs or sacred sayings, rather than the exhortation of the mind of Solomon alone. There is a concensus of wisdom. In all ages and in all lands wisdom, though speaking in different words, has invariably spoken in the same sense. Truth is one. No matter in what language it may be spoken, or by what local colouring it may be affected, the great consequence, the profound philosophy, is the same: truth and love, pureness and compassion, divine communion and self-sacrifice, rightness with God and rightness with men, these things God hath put together, and no man shall put them asunder without feeling that he has incurred a just and tremendous penalty. There is nothing more corroborative of truth than the fact that come whence it may, from what land or in what language soever, it all ends in the same grand injunction do right, and be happy; be pure, and be at rest; aspire towards heaven, and thus adjust all earthly relations: in philosophy, in eloquence, in prophetic vision, in poetic numbers, this holy wisdom has been taught in all the ages and in all the lands blessed by the higher civilisation.
From the twenty-second verse we have words that come along the way of the marketplace, that address men in their counting-houses and in their mercantile relations. Here is the grand philosophy of socialism: how the words roll on in the noblest music:
“Rob not the poor, because he is; poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: for the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them” ( Pro 22:22-23 ).
“Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts. If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee? Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men” ( Pro 22:26-29 ).
Thus again (for the point should never be omitted) we have the best proof of the inspiration of the Bible in its human injunctions, in its comprehensible economies of life. We have seen that if the mantle was taken in pledge it had to be restored before sundown for the poor man to sleep in; but it would appear from injunctions such as these that the law had been evaded, and the poor had been exposed to nakedness and cold because of their poverty. What law of God is there that has not been evaded or perverted? Have we not a genius of disobedience? How wonderfully inventive is the mind in blunting the point of the law or in escaping the edge of the sword when some selfish purpose is to be gained! Even in the days of Solomon, and long before, the stones marking the boundaries of the fields were thrown down in order that men might increase their estates. Is not this the daily battle of life? What is business in many an instance but a throwing down of ancient landmarks and breaking up of honourable boundaries, a confusion of division lines, so that the strong may oppress the weak? Whatever is possible to honest industry we should aim to realise. Industry has a right to the rewards of its own labour. The industrious man is more than he appears to be; he is not only a labourer in the dust, he is not a mere toiler in the mud; he is a servant of God, he is a minister of heaven, he is an exponent of an abiding and a beneficent law: such a man shall have honour even amongst his fellow-men; the industrious man shall attend upon kings as their minister, and kings shall be glad to be served by a man who has proved his honourableness, not in some grand temporary heroic effort, but in the simple toil and daily discipline of life.
Note
“Section Pro 22:17-24 contains a collection of proverbs marked by certain peculiarities. These are: 1. The structure of the verses, which is not so regular as in the preceding section, Pro 10:1 to Pro 22:16 . We find verses of eight, seven, or six words mixed with others of eleven (Pro 22:29 ; Pro 23:31 , Pro 23:35 ), fourteen ( Pro 23:29 ), and eighteen words ( Pro 24:12 ). The equality of the verse members is very much disturbed, and there is frequently no trace of parallelism. 2. A sentence is seldom completed in one verse, but most frequently in two; three verses are often closely connected (Pro 23:1-3 , Pro 23:6-8 , Pro 23:19-21 ), and sometimes as many as five ( Pro 24:30-34 ). 3. The form of address, “my son,” which is so frequent in the first nine chapters, occurs also here in Pro 23:19 , Pro 23:26 ; Pro 24:13 ; and the appeal to the hearer is often made in the second person. Ewald regards this section as a kind of appendix to the earliest collection of the proverbs of Solomon, added not long after the introduction in the first nine chapters, though not by the same author. He thinks it probable that the compiler of this section added also the collection of proverbs which was made by the learned men of the court of Hezekiah, to which he wrote the superscription in Pro 25:1 . This theory of course only affects the date of the section in its present form. When the proverbs were written there is nothing to determine. Bertheau maintains that they in great part proceeded from one poet, in consequence of a peculiar construction which he employs to give emphasis to his presentation of a subject or object by repeating the pronoun (Pro 22:19 ; Pro 23:14-15 , Pro 23:19-20 , Pro 23:28 ; Pro 24:6 , Pro 24:27 , Pro 24:32 ). The compiler himself appears to have added Pro 22:17-21 as a kind of introduction. Another addition ( Pro 24:23-34 ) is introduced with ‘these also belong to the wise,’ and contains apparently some of ‘the words of the wise’ to which reference is made in Pro 1:6 . Jahn regards it as a collection of proverbs not by Solomon. Hensler says it is an appendix to a collection of doctrines which is entirely lost and unknown; and with regard to the previous part of the section Pro 22:17 to Pro 24:22 , he leaves it uncertain whether or not the author was a teacher to whom the son of a distinguished man was sent for instruction.” Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Pro 22:11 He that loveth pureness of heart, [for] the grace of his lips the king [shall be] his friend.
Ver. 11. He that loveth pureness of heart. ] That is vexed at his inward pollutions, and affecteth (what he can never fully effect) to be pure as God is pure. 1Jn 3:3 He that hath gotten that pure lip, Zep 3:9 called here the grace of his lips, and elsewhere the “law of grace,” Pro 31:26 he that can skill of those good words that do ingratiate with God and man (Gen 49:21 , compared with Deu 33:23 ), he is fit to make a courtier, a favourite, such as was Joseph, Mordecai, Daniel, who though he used not always verbis byssinis, soft and silken words, but delivered heavy messages from God to Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, yet God so wrought their hearts, though tyrants, that they greatly honoured him and highly preferred him. And when, out of his love to pureness of heart, he chose rather affliction than sin, to be cast to the lions than to bear a lion in his own bosom by offending his conscience, God made the king’s heart yearn towards him; so that this plain dealing “Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” Dan 6:28
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
He that, &c. Aramaean, Septuagint, and Syriac, read “Jehovah”.
pureness of heart = one pure of heart.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 22:11
Pro 22:11
“He that loveth pureness of heart, For the grace of his lips the king will be his friend.”
The translators are in disagreement over what this says. Toy, endorsing Luther’s rendition, made “the king” the subject of both clauses, declaring that this seems to offer the most probable sense: “The king loves the pure in heart, and the grace of lips is his delight. “If you love purity of heart and graciousness of speech, the king will be your friend.
Pro 22:11. What a beautiful, wonderful person is portrayed by the words loveth pureness of heart and the grace of his lips, meaning a person with purity abiding in his heart and who has the ability to express himself in a courteous way. Kings may not always have been virtuous people, but they admired such. Even the wicked King Herod had a high regard for John the Baptist: Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him; and she could not; for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was much perplexed; and he heard him gladly (Mar 6:19-20). Mat 5:8 also exalts purity of heart.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
that: Pro 16:13, Psa 101:6, Mat 5:8
for the grace of his lips: or, and hath grace in his lips, Psa 45:2, Luk 4:22
the king: Gen 41:39-57, Ezr 7:6-11, Neh 2:4-6, Est 10:3, Dan 2:46-49, Dan 3:30, Dan 6:20-23
Reciprocal: 1Ki 4:5 – the king’s Pro 14:35 – king’s
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 22:11. He that loveth pureness of heart Who is plain-hearted or sincere, and abhors dissimulation; whose heart is so free from guile that he places his pleasure in the integrity of his mind, and the purity of his conscience; for the grace of his lips For those gracious speeches which naturally and commonly flow from a pure heart, or whose discourse is gracious and sincere; the king shall be his friend The greatest men will, or should, desire, and highly prize the acquaintance and advice of such persons, rather than of dissemblers and flatterers, with whom they are too generally surrounded.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
22:11 He that loveth pureness of heart, [for] the grace of his lips the {g} king [shall be] his friend.
(g) He shows that princes should use their familiarity, whose conscience is good, and their talk wise and godly.