Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 25:26
A righteous man falling down before the wicked [is as] a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.
26. falling down ] Better, with R.V., that giveth way, or (marg.) is moved. To see a righteous man moved from his stedfastness through fear or favour in the presence of the wicked is as disheartening, as to find the stream turbid and defiled, at which you were longing to quench your thirst.
Lord Bacon, quoted by Lange, gives the proverb a judicial application: “This proverb teaches that an unjust and scandalous judgement in any conspicuous and weighty cause is above all things to be avoided in the State.” And again, “One foul sentence doeth more hurt than many foul examples; for these do but corrupt the stream, the other corrupteth the fountain.”
troubled ] Lit. trampled, i.e. fouled by the feet. Comp. Eze 34:18, where the same Heb. word is used of water, with the addition of “with your feet.”
corrupt ] Better, corrupted, R.V.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Falling down before – i. e., Yielding and cringing. To see this instead of stedfastness, is as grievous as for the traveler to find the spring at which he hoped to quench his thirst turbid and defiled.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Falling down; either,
1. Into sin. So the sense is, When a just man is either allured or terrified into any sinful practice before wicked men, or into any base and servile compliance with their lusts, he who by his excellent counsels was like a fountain or well of life, as his mouth is called, Pro 10:11, sending forth refreshing streams for the benefit of many, is now corrupted and rendered unserviceable. Or rather,
2. Into misery, of which kind of falling this word is constantly used, and never to my remembrance of falling into sin. And so the sense is this, When righteous men are oppressed and devoured by the wicked, the state of that commonwealth is as deplorable, as if the public fountains, from whence all the people fetch their water, were corrupted, and it is a sign that the fountains of justice are poisoned.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. From troubled fountains andcorrupt springs no healthy water is to be had, so when the righteousare oppressed by the wicked, their power for good is lessened ordestroyed.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
A righteous man falling dozen before the wicked,…. Either falling into calamity and distress by means of the wicked man, through his malice and cunning, and which be seeing, rejoices at; or crouching unto him, bowing before him, yielding to him, not daring to oppose or reprove him; or falling into sin in his presence, which he ever after reproaches him for, and openly exposes him, so that his usefulness is lost; and especially if he joins with the wicked man in his course of living; and particularly if a civil magistrate, and acts unrighteously in his office: he
[is as] a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring; like a spring or fountain muddied with the feet of men or beasts; so that; he who was before as a clear spring of flowing water, a fountain of justice to his neighbours, from whom good doctrine and wholesome advice flowed, is now of no use by instruction or example, but the contrary.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
26 A troubled fountain and a ruined spring –
A righteous man yielding to a godless man.
For the most part, in one thinks of a yielding in consequence of being forced. Thus e.g., Fleischer: as a troubled ruined spring is a misfortune for the people who drink out of it, or draw from it, so is it a misfortune for the surrounding of the righteous, when he is driven from his dwelling or his possession by an unrighteous man. And it is true: the righteous can be compared to a well ( , well-spring, from , a well, as an eye of the earth, and , fountain, from , R. , , to round out, to dig out), with reference to the blessing which flows from it to its surroundings (cf. Pro 10:11 and Joh 7:38). But the words “yielding to” (contrast “stood before,” 2Ki 10:4, or Jos 7:12), in the phrase “yielding to the godless,” may be understood of a spontaneous as well as of a constrained, forced, wavering and yielding, as the expression in the Psalm [ non movebor , Psa 10:6] affirms the certainty of being neither inwardly nor outwardly ever moved or shaken. The righteous shall stand fast and strong in God without fearing the godless (Isa 51:12.), unmoveable and firm as a brazen wall (Jer 1:17.). If, however, he is wearied with resistance, and from the fear of man, or the desire to please man, or from a false love of peace he yields before it, and so gives way – then he becomes like to a troubled fountain ( , cogn. , Eze 34:18; Isa 41:25; Jerome: fans turbatus pede ), a ruined spring; his character, hitherto pure, is now corrupted by his own guilt, and now far from being a blessing to others, his wavering is a cause of sorrow to the righteous, and an offence to the weak – he is useful no longer, but only injurious. Rightly Lagarde: “The verse, one of the most profound of the whole book, does not speak of the misfortunate, but of the fall of the righteous, whose sin compromises the holy cause which he serves, 2Sa 12:14.” Thus also e.g., Lwenstein, with reference to the proverb Sanhedrin 92b: also in the time of danger let not a man disown his honour. Bachja, in his Ethics, referring to this figure, 26a, thinks of the possibility of restoration: the righteous wavers only for the moment, but at last he comes right ( ). But this interpretation of the figure destroys the point of the proverb.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
26 A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.
It is here represented as a very lamentable thing, and a public grievance, and of ill consequence to many, like the troubling of a fountain and the corrupting of a spring, for the righteous to fall down before the wicked, that is, 1. For the righteous to fall into sin in the sight of the wicked–for them to do any thing unbecoming their profession, which is told in Gath, and published in the streets of Ashkelon, and in which the daughters of the Philistines rejoice. For those that have been in reputation for wisdom and honour to fall from their excellency, this troubles the fountains by grieving some, and corrupts the springs by infecting others and emboldening them to do likewise. 2. For the righteous to be oppressed, and run down, and trampled upon, by the violence or subtlety of evil men, to be displaced and thrust into obscurity, this is the troubling of the fountains of justice and corrupting the very springs of government, Pro 28:12; Pro 28:28; Pro 29:2. 3. For the righteous to be cowardly, to truckle to the wicked, to be afraid of opposing his wickedness and basely to yield to him, this is a reflection upon religion, a discouragement to good men, and strengthens the hands of sinners in their sins, and so is like a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
When the Righteous Fail
Verse 26 portrays the sad consequence of a righteous man yielding to wickedness. Instead of being an influence for good, he becomes as a corrupt fountain which gives forth an evil influence that infects others. Lot’s choice of wicked Sodom hindered members of his own family, Gen 13:10-13; Gen 19:24-38; 2Pe 2:6-8. The admonition to the righteous is resist temptation, Pro 1:10; Pro 4:14; Rom 6:13; Eph 6:13; 2Pe 3:17.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 25:26. Falling downi.e., yielding or wavering. Corrupt. Rather Ruined.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 25:26
THE EVIL RESULT OF MORAL COWARDICE
I. There can never be a good reason why a good man should waver or bow down before a bad man. Many reasons often exist why one bad man should fear another bad man, they are both on the wrong side, both arrayed againt the moral order of the universe, and therefore are on the weakest side, and cannot count upon the support of any superior and all-powerful force. Neither of them has conscience or God upon his side; each one has to fight his battle on his own charges, and can with no confidence foretell the result. But the want of firmness on the part of a righteous man in the presence of wickednesseven when that wickedness is allied with all the power that it can arrogate to itselfis contrary to reason. For as surely as light must defeat the darkness, so surely must right in the end prove itself victorious over wrong. A good man has the whole force of the moral universe upon his side, and is assured both by experience and by Divine promise that if he holds fast to the end he shall be more than conqueror.
II. The wavering of such a man pollutes the very sources of social morality. Unreasonable although it is, yet it is not out of the range of human experience. The best men are but men at the best says an old writer, and in times of great trial they often give evidence that it is so. Good and noble men have sometimes trembled and given way before the terrors of the stake, and far less terrible suffering has often sufficed to shake the constancy of true men who were less courageous. But whenever such a fall takes place it is a heavy blow to the cause of right and truth upon the earth. A good man is like a fountain of pure and living water. He is a source of moral life and health in the circle in which he moves; even if he does not put forth any direct or special effort for the advancement of morality, his life will as certainly have an influence for good as the lighted candle will illumine the darkness around it. But if he shows himself a coward when exposed to loss or danger for the sake of right, it will do as much harm to the moral health of the community in which he lives as would be done to its bodily health if the stream from which its members drink were polluted at the fountain head. The mischief done in each case may not show itself by any startling results. The poison in the water may not kill, but only lower the standard of health in those who partake of it, and so a moral fall in a good man may not lead other men to open apostacy from the right path, but it may make the walk of many unsteady. Christ tells His disciples this same truth when He calls them the salt of the earth, and asks if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted (Mat. 5:13). In other words, the good are the conservators of the moral purity of the world, and if any one among them ceases to sustain this character he is not only a loser himself but a source of loss to others.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Lord Bacon gives this proverb political application: It teaches that an unjust and scandalous judgment in any conspicuous and weighty cause is, above all things, to be avoided in the State; and in his Essay
(56) of Judicature, he says: One foul sentence doth more hurt than many foul examples; for these do but corrupt the stream, the other corrupteth the fountainTr. of Langes Commentary.
Eastern fountain and springs (where the rains are only periodical, and at long intervals) are of no common price. The injury of corrupting them is proportionate. The well is therefore a blessing or a curse, according to the purity or impurity of the waters. A righteous man in his proper character is a well of life, a blessing in the midst of the land. But if he fall down before the wicked by his inconsistent profession, the blessing becomes a curse, the fountain is troubled, and the spring corrupt. What a degradation was it to Abraham to fall down under the rebuke of an heathen king; to Peter, to yield to a servant maid in denying his Lord! How did Davids sin trouble the fountain, both to his family and his people! How did the idolatry of his wise son corrupt the spring through successive generations!
When a minister of Christ apostatises from the faith (and mournfully frequent have been such spectacles) or compromises his principles from the fear of man, the springs and fountains of truth are fearfully corrupted. When a servant of God, of standing and influence, crouches and falls down under the wicked, the transparency of his profession is grievously tarnished. Satan thus makes more effective use of Gods people than of his ownBridges.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(26) A righteous man falling down before the wicked . . .The mouth of the righteous was described (Pro. 10:11) as a well of life, from the comfort and refreshment it brings to the weary- through the just and kindly counsel it offers. But if the righteous man yields to the pressure put upon him by the wicked, and through fear or favour gives up his principles, then he can no longer give forth counsel out of a pure heart; he becomes like a fountain which has been fouled by the feet of cattle drinking at it (Eze. 34:18), and like a corrupted spring.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. Falling down Slipping, wavering, tottering, or ready to fall. It is used of persons whose affairs are not prosperous who fail or are ruined in business. Some, however, understand it of moral lapses in the presence of the wicked.
Troubled fountain As if trampled by the feet of beasts.
Corrupt spring “A defiled well.” Conant.
Pro 25:26. And a corrupt spring See the note on 2Ch 32:4. Besides the methods of stopping up wells and breaking down cisterns there mentioned, the eastern people sometimes practised another way to deprive their enemies of the use of their waters; namely, by throwing into them such filth as rendered them not drinkable. This was done in particular by the people of a place called Bosseret. Accident also has sometimes, after much the same manner, made them unfit for drinking: so, in the description of the expedition of Baldwin III. against the same town, we are told that his army underwent very great thirst at that time; for, going through the country of Trachonitis, which hath no fountains, only cisterns of rain-water, it happened that at the time he passed through it, these cisterns were rendered useless by means of the locusts which had a little before swarmed to an uncommon degree, and, dying, had occasioned such putrefaction in their waters, as to render the drinking them insupportable. It is not impossible that the corrupt spring which Solomon here alludes to, and to which he compares a righteous man slain by a wicked one, whose promised usefulness was by that means cut off, might intend a receptacle of water, made useless after this manner; though it must be allowed that the corrupting a rill of water by making it muddy, is as natural an interpretation. See Observations, p. 340.
A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring. It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory. He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
All these are very plain scriptures, explained upon the same gospel principles; and where the Spirit of Christ is not, they are none of his. Rom 8:9 .
Pro 25:26 A righteous man falling down before the wicked [is as] a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.
Ver. 26. A righteous man falling down before the wicked, ] i.e., Doing anything, though by mere frailty, unbeseeming his profession, or that redounds not to the scandal of the weak only, as Gal 2:11 but to the scorn of the wicked, as 2Sa 12:14 “is as a troubled fountain,” &c., is greatly disgraced and prejudiced. What a blemish was it for Abraham to fall under the reproof of Abimelech! for Samson to be taken by the Philistines in a whorehouse! for Josiah to be inminded of his duty by Pharaoh Necho! for Peter to be drawn by a silly wench to deny his master, &c.! Was not the fountain here troubled when trampled by the feet of these beasts? the spring corrupted when conscience is thus defiled and gashed? Let it be our care to cleanse this spring of all pollutions of flesh and spirit; as a troubled fountain will clear itself, and as sweet water made brackish by the coming in of the salt, yet if naturally it be sweet, at length it will work it out.
troubled = trampled, or fouled.
Pro 25:26
Pro 25:26
“As a troubled fountain and a corrupted spring, So is a righteous man that giveth way before the wicked.”
“The yielding of the righteous man here is a reference to one who is forced to yield. Just as a corrupted source of water for a community brings sorrow to them all, so the tragic overthrow of a righteous man is a heartache to the surrounding neighbors and friends.
Pro 25:26. A drinking fountain whose waters have been riled up or a spring that has had something dead or putrid fall into it to corrupt it are examples of something once good and usable now hindered and hurt and no longer good. So is a righteous man who gets corrupted by wicked people. This can happen to men who go into politics, to men who become judges, to men who go into business pursuits, to young people who go to college, to preachers who go to work with certain congregations; in fact, to almost anybody.
Gen 4:8, 1Sa 22:14-18, 2Ch 24:21, 2Ch 24:22, Mat 23:34-37, Mat 26:69-74, Act 7:52, 1Th 2:15, Rev 17:6
Reciprocal: 1Sa 14:27 – his eyes 2Sa 4:11 – when wicked 2Pe 2:8 – that
Pro 25:26. A righteous man falling down before the wicked, &c. When a righteous man is either allured or terrified into any sinful practice by wicked men, or into any base and servile compliance with their habits and customs, he, who by his excellent example and counsels was like a fountain, or well of life, (as the mouth of the righteous is termed, Pro 10:11,) sending forth refreshing streams for the benefit of many, is now corrupted and rendered useless. Or, the meaning may be, When righteous men are oppressed by the wicked, the state of that commonwealth is as deplorable as if the public fountains, from which all the people fetched their water, were corrupted, and it is a sign that the fountains of justice are poisoned.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments