Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 26:19
So [is] the man [that] deceiveth his neighbor, and saith, Am not I in sport?
19. in sport ] Fatal mischief may come of thoughtlessness apart from malice.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 19. Am not I in sport?] How many hearts have been made sad, and how many reputations have been slain, by this kind of sport! “I designed no harm by what I said;” “It was only in jest,” &c. Sportive as such persons may think their conduct to be, it is as ruinous as that of the madman who shoots arrows, throws firebrands, and projects in all directions instruments of death, so that some are wounded, some burnt, and some slain.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That wrongs him under a false pretence of kindness and familiarity.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
So [is] the man [that] deceiveth his neighbour,…. By telling him a lie; or by reporting false things concerning him; or by cheating him in trade and commerce; or by taking his goods privately from him; and, when caught in either of these,
and saith, Am not I in sport? do not be angry, I designed no hurt; it is all in jest, a mere joke: but, had he not been apprehended, it would have been in earnest, as he was. This is only an excuse, and as absurd an one as if a man should set fire to his neighbour’s house and barns, or throw arrows at him, or strike him with any instrument of death, as the sword, &c. and then say he was only in jest, or pretend madness.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Pro 26:19 So [is] the man [that] deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?
Ver. 19. Am not I in jest? ] The wicked man’s mirth is usually mixed with mischief. It is no sport, unless he may have the devil his play fellow – no good fellowship without horse play. Salt jests, and dry flouts, to the just grief or disgrace of another, is counted facetious and fine. But St Paul calls it foolish a Eph 5:4 and further saith, that “for such things’ sake the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience.” Quid mihi cum fabulis, cum iocis? saith Bernard, – What hath a Christian to do with jesting and jeering? We allow a horse to prance and skip in a pasture, which if he doth when backed by the rider, we count him an unruly and unbroken jade. So, howsoever in heathens and atheists God may wink at jocularity aud dicacity, yet he looks for better things from his own people. Credo mihi, res severa est verum gaudium, saith Seneca; True mirth is a severe business. But what a madman was Robert de Beliasme, Earl of Shrewsbury, 1111 AD, delighting to do mischief and exercise his cruelty, and then to say, Are not I in jest? An example hereof he showed upon his own son, who, being but a child, and playing with him, the father, for a pastime, put his thumb in the boy’s eyes, and thrust out the balls thereof. b
a .
b Speed’s Chron., 473.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
deceiveth. Hebrew. ramah. See note on Pro 11:18. Not the same word as in Pro 26:26.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
and: Pro 10:23, Pro 14:9, Pro 15:21, Eph 5:4, 2Pe 2:13
Reciprocal: Lev 6:2 – deceived 2Sa 2:14 – play before
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
26:19 So [is] the man [that] deceiveth {i} his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?
(i) Who disguises himself to be that which he is not.