Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 29:5
A man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet.
Pro 29:5
A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.
Flattery
.
I.
1. In concealing or dissembling of the defects and vices of any person. It will pretend not to see faults, and if it does, it will be sure not to reprove them. All people are not called to reprove others.
(1) Who are they that are concerned to speak in this case? Such as are entrusted with the government of others. Those who are entrusted with the guidance and direction of others. Those that profess friendship.
(2) In what spirit are these reprehensions to be managed? Let the reproof, if possible, be given in secret. Let it be managed with due respect to and distinction of the condition of the person that is to be reproved. Let him that reproves a vice do it with words of meekness and consideration; without superciliousness or spiritual arrogance. A reproof should not be continued or repeated after amendment of that which occasioned the reproof.
2. In praising or defending the defects or vices of any person. If to persuade men out of the acknowledgment of the evil and unlawfulness of their actions be flattery, then none are so deeply chargeable with flattery as these two sorts of men–such as, upon principles of enthusiasm, assure persons of eminence and high place that those transgressions of the Divine law are allowable in them that are absolutely prohibited and condemned in others, and the Roman casuists, who have made it their greatest study to put a new face upon sin. This kind of flattery is of very easy effect, by reason of the nature of man, and the nature of vice itself. From these two considerations we may easily gather how open the hearts of most men lie, to drink in the fawning suggestions of any sycophant that shall endeavour to relieve their disturbed consciences by gilding their villainies with the name of virtues.
3. In imitating any ones defects or vices. Actions are much more considerable than words or discourses. To any generous and free spirit it is really a very nauseous and fulsome thing to see some prostitute their tongues and their judgments, by saying as others say, commending what they commend, and framing themselves to any absurd gesture or motion that they observe in them. Every kind of imitation speaks the person that imitates him inferior to whom he imitates, as the copy is to the original.
4. An overvaluing those virtues and perfections that are really laudable in any person. This is more modest and tolerable, there being some groundwork of desert.
II. The grounds and occasions of flattery.
1. Greatness of place and condition. Men consider the great danger of speaking freely to great persons what they are not willing to hear. It may enrage, and make them mortal enemies.
2. An angry, passionate disposition This also frights and deters men from doing the orifice of friends, in a faithful reprehension.
3. A proud and vainglorious disposition. To tell a proud person of his faults is to tell infallibility that it is in an error, and to spy out something amiss in perfection.
III. The ends and designs of it on his part that flatters. Every flatterer is actuated and influenced by these two grand purposes–to serve himself, and to undermine him whom he flatters, and thereby to effect his ruin. For he deceives him, and grossly abuses and perverts his judgment, which should be the guide and director of all his actions. He that is thoroughly deceived is in the very next disposition to be ruined; for cast but a mist before a mans eyes, and whither may you not lead him? And he undermines, and perhaps in the issue ruins, him whom he flatters, by bringing him to shame and a general contempt. Moreover, by his flattery and its consequences, he renders his recovery and amendment impossible. Every fault in a man shuts the door upon virtue, but flattery is the thing that seals it. (R. South.)
The tendency of flattery
In this verse Solomon does not refer solely to the intention of the flatterer; he refers also to the tendency of the flattery. The latter may be far from harmless, even although to a greater degree the former may. Injury may be done, and many a time is done, when no harm is meant to the party, and when there is no interest of our own to serve. And there is no little guilt on the part of those who, seeing vanity to be a mans failing, set themselves on purpose to feed it, pouring into the ear, merely in the way of an amusing experiment, every description of fulsome adulation, trying how much and in what variety it will be taken in. (R. Wardlaw, D.D.)
Flattery
The weakness of the human heart exposeth it to innumerable dangers. Constant attention is necessary to preserve it secure, because it is often assailed on the most unsuspected side. The conceit and vanity, which all men have in some degree, renders truth itself often dangerous. It is the prerogative of God alone to receive praise without danger. He hears, and is pleased to hear, the endless hymns of His angels. He hears the voice of praise ascending from all nature: the infinite variety of beings celebrating Him as the great, the just, the merciful God. He receives those truths without prejudice to His holiness; because, being in Himself essentially holy and true, these attributes can never jar, nor harm each other. It is far otherwise with us: unstable ourselves as water, our very virtues partake of this instability; whence ariseth the necessity of our suspecting everything that flatters us, because there is nothing in general more seductive and deceitful; and of all delusions, there is none more shameful and pernicious than that which, by the suggestions of self-love, makes us take falsehood for truth, and think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. People tell us what we ought to be rather than what we are, and we, by a pitiable blindness of running into the snare that is spread for us, believe ourselves to be indeed what adulation represents us. In this manner it often happens that a man who is naturally modest, and who would be humble if he knew himself, intoxicated with this vain incense, thinks himself possessed of merits which he never possessed; thanks God for graces which God never gave him; acknowledgeth the reception of talents which he never received; ascribes to himself successes which he never had; and enjoys himself secretly, while he is openly despised. Some learned men have very plausibly ascribed the origin of those idolatrous superstitions that prevailed so long in the world to that inclination which men have of believing what is advantageous, however incredible it may really be. Certain men were told that they were gods; and, by often hearing this told them, they became accustomed to be honoured and treated as gods. Those who first held that language to them knew very well that it was false; yet, from a spirit of flattery, they performed every action that they would otherwise have done from a spirit of sincerity had they been convinced that what they spoke was true. We dare not say that this error is entirely destroyed even by Christianity: vestiges of it remain everywhere, and a species of idolatry is established by the custom of the world. We tell the rich and the great no more that they are gods, but we tell them that they are not as other men are; that they want those weaknesses which others have, and possess those qualities which others want: we separate them so from the rest of mankind that, forgetting what they are, they think themselves gods; not considering that their admirers are interested persons, determined to please them, or rather determined to deceive them. Nor may we confine ourselves to the great and powerful ones of the world to justify this observation: the idolatry I speak of reigns equally in the lower conditions, and produceth there proportionable effects. Thus a woman is idolised by interested and designing men, till she knows herself no more; and, though marked with a thousand faults and imperfections, yet thinks of correcting none of them; believing herself a subject every way accomplished, the joy and admiration of the whole world, because such phrases are constantly employed for her seduction and ruin. The contradiction is, that in the midst of all this, those men, so vain and so passionate for glory, never cease to protest that the thing they abhor most is to be deceived; in the meantime they wish to be praised, flattered, and admired, as if flattery and delusion could possibly be separated. What resolution, then, can we take to avoid these errors? We must resolve to distrust even truth, when it seems to flatter us; because there is no appearance of truth which approacheth so near to falsehood, and consequently, there is none so much exposed to the dangers of falsehood. Jesus Christ Himself, who, according to the Scripture, was the firm and immovable Rock, to whom the praises of the universe were due, as the tribute of His supreme grandeur and adorable perfections, yet while on earth would not suffer those truths which made for His honour and glory. He wrought wonders; He cured the blind and the deaf; He raised the dead; yet when the people began to celebrate His name for this, and to cry that He was the prophet of God, He enjoined them silence, and seemed upon the whole extremely impatient of applause. (A. Macdonald.)
Flattery a web
I. Variously wrought. Woven of many threads, and of various hues. Some are coarse as a rope, others as fine as a gossamer web; all are suited to the character of the prey to be caught.
II. Widely spread. (D. Thomas, D.D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. Spreadeth a net for his feet.] Beware of a flatterer; he does not flatter merely to please you, but to deceive you and profit himself.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A man that flattereth his neighbour, that praiseth or applaudeth another in a sinful state or course, spreadeth a net for his feet; kills him under a pretence of kindness; is an occasion of his sin, and consequently of destruction, which possibly he may design to accomplish by that means.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. (Compare Pr26:28).
spreadeth . . . feetBymisleading him as to his real character, the flatterer brings him toevil, prepared by himself or others.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
A man that flattereth his neighbour,…. That speaks smooth things to him gives him flattering titles, speaks fair to his face, highly commends him on one account or another:
spreadeth a net for his feet; has an idle design upon him, and therefore should be guarded against; his view is to draw him into a snare and make a prey of him; he attacks him on his weak side, and hopes to make some advantage of it to himself; wherefore flatterers should be avoided as pernicious persons; or he spreads a net for his own feet, and is taken in the snare which he had laid for his neighbour; or falls into the pit he dug for him, as Gersom observes; see Ps 140:5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5 A man who flattereth his neighbour
Spreadeth a net for his steps.
Fleischer, as Bertheau: vir qui alterum blanditiis circumvenit ; but in the there does not lie in itself a hostile tendency, an intention to do injury; it interchanges with , Psa 36:3, and what is expressed in line second happens also, without any intention on the part of the flatterer: the web of the flatterer before the eyes of a neighbour becomes, if he is caught thereby, a net for him in which he is entangled to his own destruction (Hitzig). signifies also, without any external object, Pro 28:23; Pro 2:16, as internally transitive: to utter that which is smooth, i.e., flattering. is, as Psa 57:7 = , for which it is the usual Phoenician word.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
5 A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.
Those may be said to flatter their neighbours who commend and applaud that good in them (the good they do or the good they have) which really either is not or is not such as they represent it, and who profess that esteem and that affection for them which really they have not; these spread a net for their feet. 1. For their neighbours’ feet, whom they flatter. They have an ill design in it; they would not praise them as they do but that they hope to make an advantage of them; and it is therefore wisdom to suspect those who flatter us, that they are secretly laying a snare for us, and to stand on our guard accordingly. Or it has an ill effect on those who are flattered; it puffs them up with pride, and makes them conceited and confident of themselves, and so proves a net that entangles them in sin. 2. For their own feet; so some understand it. He that flatters others, in expectation that they will return his compliments and flatter him, does but make himself ridiculous and odious even to those he flatters.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Deceitful Flattery
Verse 5 declares that a man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net or sets a trap for his own feet. The flatterer is deceitful in that he purposely overvalues the virtues he praises to gain advantage for himself and he will be judged for it, Psa 5:9; Psa 36:2-3. The person flattered may also be entrapped if he is influenced by the flattery to think more highly of himself than he should, Pro 26:12; 2Ch 26:16; 2Ch 32:25; Job 33:9; Rom 12:3; 1Co 8:2.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
5. Flattereth Literally, makes smooth. “Speaks smoothly.” Stuart. “Speaking flatteringly about his neighbour.” Miller. A flatterer may generally be suspected of some sinister design.
His feet His steps; as though he had spread a net in the way of his steps with the design of entangling his feet. Compare Psa 5:10; Psa 36:3; Pro 2:16; Pro 7:5; Pro 26:24; Pro 25:28; Pro 28:23.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 29:5. Spreadeth a net for his feet Some render this for his own feet, applying it to the flatterer; and so the next verse is understood, which Houbigant translates thus: The wicked man falls himself into the snares which he lays for others; the just man shall deliver himself, and rejoice.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet. In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare: but the righteous doth sing and rejoice. The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it. Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath. If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest. The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul. A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked. The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the LORD lighteneth both their eyes.
This last verse contains an abundance of gospel truths. When the Holy Ghost shines in upon the soul of the sinner, grace breaks through all the darkness of the mind. The poor in spirit, and the deceitful heart of the proud sinner; both are made equal debtors to the rich, free, and sovereign grace of God. Herein, in an eminent point of view, is that scripture fulfilled, which saith, God is no respecter of persons. For in the redemption by Christ, it is not that one sinner merits more than another sinner, in being made the distinguished object of such an unspeakable mercy: but that God’s rich grace may be magnified. It is not a respect to our person, but a respect to the everlasting covenant of God in Christ. Rom 9:16-21 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 29:5 A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.
Ver. 5. A man that flattereth his neighbour, &c. ] A smooth boots, as the word a signifies, a butterspoken man, see Isa 3:12 or a divided man, for a flatterer’s tongue is divided from his heart.
a Glaber.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
man. Hebrew. geber. App-14.
Spreadeth a net, &c. Illustrations: woman of Tekoah (2Sa 14:3, 2Sa 14:19, 2Sa 14:20, 2Sa 14:28, 2Sa 14:29); spies (Luk 20:21).
feet = footsteps.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 29:5
Pro 29:5
“A man that flattereth his neighbor, Spreadeth a net for his steps.”
“One who flatters another seeks to deceive and usually has an ulterior motive. One should always be suspicious of fulsome praise.
Pro 29:5. Flattery is insincere compliments. This verse shows it is buttering a person in order to eat him. A flattering tongue worketh ruin (Pro 26:28). When some people speak fair, they should not be believed; their hearts may be filled with abominations (Pro 26:25), The flatteries of our verse are nothing more than something that will draw ones attentions away from the net that is being spread in ones way. Such operate on the idea expressed in Pro 1:17 : In vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
that: Pro 7:5, Pro 7:21, Pro 20:19, Pro 26:24, Pro 26:25, Pro 26:28, 2Sa 14:17-24, Job 17:5, Psa 5:9, Psa 12:2, 1Th 2:5
spreadeth: Pro 1:17, Lam 1:13, Hos 5:1, Luk 20:20, Luk 20:21, Rom 16:18
Reciprocal: 1Sa 18:21 – a snare 2Sa 14:20 – according 2Sa 16:1 – with a couple 2Ki 10:19 – But Jehu 2Ch 24:17 – the princes of Judah Neh 6:13 – that I should Job 32:22 – I know not Psa 31:4 – Pull Psa 57:6 – a net Psa 140:5 – The proud Pro 2:16 – flattereth Pro 12:12 – desireth Mat 22:16 – we know Act 24:2 – Seeing
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 29:5-6. A man that flattereth his neighbour That praiseth, or applaudeth, another in a sinful state or practice; spreadeth a net for his feet Kills him under a pretence of kindness; is an occasion of his sin, and consequently of his destruction, which possibly he might design to accomplish by that means. In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare His sin will bring him to dreadful horrors and certain ruin. But the righteous doth sing and rejoice Because he hath sweet peace in his own conscience, and an assurance of present safety and eternal happiness.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
29:5 A man that flattereth his neighbour {a} spreadeth a net for his feet.
(a) He who gives ear to the flatterer is in danger as the bird is before the fowler.