The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
35. the promotion ] There is force and irony in this rendering, which is retained in R.V. text, whereas the alternative of R.V. margin, fools carry away shame, though it may be thought to preserve the parallelism better, is insipid. Their glory is even now (Php 3:19), and in the day when all things become real shall be seen to be, their shame.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Pro 3:35
The wise shall inherit glory.
Sanctified intellect
I. Its character. Intelligence, mind, reason is that power by which the supremacy of man over the beasts of the earth is asserted. Whilst, other things being equal, the greatest minds have been Christian, the powers may be predicated of intellect, irrespective of the moral character of its possessor. But a great intellect dissociated from moral control may become a scourge and a terror.
II. The work of sanctified intellect. It is the glory of God. But this involves the good of man. There is no subject to which intelligence can devote itself but may be made to minister to both. How then shall we work?
1. By prayer. A devotional spirit is the first essential element of piety.
2. By the press.
3. By the pulpit.
III. The reward of sanctified intellect. It shall inherit glory. (William Leask.)
But shame shall be the promotion of fools.—
The folly of the earthly-minded
I. In the choice which he makes.
1. The sinner prefers the favour of man to the favour of God.
2. He prefers the interests of the body to the interests of the soul.
3. He prefers temporal pleasure to eternal happiness; and in so doing, verily, he prefers the rags to the robes, the pebbles to the jewels, and the shadow to the substance.
II. In the conduct which he pursues.
1. He rebels against God his Maker, refusing to submit to His authority.
2. The sinner is going to an eternal world, and makes no preparation for that eternal world.
3. He is condemned; a pardon is freely offered by the Lord, and he rejects the offered pardon.
III. What is to be the end of these things? Shame shall be the promotion of fools. This shame will arise from several sources.
1. From disappointment. Should a soldier be cashiered for cowardice, when he expected promotion for his supposed bravery; should an author be cried down, when he expected great applause; or should a person find that no mention is made of him in a will, when he expected to be one of the principal heirs; in all such cases disappointment would be a matter of shame. How much more when the sinner wakes up in eternity, and finds all his fond hopes of heaven blasted for avert
2. From the full development of character which shall then be made. Some years since a certain man in one of our Atlantic cities was charged with a very base act–was charged with opening a letter which had been put into the post-office, and divulging some family secrets which that letter contained. He denied the charge. A committee was appointed to investigate the charge and make a report. I was present when the report was made. In the presence of some one or two hundred citizens, the chairman of the committee came forward and said, We have investigated the charge alleged against the gentleman, and find it to be true. I saw the man the moment his character was thus blasted for ever. After one frantic effort with a pistol to take the life of the person who had thus exposed him, he dropped his head; he could not bear to look upon man or woman any more; and, returning to his lodgings, he laid himself down upon his bed, and died of a broken heart. Shame killed him. And now, if the divulging of one base act in such an assembly on earth occasioned him such overwhelming, heartbreaking shame, oh! what intolerable shame must come upon the sinner when every base act, when every impure thought, when every unlawful deed shall be revealed before God and angels and men!
3. From the manifestation of his folly.
4. From the company with which he will be obliged to associate. (D. Baker, D.D.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 35. The wise] The person who follows the dictates of wisdom, as mentioned above, shall inherit glory; because, being one of the heavenly family, a child of God, he has thereby heaven for his inheritance; but fools, such as those mentioned Pr 1:7 and Pr 2:12; Pr 2:22, shall have ignominy for their exaltation. Many such fools as Solomon speaks of are exalted to the gibbet and gallows. The way to prevent this and the like evils, is to attend to the voice of wisdom.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Shall inherit glory; shall enjoy it not only for a season, as wicked men ofttimes do, but as an inheritance, constantly, and to perpetuity.
Shame shall be the promotion of fools; instead of that glory which they greedily seek, they shall meet with nothing but ignominy. Or, as it is in the margin, shame exalteth or lifteth up fools, i.e. it makes them manifest and notorious, as this very word is used Pro 14:29. Or, as the words lie in the Hebrew text fools take or carry away (as this word is here rendered by divers both ancient and modern translators, and as it is used Lev 6:10,15, and oft elsewhere) shame, to wit, as his proper portion or inheritance; which is here very fitly opposed to the portion or inheritance of the just. And although the verb be singular, yet it agrees well enough with the noun plural, because this is taken distributively, such constructions being very usual in the Hebrew text.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
35. inheritas a portion.
shameor disgrace, asopposed to honor.
promotion(CompareMargin); as honor for well-doing makes men conspicuous, sofools are signalized by disgrace.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The wise shall inherit glory,…. The wise are the same with the just and lowly before mentioned, to whom God gives grace, and to these he gives glory. The “wise” are such who are so, not in a natural, civil, or notional sense, or that are wise in the things of nature, in civil affairs and in speculative matters of religion; but in a spiritual sense, who are wise unto salvation; who know themselves, the sinfulness of their nature, their inability to do that which is good, and their want of righteousness to justify them before God; who are sensible of the sickness and diseases of their souls, their spiritual poverty, and their great folly and ignorance with respect to things of a spiritual nature; who know Christ, and him crucified, the way of peace, pardon, righteousness, and salvation by him; that know him, not only notionally, but so as to apply unto him, and rest on him for salvation; who build it on him the foundation, on him only, and give him all the glory of it; and who have also a competent knowledge of the Gospel, and a comfortable experience of the truths of it; and who take up a profession of religion upon such an experience, and hold it fast without depending on it, and have a conversation becoming it, walking circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Now these shall “inherit glory”; not the glory of this world, or honour among men in it; but the glory of another, of which the glory of this world, and of, he most excellent things in it, is but a faint resemblance: it is unseen, inconceivable, and incomparable; it is an eternal glory which Christ is entered into, and the same the Father has given him; and will lie in the vision of God, and communion with him; in beholding the glory of Christ, and in having a glory put upon them both in soul and body: and this they shall enjoy as an inheritance; not by purchase or acquisition, but by free gift; as a bequest of their Father; which comes to them as children, through the death of Christ the testator, and will be possessed for ever, as inheritances run;
but shame shall be the promotion of fools; not fools in a natural, but in a religious sense; such who know not themselves, nor the way of salvation; who mock at sin, and scoff at religion: these and everyone of these “shall take” or “lift up shame” m, as their part and portion, alluding to the heave offering under the law, in opposition to the glory the wise shall inherit and possess. Or, “shame shall lift up fools” n; hold them forth, and make them manifest and conspicuous: all the promotion they shall be raised unto will be only shame and confusion, if not in this world, yet in that to come; for, when they shall rise from the dead, it will be “to shame and everlasting contempt”, Da 12:2. The Targum is,
“fools shall receive tribulation;”
that shall be their inheritance in the other world.
m “unusquisque stultorum suscipit, vel sustinet, ignominiam”, Vatablus. n “Stolidos vero tollit ignominia”, Junius & Tremellius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This group of the proverbs of wisdom now suitably closes with the fundamental contrast between the wise and fools:
The wise shall inherit honour,
But fools carry away shame.
If we take as the object, then we can scarcely interpret the clause: shame sweeps fools away (Umbreit, Zckler, Bertheau), for [ Hiph. of ] signifies (Isa 57:14; Eze 21:31) “to raise up anything high and far,” not “to sweep away.” Preferable is the rendering: ( Graec. Venet., and similarly Jerome), i.e., only to it do they owe their celebrity as warning examples (Ewald), to which Oetinger compares “whose glory is in their shame,” Phi 3:19;
(Note: Jona Gerundi renders it otherwise: “But shame raises the fools high;” i.e., only the infamous, he who has no sense of honour, makes much advancement out of fools.)
but is the contrary of (glory, Hab 2:16), and therefore is as much an object conception as is the latter, 35a. If it is the object, then if we take from after the form of , Neh 13:21 = (Hos 4:7), it might be rendered: Yet fools exchange shame (Lwenstein). But , like the Arab. mrr , transire , means properly to pass over or to wander over; it is intransitive, and only in Hiph. signifies actively to exchange. thus will be the participle of ; the plur. taken distributively (fools = whoever is only always a fool) is connected with the singular of the predicate. This change in the number is here, however, more difficult than at Pro 3:18, and in other places, where the plur. of the part. permits the resolution into a relative clause with quicunque , and more difficult than at Pro 28:1, where the sing. of the predicate is introduced by attraction; wherefore may be an error in transcribing for or (Bttcher). J. H. Michaelis (after the Targ. and Syr.) has properly rendered the clause: “ stulti tollunt ignominiam tanquam portionem suam ,” adding “ quae derivato nomine dicitur .” signifies, in the language of the sacrificial worship and of worship generally, to lift off from anything the best portion, the legitimate portion due to God and the priesthood ( vid., at Pro 3:9); for which reason Rashi glosses by , and Ralbag by . See Pro 14:29. Honour is that which the wise inherit, it falls to them unsought as a possession, but fools receive shame as the offal (viz., of their foolish conduct). The fut. and part. are significantly interchanged. The life of the wise ends in glory, but fools inherit shame; the fruit of their conduct is shame and evermore shame.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(35) Shame shall be the promotion of fools.That is, dull, stupid people, who despise Gods threatenings (Pro. 1:32), are distinguished from others by what is a disgrace to them (Php. 3:19), and so are noticeable only as examples to be shunned by others. (See Note on Pro. 14:29.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 3:35. Shame shall be the promotion of fools The elevation of fools shall turn to their confusion. The more they have been elevated, the more their folly shall be known, and their fall become more fatal. Schultens renders it peculiarly, and he thinks emphatically, And the branding of infamy ennobles the foolish. See his note.
*** I have omitted to add any REFLECTIONS to this and several other Chapters; as the proverbs contained in them are almost all independent of each other; and, therefore, Reflections upon each article would too much encroach on more interesting subjects.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 761
THE REWARDS OF WISDOM AND OF FOLLY
Pro 3:35. The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
A DESIRE of distinction and a fear of shame are powerful incentives to the human mind, and produce, in every department of life, exertions far beyond those to which mere natural inclination would prompt us. The soldier on the field of battle finds those principles stronger than the fear of death: nor is the student insensible of their influence upon his mind: on the contrary, the nearer the time approaches for a judgment to be passed upon him, the greater are his anxieties respecting it [Note: Preached a little previous to the Degree time at Cambridge; a time of extreme anxiety to the young men preparing for the Examinations.]. Now, these feelings being founded in nature itself, God is pleased to call them into action in reference to things of far higher moment than those which too generally engross them. Disgrace or honour are awarded to men, even in the present life, on moral and religious grounds, and much more will they in the life to come: and I wish that a due concern may be felt in reference to them, whilst I point out the influence of wisdom,
I.
On our present state
Wisdom may fitly be described as a conformity to the mind of God; and folly, as any aberration from it. But it is the Gospel alone that places these in their true light. Let us,
1.
Distinguish the two characters
[The Gospel is a proclamation of mercy to perishing sinners, through the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ; nor is there any way of salvation for fallen man, except that which is there revealed. All who are not interested in that Saviour must perish under the guilt of their sins
Now, who is wise, but he who labours to secure that salvation? or who is a fool, but he who neglects it? Suppose that means of escape from a sinking vessel, or a house in flames, were offered to one in danger of instantaneous destruction: would any person in the universe hesitate to assign the proper and distinctive epithets to him who availed himself of them, and to him who disregarded them? Yet would their conduct but very faintly shadow forth that which is exhibited under the Gospel dispensation: and the terms used to designate that conduct would very faintly describe its appropriate character. Let the two characters, then, be properly distinguished. Where is the man who, with all humility of mind and entire devotion of soul, seeks an interest in the Saviour? Him we may safely designate as wise. Where, on the other hand, is the man who neglects the Saviour? Whatever excuses he may allege in vindication of his conduct, we need not hesitate to assign to him the humiliating appellation of a fool.]
2.
Declare their proper award
[The wise shall even here inherit glory. Every one, whatever his own practice may be, has within his own bosom a witness in favour of those who are religious, provided their conduct be uniform and consistent. In outward profession, I grant, the world may brand religion with the name of folly: but their consciences in secret give a very different testimony: nor is there any man, however ungodly, so wicked, but that he reverences in his heart a pious character, and wishes, if it were possible, to be found in his place at the day of judgment. Herod, in the midst of all his impiety, feared John, because he knew him to be a just and holy man. And so it is with the ungodly world: they venerate the very man whom for his piety they hate and persecute. On the other hand, vain and thoughtless as art the world at large, and interested in upholding each other in their various pursuits, there is not one among them, who, in his moments of reflection, does not see the emptiness and vanity of worldly things; and who would not regard it as an inconsistency in a religious character, if he should betray an eagerness in the prosecution of them. The truth of these observations will be manifest beyond either contradiction or doubt, if only we bear in mind the conduct of the Scribes and Pharisees of old, who, whilst persecuting our blessed Lord even unto death, built the tombs of the prophets, and garnished the sepulchres of the righteous, whom their forefathers had put to death [Note: Mat 23:29-31.]. Precisely thus we also at this time honour the memory of the Apostles, and of our own reformers too, for who does not honour the names of Cranmer, and Latimer, and Ridley?) whilst we hate, revile, and persecute the living saints, who walk in their steps: and the names of the Scribes and Pharisees of old are odious to us, whilst we pay respect to those who sustain the same character amongst ourselves. All this clearly shews, that whatever our outward behaviour may be towards the two different parties, both of them have an inward witness in our own bosoms; the wise inheriting the glory that is due to them, whilst shame is the only promotion of fools.]
But still more effect will wisdom have,
II.
On our condition in the eternal world
There the conduct of all will be rightly appreciated
[In this world there are many things which obscure the wisdom of the wise, and which serve to palliate the folly of fools. The weaknesses of many good men excite a prejudice against their sentiments and conduct, and do really cast an air of folly over their very profession. This is deeply to be lamented: but, whilst there is so much folly bound up in the heart of man, and in many the seed of Divine Grace is but as a grain of mustard-seed, it is not to be wondered at that such stumbling-blocks should occur: indeed, unless a miracle were wrought to turn babes at once into young men and fathers, it is scarcely possible that offences of some kind should not arise from the injudicious deportment of weaker brethren. On the other hand, amongst those who are not devoted to the Saviour, there are many eminent for their attainments in science, and abounding in every species of worldly wisdom; and amidst so much that is amiable and good, it is difficult to mark with becoming severity the folly of which they are guilty. But God will judge righteous judgment: he will distinguish infallibly between the errors of the judgment and the bias of the heart: and to those who sought him, though in much weakness, he will give a testimony of applause; but on those who sought him not he will denounce his sentence of eternal condemnation.]
Then will wisdom and folly appear in their true light
[Behold the saint approved of his God, and seated on a throne of glory! Will any one think he sacrificed too much for this, or laboured too hard for this? Will there be any difference of opinion respecting him, amongst the hosts of heaven, or even in the regions of hell? No; there will be but one testimony respecting him. Every creature in the universe will pronounce him wise. See, on the other hand, the most successful and distinguished of the human race banished from the presence of that Saviour whom he would not seek, and of that God whom he refused to serve! Will there be any difference of opinion respecting his folly? Nay, will not he himself be the very first to accuse himself, and to curse the folly which once he so fondly cherished? Yes: we are told that, in hell, men will weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth with anguish: and I cannot doubt but that their self-reproach will be one of the bitterest ingredients in the cup which will there be given them to drink. When they see in what their love of promotion has issued, and that it has brought nothing but a pre-eminence in shame and sorrow, they will set their seal to that once-despised truth, that wisdom excelleth folly, as much as light excelleth darkness.]
Permit me now to recommend to every one amongst you,
A retrospect of your past lives
[What is your estimate now of your past life? If there one amongst you who would not rather that it should have been under the influence of wisdom, than that it should have been so devoted to folly, as in the great majority of cases it has been? I suppose there is scarcely any one that has not, at some season or other, had moments of reflection, and formed some faint purposes of amendment. Let the humiliation then experienced have been ever so transient, do you not at this time look back upon it as the best hour of your lives? and do you not regret that it so speedily passed away? And, however deeply you may have drunk of the cup of pleasure, do you not now feel that it is all vanity, and that nothing of it remains but the dregs, which have a bitter taste? Where is there one amongst you, who, if he should hear it dying man glorying in having lived altogether to the flesh and to the world, would not be shocked at it as an excess of impiety and fully? Or who, if he were himself in dying circumstances, would not wish for a far different frame of mind to prepare him for his great account? I make this appeal with confidence, and am content to rest the whole of what I have said on the testimony of your own consciences. Yes, beloved Brethren, you shall be constituted judges in your own case: and I will abide by the decision which you yourselves shall give. Let your convictions, then, be now realized: and let the Lord Jesus Christ be now sought by you without delay.]
2.
A prospective view of futurity
[Soon you will be convinced, at all events, whether you will listen to good instruction now, or not. Soon you will see whose word shall standthe worlds, or Gods. Depend upon it, Gods word will not change. What he has designated as wisdom by the mouth of Prophets and Apostles, he will pronounce to have been so, when he shall sit on his throne of judgment. Why will ye not then anticipate that sentence? And why will ye not consider what your reflections will be, when all your present opportunities of turning unto God shall have passed away? This only do I ask of you: Act now, as you will then wish you had acted. Methinks this is a reasonable request: it is a request which every one acknowledges to be good in reference to the things of time; and surely it cannot be less good in reference to eternity. May God enable all of you, then, to comply with it! and may you all not only become wise, but be made wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus!]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
REFLECTIONS.
READER! let us attend to the several very interesting subjects which arise out of this chapter, and by reading them in the sweet spirit of the gospel, to which they plainly refer, we shall through grace make no small improvement of them.
In the first place, while Solomon recommends such attention to the law as never to forget it; let us examine whether God the Father’s promise is fulfilled in our experience, and he hath put his law in our inward parts and written it in our hearts. Oh! the blessed work of regeneration, when the heart of stone is taken away, and the heart of flesh given. And when the spirituality of God’s law is so read and understood in the soul, that Christ is discovered to be the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.
In the next place let us see to it, Reader, that we have such confidence, and such well grounded trust in God’s mercy through Christ, as to commit everything for time and for eternity into his almighty hands; for this will be to honour him with our whole substance, and with the first fruits of all our increase.
And as a third improvement from this chapter, let us see to it, that as we eye the Lord in all his providences, so we never lose sight of his government in all his chastisements. Not to feel the rod, or not to suppose chastening to be grievous, would be unbecoming; and not to enquire into the causes of the Lord’s affliction, would be to forget the improvement intended to be made from it; and not to pray for a deliverance from trouble would be unsuitable to our circumstances. But to bless God for his attention in sending the affliction – to justify the Lord in the appointment of it – to acknowledge that he is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works – and while the Lord is correcting, we are cleaving the closer to him; and to lean upon his promises, when matters are most dark and discouraging; this will be neither to despise his chastening, nor faint under the pressure.
Lastly and above all – while Solomon in this chapter recommends so earnestly, to find wisdom and to get understanding; let us see to it that nothing satisfies our souls short of the knowledge and attainment of Christ. He is the wisdom indeed, which in the possession of must make the soul truly happy. In the constitution of his person, the suitableness, and all-sufficiency of his salvation; his offices, characters, relations, the manifold wisdom of Jehovah is made known. Reader! may the Lord the Spirit impress it both upon your heart and mine, to find him who is truly and emphatically wisdom himself and we shall then enter into the full apprehension of those sweet scriptures, the merchandize of it is better than the merchandize of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 3:35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
Ver. 35. The wise shall inherit glory. ] Not have it only, but inherit it – Hoc est, proprio, perfecto et perpetuo iure possidebunt, as Pellican; they shall have it as their proper, perfect, and perpetual right.
But shame shall be the promotion of fools.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
shall inherit, &c. Render: “the wise shall inherit glory, but a fool is piling up disgrace”. Illustrations: Asaph (Psa 73:24); Paul (2Ti 4:8); others (Jam 1:12. Dan 12:3. Joh 12:26).
shame, &c. Illustrations: Jeroboam (1Ki 21:22. 2Ki 13:2, 2Ki 13:11; 2Ki 14:24; 2Ki 15:9, 2Ki 15:18, 2Ki 15:24, 2Ki 15:28). Compare Pro 24:8.
fools. Hebrew. kesil. See note on Pro 1:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
wise: Pro 4:8, 1Sa 2:30, Psa 73:24
but: Pro 13:8, Psa 132:18, Isa 65:13-15, Dan 12:2, Dan 12:3
shall be the promotion of fools: Heb. exalteth the fools
Reciprocal: Pro 11:2 – pride Pro 12:8 – he Pro 13:5 – and Pro 14:18 – inherit Jer 3:19 – goodly heritage Hab 2:16 – with shame for glory Luk 14:9 – and thou Rev 21:7 – inherit