Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the LORD [is] to hate evil: pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
13. I hate ] This quiet identification of herself by Wisdom with the fear of the Lord, in the first clause of the verse, is significant. See Introd., p. 31.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Pro 8:13
The fear of the Lord to to hate evil.
Hatred of evil
A formal definition of the fear of the Lord. To dread the punishment of sin seems to be the main feature in that religion which, under many forms, springs native in the human heart. This is the mainspring which sets and keeps all the machinery of superstition going. It was a maxim of heathen antiquity, that Fear made God. To fear retribution is not to hate sin. It is a solemn suggestion that ever the religion of dark, unrenewed men is, in its essence, a love of their own sins. Instead of hating sin themselves, their grand regret is that God hates it. If they could be convinced that the Judge would regard it as lightly as the culprit, the fear would collapse like steam under cold water, and all the religious machinery which it drove would stand still. All the false religions that have ever desolated the earth are sparks from the collision of these two hard opposites–Gods hate of sin, and mans love for it. In Christ only may this sore derangement be healed. It is when sin is forgiven that a sinner can hate it. Instead of hating God for His holiness, the forgiven man instinctively loathes the evil of his own heart, and looks with longing for the day when all things in it shall be made new. Such is the blessed fruit of pardon when it comes to a sinner through the blood of Christ. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
A hidden token of the fear towards God
It is not merely in enlightenment of mind that the fear towards God has its result. By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. This departing from evil is the practical manifestation of a principle; it is habitual practice founded on a strong conviction of duty. In this text, the fear of the Lord is connected with the inward feeling of dislike for evil. Hatred, like love, is of the heart.
I. This fear must not be misunderstood as to its nature. It may be twofold. The alarm that is awakened by the threat of violence, or of immediate privation, is one kind of fear. This is the fear of dread, or terror. The other kind of fear is of respect or reverence, and this can only dwell in the heart of a friend towards a friend, or of a faithful servant towards a master worthy of esteem, or of a dutiful child towards an honoured parent. This is the fear of the Lord. What other fear should God be desirous of receiving and acknowledging at their hands?
II. If there be this fear, there will also be the hatred of evil. The Holy One cannot be so indulgent as to put no difference between godly fear and the love of sin. God hates evil as abhorrent from His holy nature. To require that we hate evil is no more than what the holiness of His own character requires from Himself. This requirement shows that God would draw us nearer to Himself. As He hates evil, He would have us hate it. (J. Rhenius, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 13. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil] As it is impossible to hate evil without loving good; and as hatred to evil will lead a man to abandon the evil way; and love to goodness will lead him to do what is right in the sight of God, under the influence of that Spirit which has given the hatred to evil, and inspired the love of goodness: hence this implies the sum and substance of true religion, which is here termed the fear of the Lord.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The fear of the Lord; which he had before noted to be the beginning of wisdom, Pro 1:7.
Is to hate evil; it consists in a careful abstinence from all sin, and that not from carnal or prudential motives, but from a true dislike and hatred of it.
Pride; which he mentions first, as that which is most hateful to God, and most opposite to true wisdom and to the fear of God, which constantly produce humility.
The evil way; all wicked actions, especially sinful custom: and courses.
The froward mouth; false doctrines, and bad counsels and deceits.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. For such is the effect ofthe fear of God, by which hatred to evil preserves from it.
froward mouthor,”speech” (Pro 2:12;Pro 6:14).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The fear of the Lord [is] to hate evil,…. All evil in general, evil thoughts, evil words, evil actions, evil company, evil worship, and evil doctrines; and by “the fear of the Lord”, which shows itself in an hatred of evil, because of the loathsome nature of it, and being contrary to God and his will, and as it appears in the glass of the law, and especially in the glass of pardoning love, is meant not the fear of his judgments and wrath, or a distrust of his grace and goodness, much less an hypocritical fear, or a mere show of devotion; but a reverential affection for him, which is peculiar to children; a filial, godly fear, which is consistent with strong faith, great joy, and true courage; and is opposite to pride and self-confidence, and is accompanied with real holiness; it takes its rise from the grace of God, and is greatly increased and promoted by the discoveries of his love and goodness: this is brought into the account and description of wisdom, to distinguish it from carnal wisdom; to commend wisdom from its holiness; for this the beginning of wisdom, yea, wisdom itself,
Job 28:28;
pride and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate; these are the particulars of evil, which Wisdom, or Christ, declares his hatred of. “Pride”, which appears in men in thinking too highly of themselves, in speaking too well of themselves, in despising others, in setting up and trusting to their own righteousness for salvation, and in crying up the purity and power of human nature; this is very contrary to the spirit of the meek and lowly Jesus, and must be hateful to him: “arrogancy” differs little from pride, and the two words in the Hebrew are very much the same, very little differ; it is an ascribing that to a man’s self which does not belong to him, whether in things natural, civil, or spiritual; when men attribute their justification and salvation to their own works, it is arrogancy, and must be hateful to Christ; who been at so much pains and expense to bring in everlasting righteousness, and work out salvation for men: it is the height of arrogancy in a man to conceit he a power to regenerate, renew, and convert himself, and, with the haughty Arminian, Grevinchovius, to say, he has made himself to differ from others; this must be hateful to Christ, by whose Spirit and grace this only is done: and it is a piece of arrogancy when men ascribe all the good works done by them to their own power, when without Christ they can do nothing; which therefore must be displeasing to him. “The evil way”, as Aben Ezra observes, is an evil custom and course of sinning; a man’s own way, which he chooses and delights in, and which leads to destruction: “and the froward mouth” is the mouth that speaks perverse things; things contrary to a man’s own heart, contrary to truth, to the rule of the divine word, to the Gospel, to Christ and his people, and to all men; which must be hateful and abominable to him who is truth itself.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Far remote is the idea that 13a is dependent on (I acquire) (Lwenstein, Bertheau). With this verse begins a new series of thoughts raising themselves on the basis of the fundamental clause 13a. Wisdom says what she hates, and why she hates it:
13 “The fear of Jahve is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogancy, and an evil way
And a deceitful mouth, do I hate.”
If the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Pro 9:10; Pro 1:7), then wisdom, personally considered, stands before all else that is to be said of her in a relation of homage or reverence toward God corresponding to the fear of God on the part of man; and if, as the premiss 13a shows, the fear of God has as its reverse side the hatred of evil, then there arises what Wisdom says in (I hate) of herself. Instead of the n. actionis (hatred), formed in the same way with , which, admitting the article, becomes a substantive, the author uses, in order that he might designate the predicate as such (Hitzig), rather the n. actionis as , Jer 29:10. , Jdg 8:1, is equivalent to like , the becoming dry, , the being able; cf. (Arab.) shanat , hating, malat , well-being, karat , reading (Fl.). The evil which Wisdom hates is now particularized as, Pro 6:16-19, the evil which Jahve hates. The virtue of all virtues is humility; therefore Wisdom hates, above all, self-exaltation in all its forms. The paronomasia (pride and haughtiness) expresses the idea in the whole of its contents and compass (cf. Isa 15:6; Isa 3:1, and above at Pro 1:27). (from , the nominal form), that which is lofty = pride, stands with , as Job 4:10, , that which is high = arrogance. There follows the viam mali , representing the sins of walk, i.e., of conduct, and os fullax ( vid., at Pro 2:12), the sins of the mouth. Hitzig rightly rejects the interpunctuation , and prefers . In consequence of this Dech ( Tiphcha init.), have in Codd. and good editions the servants Asla and Illuj ( vid., Baer’s Torath Emeth, p. 11); Aben-Ezra and Moses Kimchi consider the Asla erroneously as disjunctive, and explain by et os = axioma meum , but Asla is conjunctive, and has after it the raphatum.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(13) The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.Because there can never be any truce between the kingdoms of light and darkness (Mat. 6:24), so if we are the friend of one, we must be the enemy of the other.
Pride and arrogancy . . . do I hate.See above on Pro. 6:17.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. The fear of the Lord JEHOVAH. A phrase equivalent to our term true piety. (See Pro 1:7, and note.)
Is to hate evil That is, true piety, or true religion, produces a hatred of all evil. This is its essence. Certain forms of evil are then specified.
Pride, and arrogancy Lofty feelings and lofty thoughts of one’s self.
The evil way All wicked courses of conduct.
And the froward mouth All perverse and perverting speech. These four appellations seem to cover the feelings, thoughts, words, and actions. The man of piety, the votary of divine Wisdom, must, like her, hate all manner of evil, and consequently love and practice all manner of good. Compare Pro 1:7; Pro 1:29; Pro 2:5; Pro 3:7; Pro 9:10. On froward, compare Pro 2:12; Pro 10:31.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3). Wisdom Hates Evil Attitudes And Behaviour But Enables Just Government From Those Who Love Her ( Pro 8:13-17 ).
This subsection which majors on wisdom’s role in ensuring just government where she is accepted, commences with an indication of YHWH’s attitude towards it and the impression that all rulers are to rule in the light of it. The fear of YHWH results in hating evil. And this includes hating pride, arrogance, behaving in an evil way, and speaking with a perverse mouth. These were very much the general attributes of bad rulers, although not limited to them. But for those who love her, and diligently seek her, wisdom is able to supply counsel, sound knowledge and understanding, thus enabling them to rule and judge justly. So in Solomon’s eyes even foreign kings are reliant on YHWH to enable them to govern justly. His faith knew no boundaries, as befitted the man who could say, ‘heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You’ (1Ki 8:27).
The subsection is presented chiastically:
A The fear of YHWH is to hate evil, pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the perverse mouth, do I hate (Pro 8:13).
B Counsel is mine, and sound knowledge, I am understanding, I have might (Pro 8:14).
B By me kings reign, and princes decree justice, by me rulers govern, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth (Pro 8:15-16).
A I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me (Pro 8:17).
Note that in A wisdom hates evil: pride and arrogance, the evil way and the perverse mouth, all especially characteristics of rulers. In the parallel she loves those who love her and find her through seeking her diligently. In B she has counsel, sound knowledge, understanding and might, and in the parallel good rulers and judges operate through her counsel fostering justice.
Pro 8:13
The fear of YHWH is to hate evil,
Pride, and arrogance, and the evil way,
And the perverse mouth, do I hate.”
The world is full of ‘rulers’, some evil and corrupt, and some good and just, with a lot of rulers in between, and so the subsection commences with YHWH’s view of corrupt rulers, although it is not, of course, limited to rulers. Pride, arrogance, following the way of evil and speaking perversely are all characteristics of forceful men whether in politics or in business (see Pro 16:19 where the wise avoid them). To fear YHWH is to hate evil, and that is precisely because YHWH Himself hates evil. And because hating evil is a product of the fear of YHWH, evil is hated by Wisdom, for what she teaches is in line with the fear of YHWH. We can have no clearer indication that wisdom in Proverbs is very much related to YHWH than these words. Wisdom in Proverbs is inculcating, not humanistic wisdom, but YHWH’s wisdom.
Wisdom expands on what the evil is that is to be hated, especially in rulers. It is pride, arrogance, following the way of evil (i.e. not aiming at the good of people in general) and being deceitful and dishonest, and possibly rebellious against YHWH, in what is spoken. They reflect the haughty eyes and lying tongue that God hates (Pro 6:17), and the perverse mouth of the worthless man (Pro 6:12; compare Pro 2:12). All these attributes are reflected in Isa 16:6; Jer 48:29-30, where it is the leaders of Moab who were in mind. Compare the high looks and boastful words of the Assyrian king in Isa 10:12-15. They were the attributes of many rulers as revealed in Scripture and inscriptions. They are the attributes of many politicians today. Those who should be a pattern for good are so often a very bad example, or worse, for power corrupts.
Pro 8:14-17
“Counsel is mine, and sound knowledge,
I am understanding, I have might,
By me kings reign,
And princes decree justice,
By me rulers govern,
And nobles, even all the judges of the earth.
I love those who love me,
And those who seek me diligently will find me.”
In contrast to what Wisdom hates (evil), is what Wisdom loves. She loves those who love her, that is who eagerly hear her and follow her instruction. Here then she speaks of those who respond to her. To them she gives counsel and sound knowledge in all that they do in war and peace, for basically she ‘is understanding’. That is her very nature. And she has might as revealed by her influence on kings, rulers and governors. For by her kings reign, princes decree justice, rulers govern, as do also nobles. She influences all the judges of the earth (and kings and governors were the premier judges). Note the assumption that all who rule or judge wisely owe it to YHWH and His wisdom. He disseminates it to all whose hearts are right and who seek it. There were very few rulers who were totally corrupt.
It is noteworthy that both this and the following subsection end with describing Wisdom’s response to those who love her. For those who love Wisdom receive the benefits of doing so. She pours out her spirit to them, she makes known her words to them (Pro 1:23). Thus to love Wisdom is to love oneself in the right way. It impacts on every part of life. As Solomon said earlier of Wisdom, ‘do not forsake her and she will preserve you. Love her and she will guard you’ (Pro 4:6). Wisdom is to be loved in the same way as the strange woman is not. Note that she was to be ‘sought diligently’. Men should read, mark, learn and inwardly digest her. Then they would receive her fruit in their lives. Paul’s words are relevant here, ‘study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth’ (2Ti 2:15).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Pro 8:13 The fear of the LORD [is] to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Ver. 13. The fear of the Lord. ] Which is a high point of heavenly wisdom, Pro 1:7 to the praise whereof this therefore appertaineth. There are those who make this verse an explanation of the former, thus: I find out the knowledge of witty inventions, such as are the fear of the Lord, the hatred of evil, yea, of inward evils, as pride, arrogancy, &c. Odi fastum istius Ecclesiae. I hate the pride of that Romish Church, said Basil, long since. “I hate vain thoughts; but thy law do I love.” Psa 119:113 “I hate and abhor lying.” Psa 119:163 “Yea, I hate every false way,” both in myself and others. Psa 119:104 “Thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” Rev 2:6 God’s people partake of the Divine nature, and so have God-like both sympathies and antipathies. They not only leave sin, but loathe it, and are at deadly feud with it. They purge themselves – by this clean fear of God Psa 19:7 – from all pollutions, not of flesh only, worldly lusts, and gross evils, but of spirit also, that lie more up in the heart of the country, as pride, arrogance, &c., so “perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2Co 7:1 There may be some kind of pride in sincerity, and of humility in hypocrisy. But hypocrisy’s humility is followed with pride, and sincerity’s pride with humility. This latter humility is the better. And here only it is seemly for virtue to come behind vice. Hypocrisy is proud because it is humble; sincerity is humble because it is proud.
And the evil way.
a Velleius.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The fear, &c. See note on Pro 1:7.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
hate. This is far beyond Zophar’s mistaken definition of it in Job 28:28. A man may “depart” from evil from policy, while he loves it in his heart. But to “hate” it comes only from Divine wisdom. By nature men love evil (Jer 17:9. Mat 7:17; Mat 15:19. Joh 3:19. Rom 3:10-18; Rom 8:7, Rom 8:8. 1Co 2:14. Gal 1:5, Gal 1:17. Eph 2:2, Eph 2:3, Eph 2:12; Eph 4:17-22. Col 1:21. Tit 3:3. 1Jn 5:19).
evil. Hebrew. ra’a’. App-44.
froward = perverse.
mouth. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Part), App-6, for the whole man.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
fear
(See Scofield “Psa 19:9”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
The fear: Pro 16:6, Psa 97:10, Psa 101:3, Psa 119:104, Psa 119:128, Amo 5:15, Rom 12:9, 1Th 5:22, 2Ti 2:19
pride: Pro 6:16-19, 1Sa 2:3, Psa 5:4, Psa 5:5, Psa 138:6, Zec 8:17, 1Pe 5:5
the froward: Pro 4:24, Pro 6:12, Pro 10:31
Reciprocal: Gen 20:11 – Surely Exo 1:17 – feared God 1Ki 18:12 – from my youth Job 1:1 – one Job 1:8 – one Psa 19:9 – The fear Psa 34:14 – Depart Psa 36:1 – no Psa 101:4 – A froward Pro 2:12 – from the man Pro 3:32 – the froward Pro 8:8 – there Pro 11:20 – of Pro 15:33 – fear Pro 16:5 – that Pro 17:20 – He that hath a froward heart Pro 21:4 – An high look Pro 31:30 – a woman Jer 43:2 – all the Jer 44:10 – neither Jer 48:29 – heard Mal 3:5 – fear Act 9:31 – and walking Rom 3:18 – General Rom 7:15 – what I hate 2Co 7:1 – in Heb 1:9 – hated 1Pe 2:18 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 8:13. The fear of the Lord Which he had before said to be the beginning of wisdom; is to hate evil It consists in a careful abstinence from all sin, and that not from carnal or prudential motives, but from real hatred to it, on account of its contrariety to the divine nature and attributes, its opposition to Gods word and will, its infinite evil in itself, and its eternally destructive consequences; pride Which he mentions first, as that which is most hateful to God, and most opposite to true wisdom, and to the genuine fear of God, which constantly produces humility; and the evil way All wicked actions, especially sinful customs and courses; and the froward mouth, do I hate False doctrines, and bad counsels, and deceits.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
8:13 The fear of the LORD [is] to hate {e} evil: pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the perverse mouth, do I hate.
(e) So that he who does not hate evil, does not fear God.