Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. Ver. 1. _Hear, ye children._] _Audite senem, iuvenes, quem iuvenem senes audierunt:_ Hear me, now an old man, O ye youths, whom old men once gladly heard, when I was but a youth. With this speech Augustus pacified his... [ Continue Reading ]
For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. Ver. 2. _For I give you good doctrine._] The common cry is, "Who will show us any good?" and every man will lend both ears to a good bargain. The doctrine here delivered is good every way, whether you look to the author, matter, or effect of it,... [ Continue Reading ]
For I was my father's son, tender and only [beloved] in the sight of my mother. Ver. 3. For I was my father's son,] _q.d., _ I that am now so famous for wisdom, was once as wise as a wild ass's colt. But I had the happiness to be taught and tutored by the best and wisest man in his generation, and... [ Continue Reading ]
He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Ver. 4. _He taught me also._] As Cato taught his own children, and took it for no disgrace, though so great a man. "Nurture" is as necessary for children as nourishment, Eph 6:4 which they that neg... [ Continue Reading ]
_Get wisdom, get understanding: forget [it] not; neither decline from the words of my mouth._ Ver. 5. _Get wisdom, get understanding._] _Compara sapientiam, compara intelligentiam_ - so Chrysostom. _Comparate saeculares, comparate vobis biblia, animae pharmaca._ Get you Bibles by all means, whateve... [ Continue Reading ]
Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Ver. 6. _Forsake her not, &c._] Wisdom is her own reward. If she forsake us, it is because the desertion is first on our part. But she cannot but be "justified of her own true children." Mat 11:19 Falling stars were ne... [ Continue Reading ]
Wisdom [is] the principal thing; [therefore] get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Ver. 7. _Wisdom is the principal thing._] Say the world what it will, a drachma of this wisdom is worth a pound of wit. Let others censure with the scribes, let me wonder with the multitude. And for... [ Continue Reading ]
Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. Ver. 8. _Exalt her, and she shall._] Have a high and honourable esteem of her and her children. Rabbi Solomon, out of the Talmudists, renders it, Search for her, _minutatim in ea singula consectans,_... [ Continue Reading ]
She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. Ver. 9. _A crown of glory._] The psalmist shows by prophesying Psalms 138:4,5 _; _ Psa 119:72 that even kings, coming to taste the excellence of the comforts of godliness, and to feel the power of God's w... [ Continue Reading ]
Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. Ver. 10. _Hear, O my son, and receive._] How slippery an age youth is, and how easily it slips into sinful courses and companies the wise man well knew; and therefore ceaseth not to inculcate and repeat the same thing... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths._ Ver. 11. _I have led thee in right paths._] _Impli ambulant in circuitu,_ The wicked walk the round. So doth the devil, that great peripatetic. Job 1:6-12 "How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter?" Jer 31:22... [ Continue Reading ]
When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Ver. 12. _And when thou runnest._] Having a good mixture of zeal and knowledge; so that thy zeal doth quicken thy knowledge, and thy knowledge guide thy zeal. For that the soul be without knowledge, i... [ Continue Reading ]
Take fast hold of instruction; let [her] not go: keep her; for she [is] thy life. Ver. 13. _Take fast hold of instruction._] _Nam magnum certamen sustines adversus haereticae et epicureos,_ saith a Jewish doctor upon this text: Heretics and epicures will seek to wring it from thee, by wrench and wi... [ Continue Reading ]
Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil [men]. Ver. 14. _Enter not into the path of the wicked._] _Qui male vivunt, et peius credunt,_ saith one, which live ill, and believe worse. _Qui aequo animo malis immiscetur, malus est,_ saith another. _a_ He that is well content... [ Continue Reading ]
Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. Ver. 15. _Avoid it, pass not by it._] As ye would not come near a carrion carcass; as the seaman shuns sands and shelves (the apostle's simile, 2Th 3:6); as ye would be loath to come near those that have the plague sore running upon them. Evil... [ Continue Reading ]
For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause [some] to fall. Ver. 16. _For they sleep not._] So much are they set upon it. Or as empty stomachs can hardly sleep, so neither can graceless persons rest till gorged and glutted with the sweetmeats... [ Continue Reading ]
For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. Ver. 17. _For they eat the bread of wickedness._] As Tartarians feed upon dead carcasses of horses, asses, cats, dogs, yea, when they stink, and are full of maggots, and hold them as dainty as we do venison. _a_ As spiders feed u... [ Continue Reading ]
But the path of the just [is] as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Ver. 18. _But the path of the just is as the shining light._] He sets forth betime in the morning, and travels to meet the day. He proceeds from virtue to virtue, till at length he shine as the sun... [ Continue Reading ]
The way of the wicked [is] as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. Ver. 19. _Is as darkness._] That little light they had by nature they imprison, _κατεχοντωυ_ _, _ Rom 1:18 and are justly deprived of. And as for those sparkles of the light of joy and comfort that hypocrites have, it is bu... [ Continue Reading ]
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Ver. 20. _My son, attend to my words._] Still he calls for attention, as knowing our dulness and fickle headedness. It fared with the prophet Zechariah as with a drowsy person, who, though awaked and set to work, is ready to sleep at it... [ Continue Reading ]
Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. Ver. 21. _Let them not depart._] _See Trapp on "_ Pro 3:21 _"_ In the midst of thy heart.] As in a safe repository, a ready repertory.... [ Continue Reading ]
For they [are] life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Ver. 22. _For they are life._] _See Trapp on "_ Pro 3:22 _"_ _See Trapp on "_ Pro 3:16 _"_ And health unto all their flesh] Sin is the cause of sickness. 1Co 11:20 "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." Joh 5:... [ Continue Reading ]
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it [are] the issues of life. Ver. 23. _Keep thy heart._] Filth free, as much as may be; keep a constant counterguard against all inroads made by flesh, world, and devil. Keep the heart always supple and soluble, for else thou canst not be long in spirit... [ Continue Reading ]
Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Ver. 24. _Put away from thee a froward mouth._] To the keeping of the heart, a careful watching over the mouth, eyes, feet, &c., doth much conduce. For these outward parts abused, as they receive defilement from the heart, so... [ Continue Reading ]
Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ver. 25. _Let thine eyes look right on._] _E regione, vel in rectum._ Let them be fixed upon right objects. Get that stoic eye of our Saviour; get a patriarch's eye; be well skilled in Moses's optics; Heb 11:27 have _ocu... [ Continue Reading ]
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Ver. 26. _Ponder the path of thy feet._] Viz., By the weights of the word. Look to thine affections, for by these maids Satan woes the mistress. Take heed where you set gunpowder, since fire is in your hearts. Augustine thanks God th... [ Continue Reading ]
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. Ver. 27. _Turn not to the right._] Keep the king's highway; keep within God's precincts, and ye keep under his protection. The heathen orator _a_ could say, _A recta conscientia ne latum quidem unguem discedendum; _ A man may no... [ Continue Reading ]