My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, [if] thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, Ver. 1. _My son, if thou be surety._] The wise man, having exhorted his son to marry, rather than burn, and to nourish a family, rather than to haunt harlots' houses, to the end that he may show himself a go... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth. Ver. 2. _Thou art snared,_] i. e., Endangered to slavery or poverty, or both. Hence the proverb, _Sponde, noxa praesto est; _ Give thy word, and thou art not far from a mischief. Shun, therefore, suretyship, if... [ Continue Reading ]
Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend. Ver. 3. _When thou art come into the hand._] For "the borrower is servant to the lender," Pro 22:7 and _Facile ex amico inimicum facies cui promissa non reddes,_ s... [ Continue Reading ]
Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Ver. 4. _Give not sleep to thine eyes, &c._] Augustus wondered at a certain knight in Rome, that owed much, and yet could sleep securely; and when this knight died, he sent to buy his bed, as supposing there was something more than ordinar... [ Continue Reading ]
Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand [of the hunter], and as a bird from the hand of the fowler. Ver. 5. _As a roe from the hand, &c._] This creature may be taken, but not easily tamed: it seeks therefore by all means to make escape, and when it fleeth, looketh behind it, holding it no life, if n... [ Continue Reading ]
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Ver. 6. _Go to the ant, thou sluggard._] Man, that was once the captain of God's school, is now, for his truantcy, turned down into the lowest form as it were, to learn his A B C's again; yea, to be taught by these lowest creatures. So C... [ Continue Reading ]
Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Ver. 7. _Which having no guide, overseer, &c._] How much more then should man, who hath all these, and is both _ad laborem natus, et ratione ornatus,_ born to labour, and hath reason to guide him. Only he must take heed that he be not antlike, wholly taken... [ Continue Reading ]
Provideth her meat in the summer, [and] gathereth her food in the harvest. Ver. 8. _Provideth her meat in the summer._] She devours indeed much grain, made chiefly for the use of man; but deserves, saith an interpreter, for this very cause, to be fed with the finest wheat, and greatest dainties, th... [ Continue Reading ]
How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Ver. 9. _How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard?_] The ear, we say, is first up in a morning: call a sleeping man by his name, and he will sooner awake and answer to it than to anything else. The wise man therefore thus deal... [ Continue Reading ]
Proverbs 6:10 [Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: Ver. 10. _Yet a little sleep._] Heb., Sleeps; so, slumbers. Though he speaks in the plural, and would have much, yet all is but a little in his pretence and conceit. He asks "a little," but he will not be... [ Continue Reading ]
So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. Ver. 11. _As a traveller, and thy want as an armed man._] That is, Speedily and irresistibly. Men must sweat out a living, and earn their bread before they eat it. 2Th 3:12 Think not to have wealth without working; as c... [ Continue Reading ]
A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. Ver. 12. _A naughty person._] Lo, every idle man is a naughty man; is, or ere long will be; for by doing nothing, men learn to do evil, said the heathen. _a_ And "thou wicked and slothful servant," saith our Saviour. Mat 25:26 He puts no... [ Continue Reading ]
He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; Ver. 13. _He winketh with his eyes._] He is restless in evil, and with his odd tricks and gesticulations seeks to spread mischief, even there, where he dares not otherwise discover himself. Or the sense may be this:... [ Continue Reading ]
Frowardness [is] in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. Ver. 14. _Frowardness is in his heart._] What marvel then though he solecise with his hand, _a_ though he twinkle with his eye, and tinkle with his feet, &c.? "When he speaketh fair, believe him not, for there are s... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy. Ver. 15. _Suddenly shall he be broken without remedy._] A dismal doom: broken, and not bruised only; "suddenly" broken, when they least dream or dread the danger. And this "without remedy"; no possibility of pie... [ Continue Reading ]
These six [things] doth the LORD hate: yea, seven [are] an abomination unto him: Ver. 16. _These six things doth the Lord hate._] That is, He detesteth, damneth, punisheth them in the sluggard, whose soul is the sink of all these ensuing evils. Where note, that sin makes wicked men the object of Go... [ Continue Reading ]
A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, Ver. 17. _A proud look._] Heb., Haughty eyes. Men's hearts usually and chiefly sit and show themselves _in oculis, in loculis, in poculis,_ in their eyes, purses, and cups. The Latins speaking of an arrogant disdainful person say, th... [ Continue Reading ]
An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, Ver. 18. _An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations._] This is the old beldam, the mother of all the foregoing and following mischiefs, and is therefore fitly set in the midst of the seven, as having an influenc... [ Continue Reading ]
A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. Ver. 19. _A false witness that speaketh lies._] Heb., That blows abroad lies, - as with a pair of bellows; that vents them boldly and freely in open court, in the face of the country. These knights of the post can lend... [ Continue Reading ]
My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: Ver. 20. My son, keep thy father's commandment.] The commandments of religious parents are the very commandments of God himself, and are therefore to be as carefully kept "as the apple of a man's eye." Pro 7:2 _See Trapp... [ Continue Reading ]
Bind them continually upon thine heart, [and] tie them about thy neck. Ver. 21. _Bind them continually._] Observe them with as much care and conscience as thou art bound to do the law of God given by Moses. Deu 6:8 _See Trapp on "_ Mat 23:5 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and [when] thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. Ver. 22. When thou goest, it shall lead _a_ thee.] No such guide to God as the word, which while a man holds to, he may safely say, Lord, if I be deceived, thou hast deceiv... [ Continue Reading ]
For the commandment [is] a lamp; and the law [is] light; and reproofs of instruction [are] the way of life: Ver. 23. _For the commandment is a lamp._] Or, Candle, whereof there is no small use when men go to bed, or rise early. He that hath the word of Christ richly dwelling in him may lay his hand... [ Continue Reading ]
To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Ver. 24. _To keep thee from the evil woman._] Heb., From the woman of evil, that is wholly given up to wickedness, - as Aaron saith of the people, Exo 32:22 and as Plautus, _In fermenlo tota iacet uxor._ In this s... [ Continue Reading ]
Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. Ver. 25. _Lust not after her beauty._] _Aureliae Orestillae praeter formam nihil unquam bonus laudavit._ Aurelia Orestilla had beauty indeed, but nothing else that was praise worthy, saith the historian. _a_ How m... [ Continue Reading ]
For by means of a whorish woman [a man is brought] to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. Ver. 26. _For by means of a whorish woman._] _See Trapp on "_ Pro 5:10 _"_ These creatures know no other language but that of the horse leech's daughter, Give, give, and may f... [ Continue Reading ]
Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Ver. 27. _Can a man take fire?_] Lest any man should reply, ‘I will see to myself, and save one from the afore named mischiefs; I have more wit than to trust any harlot, and more skill than to let it come abroad to my disgrace and det... [ Continue Reading ]
Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? Ver. 28. _Can one go upon hot coals?_] Similitudes are never set out to confirm or confute, but to adorn and illustrate, giving unto their matter a certain kind of lively gesture, and stirring up thereby men's drowsy minds to the consideration... [ Continue Reading ]
So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent. Ver. 29. So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife.] That suspiciously converseth with her alone, though haply with no intent of corrupting her. Joseph shunned the company of his mistress; he would not be w... [ Continue Reading ]
Proverbs 6:30 [Men] do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; Ver. 30. _Men do not despise a thief._] We used to say, A liar is worse than a thief; _a_ and Siracides saith the same of a constant liar. (chap. 20) But that an adulterer is worse than a thief, the Holy... [ Continue Reading ]
_But [if] he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house._ Ver. 31. _He shall restore sevenfold,_] _i.e., _ Manifold, according as the law limiteth, though it be to the utmost of what the thief is worth. But what restitution can the adulterer make, should he m... [ Continue Reading ]
Proverbs 6:32 [But] whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he [that] doeth it destroyeth his own soul. Ver. 32. _Lacketh understanding._] Being wholly carried by sensual appetite, against the dictates both of religion and of reason. Beetles love dunghills better than ointment... [ Continue Reading ]
A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. Ver. 33. _A wound and dishonour shall he get._] Either from the husband of the adulteress or from the magistrate, who will put him to death, according to the law of God, Leviticus 20:10 _; Leviticus 20:13_ _; _ Lev 20:15-... [ Continue Reading ]
For jealousy [is] the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. Ver. 34. _For jealousy is the rage._] Howbeit he may not kill the adulterer, though taken in the act, but prosecute the law against him, and appeal to the magistrate, who is the lord keeper of both tables - _c... [ Continue Reading ]