II. First Collection of Proverbs 10:1 to Proverbs 22:16 Ch. 10. Title. The Proverbs of Solomon At this point we pass from the direct and continuous appeal of the opening Chapter s of the Book to the first and by far the largest Collection of proverbs proper, that is to say of short and for the mos... [ Continue Reading ]
_heaviness_ or _sorrow_, as the same somewhat uncommon word is rendered in Proverbs 17:21. It is perhaps significant that the first proverb deals with so fundamental a relation of human society.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Treasures of wickedness … righteousness_ The contrast would seem to be between "wickedness" in its highest prosperity and success, when it has amassed "treasures," when it has "found all precious substance and filled the house with spoil" (Proverbs 1:13), and "righteousness," in itself considered,... [ Continue Reading ]
_to famish_ Comp. Psalms 37:25; and for the soul's highest hungering, Matthew 5:6. _casteth away the substance_ Rather, THRUSTETH AWAY (as Gehazi would have done the Shunammite, 2 Kings 4:27) THE DESIRE, R.V.... [ Continue Reading ]
_He becometh poor_ It has been thought that the change of a single vowel point would give _A slack hand maketh poor_, which is an exact parallel to the second clause of the verse, and is adopted by the Vulg., egestatem operata est manus remissa.... [ Continue Reading ]
_sleepeth_ Sleeps heavily, goes fast to sleep. Stertit, Vulg. Comp. Jonah 1:5-6, where the Heb. word is the same. This is an example of an exactly balanced proverb in the wording of the two clauses, especially if with R.V. marg. we render literally, _a son that doeth wisely … that doeth shamefully_... [ Continue Reading ]
_violence covereth_&c. This, which is the rendering both of A.V. and R.V. text, is to be preferred to the rendering of R.V. marg., "_the mouth of the wicked covereth violence_," i.e. in what he says there is a covert purpose of violence, which he endeavours to conceal. So rendered it may mean eithe... [ Continue Reading ]
_a prating fool_ A happy rendering, lit. THE FOOLISH OF LIPS. _shall fall_ Or, _shall be overthrown_, or _laid low_. R.V. marg.... [ Continue Reading ]
_known_ i.e. _found out_. Comp. 1 Timothy 5:24; 1 Timothy 3:9. Some, however, render, "shall be punished," shall be taught by bitter experience his folly, comparing Jeremiah 31:19, where the same Heb. word is rendered, "I was instructed.... [ Continue Reading ]
_a prating fool_&c. The repetition of this clause in a new connection is interesting. In Proverbs 10:8 the contrast is between a wise heart and an unbridled tongue, in its consequences to its possessor. Here it is between crafty reticence which injures others, and foolish loquacity which injures one... [ Continue Reading ]
_violence covereth_&c. See Proverbs 10:6, note. The former (_a_) of the meanings suggested there best suits the parallelism here.... [ Continue Reading ]
_love covereth_&c. See 1 Peter 4:8, where the use of _charity_for _love_in A.V. obscures the fact that it is probably a quotation of this proverb. The LXX., however, has here a different reading (πάντας δὲ τοὺς μὴ φιλονεικοῦντας καλύπτει φιλία), so that the Apostle must either have quoted from the H... [ Continue Reading ]
_that hath understanding_ or, _discernment_, R.V. The contrast is heightened by pursuing in the second clause the want of understanding to its consequences. The _Speaker's Comm_. quotes the Egyptian proverb, "A youth hath a back that he may attend to his teacher.... [ Continue Reading ]
_near destruction_ Rather, IS A NEAR, OR IMMINENT (R.V. A PRESENT) DESTRUCTION: "it is like a house ready to fall at any moment." The antithesis is between wise men who treasure their wisdom to be used as occasion serves, and a fool who blurts out his folly, and may at any moment bring upon himself... [ Continue Reading ]
_destruction_ The Heb. word is the same as in Proverbs 10:14. If we take it here, too, to denote a tottering building, ready to fall upon its tenant and bury him beneath its ruins, the parallelism is complete. We have here an instance of the candour and sobriety of the moral teaching of this Book.... [ Continue Reading ]
_fruit_ or, _increase_, R.V. It has been thought that a contrast is here drawn between the actual "labour" of the righteous which, however toilsome in itself, has its issue in life, and the "increase," the fruit of labour, of the wicked, which is sin. Comp. Proverbs 10:2 above. But "labour" may mean... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the way_&c. Rather (with R.V. marg.), A WAY OF LIFE IS HE THAT HEEDETH CORRECTION: But he that forsaketh reproof causeth to err. The one by his example and influence IS a way of life to his fellow men; in measure and degree he can say what only the Perfect Example could say fully, "I am the... [ Continue Reading ]
with _lying lips_ Rather, IS OF LYING LIPS, R.V.... [ Continue Reading ]
A Greek parallel has been cited from Stobæus: πολυλογία πολλὰ σφάλματα ἔχει, and a Latin from Cato: Virtutem primam esse puta compescere linguam. Proximus ille Deo est qui scit ratione tacere.... [ Continue Reading ]
_tongue … heart_ The force of the antithesis lies in these two words: _even the tongue_of the one, but _the very heart_of the other.... [ Continue Reading ]
_feed_ In the wider sense perhaps which the word commonly has, _supply the wants of, as a shepherd does_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_addeth no sorrow_ It is without alloy, free from the drawbacks and anxieties which attach to earthly riches. Or, with Maur. and R.V. marg., _toil, or anxiety, addeth nothing thereto_. Comp. Matthew 6:25-34; Psalms 127:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
_hath wisdom_ Rather, AND so is WISDOM (a sport or pastime) TO A MAN OF UNDERSTANDING. She imparts to him her own joy, or exultation. Comp. Proverbs 8:30, where the Heb. word is the same. See John 15:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
_As &c_.] Rather, WHEN THE WHIRLWIND PASSETH THE WICKED is NO MORE. The parallelism is thus best preserved. Like the house on the sand when the whirlwind passes over it, the wicked shall be swept away (Psalms 37:10): like the house on the rock unshaken by the storm, the righteous shall stand firm as... [ Continue Reading ]
_them that send him_ Contrast Proverbs 25:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. Proverbs 3:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
shall be] These words should not be introduced. "The way of the Lord" is the subject of both clauses of the verse: it is at once a "stronghold" and a "destruction," or "ruin" (see Proverbs 10:15, note: the Heb. word is the same) to the two opposite classes of men. So R.V.: THE WAY OF THE LORD IS A... [ Continue Reading ]
_the earth_ Comp. Matthew 5:5; or, _the land_(sc. of Canaan), as R.V. Comp. Proverbs 21:21-22; Exodus 20:12. The law holds good, though its sphere of action may vary.... [ Continue Reading ]
_bringeth forth_ as a tree its leaves or fruit: "_buddeth with_," R.V. marg.... [ Continue Reading ]
speaketh] So R.V. text: "is," R.V. marg. Others supply the verb "knoweth" from the first clause, as in Proverbs 10:29.... [ Continue Reading ]