Eleventh Address. Chap. 6. Proverbs 6:1. _The Surety_ "From the solemn principle announced at the close of the last chapter (Proverbs 6:23) the teacher passes … to illustrate the truth by three examples, that of the Surety (Proverbs 6:1-5), that of the Sluggard (Proverbs 6:6-11), and that of the Wor... [ Continue Reading ]
_be surety_ Better, ART BECOME SURETY, R.V. The frequent mention of suretiship in this Book, and the strong terms of warning and reprobation in which it is invariably spoken of, accord well with what we should suppose to be the condition of society in the reign of Solomon. In earlier and simpler ti... [ Continue Reading ]
_when_ Rather, FOR, or, SEEING THAT, R.V. _humble thyself_ Lit. offer thyself to be trampled upon; prostrate thyself. Others render, _stir thyself_, R.V. marg.; ἴσθι μὴ ἐκλυόμενος, LXX., festina, Vulg. _make sure_ Rather, BE URGENT UPON, IMPORTUNE, R.V.; παρόξυνε, LXX.; suscita, Vulg.... [ Continue Reading ]
of the hunter] These words, which are not in the Heb., are not necessary to the sense. The struggling roe forces itself from the hand (be it of hunter or of anyone else) that has laid hold on it.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go to the ant_ Comp. Proverbs 30:25; where however the foresight of the little insect is chiefly in view. Here its ceaseless activity, and that of its own free-will, without being set on work or kept up to it by external authority (Proverbs 6:7), furnishes the lesson to the sluggard. _sluggard_ Th... [ Continue Reading ]
Twelfth Address. Chap. 6. Proverbs 6:6. _The Sluggard_ 6 11. Comp. on this Section Proverbs 24:30-34.... [ Continue Reading ]
_guide_ Rather, CHIEF, R.V. (_judge_, marg.) to appoint its work. LXX. ἐκείνῳ γὰρ γεωργίου μὴ ὑπάρχοντος, in keeping with "the summer" and "the harvest" of the next verse. _overseer_ The Heb. word is used of the Hebrew "officers," whom the Egyptian "taskmasters" set over the Israelites in Egypt, Ex... [ Continue Reading ]
The LXX. addition to this verse is interesting, both as illustrating their tendency to gloss, and also because it exhibits the bee in a favourable light, as an example of industry and wisdom, whereas, unless we regard it as latent in the use of the word as a proper name (_Deborah_, Judges 4:4), that... [ Continue Reading ]
_one that travelleth … an armed man_ The figure is two-fold. The doom of the sluggard travels swiftly and is inevitable. While he slumbers inertly, Poverty is coming on apace, drawing nearer to him every moment; and when it comes, it falls upon him like an armed man (Heb. "man with a shield") from w... [ Continue Reading ]
_a naughty person_ Lit. A MAN OF BELIAL. The Heb. word _Belial_means, "of no profit," "worthless," and, according to the Heb. idiom, a man of, or a son of (Deuteronomy 13:13) Belial, is an unprofitable or worthless person. Here, however, the word "Belial" is in apposition with "man," "a man (who is)... [ Continue Reading ]
Thirteenth Address. Chap. 6. Proverbs 6:12. _The Worthless Person_ This short section might seem at first sight to break itself into two (Proverbs 6:12). But the note of character, "he soweth discord," repeated in Proverbs 6:19 from Proverbs 6:14, helps to identify the worthless person as being the... [ Continue Reading ]
_winketh_ Comp. Proverbs 10:10; Psalms 35:19. _speaketh_ Not only the tongue (Proverbs 6:12), but the eye, the foot and the hand are used to make false suggestions, and to further his deceitful designs. Comp. Proverbs 16:30. _Shuffleth_, R.V. marg., is a rendering adopted by many good scholars, σημ... [ Continue Reading ]
_soweth_) Vulg. _seminat_. So R.V. with "Heb. _letteth loose_", in marg. Lit. SENDETH or CASTETH FORTH, as was done in the hand sowing of those days and countries. Comp. ὡς ἄνθρωπος βάλῃ τὸν σπόρον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, Mark 4:26. The idea of _sowing_is not contained, however, in the Heb. word, and the phras... [ Continue Reading ]
_six … seven_ To specify more precisely the traits that go to form the character of the man of Belial, and to lift them into the sphere of God's judgement, that we may make a true estimate of them, they are these six, yea seven, for they are complete, and the shades of darkness, like the rays of lig... [ Continue Reading ]
_A proud look_ Rather, HAUGHTY EYES, A.V. margin, R.V. text. Thus the enumeration in the Heb. of the parts of the body: -eyes," -tongue," -hands," -heart," -feet" is preserved.... [ Continue Reading ]
See Proverbs 6:12_; Proverbs 6:14_notes.... [ Continue Reading ]
Fourteenth Address. Chap. 6. Proverbs 6:20. _The Evil Woman_ The holy memories and sanctions of the family are invoked (Proverbs 6:20) to give weight to another earnest warning against the sin which destroys the purity and saps the foundations of family life (Proverbs 6:24).... [ Continue Reading ]
_heart … neck_ See Proverbs 3:3, note. Perhaps there is also the idea of an amulet or charm tied round the neck. See next verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
_it_ The change from the plural, "bind _them_," "tie _them_," of Proverbs 6:21, and the return to "it," "the commandment," "the law," in Proverbs 6:23 (comp. Proverbs 6:20) indicate not only the substantial identity of the teaching of the father and the mother, but the source of that identity in the... [ Continue Reading ]
_the commandment … the law_ or, _their_ COMMANDMENT … _their_ TEACHING, R.V. marg. The two renderings are practically the same. See on Proverbs 6:22. _reproofs of instruction_ "Light" is not enough: "all effectual instruction for the sinful children of men includes and implies chastening, or as we... [ Continue Reading ]
_the tongue of a strange_woman] THE STRANGER'S TONGUE, R.V., i.e. the tongue of another man's wife, as what follows shews (Proverbs 6:22_; Proverbs 6:29; Proverbs 6:32; Proverbs 6:34_). See Proverbs 2:16, note.... [ Continue Reading ]
_eyelids_ Painted probably after the Eastern fashion. Comp. 2 Kings 9:30. "They paint or blacken the eyelids with _kǒhl_, and prolong the application in a descending pencil, so as to lengthen and reduce the eye in appearance to what is called _almond shape_. The practice is extremely ancient, for su... [ Continue Reading ]
_the adulteress_ Lit. A MAN'S WIFE. It is the same woman who is contemplated in both clauses of the verse, a married woman, who has become a "whorish woman." _will hunt_ Rather, HUNTETH, R.V. Not only substance (Proverbs 6:31) but life itself (Proverbs 6:34) may be the forfeit, and a more precious... [ Continue Reading ]
_innocent_ So R.V. marg.; but as the object here is to deter from the sin by insisting on its _consequences_, it is better to render, with R.V. text, UNPUNISHED.... [ Continue Reading ]
_despise_ Some render, _make light of, let go unpunished_("non impunis dimittitur fur," Maur.). But the proper meaning of the Heb. word is to be retained with A.V. and R.V. "The argument appears to be this: The thief, driven by hunger to steal, is regarded with pity rather than contempt, and yet is... [ Continue Reading ]
_sevenfold_ This cannot refer to the legal penalty for theft, which was in no case greater than five times the value of the thing stolen (Exodus 22:1-4. Comp. Luke 19:8). It had been suggested that the case contemplated in the second clause of the verse is different from that in the first: here is a... [ Continue Reading ]
_understanding_ Lit. HEART. See Proverbs 2:2, note. _he that doeth it destroyeth_ Rather, HE DOETH IT THAT WOULD DESTROY.... [ Continue Reading ]
_therefore_ Rather, AND. Here is no question of compensation (Proverbs 6:35); the burning fire of jealousy will pursue thee unto death (Leviticus 20:10).... [ Continue Reading ]