Proverbs 3:21-26

My son, let not them depart, &c.— Wisdom gives life, health, safety, to body and soul: it is the most precious ornament of those who possess it: for the rest, when the wise man in so many places promises life, health, prosperity, peace, glory, to those who seek for wisdom, we must not take these promises absolutely and in the letter. We have known wise men live but a short time; we have seen them in affliction, in sickness, in adversity: Solomon himself informs us in the 12th verse, that God tries, by temporal evils and afflictions, his children and most faithful servants. We must therefore say, that God will either deliver his people from all these evils, or preserve them from them, or give them patience in this world, and put them into such a state as they would not change for all the riches and advantages of fortune: or, that, after this life, he will crown their holiness, virtue, and fidelity, with the highest rewards. The 25th verse should be rendered, Thou shalt not be afraid of any unexpected fear, nor of the bursting in of the wicked, when it shall come upon thee; or the assaults of wicked men rushing upon thee. The 26th verse is rendered by the LXX, The Lord shall be over all thy ways, and shall strengthen thy foot, that thou shalt not be shaken. See Calmet and Schultens.