CHAPTER XI _A parallel of the advantages of the righteous and wise, opposed_ _to the miseries of the wicked and the foolish. True and false_ _riches._ NOTES ON CHAP. XI Verse Proverbs 11:1. _A FALSE BALANCE_ IS _ABOMINATION_] This refers to the balance itself deceitfully constructed, so that it... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:2. WHEN _PRIDE COMETH_] The proud man thinks much more of himself than any other can do; and, expecting to be treated according to his own supposed worth, which treatment he seldom meets with, he is repeatedly mortified, ashamed, confounded, and rendered indignant. _WITH THE LOWLY... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:4. _RICHES PROFIT NOT IN THE DAY OF WRATH_] Among men they can do all things; but they cannot purchase the remission of sins, nor turn aside the wrath of God when that is poured out upon the opulent transgressor.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:7. _WHEN A WICKED MAN DIETH_] HOPE is a great blessing to man in his present state of trial and suffering; because it leads him to expect a favourable termination of his ills. But _hope_ was not made for the _wicked_; and yet they are the very persons that most abound in it! They h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:8. _THE WICKED COMETH IN HIS STEAD._] Often God makes this distinction; in public calamities and in sudden accidents he rescues the righteous, and leaves the wicked, who has filled up the measure of his iniquities, to be seized by the hand of death. _Justice_, then, does its own wo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:9. _A HYPOCRITE WITH_ HIS _MOUTH_] חנף _chaneph_ might be better translated _infidel_ than _hypocrite_. The latter is one that pretends to religion; that uses it for _secular purposes_. The former is one who _disbelieves_ Divine revelation, and accordingly is _polluted_, and lives... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:10. _WHEN IT GOETH WELL_] An upright, pious, sensible man is a great blessing to the neighbourhood where he resides, by his example, his advice, and his prayers. The considerate prize him on these accounts, and rejoice in his prosperity. But when the _wicked_ _perish_, who has been... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:12. _HE THAT IS VOID OF WISDOM_] A foolish man is generally abundant in his censures; he dwells on the _defects_ of his neighbour, and is sure to bring them into the most prominent view. But a _man of understanding _- a prudent, sensible man, hides those defects wherever he can, an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:13. _A TALEBEARER_] הולך רכיל _holech rachil_, the walking busybody, the trader in scandal. _REVEALETH SECRETS_] Whatever was confided to him he is sure to publish abroad. The word means a _hawker_, or _travelling chapman_. Such are always great newsmongers; and will tell even the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:15. _HE THAT IS SURETY FOR A STRANGER SHALL SMART_ FOR IT] He shall find evil upon evil in it. See on Proverbs 6:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:16. _A GRACIOUS WOMAN RETAINETH HONOR_] Instead of this clause, the _Septuagint_ have, Γυνη ευχαριστος εγειρει ανδρι δοζαν, "A gracious woman raiseth up honor to the man;" Θρονος δε ατιμιας γυνη μισουσα δικαια, "But she that hateth righteous things is a throne of dishonour." A good... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:17. _THE MERCIFUL MAN DOETH GOOD TO HIS OWN SOUL_] Every gracious disposition is increased while a man is exercised in showing mercy. No man can show an act of disinterested mercy without benefiting his own soul, by improving his moral feeling. _BUT_ HE THAT IS _CRUEL TROUBLETH HI... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:18. _WORKETH A DECEITFUL WORK_] An _unstable_ work; nothing is durable that he does, except his crimes.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:19. _RIGHTEOUSNESS_ TENDETH _TO LIFE_] True godliness promotes health, and is the best means of lengthening out life; but wicked men live not out half their days.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:21. THOUGH _HAND_ JOIN _IN HAND_] Let them confederate as they please, to support each other, justice will take care that they escape not punishment. The Hindoos sometimes ratify an engagement by one person _laying his right hand on the hand of another_.-WARD.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:22. _A JEWEL OF GOLD IN A SWINE'S SNOUT_] That is, beauty in a woman destitute of good breeding and modest carriage, is as becoming as a gold ring on the snout of a swine. _Coverdale_ translates thus: "A fayre woman without discrete maners, is like a ringe of golde in a swyne's sno... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:24. _THERE IS THAT SCATTERETH, AND YET INCREASETH_] The bountiful man, who gives to the poor, never turning away his face from any one in distress, the Lord blesses his property, and the bread is multiplied in his hand. To the same purpose the following verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:25. _THE LIBERAL SOUL SHALL BE MADE FAT_] He who gives to the distressed, in the true spirit of charity, shall get a hundred fold from God's mercy. How wonderful is the Lord! He gives the _property_, gives the _heart_ to use it aright, and _recompenses_ the man for the deed, though... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:26. _HE THAT WITHHOLDETH CORN_] Who refuses to sell because he hopes for a dearth, and then he can make his own price. _THE PEOPLE SHALL CURSE HIM_] Yes, and God shall curse him also; and if he do not return and repent, he will get God's curse, and the curse of the poor, which wil... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:29. _SHALL INHERIT THE WIND_] He who dissipates his property by riotous living, shall be as unsatisfied as he who attempts to feed upon _air_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:30. _THE FRUIT OF THE RIGHTEOUS_ IS _A TREE OF LIFE_] עץ חיים _ets chaiyim_, "the tree of lives." It is like that tree which grew in the paradise of God; increasing the bodily and mental vigour of those who ate of it. _HE THAT WINNETH SOULS_ IS _WISE._] Wisdom seeks to reclaim the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 11:31. _BEHOLD, THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL BE RECOMPENSED IN THE_ _EARTH, C._] The _Septuagint, Syrian_, and _Arabic_ read this verse as follows: "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" And this St. Peter quotes _literatim_, 1 Peter 4:18, wher... [ Continue Reading ]