CHAPTER XXVI _Honour is not seemly in a fool. The correction and treatment_ _suitable to such. Of the slothful man. Of him who interferes_ _with matters which do not concern him. Contentions to be_ _avoided. Of the dissembler and the lying tongue._ NOTES ON CHAP. XXVI Verse Proverbs 26:1. _AS... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:2. _AS THE BIRD_] צפור _tsippor_ is taken often for the _sparrow_; but means generally any small bird. As the _sparrow_ flies about the house, and the _swallow_ emigrates to strange countries; so an undeserved malediction may flutter about the neighbourhood for a season: but in a s... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:3. _A WHIP FOR THE HORSE_] Correction is as suitable to a fool, as a _whip_ is for a horse, or a _bridle_ for an ass.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:4. _ANSWER NOT A FOOL_] On this and the following verse Bishop _Warburton_, who has written well on many things, and very indifferently on the doctrine of grace, has written with force and perspicuity: "Had this advice been given simply, and without circumstance, _to answer_ the fo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:6. _CUTTETH OFF THE FEET_] Sending by such a person is utterly useless. My old MS. Bible translates well: _Halt in feet_ _and drinking wickednesse that sendith wordis bi a foole messager_. Nothing but _lameness_ in _himself_ can vindicate his sending it by such hands; and, after al... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:8. _AS HE THAT BINDETH A STONE IN A SLING_, SO IS _HE THAT_ _GIVETH HONOUR TO A FOOL._] It is entirely thrown away. This, however, is a difficult proverb; and the _versions_ give but little light on the subject. The Hebrew may be translated, "As a piece of precious stone among a he... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:10. _THE GREAT_ GOD _THAT FORMED ALL_ THINGS] See the _margin_, where this verse is very differently translated. I shall add that of _Coverdale_: "A man of experience discerneth all thinges well: but whoso hyreth a foole, hyreth soch one as wyl take no hede." The רב _rab_ may mean... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:11. _AS A DOG RETURNETH TO HIS VOMIT_] 2 Peter 2:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:13. _THE SLOTHFUL_ MAN _SAITH_] Proverbs 22:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:16. _THAN SEVEN MEN THAT CAN RENDER A REASON._] _Seven_ here only means _perfection, abundance_, or _multitude_. He is wiser in his own eyes than a _multitude_ of the wisest men. "Than seven men that sytt and teach." - _Coverdale_; i.e., than seven _doctors_ of the _law_, or _heads... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:17. _HE THAT PASSETH BY_] This proverb stands true _ninety-nine_ times out of a _hundred_, where people meddle with _domestic broils_, or differences between _men_ and their _wives_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:19. _AM NOT I IN SPORT?_] How many hearts have been made sad, and how many reputations have been slain, by this kind of _sport_! "I designed no harm by what I said;" "It was only in jest," c. _Sportive_ as such persons may think their conduct to be, it is as ruinous as that of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:20. _WHERE NO WOOD IS_, THERE _THE FIRE GOETH OUT_] The tale-_receiver_ and the tale-_bearer_ are the agents of discord. If none received the slander in the _first_ instance, it could not be propagated. Hence our proverb, "The receiver is as bad as the thief." And our _laws_ treat... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:22. _THE WORDS OF A TALE-BEARER_] The same with Proverbs 18:8, where see the note. Proverbs 18:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:23. _BURNING LIPS AND A WICKED HEART_] Splendid, shining, smooth lips; that is, lips which make great professions of friendship are like a _vessel plated_ over with _base metal_ to make it resemble _silver_; but it is only a _vile pot_, and even the _outside_ is not _pure_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:25. _WHEN HE SPEAKETH FAIR_] For there are such hypocrites and false friends in the world. _BELIEVE HIM NOT_] Let all his professions go for nothing. FOR THERE ARE _SEVEN ABOMINATIONS IN HIS HEART._] That is, he is _full of abominations_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:27. _WHOSO DIGGETH A PIT_] Psalms 7:15. There is a _Latin_ proverb like this: _Malum consilium consultori_ _pessimum_, "A bad counsel, but worst to the giver." _Harm watch; harm catch_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 26:28. _A LYING TONGUE HATETH_ THOSE THAT ARE _AFFLICTED BY IT_] He that injures another hates him in proportion to the injury he has done him; and, strange to tell, in proportion to the _innocence_ of the oppressed. The debtor cannot bear the sight of his creditor; nor the knave, of... [ Continue Reading ]